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FAIRMONT - A large dark quilt jeweled with heart-themed blocks dominates the quilt showing going on now at Red Rock Center for the Arts in Fairmont.

The blocks showcase varying designs, subtly integrating a heart into each. Only after close inspection does the viewer see the connection in the blues, reds, and greens that jump off the background.

The quilt took its maker nearly nine months to finish using hand appliqu and hand quilting techniques, although the bulk of the work was completed in just six weeks.

Pat Witty said she stitched the quilt after she saw a wall hanging pattern she liked.

"I don't have any use for a wall hanging," she said. "But I can use a quilt for my bed."

Dorie Meyer made her quilt using cut up formal gowns and velvet. The dominantly purple wall hanging is embellished with embroidered patterns, begging to be touched.

She included vintage buttons that belonged to her grandmother in the crazy quilt design - a style as free form as it sounds.

"I started with this piece here and added the next piece," she said, pointing out the lack of a strict pattern. "Then I decided which stitch I wanted."

Both Meyer and Witty have been quilting for many years, meeting each week with other quilters to work on their current projects.

Each quilt hanging at the Red Rock Center is as different from the other as Witty's and Meyer's.

The theme for the show started out as Christmas quilts, which soon broadened into winter themes, before settling on jewel tones.

The variety, ranging from holly berries, to the 12 days of Christmas, to a Star of David holding nine candles, takes up the wall space in the entire building.

Ruth Ann Beckendorf, a quilter herself, compiled the show. She said she was very surprised by the number of pieces assembled.

"I thought if we had eight or nine people we would have a nice show," she said. "Pretty soon it grew."

Twenty-six quilters are showing 40 quilts this month at Red Rock, far exceeding what Beckendorf expected.

"Once they started looking in their houses they started finding quilts all over the place," she said.

Artists from Blue Earth, Trimont, Sherburn and Fairmont turned out to show their work, displaying creativity far removed from what one may expect.

One piece, a yo-yo quilt, is being used as a tablecloth. The quilt is made from hundreds of 1 and a half-inch circles of fabric stitched together.

There was some discussion about whether this piece is actually a quilt, which is defined as something with a backing, batting and top, held together with stitching.

Ultimately, the group of quilters gathered to hang their pieces prior to showing decided while it doesn't fit the strict definition, it must be a quilt, since it is in a style called a yo-yo quilt.

"Why they are called yo-yos I can't tell you," Beckendorf said.

The quilters will be on hand Tuesday for an artist reception beginning noon during the Tuesday Lunch with the Arts program hosted by Red Rock Center.

Of all the appliqu, hand quilting, machine quilting, crazy quilts, t-shirt quilt, and photo transfer displayed for the month of December, none have been shown before at this venue.

"It started out really slow and then it just caught fire," Beckendorf said. "We have quilts all over the place."