by Quilt Alliance | Jun 12, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1929, Annelies “Anne” Marie Frank was born in Frankfurt am Main in Weimar Germany. Frank died from typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945. Her father, Otto Frank, the only surviving member of the family found Anne’s diary and worked to have it published in 1947. Anne wrote in her diary, “When I write, I can shake off all my cares.” Elrid Benson Johnson of Brookfield, Wisconsin, made this Diary Quilt in 1992. Johnson made the quilt to track the first year after her husband passed away, one block for every day. “An ugly fabric represented “bad” days. Each strip represents a month. The colors of the sashing between the strips go from white (for January) through greens and blues and back to white again for December. The quiltmaker has a journal she kept the year quilt was made.” Johnson documented her quilt as part of the Wisconsin Quilt History 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://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Frank Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Jun 11, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1979, American film icon John Wayne died at age 72 after battling cancer for more than a decade. Wayne was born Marion Morrison in 1907 in Winterset, Iowa. “The Duke,” (a nickname that came from his childhood dog), became famous for his roles as a rugged western hero, delivering lines like “A man ought’a do what he thinks is best.” Lillian M. Shaw of Winterset, Iowa hand pieced and hand quilted this Double Wrench, or Hole in Barn Door, quilt between 1860 and 1925. The quiltmaker’s granddaughter documented the quilt during the Iowa Quilt Research 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/john-wayne-dies Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Jun 10, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1752, Philadelphia printer Benjamin Franklin demonstrated electricity when he flew a kite during a thunderstorm and collected a charge in a Leyden jar, an early capacitor for containing static electricity. Della Blue Faries, of Caddo Parish, Louisiana, made this Kite Quilt, or Pontiac Star Variation, in 1918. The quilt was documented by Faries’ daughter, who received the quilt as a gift from her mother, during the Louisiana Quilt Documentation 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/franklin-flies-kite-during-thunderstorm Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Jun 7, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1913, Alaskan missionary Hudson Stuck lead the first successful ascent of Mt. McKinley, the highest peak on the American continent (20,320 feet). The first person to actually set foot on McKinley’s south peak was Walter Harper, one of Stuck’s three companions on the climb. A national park was established at Mount McKinley in 1917 and expanded in 1980. It was renamed Denali National Park and Preserve, and covers 6 million acres, an area larger than Massachusetts. Ree Nancarrow of Denali Park, Alaska, made this quilt, titled “Arctic Lava” in 1994. It is part of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress “Quilts and Quiltmaking in American: 1978-1996” exhibit. It was winner in the Lands’ End All-American Quilt Contest. 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/first-successful-ascent-of-mt-mckinley Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Jun 6, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On this day in 1944, Allied forces crossed the English Channel and landed on the beaches of Normandy, France to begin the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi control during World War II. Sharon Powers of Cooper Harbor, Michigan made this quilt in honor of D-Day for a hospital raffle between 1976 and 1999. She documented her quilt 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/d-day Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
