On this day in 1991, “Thelma and Louise” debuted in movie theaters. In this reworked version of the typically male-dominated road trip movie, heroines Thelma and Louise drive a 1966 green Ford Thunderbird convertible in the climactic final scene (about which I will not tell you, just in case you haven’t seen it, but the quilter I’m going to tell you about next has a clue in her last name).
Thelma Radcliff, a retired occupational therapist from Troy, West Virginia, made this cheerful Monkey Wrench quilt in 1940. It was machine and hand pieced and machine quilted with scraps and new fabrics. The well-used quilt was documented by the maker during the West Virginia Heritage Quilt Search in 1992.
View this quilt on The Quilt Index to read more about it’s history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view.
Posted by Amy E. Milne
Executive Director, Quilt Alliance
amy.milne@quiltalliance.org