A stunning, hand-appliqued quilt was donated to the Damariscotta Mills fish ladder restoration project by Damariscotta Mills resident Betty Lu Brydges.

“Wow, it’s one of the most beautiful quilts I’ve ever seen,” said fish ladder restoration project director Deb Wilson. Brydges has been quilting for 40 years, since her first child Suzie was born.

“With a baby, nothing lasts more than 15 minutes. I wanted to make something that lasted for many, many years,” said Brydges.

Through the years, Brydges has become a well-established quilter on the national scene. She has shown her quilts (and won awards) in major American quilt shows and some Canadian shows. Her quilts have appeared in three quilting magazines: American Quilter, Quilter’s Newsletter, and Patchwork Mania. During the past 14 years, she lived in Vancouver, Canada and there she gave classes and showed in a gallery with several other artists.

The quilt that Brydges donated to the fish ladder is made of 100 percent cotton cloth, a material that she typically uses although sometimes she adds some linen to her quilts. As with all her quilts, graphic design is her specialty. The outer border is trees, which, she says, are challenging to make but are an important theme in her life. The next row, inspired by the gothic window in her studio in Damariscotta Mills, is a line of stained glass windows. Another row includes flowers on a hand-painted sky background. The quilts center is made up of trees with their roots in the ground. The design, the colors, the fine quilting — it's a masterpiece!

The quilt will be raffled off at the Fish Ladder Restoration Festival on Memorial Day weekend, specifically on Sunday, May 24 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $5 each or 6 for $25. The quilt may be seen (and tickets may be purchased) at Skidompha Library in Damariscotta until May 1; when it will move to Alewife Fabrics in Damariscotta Mills. Finally, the quilt will be shown at the festival and tickets can be purchased right up until the drawing. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.damriscottamills.org.

Simply go to the donations page and, after specifying an amount, note that you want quilt raffle tickets in the notes section. Restoration of the Damariscotta Mills fish ladder is nearing completion, an amazing community effort, but funds are still needed for final work (capping all exposed concrete surfaces) and to replace the walkway between the fish house and the harvesting area. The walkway is undermined and will soon become impassable if it's not replaced.

Please plan to attend the Fish Ladder Restoration Festival on Memorial Day weekend. There will be great food, live music, a beer tent, games for children and, of course, plenty of alewives to see! The festival will be held on Saturday, May 23 and Sunday, May 24 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. For more information about the quilt raffle, the festival, or the fish ladder, check out our website at www.damariscottamills.org or contact Deb Wilson at deb.wilson@roadrunner.com or Russ Williams at rwilliams343@gmail.com.