by Quilt Alliance | May 21, 2014 | Uncategorized
The winner of our Match the Quilt to the Alliance Board Member contest is….Jessica Salter of Crafty Cat Studio!! Thanks to everyone who played! Here are the quilts with artists revealed. A. Medallion Quilt. c.1830. Quilts of TennesseeAllie AllerB. Feathered Star by Mariette Pierce, 1800-1849, DAR Museum.Victoria Findlay WolfeC. “Aletsch” by MIchael James, 1990, National Quilt Museum.Luke HaynesD. Split Rail Fence. 1901-1929. Michigan Quilt Project.Michele MuskaE. “Scrap Bag Bouquet” by Tom Russell. 2011 Q.S.O.S. interview.Lisa Ellis Full details on the Inspired By contest, including a downloadable entry form, can be found on our website and blog. Thank you to these generous Quilt Alliance Business Members sponsoring “Inspired By”: http://www.handiquilter.com/http://www.equilter.com/http://www.modafabrics.com/http://www.aurifil.com/http://electricquilt.com/http://www.ezquilt.com/http://www.simplicity.com/http://www.sewingexpo.com/http://stkr.it/http://www.threadsmagazine.com/ Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | May 21, 2014 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1881, the American National Red Cross was founded in Washington, D.C. Founders Clara Barton and Adolphus Solomons started the organization to provide humanitarian aid to victims of war and natural disasters in affiliation with the International Red Cross, for whom Barton had worked during the Franco-Prussian War. Lillie Fowler Lovett and Red Cross volunteers in Greeneville, Tennessee hand made this Red Cross Quilt around 1917 during the First World War. The relative who inherited the quilt documented it as part of the Quilts of Tennessee 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/american-red-cross-founded Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | May 20, 2014 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received a patent to create work pants reinforced with metal rivets they called “waist overalls”—blue jeans were born. Strauss was a Jewish immigrant from Bavaria who ran a successful dry goods business with stores all over the Western states. Davis, a tailor from Nevada who bought supplies from Strauss, designed the new garment and asked Strauss to fund the patent application. The 501 brand jean was originally sewn in worker’s homes and quickly became the best selling work pant in the U.S. Levi Strauss & Co. now employs over 10,000 people worldwide. Susan Louisa Gudger hand pieced this Fancy Stitch Patchwork quilt and Margaret Shuping hand quilted it in 1847 in Davidson, North Carolina. The quilt was documented in 1986 as part of the North Carolina Quilt Project. From the Quilt Index record: “Owner inherited quilt from his father, James Craig Gudger, Old clothing (men’s and ladies), fabric scraps from other sewing.” 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/levi-strauss-and-jacob-davis-receive-patent-for-blue-jeans http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Strauss_%26_Co. Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | May 19, 2014 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1834, Catherine “Kate” Furbish, the first botanic artist in the “Garden of Maine,” was born in Exeter, New Hampshire. Furbish lived to be 97 years old and in her lifetime she collected over 4,000 sheets of dried plants and ferns she discovered around the state of Maine. The collection is now housed in Harvard University’s Gray Herbarium. A unnamed quilter hand pieced this Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt around 1875 in Maine. The current owners documented the quilt in 1986 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina as part of the North Carolina Quilt Project. They purchased the quilt when they lived in Maine and although they do not know the name of the quiltmaker, they know that she was a neighbor of a woman named Clara Bowen. 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://maineanencyclopedia.com/furbish-catherine-kate/ Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | May 18, 2014 | Uncategorized
Today’s Q.S.O.S. Spotlight is on Charles Wunderlich, a retired member of the US Air Force who began quilting after leaving the service. Charles shared with Kay Jones how he began quilting in his interview conducted 13 years ago today. “Kay Jones: Now, how did you become interested in quilting? Charles Wunderlich: Well, my mother brought a top with her on a visit one time, here in Fort Worth. And I said, ‘What are you doing with that, are you going to quilt it?’ [CW is referring to his mother.] ‘No, we are going to quilt it.’ [CW is referring to himself.] ‘I have never quilted, I know what a needle is and a thread is, and that’s the extent of it.’ [CW referring to mother.] ‘Well, we’ll make it.’ So, we started each one of those deals, put the needle through and pull it back up. So, after an hour, I worked a little ways across, stitches about three to an inch, and anyway, that was a start. And, I guess I got hooked. KJ: And when was that Charlie, about how old were you then?CW: Oh gosh, I don’t know, I was 50-something, in my fifties.KJ: And so, you’ve been quilting ever since?CW: Well, off and on and some more than others, but I have never made it a chore. I sat down at quilt-frame quilt and after a few stitches I decided, ‘Ah, this is not for me morning,’ and I get up and move the quilt and take off. Or I might quilt through lunch, all day long and get up to go to the doctor and come back and quilt some more.KJ: Quilt some more.CW: So, it’s according to how I feel, but I’ve never made it a chore. It remains an enjoyable hobby, if that’s what you call it. And I’ve been with it now for twenty-six, almost thirty years. […]I’m retired. I spent thirty years in the U.S. Air Force. KJ: In the Air Force? That take you to different parts of the world?CW: Oh, took me to different parts, yes. Europe, Asia, Southeast Asia, spent two short tours in Vietnam. Spent four years at then Carswell Air force Base, built a house, married, left the house, kept it rented, moved back to it when I got out of the service. But, while I was in the service there were too many other things that had to be done, so this came after I retired. KJ: The quilting came after retirement. You weren’t quilting when you were traveling around the world, but were you interested at all in quilts and quilting?CW: Never crossed my mind.KJ: Not till your mother said you’re going to learn to quilt?CW: That tripped the trigger.KJ: Why do you think she decided then was the time Charlie?CW: I don’t know, there was never any comments. I never asked the question, ‘Hey why did you do that? Why did you bring that quilt?’ But, that started it. And it’s all, I don’t even know what crossed her mind, she never said why she brought that. But, she did tell me who was going to quilt it.”KJ: And you did.” 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 …
