MSU BILLINGS NEWS SERVICES — Recent wind-chilled temperatures and gray skies serve as a stark reminder of the cold personality of a Montana winter.

Just inside the Montana State University Billings Library, however, are several reminders of the warmth and strength of fabric and stitching. And as students began spring semester this week, they were welcomed to the library by about 40 colorful, festive and warm quilts that are on display.

The fifth annual MSU Billings Library Quilt Show is on display through Feb. 29 at the university’s main campus, 1500 University Drive . The show is free and open to the public.

The show, started in 2004 with a handful of quilts donated by the faculty, has been the brainchild and passion of Kathy Gurney, who works with the administrative support staff at the library. A quilter herself, Gurney favors the bold colors and patterns and contributes to the items that hang from various parts of the library’s ceiling on the main floor.  

Complementing the quilts of various sizes and colors are a few displays of the history of quilts in America and the new ways quilting techniques are used today.

According to MSU Billings Library Director Jane Howell, the show has been well received by faculty, staff and students at MSU Billings. Employees have contributed quilts they have constructed as well as items collected by them or their families, Howell said.

“We have quilts large and small, modern and traditional – something to interest all quilt lovers,” she said.    

A few quilters have completed projects especially for this year’s show, Howell said, and others are sharing quilts that have won awards in various competitions or quilts that have been made to celebrate special occasions. A favorite aspect of the show, however, is hearing the stories behind the quilts.

“Every quilt has a story, and we try to include a little of that story with the description of each quilt,” Howell said. “A library is full of stories, and this is one more way to tell the story of our community.”

The public is invited to view the MSU Billings Library Quilt Show during the regular spring semester library hours:  Mondays-Thursdays from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sundays from noon to 10 p.m.

For more details about the MSU Billings Library, check out the Web site at www.msubillings.edu/library, or call 657-2262.  Photos of some of the quilts on display may be found on the MSU Billings University Relations Web page .