by Quilt Alliance | Dec 8, 2013 | QSOS Spotlight, Uncategorized
In 1930, the town of Paris, Texas had some 15,000 residents and at least two fire stations. Raymond Fuston was the only fireman at Fire Station #2, where he lived with his family from 1929 to 1948. Almost fifty years later, Raymond’s son, Fred, and granddaughter, Karla, shared one of the quilts he made during that time, a bold red and white celebration of his career and his home at Fire Station #2.Fred Fuston: Raymond joined the Paris Fire Department in 1929, in Paris, Texas.Karla Poggen: He was a city fireman, not a volunteer fireman. He was the only fireman at the firehouse. Being that he was the only one, he could never leave. He had to be ready for calls. While he was there, he found plenty of things to do with his time. And he was always doing things with his hands. This is just one of the several crafts that he did, quilting. He’d made other quilts prior to this one, but this one was made especially–Fred: For him. That’s what I was going to say. The fire department was his love and even though he made three quilt tops in his lifetime, this was his favorite. Now, if we want to describe it, the center of this is a white background with a red Maltese cross on it. And the Maltese cross is the international symbol of firefighters. On this, we have “Paris” at the top, and the “FD” fire department at the bottom. The #2 in the middle designates the station that he was at in Paris, at Station 2. And as Karla said this was a combination residence and fire station. And so Daddy, Raymond, was the only fireman there and his family […] The reason that he was a craftsman and had time to work with things – quilts, wood, horn, leather – this was a 24 hours a day, six days a week. He was relieved of duty on Saturday morning at 7, and at Sunday morning 7, he was back on duty.JoAnn Pospisil: I have a question about the material. Do you know anything about his choice, why he chose red and white?Fred: Yes, ma’am. It was probably the only material that Raymond ever bought. Red and white are standard fire colors whether that was bought at Ayre’s or Beall’s or Kresses’ or Woolworth’s, we don’t know. But his other two quilts were from remnants, from where our clothes and other things were made in the home, cut up, we know that. But I happen to know that this is the only material that Raymond ever bought, just because there wasn’t anything large enough, red and white, around the house.The city sold the fire station in 1948 in Paris, and that was the first time we had to find a home. Daddy had a home, they built a new fire station, but it was manned by paid firemen… The fire station was on the right. The residence in the center and on your left is the porch were we spent a lot of our time. And Raymond did a lot of his sewing in his lap on that porch […] from 1933 to 1948 and then Daddy didn’t do any more quilts. You can read more quilt stories on the Quilters’ S.O.S.- Save Our Stories page on the Quilt Alliance site.Posted by Emma ParkerProject Manager, Quilters’ S.O.S.- Save Our…
by Quilt Alliance | Dec 6, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1884, the Washington monument, the 550-foot obelisk that stands in the middle of Washington, D.C.’s Capitol Mall was completed. Plans for the architectural tribute were started only 10 days after Washington’s death. Designers in competition for the design were challenged to reflect Washington’s “stupendousness and elegance.” The winning architect was Robert Mills from South Carolina. Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley, a former slave, made this Liberty Medallion quilt around 1870 in Washington, D.C. The 85.5” square silk quilt is pieced, appliqued and embroidered. It was documented by its owner during the Kentucky 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/monument-to-washington-completed Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Dec 4, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1720, cross-dressing English pirate Mary Read died in prison in Jamaica. She was pregnant at the time. Read lived her life as a man on and off throughout her life. As a girl, her mother dressed her as a boy to gain favor and funding from her grandmother. Mary’s half-brother had died recently and her mother hoped to fool the woman to gain her husband’s inheritance. Mary continued to live as a boy and after serving as a footman, sought work as a sailor, joining a band of Caribbean pirates eventually. Peggy Scott of Arapahoe, of North Carolina, made this Little Boy’s Britches quilt in the 1930’s. Scott machine pieced this 77.5” x 78.5” with scraps and hand quilted it with the help of neighbors. She documented her quilt in 1996 as part of the North Carolina 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://womenshistory.about.com/od/femalepirates/ss/Mary-Read-Pirate.htm Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Dec 2, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1972, Motown Records pop sensation, the Temptations, earn a #1 hit with their song Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone.” The five-man group was formed in the 1960’s in Detroit, Michigan and hit the Billboard Hot 100 chart with 38 songs. Sovilla Mast Schrock, a member of the Arthur, Illinois Amish community, made this Rolling Stone (or Rolling Star) quilt around 1940. Schrock machine pieced and hand quilted the 74” x 85” quilt that is now part of the permanent collection of the Illinois State Museum. 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/the-temptations-earn-their-final-1-hit-with-quotpapa-was-a-rolling-stonequot Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Dec 1, 2013 | QSOS Spotlight, Uncategorized
This year has certainly flown by here at the Quilt Alliance; I can hardly believe today is the first day of December and that we’re headed into the home stretch of 2013! This week’s Q.S.O.S. Spotlight is on an interview with Irene Fankhouser of Nebraska. Irene was interviewed 4 years ago–also on the first day of December!–in 2009. Irene brought a beautiful king-sized quilt with her for her Q.S.O.S. interview that took 5 generations of clothing, 10 years to make and was the winner of a 10 dollar prize: SharonAnn Louden (interviewer): […] Irene, would you please tell us about the quilt that you brought in today? Irene Fankhouser: Yes, it is a king size Grandmother’s Flower Garden pattern that was about ten years in the making and it’s fabric from clothing that my grandmother, and my aunt, and myself and my three daughters and four granddaughters had from clothing that we made. I helped them sew when they were young and they made quite a few of there own so I thought this was a good way to utilize it. I didn’t have any idea what to do with it for all these years and one day I got an ad in the mail that had a pattern for this flower garden quilt and I thought that’s it that’s what I’m going to use. SL: What special meaning does this quilt have for you then? IF: Well, it is because it has all this fabric in it from five generations of the women in our family. Some of them are long gone so I saved all that I guess you could call me a saver. I just felt this was a good way to use it and make it more meaningful for our family… SL: What do you think someone viewing your quilt might conclude about you? IF: Well, like I said I’m a saver [laughs.] and probably that I have a lot of patience because it does take a long time to sew all the little hexagons together and it’s all hand stitched and hand quilted although I didn’t do the quilting […] I won a certificate at the Johnson County Fair from a quilt shop in Pawnee City [Nebraska.] It was for the best hand stitched and hand quilted quilt for which I was very proud of. It was a $10.00 certificate. [laughs.] I didn’t get around to using it until this past year. You can read more quilt stories on the Quilters’ S.O.S.- Save Our Stories page on the Quilt Alliance site. Posted by Emma Parker Project Manager, Quilters’ S.O.S.- Save Our Stories…
