by Quilt Alliance | Jul 3, 2014 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1890, Idaho become the 43rd state in the Union. Since exploration of North America began from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and the southern borders, Idaho remained virtually untouched by Spanish, French, British and American trappers and explorers up to 1805 when Lewis and Clark came through the territory. To date there are only 26 records in the Quilt Index of quilts made in Idaho. Betsy Anne Sargent, a homemaker and cook who ran a hotel and livery barn with her husband in Kooskia, Idaho, machine and hand pieced this Sunflower quilt between 1901-1929. Sargent made more than 30 quilts in her lifetime and this one, a ribbon winner at the Idaho State Fair, was documented as part of the ongoing Minnesota Quilt Project. View this quilt on The Quilt Index to find out! Read more about its history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view or click the “See full record” link to see a larger image and all the data entered about that quilt. Source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/idaho-becomes-43rd-state Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Jul 2, 2014 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1939, twin sisters Esther Pauline Friedman Lederer and Pauline Esther Friedman Phillips (columnists who wrote as Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren, or Dear Abby) were married in a double-wedding ceremony two days from their birthday. The twins were born in 1918 to Russian Jewish immigrants who settled in Sioux City Iowa and owned a chain of movie theaters. Marie Zeiler Achziger of Nebraska made this Twin Darts (Brackman* pattern number 2323) quilt in 1940. The quilt was documented in 1987 as part of the Nebraska Quilt Project. *from Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns, first edition View this quilt on The Quilt Index to find out! Read more about its history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view or click the “See full record” link to see a larger image and all the data entered about that quilt. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_Phillips http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eppie_Lederer Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Jul 1, 2014 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1867, the British North America Act (today called the Constitution Act) was passed by Great Britain, recognizing the Dominion of Canada, a group that included Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the future provinces of Ontario and Quebec, as a self-governing entity. Today Canada Day is a federal holiday celebrated by outdoor public events and citizenship ceremonies. Liza MacDuff, an English-Scottish Protestant housewife from rural Prince Edward Island, Canada, hand pieced and hand quilted this Sixteen Patch quilt in the late 1800’s. MacDuff’s granddaughter inherited the quilt and documented it in 1992 as part of the Rhode Island Quilt Documentation Project. View this quilt on The Quilt Index to find out! Read more about its history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view or click the “See full record” link to see a larger image and all the data entered about that quilt. Source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/canadian-independence-day Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Jun 29, 2014 | Uncategorized
This week’s Q.S.O.S. Spotlight is extra special! Last Wednesday, the National Endowment for the Arts announced the winners of the 2014 National Heritage fellowships–the highest honor in folk and traditional arts in the United States. Among them was quilter and quilt advocate Carolyn Mazloomi, who founded the Women of Color Quilter’s Network in 1985 and has worked tirelessly to advocate for not only quiltmakers of color but all quiltmakers and lovers of quilts. Carolyn was interviewed in 2009 for the Q.S.O.S. project–read some excerpts from that interview about the WCQN and why Carolyn loves quilts, or check out the full interview here. Congratulations, Dr. Mazloomi! “I started the organization as a means to let African American quiltmakers know about the cultural significance as well as the monetary value of their quilts. We started out with nine people and over the years it’s grown tremendously. One of the things that we do is present quilts, quilt exhibitions to museums around the country. We give workshops around the country to children and youth, try to interest them in learning to quilt because when you think in terms of the quilt population of African American quilts within the realm of quilting in this country, there are not that many of us so it is important to me to try and interest young people in learning how to quilt. That is very important, because I think about the future…” “Quilts are important because, physical quilts are important to me because they give me joy, they bring me joy, they bring me joy. That’s the first thing and then the second thing I think about the historical aspect of quilts. I’m interested in recording that history, that is important to record quilt history because it gives us a window into American society, families and lives and social structure of people living here in this country. It is fascinating and it’s important. That’s what is important and then the quiltmakers themselves, people. There is just a wide variety of people that I’ve met and everybody brings something interesting to the table so that’s been an interesting point for me, meeting quilters of all races, gender across the country and sharing that common love of quilt making.” “My legacy and so forth with quiltmaking will be the founding of the Women of Color Quilters Network and finding a recording the contributions of African American quiltmakers to American quiltmaking, especially for the contemporary African American quiltmaker. It’s important for me that I do everything that I can to record their works, to exhibit their works so that they have a place in quilt history.” You can read more quilt stories on the Quilters’ S.O.S.- Save Our Stories page on the Quilt Alliance website. Posted by Emma Parker Project Manager, Quilters’ S.O.S.- Save Our Stories qsos@quiltalliance.org …
by Quilt Alliance | Jun 27, 2014 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1964, Christopher Allen Eselgroth was born in Greece, New York, a suburb of Rochester. A typeface -knowing, ridge-conquering, rock and roll-playing, moon pie ice cream- devouring, basil-growing, family-loving man–he is. Happy Birthday, sweetheart. xo Amy This stunning signature quilt was started in 1900 as a fundraising effort by Mrs. Addis Elliot and later purchased for $65 by the Rochester Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in Rochester, New York. From this Quilt Index record: “The red and white pieced quilt with fan blocks with an American Flag in the center. The border is pieced with the blades of the fans. Outline stitched in each of the blocks are what appear to be a series of 1900 store names and Rochester businesses along with dozens of names of people.” The record also includes a letter the quiltmaker wrote to the Rochester Historical Society in 1950, recalling the story of the quilt. Here is an excerpt: “I have been requested to write to you about the quilt that I sold to the W.C.T.U. I will say that it was started in the year 1900 while I was living at the restaurant at 95 E. Main St. I belonged to a lodge called the good Templar I.O.G.T. Independent or of good Templar. It met every Friday night. We got short of money to pay our rent so it was proposed by the members to start to raise some money. Each member went out and worked and got names for to put on an advertising quilt at so much a name or whatever they could give…” The quilt is now privately owned and Elizabeth Davis contributed the quilt and its history to The Quilt Index during the Signature Quilt Project. View this quilt on The Quilt Index to find out! Read more about its history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view or click the “See full record” link to see a larger image and all the data entered about that quilt. Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
