{gallery}04_14_09/quilt{/gallery} Quilter Sonni Whitmore (left) pieced together the Powell Centennial quilt, but said many others contributed quilt blocks. Quilt raffle tickets will be available beginning April 21. Tribune photo by Kara BaconCentennial quilt raffle tickets comingWith Powell's history embroidered in every stitch, the Powell Centennial quilt soon will be on display at Powell Office Supply.It is a bigger-than queen-sized spread. But this story isn't about the quilt — not exactly anyway. It's an account of the comforter's creation. Generations, past and present, lent a creative hand.

Quilter Sonni Whitmore was the brains and fingers behind the quilt's final stitching and the teller of this labor of love, in which dozens of hands left their marks.

Approximately 32 people donated quilt blocks. Squares from around Powell span nearly a century.

“There is a lot of people on here,” Whitmore said, indicating the quilt with a touch of admiration, “and a lot of years.”

Some of the quilt blocks date back to around the turn of the last century, Whitmore said.

Each block tells a story.

Take Whitmore's aunt: Melba Sweet's grandmother, Lucy Plogger, years ago used black thread so she could see the stitches.

“She made that one,” Whitmore said indicating an intricate masterpiece of pink triangles, gray patterns and chipper polka dots.

Blocks of high-school memories adorn the quilt, such as Leah Cooley's 1970s Powell High School letter and a Powell panther from Janice Bailey's 1960s cheerleader uniform.

The Powell Centennial logo is there, too. The logo's photo was printed by Whitmore on fabric. After transferring the cloth photo, Whitmore traced it with metallic thread, she said.

Powell Volunteer Fire Department's emblem has its place too, along with a Powell Police Department badge replica.

Whitmore incorporated Northwest College's logo from a T-shirt, too.

Other blocks may not manifest their origins so markedly, but within their beauty lies the untold story of their beginnings, whether by candlelight with needle and thread or electric luminance and sewing machine.

The blocks vary from heartfelt patterns fashioned years ago to those crafted a month or two back.

There is no way to log the hours that others contributed to the quilt. From her end, Whitmore said she worked off and on four weeks.

With pad and pencil, Rowene Weems, Homesteader Museum director/curator and Powell Centennial Committee member, reckoned that Whitmore invested 300 hours on the quilt.

Whitmore is indebted to those who contributed their painstakingly-inspired work — a neighborly effort drawn together simply by needles, thread and fabric.

“I put it together, but I can't say I made it,” Whitmore said.

“It was a labor of love,” Whitmore said.

The quilt's actual dollar amount is immeasurable in Whitmore's mind.

“To me it's priceless because there were so many people involved in it,” Whitmore said.