by Quilt Alliance | Apr 30, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On This Day in History Quilt for April 30. On this day in 1789 Martha Dandridge Custis Washington became the first First Lady of the United States (although this term would not be used for another seventy years). A quilt attributed to Washington is in the Smithsonian Museum collection. This wholecloth quilt in the DAR Museum collection was made around 1800 by an unknown quiltmaker. The plate-printed fabric used in the quilt was also used by Martha Washington in an unfinished bedcover in the collection of The Mount Vernon Ladies’s Association of the Union (see a photo and read more about this quilt on Barbara Brackman’s “Quilt 1812 War and Piecing” blog. 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/Martha_Washington Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Apr 29, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On This Day in History Quilt for April 29. On this day in 1968, the controversial rock musical “Hair” premiered on Broadway after a 6-week run at Joseph Papp’s Public Theater in the East Village. The show debuted the song “Aquarius” which became an icon of ‘60’s counterculture, with references to sex and drugs. Lizzie Longmire of Andersonville, Tennessee hand quilted this Hairpin Catcher, or Brickwork, one patch quilt between 1901-1929. Longmire used men’s wool suiting fabric for the front of the quilt and handwoven coverlets for the back side (detail photo below). The quilt was documented (by the family member who inherited it) during the Quilts of Tennessee 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/hair-premieres-on-broadway Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Apr 26, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On This Day in History Quilt for April 26.On this day in 2000, World Intellectual Property Day was established to “raise awareness of how patents, copyright, trademarks and designs impact on daily life” and “to celebrate creativity, and the contribution made by creators and innovators to the development of societies across the globe.”Helen Gage Blackstone of Austin, Texas made this quilt, titled “Longhorns on the Chisholm Trail,” in 1979. It was documented during the Texas Quilt Search, and also in the book “Lone Stars: A Legacy of Texas Quilts, Vol. II, 1936-1986” (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1990) by Karoline Patterson Bresenhan and Nancy O’Bryant Puentes. From this Quilt Index record: “The quiltmaker has stuffed the horns on her Longhorns to give them dimension and as a reminder of longhorns left on the Chisholm Trail after some cattle died or were killed on the long and difficult trail drives. Mrs. Blackstone has copyrighted her design.”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.wipo.int/ip-outreach/en/ipday/Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Apr 25, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On This Day in History Quilt for April 25. On this day in 1947 President Harry S. Truman officially opened the first White House bowling alley. The two-lane alley was constructed in the West Wing with funding provided by a group of Truman’s fellow Missourians in honor of the president. This “Bowling Quilt” was made by Anna Pozara of Roseville, Michigan for a local bowling club. Documented by 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/truman-inaugurates-white-house-bowling-alley Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Apr 24, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On This Day in History Quilt for April 24. On this day in 1800 the Library of Congress was established using $5,000 appropriated by President John Adams to purchase “such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress.” Today, the collection, housed in three enormous buildings in Washington, contains more than 17 million books, as well as millions of maps, manuscripts, photographs, films, audio and video recordings, prints, and drawings. The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, created by Congress in 1976, is the national center for folklife documentation and research. This Pine Tree quilt made by Carrie Severt in 1978 was contributed to the Quilt Index by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress as part of the Blue Ridge Parkway Folklife Project. This ethnographic field project was conducted by the American Folklife Center in cooperation with the National Park Service and includes 229 photographs and 181 recorded interviews with six quiltmakers in Appalachian North Carolina and Virginia. 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/library-of-congress-established Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
