by Quilt Alliance | Mar 25, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On This Day in History Quilt for March 25: On this day in 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory in New York City burned down killing 146 workers, mostly young immigrant women. Many of the victims died due to locked exterior doors, faulty elevators and fire escapes. The workers’ union organized a march on April 5 and some 80,000 people attended it. The disaster compelled the city to enact labor and fire safety reforms. The nonprofit Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition was founded in 2008 to establish a permanent memorial for the victims and promote new collaborations between communities to continue the fight for social justice for all. Eugenia Mitchell made this quilt, titled “1911 Swatches of Gibson Girl Shirtwaist Batiste” in 1970. Mitchell made the quilt out of fabric samples from her aunt, Emma Hartmeister, who was a dressmaker in St. Louis, Missouri. This is one of the original 101 quilts donated by Mitchell of Golden, CO, to start the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum. 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/triangle-shirtwaist-fire-in-new-york-city http://rememberthetrianglefire.org/about-2/about/ Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Mar 24, 2013 | Uncategorized
Can I Call Myself a Quilter? Michele Rae Muska That’s a question I have been asking myself for years. I’ve made a few quilts in my life but it’s not the only medium I work in. I always thought the title of “Quilter” came with the honor of living and breathing quilts and making them every day. And wouldn’t I also need a large body of work to back it up! I only have a few handfuls. I made my first quilt when I was about nine. My Mom had taught me to sew on her old cast iron Kenmore with a knee pedal..(oh I wish I still had that machine) and it was what I sewed that sweet little nine patch out of all of the scarps from her stash. It was filled with squares and half triangles from my school and party dresses and of course some of hers. She made amazing clothes from those gorgeous Vogue patterns with the chic women on the front. That was her to a T. That quilt was with me for years. My husband and I used it for picnics and my little boys would sit upon it in the backyard when they first learned to sit up. We found it awhile back and it was worn and tattered with love like an old teddy bear. I will have to see if I can find it again. My Mom and her sisters were my creative inspiration from the beginning. They were painters, quilters, farmers, gardeners and wonderful cooks! My Mom doesn’t do all of those but she is creative right down to her soul and doesn’t even know it. She will often ask me, “where did you get all this from?” She answers herself every time the same way: “it must be from my sisters and Aunt Sadie, she was a quilter”. Oh, and Aunt Sadie, Fern and Mercy are a whole blog post in themselves! The women in my Mom’s family were pioneers in Northern Maine’s Aroostook County. Fur wearing, deer hunting, trout fishing, potato farming women. Recently I was walked the show at Quiltcon and had such a wonderful time, I truly felt at home. While I was viewing the quilts I heard some of the attendees talking about being a quilter and what does it mean, they were from a more traditional background and weren’t sure about what they were looking at. I can venture to say that most of us probably started that way. I met up with Luella Doss, fabulous fabric designer and artist and I think she summed it all up for our little group that had gather to discuss this thought. “They are all just a fabric sandwich and everyone loves sandwiches, right?” (or very close to that). Yes, a sandwich with thread I added. So I think that was my answer, if I make a fabric sandwich with thread I’m a quilter. I love each piece I work on like it’s a dear friend. That’s probably why it takes so long to finish one… I want it to stay around so we can spend time together! So even though my Mom has only made one quilt I think she’s a quilter too. And with that said I guess I am too. It is truly an honor to be among the women and men that call themselves “Quilter” Michele Muska Michele is a fiber/textile artist and the Marketing Communications Manager for Simplicity Creative Group which includes the brand EZ Quilting. Her fiber jewelry is sold at museum shops and boutiques across the country. Michele’s designs and quilts have appeared in national craft, quilt and food publications as well as on air in Quilting Arts, It’s Sew Easy and Creative Memories. Michele joined The Quilt Alliance as a board member 3 years ago and focuses on business membership and is on the development committee. You can see more of her work at…
by Quilt Alliance | Mar 22, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On This Day in History Quilt for March 22: On this day in 1894 the first Stanley Cup hockey championship was played in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley, named governor general of Canada in 1888, was an ice hockey fan along with his sons and daughters and donated the lavish trophy first to the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. First called the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, the trophy was renamed the Stanley Cup in the first challenge series in 1894 won by Montreal. Quiltmaker Lura Stanley finished this Flower Basket quilt in 1978 and it was documented as part of the Blue Ridge Parkway Folklife Project Collection. The project identified and documented practitioners of traditional customs in the communities of North Carolina and Virginia along a section of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The project was conducted by the Library of Congress’s American Folklife Center in cooperation with the National Park Service. 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/first-stanley-cup-championship-played Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Mar 21, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On This Day in History Quilt for March 21: On this day in 1866 American astronomer Antonia Maury was born in Cold Spring, New York. Antonia’s grandfather and uncle, John William and Henry Draper, were both pioneering astronomers and exposed the Maury’s children to science at a young age. Antonia graduated from Vassar College in 1887 with honors and went on to study at the Harvard College Observatory, where she worked as a “Harvard Computer” (a group of highly skilled women who processed astronomical data). This quilt, titled “Austin Halley 86” was made in 1979 by Kathleen L. Briggs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. From this record: “Designed as part of a series on astronomy. To commemorate Halley’s comet, which was visible in Austin, Texas, but not in Milwaukee. Each fill in section has a different design as an historical record of the comets.” The inscription on the quilt includes the exact time Briggs finished the quilt: 9:00 p.m. CDT 09/02/86. Documented during the Wisconsin Quilt History 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://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonia_Maury Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Mar 20, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On This Day in History Quilt for March 20: On this day in 1854 the Republican Party was founded in Ripon, Wisconsin. The group, who were form members of the Whig Party (formed in 1854 to oppose President Andrew Jackson), wanted to establish a new part party to oppose the spread of slavery into the western territories. The first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, was elected in 1860. Mary Elizabeth Stark of Newburg, Iowa hand pieced and hand quilted this Ocean Waves quilt using sewing scraps between 1860-1890. A relative of the quiltmaker documented the quilt in 1988 during the Iowa Quilt Research Project, who noted: “Mary Elizabeth was a pioneer in bringing Farm Bureau and Extension lessons to rural women. She was one of the first women active in Republican politics.” 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/republican-party-founded Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
