by Quilt Alliance | Oct 25, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1771, career midwife Catherine Kaidyee Blaikley died in Williamsburg, Virginia. Blaikley was widowed early in her marriage and to maintain her inheritance she took up leasing rooms and midwifery. At the time of her death the Virginia Gazette praised Blaikley for delivering more than three thousand children.” Edna Cable Stanton of Tennessee hand pieced and appliqued this Shooting Star quilt around 1885. The Quilt Index record states: “Edna Stanton was a midwife and farmer, widowed when her husband died in the Civil War. Anna Stout did the quilting in 1953. She died in 1984 at the age of 96.” A family member 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://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Blaikley_Catherine_Kaidyee_ca_1695-ca_1771#start_entry Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Oct 24, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1901, Annie Edson Taylor, a 63-year-old schoolteacher, became the first person to ride over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Taylor’s husband died in the Civil War, and afterwards she moved all over the U.S. before finally settling down in Bay City, Michigan in 1898. Taylor heard of the falls and the upcoming Pan-American Exposition to be held in Buffalo, N.Y. and planned the stunt seeking cash and fame. Mary Ann Lawson of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, machine pieced and hand quilted this Lady of the Lake quilt in 1940. Lawson’s granddaughter received the quilt as a gift and documented it in 1989 as part of the Heritage Quilt Project of New Jersey. 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-barrel-ride-down-niagara-falls Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Oct 23, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1905, American competitive swimmer Gertrude (Trudy) Ederle was born in New York City, the daughter of German immigrants. Ederle became the first woman to swim across the English Channel in 1926. Loretta K. Reardon of Lansing, Michigan, a swimmer and a quilter, hand quilted this Hour Glass pattern quilt, titled “Lap Swimming,” in 1993. Reardon writes, “I used to live at a Lake (Algonquin Lake in Hastings) and did a lot of swimming. Later I took up lap swimming. I missed swimming when ill, so these aquas and blues remind me of it.” Reardon documented her quilt as part of the Michigan Quilt 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://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Ederle Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Oct 18, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1767, English surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon assign a boundary between the colonies of Pennsylvania and Maryland (and areas that would later become Delaware and West Virginia). They had been hired by the Penn and Calvert families to settle a dispute between the two proprietary colonies about the exact location of the boundary line. In the late 1700’s states south of the Mason-Dixon line began arguing for the perpetuation of slavery, while those north of the line hoped to phase out the practice. It was not until the 14th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution was passed in 1868 that gave all men born in the United States, regardless of skin color or which side of the Mason-Dixon line they lived, the rights of citizenship. Nadine Marx Cordio pieced this Album Cross quilt and Sue Vollbrecht quilted it. It was finished around 1999 in Madison, Wisconsin and was documented in 2002 during the Wisconsin Quilt History Project. Cordio explains in the record that her family did a genealogy search and found that her great grandfather was in the Union Army, and this inspired her to research Civil War fabric and to take a workshop on period quilts. The label includes this inscription: “MASON DIXON MEMORIES: A workshop on Civil War era quilts. SIEVERS SCHOOL OF FIBER ARTS, WASHINGTON ISLAND, WISCONSIN, 1999. Instructor, Marianne Fons (Marianne Fons signature below). Album Cross…” 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/mason-and-dixon-draw-a-line http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Oct 17, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1989, San Francisco suffered the deadliest earthquake since 1906. The quake struck at 5:04 pm, lasted 15 seconds and registered a 7.1 on the Richter scale. The quake was witnessed on live television by fans watching the World Series baseball game at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Mike McNamara of San Francisco made this quilt titled, “Invite Us to Your Next Blowout!” in 2012 for the Quilt Alliance’s “Home Is Where the Quilt Is” contest. McNamara writes in this artist’s statement: “My dad had a tire company and he and my mom created a very fun home and lively life. To this day I love the smell of new tires.” 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/earthquake-rocks-san-francisco Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Oct 16, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1984, Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work as a civil rights activist. The Nobel Committee cited his “role as a unifying leader figure in the campaign to resolve the problem of apartheid in South Africa.” This quilt, titled “Mandela Long Walk to Freedom” was made by Melzina Mazibuko of Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa in 2010. The quilt was documented for the South Africa Quilt History Project and is now in the Michigan State University Museum collection. From this Quilt Index record: “Signed on the bottom front by the artist : “Melzina M.” Memory cloth made by Melzina M. in South Africa. Small colorful wallhanging on black cotton ground. Embroidery and applique on the cloth depict a scene in the Robben Island Prison of Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Tutu and Tamba breaking rocks, doing manual labor. There are prison buildings in the background. The cloth is embellished with beads.” 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/Desmond_Tutu Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
