by Quilt Alliance | Jun 26, 2013 | 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 read more about it’s history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view. Sources: 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, 2013 | 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 read more about it’s history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view. Sources: 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, 2013 | 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 read more about it’s history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view. Sources: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/picasso-exhibited-in-paris Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Jun 21, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1964, three civil rights workers were murdered by a Ku Klux Klan lynch mob near the town of Meridian, Mississippi. The murders of James Chaney, a 21-year-old black man from Meridian; Andrew Goodman, a 20-year-old white Jewish anthropology student from New York; and Michael Schwerner, a 24-year-old white Jewish CORE organizer and former social worker also from New York, demonstrated the dangers faced by civil rights workers in the South, especially during what became known as “Freedom Summer”, dedicated to voter education and registration. April Shipp of Auburn Hills, Michigan made this quilt, titled “Strange Fruit” in 2003, which includes hundreds of names of victims of lynchings and their states, along with two rope nooses. Shipp wrote, “Strange Fruit is named after a song by the late Billie Holiday, and it’s dedicated to Ida Bell Wells-Barnett, an African American Newspaper journalist born in 1862, who fought for an anti-lynching law…The textures represent their position in life, i.e. silk, cotton, and denim. In making this Quilt, I learned that it did not matter who you were. Just ask Detective Albert Parker (lynched 1868) or Reverend L.C. Baldwin (murdered 1956). It did not matter how old you were. Just ask Virgil Ware, age 13 (murdered 1963) or the 3 murdered children of Thomas Harris. It could happen to anyone, anywhere, and anytime. I did this Quilt in loving memory of my people, people I have never met, people whose names are not only woven into the fabric of this Quilt, but also into the fabric of my heart. This Quilt is truly a miracle!” Shipp’s quilt was documented during the Michigan Quilt Project. View this quilt on The Quilt Index to read more about it’s history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view. Sources: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-kkk-kills-three-civil-rights-activists Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Jun 20, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the admission of West Virginia into the Union as the 35th U.S. state (or 24th when secession of the 11 Southern states is taken into account). Church members made this Applique Sampler Signature quilt for the Reverand Daniel Hitt Kincheloe Dix in 1860. The quilt is owned by a descendant of Dix’s who was a circuit rider for the Methodist Episcopal Church in West Virginia in the towns of Cameron (1859), Grave Creek (1860), New Martinsville (1861-1862). Dix was also a member of the West Virginia Senate 1865-1870. The quilt, which includes dimensional hand applique and embroidery, was documented during the Signature Quilt Project by Nan Moore of Florida. View this quilt on The Quilt Index to read more about it’s history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view. Sources: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/west-virginia-enters-the-union Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
