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The Pioneer Museum of Alabama is gearing up for a busy spring with its annual Sacred Harp Singing set for Saturday, February 25, and its biennial quilt show scheduled for March 1 through April 2.

Barbara Tatom, museum director, said both are popular events with locals and many who travel to enjoy these heritage events.

“The Sacred Harp Singing attracts singers from our area and from rather long distances,” Tatom said.  “They sing from about 9:30 in the morning until mid-afternoon with a break for lunch. Anyone is welcome to join the ‘square’ and sing along. Some people come just to experience this old way of singing.”

The Pioneer Museum of Alabama Quilt Show is a highly anticipated and well-attended event.

The quilt show requires a lot of planning and preparations are, already, underway. Tatom said the museum is inviting all those who have quilts to consider entering them in the show.

“We usually think of quilts as being made by grandma and passed down through the generations,” Tatom said. “And, much of the show will be the generational quilts with many different patterns. But, we will also show quilts that have been made in more recent times.”

Tatom said the show will have patchwork quilts made from pieces of cloth and stitched together, applique quilts, and embroidered quilts.

Those who are considering entering a quilt, or quilts, in the show may do so with all confidence that the quilts will be handled with care.

Each quilt will be registered with the owner’s name, address, the date brought in and a description of the pattern.

Each quilt will be assigned a number, a picture will be taken before it is hung and it will be hung without any, clamping, folding or creasing.

“If there is known history about the quilt or a story surrounding it, we invite the owners to share it on a card to be placed with the quilt,” Tatom said. “That makes viewing the quilts even more interesting and enjoyable.”

For more information, call the museum at 334-566-3597 or visit the museum between the hours of 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.