The friendship between Gayle Hillert of Clifton Forge and famous quilter Kaye England began more than 20 years ago.
Hillert has fought to preserve Clifton Forge’s Historic Masonic Theatre as the former president of the theater’s foundation. England is playing a bigger role than ever in that mission after donating 40 quilts from her collection to the theater.
As Hillert tells it, they met when she stopped by England’s quilt shop in Indianapolis while working for a Swiss sewing company, Bernina International. She was struck by England’s vivid designs. The two shared tea. England describes their friendship as a tale of “kindred spirits.”
In 2014, Hillert invited England to stay the night in Clifton Forge, where Hillert had retired. Hillert told England of her and her husband’s efforts to restore the Historic Masonic Theatre. Built in 1905, the theater had fallen into disrepair.
“The place was in shambles,” Hillert said. “She just kind of looked at [my husband] and said, ‘Good luck.’ A couple years later, she came back into the renovated theater and taught a class.”
The renovated theater reopened in 2016. 
The auction and exhibit
Since October, 20 of England’s quilts from her “Women in History” collection have been on display at the theater. They’ll remain there until Feb. 28. The quilts are named after influential women in history, including Sojourner Truth, Martha Washington and Hellen Keller.
Those quilts will be sold during the theater’s live auction at noon March 9, with starting bids between $250 and $1,200. The auction is also available online. The proceeds will go straight to the Historic Masonic Theatre.
England is also auctioning off 20 hand-stitched quilts she’s collected from the 19th century. Only two of those quilts could be traced to the original artist, Hillert said. Many were found tucked away in attics, barely used.
The quilts
England’s 20 quilts line the walls of the theater’s third floor. Portraits, signatures and artwork accompany some of the designs.
Some quilts have accents directly related to their namesakes. A smaller quilt dedicated to Hellen Keller is three-dimensional, with flower buds that rise from the work’s surface. Another quilt themed after Betsy Ross has representations of the original American flag woven into the design.
Meanwhile, the antique quilts are draped across tables and chairs. Hillert said she has particularly fallen in love with a design that’s made up of a complex array of hexagons.
Two Roanoke residents stopped on a Thursday morning after seeing an advertisement for the exhibit. Mary Swanwick, a quilter, said she was more impressed by the antique quilts than by the “Women in History” collection.
“If you didn’t say what the connection [to a historical figure] was it would be hard to tell,” she said.
Still, she added, “it’s amazing to give this many quilts to auction off.”
Visitor Cathy Griffin said she’d avoided learning about England’s background, so she could be surprised by the exhibit.
England has written 13 books and made four instructional DVDs in her decades-long career, according to Hillert. She has plans to teach quilting classes abroad next year.
“There are people who have come here just because it’s a Kaye England thing,” Hillert said.
England will return to Clifton Forge to teach her fifth sold-out retreat next week, as well as a class for quilt shop owners March 5 and 6. She’ll also preside over the live auction and tell the story of each quilt. 
A community investment
In 2009, the Historic Masonic Theatre was in need of massive investments, Hillert and England said. The theater had been owned by the town of Clifton Forge for decades, but it had languished for around nine years, said Justin Reiter, executive director of the Masonic Theatre Preservation Foundation.
“It was a building that most would have said, ‘Let’s tear it down,’” England said.
Hillert’s husband, John, took up the cause of reviving the theater as a community center, England said. He and other members of the Clifton Forge community raised the $6.9 million needed to renovate the building from the ground up, Hillert said.
John Hillert died from cancer in 2017, right after the theater reopened its doors in 2016. The auditorium is dedicated to him.
“In many cases, they talk about John’s involvement and how the theatre probably wouldn’t be standing if John Hillert hadn’t decided, ‘We’re going to fix this,’” England said. “It’s a story. You just can’t not get wrapped up in it.”
England wants to keep that story going with her donated quilts. The theater has become the site of musicals, plays, family entertainment, wedding receptions, political meetings and more, Reiter said, all at low cost to the community.
But COVID-19 shut the theater down for a year and a half, and it has been a struggle to revive traffic. The expenses involved in maintaining a 119-year-old building don’t stop, Reiter said.
The hope is to raise between $20,000 and $40,000 from the auction, Reiter said. “If it’s more, even better.”
England said it wasn’t a difficult decision to part with her collection.
“As I get older, I realize I can’t take [these quilts] with me,” she said. “So I might as well try to find a home for it.”
To see the quilts, call The Historic Masonic Theater at 540 862 5655 to schedule a tour.
