For one group of neighbors in Santa Cruz County, their vision for democracy is sewn together in the form of quilts. They call themselves the Pop Tarts.
“Old angry women are tarts, and we do pop-up protests,” said Cate Munch, co-founder of the Pop Tarts. Before the group’s inception, she hadn’t protested since she was a teenager during the Vietnam War. “What’s happening now is too big to keep following along in a traditional way,” she said.
The Pop Tarts make appearances at least three times a week at overpasses and intersections around the county, in addition to attending larger anti-Trump administration protests such as “No Kings.” On Saturday, they held a demonstration of around 13 people in Aptos on the Rio Del Mar Boulevard overpass over Highway 1, with their fabric signs and hand-sewn placards sending messages in bold.
Members held up a colorful array of personalized quilts toward the traffic on Rio Del Mar Boulevard, to which cars honked in solidarity. Most of the quilts on display were made during a workshop taught by Munch, who has been a quilter for over 50 years, at the Pajaro Valley Quilt Association. Last month, the guild hosted a “Cate Munch/POPS” special exhibit within its annual show, featuring Munch’s quilt-art pieces and 23 of the Pop Tarts’ protest signs…