Carolina Lily.

On this day in 1997, Lilian Leigh Eselgroth, was born in Durham, North Carolina to Amy Milne and Chris Eselgroth. Mrs. Karl Schegel machine pieced, hand appliqued and hand quilted this 39” x 40” “North Carolina Lily with Flying Geese” quilt between 1850-1875 in Detroit, Michigan. The quilt was documented as part of the Michigan Quilt Project and is owned by the Detroit Historical Museum collection, one of the more than 250 historical societies and museums represented by quilts in the Index. Happy Sweet Sixteen to my Carolina Lily, and Happy Thanksgiving to all! 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: Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…

Sweet Carolines.

On this day in 1957, Caroline Bouvier Kennedy was born, daughter of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. She was named after both her maternal aunt, Caroline Lee Bouvier Radziwill, and her maternal great-grandmother, Caroline Ewing Bouvier. Young Caroline inspired singer-songwriter Neil Diamond to write his hit song “Sweet Caroline,” first released in 1969. Detail view. This hand pieced and hand quilted Hexagon Star quilt made of silk, cotton and wool fibers was made by Caroline Middleton of Haddonfield, New Jersey in 1877. The quilt was documented during the Heritage Quilt Project of New Jersey and the provenance of the quilt is noted as “a family made Quaker quilt.” 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.biography.com/people/caroline-kennedy-204598 Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…

Finding Wonderland.

On this day in 1862, mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (aka Lewiss Carroll) sent 10-year-old Alice Liddell a handwritten manuscript called “Alice’s Adventures Under Ground. Alice and her siblings, the children of one of Dodgson’s colleagues, loved to hear Dodgeson’s stories and insisted that he write them down. This quilt was made by Susan Poliquin of Schertz, Texas for the Quilt Alliance’s 2012 “Home Is Where the Quilt Is” contest. Poliquin’s artist’s statement: “Throughout my childhood I remember reading fairy tales. Reading them had a way of taking me to another land and allowing me to become a part of something unearthly. It spurred my imagination and helped develop my creativity. Over the year, as adulthood and responsibilities set in, I got away from this. It was nice to revisit that part of my life, if only for a short time, through the making of this quilt.” 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/alice-in-wonderland-manuscript-is-sent-as-a-christmas-present Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…

The Dance.

On this day in 1936, postmodern dancer and choreographer Trisha Brown was born in Aberdeen, Washington.  Brown founded the avant-garde Judson Dance Theater in 1962. She has collaborated with artists Robert Rauschenberg and Laurie Anderson, including the piece “If you couldn’t see me” (1984) danced entirely with her back to the audience.  Brown was the first female choreographer to receive the coveted MacArthur Foundation Fellowship “Genius Award.” Barbara Kilbourn of Ann Arbor, Michigan made this 42” x 42” quilt, titled “The Dance,” in 1996 for the American Quilters Society Show in Paducah, Kentucky. The quilt is Kilbourn’s original design and was machine pieced and appliqued and machine quilted. Kilbourn documented the 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://www.trishabrowncompany.org/index.php?section=36 Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…

Lot in Life.

On this day in 1963, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States was assassinated while traveling through Dallas, Texas. Kennedy was the youngest man elected President (at age 43) and the youngest to die in office (at age 46). J.F.K.’s favorite hobbies were sailing, swimming and football and among his favorite pets were ponies.Retta Booher Holland of Grand Prairie, Texas (fifteen miles west of Dallas) pieced this Crossed Canoes quilt in 1957. Holland purchased the scraps for the quilt from a dress factory near her home for $1. Her daughter, Kathleen Holland McCrady, did the quilting and said about her mother: “She worked hard all her life, and perhaps enjoyed most the part of her life after they [she and her husband] retired from the cafe business. She sewed for others and worked in her church keeping the babies in the nursery. She was always busy, seemed happy with her lot in life, and made the best of her situation. She had 17 grandchildren.”The quilt was documented during the Texas Quilt Search Project and is included in the book Lone Stars: A Legacy of Texas Quilts, Vol. II, 1936-1986, by Karoline Patterson Bresenhan and Nancy O’Bryant Puentes (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1990.) It was included in an exhibition by the same name at the International Quilt Festival, in Houston, Texas in November, 1990. Additional information about Retta Booher Holland and her daughter Kathleen McCrady can be found in Kathleen H. McCrady, My Journey with Quilts: Over 70 Years of Quiltmaking 1932-2003 (Austin: 2005).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/john-f-kennedy-assassinatedhttp://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/kids/presidents/johnfkennedy.html Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…