by Quilt Alliance | Jul 1, 2014 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1867, the British North America Act (today called the Constitution Act) was passed by Great Britain, recognizing the Dominion of Canada, a group that included Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the future provinces of Ontario and Quebec, as a self-governing entity. Today Canada Day is a federal holiday celebrated by outdoor public events and citizenship ceremonies. Liza MacDuff, an English-Scottish Protestant housewife from rural Prince Edward Island, Canada, hand pieced and hand quilted this Sixteen Patch quilt in the late 1800’s. MacDuff’s granddaughter inherited the quilt and documented it in 1992 as part of the Rhode Island 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/canadian-independence-day Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Jun 27, 2014 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1964, Christopher Allen Eselgroth was born in Greece, New York, a suburb of Rochester. A typeface -knowing, ridge-conquering, rock and roll-playing, moon pie ice cream- devouring, basil-growing, family-loving man–he is. Happy Birthday, sweetheart. xo Amy This stunning signature quilt was started in 1900 as a fundraising effort by Mrs. Addis Elliot and later purchased for $65 by the Rochester Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in Rochester, New York. From this Quilt Index record: “The red and white pieced quilt with fan blocks with an American Flag in the center. The border is pieced with the blades of the fans. Outline stitched in each of the blocks are what appear to be a series of 1900 store names and Rochester businesses along with dozens of names of people.” The record also includes a letter the quiltmaker wrote to the Rochester Historical Society in 1950, recalling the story of the quilt. Here is an excerpt: “I have been requested to write to you about the quilt that I sold to the W.C.T.U. I will say that it was started in the year 1900 while I was living at the restaurant at 95 E. Main St. I belonged to a lodge called the good Templar I.O.G.T. Independent or of good Templar. It met every Friday night. We got short of money to pay our rent so it was proposed by the members to start to raise some money. Each member went out and worked and got names for to put on an advertising quilt at so much a name or whatever they could give…” The quilt is now privately owned and Elizabeth Davis contributed the quilt and its history to The Quilt Index during the Signature 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. Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Jun 26, 2014 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1892, Pearl Bayley (nee Sydenstricker) was born in Hillsboro, West Virginia, to parents on break from missionary work in China. Buck’s novel “The Good Earth” (1930), describing peasant life in China, won the Pulitzer and Nobel Peace prizes and was translated into 30 languages. Buck received many awards for her humanitarian activities. She died in 1973. This reversible block pattern quilt was made in the Badaling District outside of Beijing by an unnamed quiltmaker. The quilt was purchased by a Michigan State University Museum staff member and is now in the permanent collection of the museum. From this record: “Contemporary visitors to the Great Wall in the Badaling region outside of Beijing, China have the opportunity to purchase a great array of hand-crafted items including the “five poisonous creatures” – toad, snake, centipede, lizard, and scorpion – locally believed to ward away evil spirits. This particular piece was purchased from a woman carrying her wares on top of the wall.” 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/pearl-bucks-birthday Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Jun 25, 2014 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1950, the Korean War began when armed forces from communist North Korea attacked South Korea. A three-year war ensued with the United States, acting under the auspices of the United Nations, fighting in defense of South Korea. It is estimate that more than 2,800,000 people died during this war, including soldiers and civilians from the United States, North Korea, South Korea, China as well as UN countries. Bonnie Sanmann Stenger of Buffalo, Wyoming machine pieced and quilted this “Purple Hearts” quilt in 2001. The inscription of the quilt reads: “Purple Heart Quilt/in memory of my three late uncles who were veterans of WWII. And the youngest who was also in Korea and two tours in Viet Nam. God Bless Them. By Bonnie Sanamann Stenger, Buffalo, Wyo 2001.” The quilt was documented by Stenger during the Wyoming Quilt Project in 2002. 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/korean-war-begins Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Jun 24, 2014 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1901, Pablo Picasso, a nineteen-year-old Spanish artist little known outside of Barcelona, had his first major exhibition of paintings in a prestigious Paris gallery. Picasso was the son of a drawing professor who groomed his son to follow his career path. He began exhibiting his work at the age of 13, and by the end of his 80 years of work, Picasso had produced more than 50,000 paintings, drawings, engravings, sculptures and ceramics. Pauline Salzman of Treasure Island, Florida, made this 16” x 16” quilt titled “Picasso…Not Exactly” in 2011 for the Quilt Alliance contest “Alliances: People, Patterns, Passion. She wrote in her artist’s statement: “This is my canine adaption of a Picasso quilt that sold on February 10, 2010 at a London auction for 12.8 million dollars. I love Picasso’s paintings and I love my dogs. They are therapy dogs who give a great deal of joy to many patients.” 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/picasso-exhibited-in-paris Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
