by Quilt Alliance | Jun 23, 2013 | QSOS Spotlight
Summer is officially here! And with it, plenty of trips to the pool, glasses of lemonade, beach visits and especially summer road trips! In this week’s Q.S.O.S. Spotlight, Joyce Saia shares her story of making a quilt on the road, complete with an emergency fabric order and a stop at a laundromat!”Well, my quilt is called “Logs and Leaves” because obviously I’ve got the Log Cabin blocks and the leaves in the border. It’s 80″ by 80″ and I made this in Beaumont. Actually, I finished it in Beaumont, Texas but I made most of it while I was on the road. Every year my husband and I travel for about four and a half months in the motor home. I always take my sewing machine and my supplies and as much fabric as I can sneak on board. This particular quilt I made in 2009. I knew that I wanted to make a log cabin quilt and I had a collection of Cherrywood fabrics. Before we went on the trip, I cut a whole bunch of fabric strips. So I just took strips, I didn’t have to take a bunch of fabric with me on the road. I made myself a block and copied it on paper foundations and took that with me. On the road, anytime we would stop for a couple of days, I would sew. I just made blocks most of the summer. When I had them about done and when I got to Pasco, Washington, I have a daughter in Pasco who quilts; we went to her Bernina store or the one where she frequents. They happened to have this embroidery pattern that was with leaves called “Colors of Autumn”. The rest of the way I embroidered. But first I didn’t have enough fabric to make the border out of. So we ran to Anacortes, Washington and I had the number for Cherrywood. I called Cherrywood fabrics and talked to Carla there and said I needed some yardage quickly because we were moving. I couldn’t stand and wait for mail to come. I didn’t know for sure what color, but I thought chocolate brown was safe, I know what color that was. I asked her for chocolate brown. She shipped two yards of chocolate brown to me by priority mail. She sent it that day and I had it about two days later and then of course went to a laundromat and washed the fabric. I ironed it and then started cutting it into strips to make the border. The embroidery design I just made up as I went along. I put one design in the center and then I just made four borders the same. I couldn’t put it together on the trip because I can’t put a big quilt together in my motor home. I had it all ready to go for when I got home. Then I put the quilt together and did the border. For the binding I found a stripe that was the perfect coloring. I found the embroidery design that seemed to just match it perfect. It’s actually appliquéd but it has embroidery on it. It’s one of my favorite quilts.” You can read more stories about quilting on-the-go AND at home at the Quilters’ S.O.S.- Save Our Stories page on the Alliance’s site.Posted by Emma ParkerProject Manager, Quilters’ S.O.S.- Save Our…
by Quilt Alliance | Jun 21, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1964, three civil rights workers were murdered by a Ku Klux Klan lynch mob near the town of Meridian, Mississippi. The murders of James Chaney, a 21-year-old black man from Meridian; Andrew Goodman, a 20-year-old white Jewish anthropology student from New York; and Michael Schwerner, a 24-year-old white Jewish CORE organizer and former social worker also from New York, demonstrated the dangers faced by civil rights workers in the South, especially during what became known as “Freedom Summer”, dedicated to voter education and registration. April Shipp of Auburn Hills, Michigan made this quilt, titled “Strange Fruit” in 2003, which includes hundreds of names of victims of lynchings and their states, along with two rope nooses. Shipp wrote, “Strange Fruit is named after a song by the late Billie Holiday, and it’s dedicated to Ida Bell Wells-Barnett, an African American Newspaper journalist born in 1862, who fought for an anti-lynching law…The textures represent their position in life, i.e. silk, cotton, and denim. In making this Quilt, I learned that it did not matter who you were. Just ask Detective Albert Parker (lynched 1868) or Reverend L.C. Baldwin (murdered 1956). It did not matter how old you were. Just ask Virgil Ware, age 13 (murdered 1963) or the 3 murdered children of Thomas Harris. It could happen to anyone, anywhere, and anytime. I did this Quilt in loving memory of my people, people I have never met, people whose names are not only woven into the fabric of this Quilt, but also into the fabric of my heart. This Quilt is truly a miracle!” Shipp’s quilt was documented during the Michigan Quilt Project. 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. Sources: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-kkk-kills-three-civil-rights-activists Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Jun 20, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the admission of West Virginia into the Union as the 35th U.S. state (or 24th when secession of the 11 Southern states is taken into account). Church members made this Applique Sampler Signature quilt for the Reverand Daniel Hitt Kincheloe Dix in 1860. The quilt is owned by a descendant of Dix’s who was a circuit rider for the Methodist Episcopal Church in West Virginia in the towns of Cameron (1859), Grave Creek (1860), New Martinsville (1861-1862). Dix was also a member of the West Virginia Senate 1865-1870. The quilt, which includes dimensional hand applique and embroidery, was documented during the Signature Quilt Project by Nan Moore of Florida. 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. Sources: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/west-virginia-enters-the-union Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Jun 19, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1970, Manhattan native Carole King earned her first #1 single, a double-sided hit with two songs she wrote and performed: “It’s Too Late” and “I Feel the Earth Move.” Before this King earned her living as a songwriter for Aldon Music for whom she co-wrote hit songs like “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and “Take Good Care of My Baby” with her then-husband Gerry Goffin. Carole S. Filipi Bors of Saline, Nebraska made this embroidered quilt in 1972. The quilt was meant as a gift for a teacher and Bors hired another someone to do the hand quilting. This record states, “Quiltmaker typically charged 30 dollars for quilts.” The quilt was documented in 1987 as part of the Nebraska Quilt Project. 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. Sources: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/carole-king-has-her-first-1-hit-as-a-performer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carole_King Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Jun 18, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1923, the first Checker cab rolled off the assembly line at the Checker Cab Manufacturing Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The company with the familiar checkerboard graphic produced cabs in Michigan until 1982. Nellie (Shea) Neal, a Methodist homemaker from Hoxie, Kansas who learned to quilt from a friend, hand pieced this 9 Patch Checkerboard quilt between 1937-38. The quilt was documented during the Kansas Quilt Project by its current owner, Ingrid Neal, also of Hoxie. 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. Sources: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/checker-cab-produces-first-taxi-at-kalamazoo-factory Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
