Q.S.O.S. Spotlight
Every year I get so excited to see the quilts that roll into Quilt Alliance HQ as entries in our yearly contest. They’re always a stunning, cheerful and diverse group of quilts. It’s amazing to see how differently each quiltmaker interprets that year’s theme. This year, the theme was ‘Inspired By’ — each entrant chose a quilt from the Quilt Index or the Q.S.O.S. project, then made a quilt inspired by their pick. The Members’ Choice winner this year was Pauline Salzman, for her quilt News Hounds. She was inspired by Jamie Fingal’s quilt, Soul Sisters, from the Quilt Index. Pauline was interviewed for the Q.S.O.S. Project in 2000, and we’ve featured a bit of her interview below. Congratulations, Pauline, and to all the rest of the fantastic quiltmakers who submitted quilts to this year’s contest! Pauline shared the story of starting over — re-quilting a quilt in response to a comment she’d gotten at a quilt show. Pauline Salzman: This quilt was Best of Show at the P & B. It was a challenge quilt, challenge fabric and I did this as a challenge so the choices of fabric were not mine necessarily but I like challenges because they make me expand my horizons. So 95%–75% of this quilt had to be that series of fabrics. Some of them are turned upside-down, and one of them is used on the backside. This quilt traveled for one year as best of show but then went to other shows and did okay and won a few awards but came home two weeks ago. They always come with critiques and the critique was a woman didn’t like how I quilted the body parts. They were inappropriate. And I thought, ‘What a stupid comment.’ So I unrolled the quilt and I realized she was right. And I ripped all of the body parts and re-quilted them. I ripped the hair and I requilted it. I am now going to rip the shirt and the pants and the fish and requilt them. I won’t do anything with the background but one of the reasons I enter quilt shows is not just to win a prize but to get a critique and learn. And sometimes the critiques are valid and sometimes they’re not. Sometimes they’re stupid. This, however, was a valid critique and I learned something. While it was a pain to rip it all, it looks a hundred times better than what it did. And these jeans and this shirt are going to look better. And because I want this to be the best I can do, to me it’s worth ripping and redoing, because it’s a learning experience. Jo Greenlaw: How was it quilted before? Pauline Salzman: It was kind of quilted in snail’s trails following the bodies’ curves. But they didn’t make you feel like the body was rolling. You didn’t feel the curvatures. They were there but you didn’t feel them like you do here. You didn’t feel the toes. And here, you didn’t feel the shirt moving like you should. It has movement but it’s quilting that’s there and not doing anything. Like, this is the sand and I can go with this for grounding, and here’s some leaves, and up here are bigger leaves because it’s in the background. You can see the leaves–they’re straight lines with–whatever. You see the leaves here? And I’m a free hand quilter. And it is important for me to fill a space not just with stitching but with something that means something or gives texture or feeling to the piece.” Have you ever finished quilting a quilt, just to re-do it all over again? 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 …
read moreAddie and Louise and a Wild Goose Chase.
On this day in 1916, future car racing legend Louise Smith is born in Barnsville, Georgia. Smith was the first woman to be inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame. She was recruited for the fledgling National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) circuit by a promoter named Bill Frances who was looking to attract new spectators by featuring a female driver. Smith was known locally for outrunning law enforcement and agreed to race at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in a 1939 Ford, finishing third. Addie Sims Hardiman made this Wild Goose Chase quilt around 1905. The quilt was hand and machine pieced and hand quilted and is 74” x 78”. Hardiman made the quilt in Georgia, but it was documented during the Quilts of Tennessee project by the family member who inherited it. 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/first-lady-of-nascar-louise-smith-born Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance amy.milne@quiltalliance.org 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://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/4500/Walton-Lester-A-1882-1965.html Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
read moreSinging Corners and Wet Tenors.
On this day in 1991, Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti (1935-2007) gave a free concert in London’s Hyde Park to celebrate his 30 years in opera. Because of a rainstorm, only 100,000 of the expected 250,000 spectators attended the concert. It was still the biggest turnout at Hyde Park since the Rolling Stones performed there in 1969. Minnie Carter Martin, who worked days in a lumber mill, handmade this quilt in 1932 in Knoxville, Tennessee. The pattern name is called Swallow’s Nest, alternately called Turkey Tracks or Singing Corners. Martin made the quilt for her great niece, who documented the quilt during 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://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/30/newsid_2491000/2491731.stm Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance amy.milne@quiltalliance.org 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://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/4500/Walton-Lester-A-1882-1965.html Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
read moreThe Space Quilt.
On this day in 1958, the United States Congress passed legislation formally inaugurating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). One year earlier the Soviet Union launched the first satellite into orbit around the earth, causing U.S. officials embarrassment and resolve to create a focused and organized space program. Sue Nickels and sister Pat Holly, both of Ann Arbor, Michigan, made this machine pieced, appliqued and quilted piece, titled “The Space Quilt” in 2004. The quilt is part of the Founder’s Collection of the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky, and won the Bernina Excellence in Machine Workmanship Award in the 2004 American Quilter’s Society Quilt Contest. Visit Sue Nickel’s website to read about this quilt, a tribute to Sue and Pat’s father and a promotion of the U.S. Space Program. 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/nasa-established Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance amy.milne@quiltalliance.org 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://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/4500/Walton-Lester-A-1882-1965.html Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
read moreCreative Assistance.
On this day in 1978, the world’s first “test tube” baby was born. Louise Joy Brown was conceived by her parents, Lesley and Peter Brown, via in vitro fertilization (IVF). Brown’s younger sister Natalie was born four years later, becoming the world’s 40th IVF baby. This Baby Blocks quilt is actually a wholecloth quilt made from pre-printed fabric and tied with red yarn. It was made in Connecticut by an unnamed quiltmaker between 1876-1900 and was documented in The Quilt Index as part of the Connecticut Quilt Search in 1996. 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/worlds-first-test-tube-baby-born Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance amy.milne@quiltalliance.org 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://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/4500/Walton-Lester-A-1882-1965.html Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
read moreEye of the Tiger Lily.
On this day in 1982, “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor hit the top of the U.S. pop charts. This hit from the third of five “Rocky” films (actor/director Sylvester Stallone) held top billing on the chart for 6 weeks. The first hit from the boxing series was “Gonna Fly Now (Theme from Rocky).” Anna Lee Girard of West Virginia, hand appliqued, pieced and quilted this Tiger Lily (alternately named Meadow or Wood Lily) quilt in 1881. Anna Lee was a housewife in rural Mason county in the central part of the state, and purchased new fabric to create this quilt. The lucky 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 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/quoteye-of-the-tigerquot-from-rocky-iii-tops-the-us-pop-charts Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
read moreDeath of a President and Birth of a Quilt.
On this day in 1885, Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant) died of throat cancer at the age of 63. Grant, born in Point Pleasant, Ohio, served as the 18th President of the United States (1869-1877) and was commanding general of the Union army during the Civil War. This Courthouse Steps quilt was made by an unknown quilter in nearby Cincinnati, Ohio in 1885. It was documented in the North Carolina Quilt Project by a relative of the quiltmaker. 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/former-president-ulysses-s-grant-dies Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
read moreZinnia Variation.
On this day in 1848, Lester Aglar Walton was appointed as U.S. minister to Liberia. Walton was mainly known as a diplomat and a journalist. He was the first African American to write for a daily paper, the St. Louis Star, from 1902 to 1906. He was also active in the late twentieth century entertainment world as a songwriter and an advocate for other African American artists. Leona Johnson of Monrovia, Liberia hand pieced and hand appliqued this Zinnia Variation quilt in 1992. From this Quilt Index record: The quilt was brought to Flint, Michigan by the maker’s sister’s son, Rev. Emmanuel Bailey. Emmanual goes to Monrovia, Liberia about every 6 months to see his relatives and to work on the building of an orphanage for the victims of war. He put his order in for these quilts last January and then picked them up in August. He brought back 12 quilts this time, took them in mid October to the International Institute of Flint’s fall sale and sold four. We purchased two at $250 each for the MSU Museum. The remaining quilts will be shown Brethren United Methodist Quilt Show in mid-November. Many Liberian quilters are decendents of American Slaves. Popular patterns include the Lone Star and Wig Rose (or Zinnia variation). 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://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/4500/Walton-Lester-A-1882-1965.html Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
read moreCourageous.
On this day in 1918, Nelson Mandela, South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician and philanthropist was born in village of Mvezo in Umtata. Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and died in December 2013. Carolyn Crump made this quilt, titled “Courageous,” around 2011 in Houston, Texas. The piece is 43 1/2″ x 56″ and features machine piecing and applique, ink drawing, and painting. Text inscriptions on the quilt include: “Votes for All” “Freedom in Our Lifetime” “Equal Pay For All” “Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela” “A Long Walk To Freedom” “Away with Passes” “Post Mandela Life or Death Trial” “Apartheid Unjust 1963 1990” “46664.” The quilt is now in the collection of Michigan State University 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://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
read moreOrange Groves and Peels.
On this day in 1955, Walt Disney’s first theme park, Disneyland, opened in Anaheim, California, built for $17 million on 160 acres of former orange groves. Today more than 14 million people visit Disneyland and spend close to $3 billion. Ellen (or Mary) Cline White hand pieced and hand quilted this Sunflower and Orange Peel quilt around 1840. The quilt was made in California but ended up in Tennessee, where it was documented by 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/disneyland-opens Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
read moreIrvine Talents.
On this day in 1967, comedian and actor Will Ferrell was born in Irvine, California, the son of Betty Kay, a teacher, and Roy Lee Ferrell Jr., a musician with The Righteous Brothers. His parents were both natives of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, and moved to California in 1964. Emma Hotchkiss Irvine of Kentucky made this exciting Crazy Quilt in 1883. Emma was a direct descendent, through her father Benoni Hotchkiss, of Ambrose Doolittle, a private from Connecticut during the Revolutionary War. The quilt is now part of the permanent collection of the DAR 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: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Ferrell Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
read morePortraits from Holland and South Africa.
On this day in 1606, Dutch master painter Rembrandt van Rijn was born in Leiden, South Holland, the son of a miller. Rembrandt, who painted more than 100 self-portraits during his lifetime, lost favor as a fashionable portrait artist, and was bankrupt by 1656. However, after this financial downfall, Rembrandt produced some of his most celebrated works. South African artist Phina Nkosi of Soweto, South Africa, made this quilt, titled “Anti-Apartheid Portraits.” It features portraits of women important in the anti-apartheid struggle. This quilt was included in a national exhibition of crafts shown at the Craft Council of South, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2004. It was acquired by the MSU Museum during a bi-national South African Cultural Heritage Project, for which the museum was a lead US partner. 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/rembrandt-born Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
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