“To make the most beautiful quilts in the world, to marry a cowboy and to look down on the top of a
cloud.” These were the dreams of Grace Snyder, as told by her biographer, her daughter, Nellie
Snyder Yost, in their book No Time On My Hands, 1963. All three dreams were fulfilled: she made
many award winning quilts; she married Bert Snyder, a rancher, in 1903; and she flew in an
airplane to New York City in 1950 for the Twenty-seventh International Women’s Exhibition and to
Springfield, Massachusetts, for the Eastern States Exposition at Storrowton with her quilts.
Her first quilt, a four-patch, was made in the great out-of-doors of Nebraska while she was herding
family cattle. Others were made while she was teaching school prior to her marriage. Those made
after her marriage might have been made in a car, while following her husband as he worked on
their ranch.
Her well-known “Flower Basket Petit Point” quilt, adapted from a luncheon plate; the “Bird of
Paradise,” from a dish design; and “Tiger Lily,” from flowers in her garden, were published in the
Kansas City Star. Her quilts were shown in a one-woman exhibit in Nebraska and later at the
Houston Quilt Festival in 1978. “Flower Basket Petit Point” was included in the exhbit and
publication of The 20th Century’s 100 Best American Quilts.
cloud.” These were the dreams of Grace Snyder, as told by her biographer, her daughter, Nellie
Snyder Yost, in their book No Time On My Hands, 1963. All three dreams were fulfilled: she made
many award winning quilts; she married Bert Snyder, a rancher, in 1903; and she flew in an
airplane to New York City in 1950 for the Twenty-seventh International Women’s Exhibition and to
Springfield, Massachusetts, for the Eastern States Exposition at Storrowton with her quilts.
Her first quilt, a four-patch, was made in the great out-of-doors of Nebraska while she was herding
family cattle. Others were made while she was teaching school prior to her marriage. Those made
after her marriage might have been made in a car, while following her husband as he worked on
their ranch.
Her well-known “Flower Basket Petit Point” quilt, adapted from a luncheon plate; the “Bird of
Paradise,” from a dish design; and “Tiger Lily,” from flowers in her garden, were published in the
Kansas City Star. Her quilts were shown in a one-woman exhibit in Nebraska and later at the
Houston Quilt Festival in 1978. “Flower Basket Petit Point” was included in the exhbit and
publication of The 20th Century’s 100 Best American Quilts.
| Grace Snyder (1882-1982) |
Award winning quilter, coauthor of No Time on My
Hands. Inducted in 1980 at the Continental
Quilting Congress, Arlington, Virginia.
Research Associate: Carol Bosshardt
Hands. Inducted in 1980 at the Continental
Quilting Congress, Arlington, Virginia.
Research Associate: Carol Bosshardt