September is here, and that means a new Artist of the Month at the Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library.

This month, there will be an assortment of quilts made by Mary Lou Newstead. Newstead has been quilting in some way or another for the past 40 years. Her passion  began while making a large patch work skirt in college, and the craft quickly  turned into much more. After seeing a quilt Newstead made for her first son, her grandmother gave her a box of unused quilt squares from the 1930s. These turned into a quilt for her second child. The quilting became a passion; a way to tell a story.

In times where most quilts are made with new fabrics and sewn by a machine, Newstead continues to hand sew quilts with squares from old quilts and vintage fabrics. Newstead says the hand quilting connects her to the women who created the original squares, and allows her to spend time with her creation. She gives many quilts away to her friends and family.

She and her husband Jim, hail from Rochester, N.Y. originally, but began summering in the Boothbay region in 1977. They fell in love with the area and planned on retiring here. They made the move in 2003. Newstead worked at St. Andrews Hospital for a year, and then officially retired in Boothbay in 2004.

Her quilts will be displayed at the library for the month of September. The library is open until at least 4 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays, so feel free to stop by to see Mary Lou’s work. If you have any questions, call the library at 207-633-3112.