by Quilt Alliance | Nov 20, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1827, abolitionist and educator Emily Howland was born in Sherwood, New York. Howland taught the children of freed slaves in Washington, D.C. In 1857, she built a school in Sherwood and personally founded and financially supported fifty other schools for emancipated slaves. She taught in several of these schools and was also active in local to national suffrage movements. Myla Perkins machine pieced, hand appliqued and machine quilted this quilt, titled “Underground Railroad” (or Grandmother’s Fan variation), in 1984. Perkins made the quilt when she was a member of The Quilting Six group, a small quilting circle in Detroit, Michigan made up of former sorority sisters, college friendships and two sets of sisters. The quilt is owned by the 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://www.howlandstonestore.org/#history Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Nov 18, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1945, Wilma Pearl Mankiller, who would become the first female chief of he Cherokee Nation, was born in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. She was the sixth of eleven children; her father was full-blooded Cherokee and his mother was a Caucasian of Dutch and Irish descent. Mankiller received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998 for her work on the relationship between the Federal Government and the Cherokee Nation. This “Indian Boys and Girls Quilt” was made by the Senior Citizens Sewing Club in Cherokee, North Carolina in 1996. The piece was machine and hand pieced and hand quilted by the group who “meet each Wednesday to make quilts, share stories, discuss tribal politics, and speak the Cherokee language.” The quilt is now in the collection of the 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/Wilma_Mankiller Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Nov 15, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1864, Union General William T. Sherman began his march from Atlanta to the coast. Sherman’s army destroyed Atlanta and much of the rest of Georgia on their way to capture the Confederate seaport of Savannah. This brown and gray wool “General Sherman’s Quilt” was made in Nebraska. The record shows that the quilt, which included another red quilt as batting, was “bought in 1980 on a bus trip to Colorado with the Tamburitzans – National Festival… (the) owner was freezing on the buss and stopped at Buffalo Bill Restaurant store (for) $15 or $30 each.” The owner, Mini Bizic, of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, documented the quilt in 2010 as part of the Western Pennsylvania Quilt Documentation 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/the-march-to-the-sea-begins Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Nov 13, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1982, the Vietnam Memorial, designed by Yale University architecture student Maya Lin, was dedicated in Washington, D.C. The monument is a simple v-shaped black granite wall inscribed with the names of 57,939 Americans who died in the war, arranged in order of the date of their death versus their rank. This Double Irish Chain Crib Quilt was entirely handmade by an unknown quiltmaker in 1830 and was purchased for the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum from Kathi LaTourette of Evergreen, Colorado through memorial donations for Staff Seargant Joshua Ryan Hager, the son of a museum member who was killed while serving in Iraq in 2007. LaTourette lost her first husband in the Vietnam War and had a son who also served in Iraq. RMQM is so pleased to house this crib quilt as a symbol of a mother’s love for her child, and in keeping with that, as a symbol of new life that each child begins. Last, in tribute, that we may be reminded always, that mothers before, in the present, and mothers still to come, have and will lose their children to war. 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/vietnam-veterans-memorial-dedicated Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Nov 11, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1918, World War I (also known as the Great War) ended at 11 a.m. when German forces, low on manpower and supplies and facing certain invasion, signed an armistice agreement with the Allies outside of Compiegne, France. The war left 9 million soldiers dead and 21 million wounded, and at least 5 million civilians died from disease, starvation or exposure. In honor of Veteran’s Day I’d like to spotlight two quilts and their makers whose work is documented in the Quilt Index, one made for a solider and one made by a military nurse. Sallie Allen Watson of Knoxville, Tennessee hand pieced and hand quilted this “Soldier’s Quilt” (or “Peony Variation”) around 1944 for her grandson-in-law, who was serving in World War II at the time. The quilt was documented during the Quilts of Tennessee project by a relative of Watson’s. Amanda J. Wright of Lake Providence, Louisiana hand appliqued, pieced and quilted this wool feedsack Strip quilt. Wright was born in Natchez, Mississippi and learned to quilt from her slave parents. She served as a nurse in the Civil War and her husband was a Confederate soldier. She died in 1929. The quilt was documented during the Louisiana Quilt Documentation Project by one of Wright’s family members in 2005. View these quilts on The Quilt Index by clicking on the images above. Read more about each quilt’s 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/world-war-i-ends Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Nov 8, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1900, author Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Mitchell was a free spirit fascinated with writing and stories as a child. After leaving Smith College to help her family, she took a job as a journalist for the Atlanta Journal to make ends meet, earning $25 per week. Injuries forced her to quit and it was during this time that she began writing the book that would make her famous, “Gone with the Wind.” She died in 1949 from injuries sustained when she was struck by a taxi in downtown Atlanta. This quilt, titled “Whisper to the Wind,” was made by Cheri Rabourn of Lee’s Summit, Missouri in 2011 for the Quilt Alliance’s “Alliances” contest. From Cheri’s artist statement: “I dedicate this quilt to my Niece – “Shonda full of beauty and grace may the sun shine softly up on your face. You’re a free spirit loving and kind sent to this earth for blessings to find. As a gentle breeze blows through your hair, whisper to the wind all your hopes, dreams and prayers.” The annual Quilt Alliance quilt auction, titled TWENTY this year, begins Monday, November 11. Starting Monday at 9pm Eastern, you’ll be able to view and bid on the Week One quilts on eBay.com by searching for “Quilt Alliance”. As soon as the auction is live we’ll also post links our website, blog and FB page. Thanks in advance for helping to make this important fundraiser a success! 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/Margaret_Mitchell Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
