by Quilt Alliance | Oct 4, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1941, Vampire Chronicles series author Anne Rice was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Rice, one of four sisters, was christened Howard Allen O’Brien, but insisted on being called Anne when she started school. She wrote her first novel at age 7 about aliens coming to Earth. Rice married her high school love, Stan Rice, and the two moved to San Francisco to study creative writing. The couple’s daughter died of leukemia at age 5 and Rice devoted her life to writing and producing her popular, yet critically snubbed novel, Interview with a Vampire. This Bear’s Paw quilt was made by suspected vampire Mercy Lena Brown in the late 1800’s. That’s right. Mercy “was believed to be a vampire by the townspeople. When Mercy died of consumption, like her mother and sister before her, her brother began to get sick as well. Mercy’s body was exhumed to see if she had blood in her heart, in which case she was a vampire and may be draining her brother of life.” The quilt was documented by its owner in 1992 during the Rhode Island Quilt Documentation Project. Was Mercy found to be a vampire? 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. Source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/anne-rice-is-born Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Oct 3, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1895, the American novel The Red Badge of Courage written by 24-year-old Stephen Crane is published in book form. The Civil War tale from a soldier’s perspective first appeared as a syndicated newspaper series. Crane was the youngest of 14 children, born in 1871 and raised in New York and New Jersey. Crane self-published his first novel, Maggie: A Girl of the Street, about a poor girl’s decline, based on a woman his lower-class New York neighborhood. J. B. Roberson of Cleburne, Texas made this Family Tree Quilt in 1893. From this Quilt Index record: “The December 20th date suggests that J. B. Roberson made this quilt for his wife as a Christmas gift. At the bottom of the quilt he credits his brother-in-law J.W. Mills, who held the bulk of the quilt for him while he guided it under the needle of the treadle sewing machine. One of the quilt maker’s sons remembers his father as selling and demonstrating sewing machines, among other jobs.” The quilt was documented during the Texas Quilt Search Project and is included in the book Lone Stars: A Legacy of Texas Quilts, Vol. I, 1836-1936, by Karoline Patterson Bresenhan and Nancy O’Bryant Puentes (Austin: University of Texas Press,1986.) It was included in an exhibition by the same name at the Texas State Capitol Rotunda, in Austin, Texas April 19-21, 1986. View this quilt on The Quilt Index to read more about its history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view. Source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-red-badge-of-courage-is-published Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Oct 2, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1949, American portrait photographer Anna-Lou “Annie” Leibovitz was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, the third of six children.Leibovitz started her career working for the newly launched Rolling Stone Magazine in 1970. Her work includes many intimate celebrity portraits, including one of John Lennon and Yoko Ono for a 1980 Rolling Stones cover, the last professional photo of Lennon to be taken before he was shot and killed five hours later. Fannie Hershberger Plank, made this Rolling Stone (or Broken Wheel) quilt around 1921 in the Amish community of Arthur, Illinois. The quilt is machine pieced and hand quilted, and is now in the collection of the Illinois State Museum. View this quilt on The Quilt Index to read more about its history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Leibovitz Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Oct 1, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1949, communist revolutionary Mao Zedong proclaimed the existence of the People’s Republic of China after years of battling the Nationalist Chinese regime (backed by the U.S. government). The People’s Republic did battle with the U.S. during the Korean War (started in 1950), and the U.S. did not extend diplomatic recognition to communist China until 1972. Kim Sunghee, of South Korea and China, made this natural dye Korean patchwork quilt between 1976-1999. The quilt is part of the Michigan State University Museum collection. From this Quilt Index record: “Sunghee and fellow members of the group Dyetree create these and other naturally dyed silk and cotton textiles for decorative use and clothing, teaching each other new skills. The colors expressed by the dyer not only represent the conventions of the time, but also secret recipes and experiences, passed down through generations. Sunghee has earned three degrees in textile studies and has published a book on the colors of classic textiles.” View this quilt on The Quilt Index to read more about its history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view. Source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mao-zedong-proclaims-peoples-republic-of-china Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Sep 20, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1975, the Scottish pop group the Bay City Rollers made their U.S. debut on the NBC’s variety program Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell (the precursor to the still-running Saturday Night Live). Cosell compared the tartan-clad group to the Beatles, and while they did enjoy a brief success with preteen American fans dressed in plaid, the Rollers soon lost popularity to heartthrobs like Shaun Cassidy and Andy Gibb. Lillian Hudson Griffin of Monroe, Louisiana machine appliqued and pieced and hand quilted this French Log Cabin, titled “Playing with Plaids on the Courthouse Steps,” in 1998 using plaid and striped fabric she had collected. Griffin documented her quilt in 2001 during the Louisiana Quilt Documentation Project. View this quilt on The Quilt Index to read more about its history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view. Source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-bay-city-rollers-make-their-us-debut-on-saturday-night-live-with-howard-cosell Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
