by Quilt Alliance | Aug 12, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1990, self-taught fossil hunter Susan Hendrickson discovered three large bones jutting out of a click near Faith, South Dakota. The bones turned out to be the largest Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton ever discovered. The nearly 90 percent complete 65 million-year-old remains were later dubbed Sue. Carrie Elizabeth McLane Flannery of Faith, South Dakota, won a Blue Ribbon for this Crazy Quilt in the South Dakota State Fair. Flannery made the quilt between 1901-1926, and the current owner documented the quilt during the Minnesota Quilt Project in the 1990’s. View this quilt on The Quilt Index to read more about its history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view. Source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/skeleton-of-tyrannosaurus-rex-discovered http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/meet-dinosaur-expert-sue-hendrickson Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Aug 11, 2013 | Uncategorized
Now that August’s in full swing, it seems like reminders of Back to School time are unavoidable. From television commercials to the fresh pencils in the school supply aisle, everyone’s gearing up for a new school year! For some families, the start of a new academic year is bittersweet as older children move on to college or new careers and parents are left with an “empty nest”. Today’s Q.S.O.S. spotlight features two quiltmakers who found quilting after their children “flew the coop”. Fran Randolph of Georgia talked about quilting as a distraction when her youngest son joined the Air Force: “I started about 6 years ago. Basically I have always been a crafter, and have always done some kind of crafting. I had been doing counted cross-stitch mostly recently, and I just, and I’ll tell you how old now that I’m more than 50, my eyes are not getting as good at seeing those teeny little stitches. It was more than my little eyeballs could handle [laughs.] so I was looking for a new venue to do my crafts and a gal from our church was doing some quilts with some others… So about 6 years ago my youngest son went away to the Air Force and I decided I needed a new venue to fill in the emptiness in my world and I picked up quiltmaking and its picked me up. I’ve become a little bit compulsive with it [laughs.]…” The departure of her youngest child for college encouraged Kathie Lombard of Maine to start quilting: “The earliest memory I have about quilting was when I was about eight and hearing mymother, my grandmother and her sister talking about colors and cutting up clothes to make quilts and all that. I thought, this was just not for me. Then later in my life ’empty nest syndrome’ came along and when my last child, my only daughter, left home, I felt that deeply in my heart and that’s when I thought, ‘I’m going to pull out that quilt that my Canadian grandmother made for me, which was a wedding present.’ I copied the pattern, just on paper, not knowing what I was doing, and made my daughter a quilt of that pattern to take with her when she went to college, because that quilt meant a lot to me and I just wanted to give her something that would connect her to home. I probably made every mistake known to quilters in that quilt, but she loved it and she wore it out. That’s what I had wanted her to do. That was my beginning anyway.” Want to keep reading? You can find more quilt stories at the Quilters’ S.O.S.- Save Our Stories page on the Alliance’s site. Posted by Emma Parker Project Manager, Quilters’ S.O.S.- Save Our Stories…
by Quilt Alliance | Aug 9, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1933, Sylvia Leigh Doane (Milne) was born in Mansfield, Pennsylvania. Her father, John, was a doctor who made house calls and her mother, Gertrude, was a college educated mother of four who sewed many of her own clothes. Sylvia’s favorite place in Mansfield: the town library, a short walk down the block from her Victorian home. Happy Birthday, Mom, from The Quilt Index and your girl! Thanks for teaching me to love libraries and stories and a bunch of other great stuff. Susan Nattrass and Sylvia Blade of Hudson Florida made this quilt, titled “You Say It’s Your Birthday (from the Beatles White Album)” in 2008 for Nattrass’s husband on the occasion of his 59th birthday. Mr. Nattrass documented the quilt in 2010 during the Florida Quilt Project. View this quilt on The Quilt Index to read more about its history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansfield,_Pennsylvania Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Aug 8, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1950, American Florence Chadwick swam the English Channel from France to England in 13 hours and 20 minutes, breaking the record of Gertrude Ederle. In 1951, she became the first woman to swim from England to France, making her the first woman to swim the channel in both directions. And unnamed quilter from Alva, Wyoming made this Crazy Quilt between 1950-75. The quilt is a “summer quilt,” no batting, but backed and bound. Scrap fabrics including old garments were used to make the quilt. The record notes: “Some fabrics indicate a post-war Asian connection; a windsurfer in 1940s’ swim trunks with “Samoa” and “Phillippines” printed on it; another has oriental figures with Japanese? Calligraphy; a Balinese dancer with multi-tiered pagoda– may be from a tie…” The quiltmaker’s paternal granddaughter inherited the quilt and documented it during the Wyoming Quilt Project in 2003. View this quilt on The Quilt Index to read more about its history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_May_Chadwick Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Aug 7, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1782, General George Washington created the “Badge for Military Merit,” a purple heart-shaped piece of silk, edged with silver with the word “Merit” stitched across the face in silver. Only three known soldiers were awarded the “Purple Heart” during the Revolutionary War. An unnamed Green County, Pennsylvania quiltmaker created this machine and hand pieced and hand quilted purple and white Hearts and Gizzards quilt in 1925. The family member who inherited the quilt documented it during the West Virginia Heritage Quilt Search in 1992. View this quilt on The Quilt Index to read more about its history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view. Source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/washington-creates-the-purple-heart Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
