by Quilt Alliance | Mar 13, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On This Day in History Quilt for March 13: On this day in 1869, the Arkansas General Assembly passed a law that made the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) illegal. Throughout the Reconstruction period after the Civil War, the KKK, a white supremacist organization, used violence and intimidation in an attempt to reverse suffrage rights of African Americans and protest the disfranchisement of ex-Confederate Democrats. This signature quilt in the Shoo Fly pattern was made as a fundraiser for the KKK in Chicora, Michigan around 1926. The person who donated the quilt to the Michigan State University Museum is the grandson of the person who won the quilt. He tells this family history of the quilt: “To get your name stitched onto a block you paid 10 cents. An individual would stitch the names on a given block for instance, my Aunt Grace Raveway did the block for our family. Grace was 16 years old at the time and was quite embarrassed to participate in the project, but she had the best script in the family and best sewing abilities, so she was chosen.” 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.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=2293 Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Mar 12, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On This Day in History Quilt for March 12: On this day in 1883 pioneering pediatrician Ethel Collins Dunham was born in Hartford, Connecticut. Dunham and her life partner, Martha May Eliot, were the first and second female recipients of the American Pediatric Society’s highest honor, the John Howland Medal, for their work in improving the health of premature and newborn infants. She founded programs to bring health care into the homes of new mothers after their discharge from the hospital. Mary Ann Rogers of New London, Connecticut made this “Temperance Tree Quilt” in 1886. Made as a wedding gift, the inscription reads: “To William and Rebecca, Please accept this Temperance Tree Quilt containing 2,094 pieces pieced by me in my 77th year. Your mother, Mrs. Mary Ann Rogers New London Conn. Jan. 1886.” “The Tree of Temperance” was a popular print by Nathaniel Currier published in 1849, and was preceded by “The Tree of Intemperance,” printed almost 25 years earlier. Documented by the Rhode Island Quilt Documentation Project in 1992. 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.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_90.html http://www.teachushistory.org/second-great-awakening-age-reform/resources/tree-temperance Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Mar 11, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On This Day in History Quilt for March 11: On this day in 1903 Lawrence Welk, musician, bandleader and host of his own “Champagne Music” variety television show, was born near Strasburg, North Dakota to immigrant parents from Alsace-Lorraine. Welk worked on the family farm until age 21, paying off the cost of a professional accordion. In his early career Welk led big bands in North and South Dakota and earned a degree in music from MacPhail School of Music in Minneapolis. At age 48, Welk settled in Los Angeles and started producing the Lawrence Welk Show for a local television station. The show was picked up by ABC in 1955 who ran it until 1971, and Welk arranged private syndication that took it through 1982. This 75” x 86” quilt, titled “Champagne Breakfast” was made by Ann Kowalski of Shepherd, Michigan around 1982. The artist wrote: “The bowtie is a traditional pattern, but the colors and arrangement are the invention of the maker. The colors are light in the middle to give the feeling of the lightness of champagne; darker, passionate colors on edge. The quilt was designed on my daughters 28th birthday. She sketched out the colors and design while awaiting a breakfast in which champagne was part of the menu.” 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/lawrence-welk-is-born http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Welk Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Mar 8, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On This Day in History Quilt for March 8: On this day in 1669 Mount Etna, a volcano on the island of Sicily in modern-day Italy, began to erupt. More than 20,000 people were killed during multiple eruptions over the next few weeks. Today it is the most active volcano in Europe and its eruptions sometimes cause airplanes to detour in order to avoid passing through ash clouds. Beth Thomas Kennedy of Austin, Texas made this quilt, titled “To Pele, Goddess of Volcanoes,” in 1989. Her work was documented during the Texas Quilt Search Project, and included in the book (and exhibition by the same name) Lone Stars: A Legacy of Texas Quilts, Vol. II, 1936-1986 by Karoline Patterson and Nancy O’Bryant Puentes. The quiltmaker notes: On a trip to Hawaii, I collected some small pieces of lava found on a Kaui beach to bring back as a memory of a dream trip to paradise. A short time later, while on Oahu, I learned about Pele and her fury with those who take lava from its resting place. Not wanting to offend Pele, I returned the small lava rocks to the sea with an apology, asking her to return them to their proper place. After deciding to make a series of quilts on matriarchal rituals, I knew Pele would forgive me if I made her a quilt. It is also vivid reminder of a beautiful place and time. 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/mount-etna-erupts Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
by Quilt Alliance | Mar 7, 2013 | On this Day in History Quilts series
On This Day in History Quilt for March 7: On this day in 1876 Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for his newest invention—the telephone. Bell was born in Scotland and first worked in London with his father, who developed a system to teach speaking to deaf people. In the 1870’s the family moved to Boston, where Bell started working on a device that would combine the telegraph and a record player so people could speak to each other from a distance. With the help of Thomas A. Watson, a Boston machinist, Bell developed a prototype that carried its first message three days after the patent was filed (beating the submission of a similar patent application by only 2 hours). This wool embroidered telephone quilt was made in 1930 by unknown quiltmakers in Clay County, Nebraska. The record states, “Quilt maker did not quilt it. Quiltmakers were friends or neighbors. Quilt pieced by three or more persons…Made for special person, Friend/Neighbor.” It appears to be a signature quilt although the record does not confirm this. The quilt was documented as part of the Nebraska Quilt Project in 1988. 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/alexander-graham-bell-patents-the-telephone Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
