QUILTING EXHIBITION A STITCH IN TIME.

Byline: Douglas Clark Daily News Staff Writer

Prettiness is not the point of a new quilt exhibit opening at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library today - the idea is to capture history with needle, thread and cloth.

The exhibit features quilt makers who have recorded events such as the Iranian hostage crisis, the 1986 explosion of space shuttle Challenger and even former President Bush's dislike of broccoli.

``America Remembers: Quilting in the Twentieth Century,'' was designed by guest curator Mary Madden to wrap the viewer in the tragedy, triumph and trivial pursuits of a nation forever in the throes of change.

``There are lots of pretty quilt shows. Everyone has their own aesthetic for what's a pretty quilt show. So I don't do pretty quilt shows,'' said Madden. ``I do history quilt shows.''

Madden, the education supervisor for the Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka, was in Simi Valley this week to install the exhibit that opens today and runs through Oct. 4.

Her interest in the historical aspects of quilting dates back 20 years, when a quilting revival was inspired by the nation's bicentennial celebration.

About 10 years later she met Mark Hunt, director of the Reagan museum, when they were working together on the Kansas Quilt Project, which registered and documented quilts in private ownership. At the time Hunt was director of the Kansas Museum of History.

``I'm a historian by profession. So to me the interesting part of quilts are the stories,'' she said. ``As an educator, I like to teach children history through stories. And objects like quilts tell wonderful stories. The stories are stitched right on the front.''

Hunt invited Madden to create a quilting show that would be unlike the homespun variety normally offered at arts and craft shows.

``Most presidential libraries have quite a few quilts because quilts typically are a gift item,'' he said. ``We wanted to tie quilting to American history in the 20th century because it fits a little more into our purposes as a presidential library.''

Madden said the theme of the show was distilled by three of the 48 quilts in the Reagan collection that are included in the show.

One quilt depicts the 1986 explosion of Challenger that took the lives of the crew.

Another called ``Nightmare for George Bush'' commemorates the former president's humorous quip about disliking broccoli.

The third quilt recalls the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis when 52 Americans were held in Tehran for 444 days. The debacle harmed then-President Carter, and enhanced Reagan's stature: The hostages were released on the day of his 1980 inauguration.

``In the 19th century far fewer quilts were made to mark public events,'' Madden said. ``But in this century there are more made on a wider variety of topics. In the last 25 years quilters are developing their own patterns and designs. You see a lot of individuality.''

Although the quilts come in all sizes, the largest - 21 feet long and 8 feet high - memorializes the April 15, 1995, Oklahoma City bombing.

Madden said the quilt was constructed in West Virginia after Americans shocked by the bombing that killed 168 people commiserated on the Internet. The moving testimonial is an example of the changing ways of quilting and community, she said.

``That was a national outpouring. People felt like they were trying to connect with the nation,'' she said. ``This was a very physical way, a physical process, for joining together and showing their common sorrow.

``Quilting is a way of connecting with something that's bigger than you and your community and understanding it and being part of it.''

As technology has changed the way some quilts are created, it has also reminded men and women of the traditional pleasures of the activity.

Madden, the mother of two girls, says she quilts for fun.

``As society gets more technological, there's something comforting about making a quilt. You start at the beginning and see the end,'' she said. ``So much of our lives are fragmented.''

With only a month to create the show with Kansas folklorist Jennie Chinn, Madden was not able to get every quilt she would have liked for the exhibit. For example, the AIDS quilt now touring the nation was unavailable.

Also, on such short notice, the Kansas historian could not rely on institutions like the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

Instead, the quilts on display at the Reagan Library are from numerous private collections found by pursuing documentation by organizations like the California Heritage Quilt Project.

What continues to fascinate Madden is the diversity expressed in the quilts, a tradition that continues to thrive despite the changing role of women in modern society.

``There are a lot of ways women can express their opinion now that was not open to them a hundred years ago. But it's interesting that they continue to use this medium,'' Madden said. ``The quilt medium is one they continue to do out of tradition.''

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3 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) An eagle adorns one of the quilts going on display.

(2--Color) Mary Madden, guest curator at the Reagan Library, shows the Challenger quilt - part of ``America Remembers: Quilting in the Twentieth Century.''

(3--Color in Simi Edition only) The Oklahoma City bombing quilt is being prepared to hang at the library for the six-month exhibit.

Tina Gerson/Daily News