2005 Honoree Bets Ramsey has had a life-long love of the arts and needle crafts. The summer after her graduation from high school, she and a friend set up a dressmaking business in her parents’ dining room. After earning her B.A. with honors in Art, Bets focused on her marriage and raising her four children.In…
By Helen Kelley, 1999 Honoree Helen Kelley made a series of “postcard quilts” showing places that she had visited. Helen’s label card that came with this quilt says, “Ireland- The streets of Dublin are lined with Georgian homes, each with its bright colored door and brass knocker. The basement kitchen area at the front of…
By Marguerite Ickis, c. 1930-1940. Honoree Marguerite Ickis made this quilt from pieces of costume fabric leftover from theatrical plays made possible by the WPA Federal Theatre Project, for whom she was a consultant. The Federal Theatre Project organized and produced theater events. It was an effort of the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt…
I’m not ready to get back to work writing about the Honorees. I’ve been lucky enough (finally, after COVID lockdown) to have gone on some quilting vacations, and that has disrupted my focus. But since my trips were quilt-related, it should “count” if I share some of my takeaways. My husband, Jack, and I stopped…
When I first started quilting, my guild buddies talked me into taking a workshop to learn how to appliqué. Even though I was–and still am—drawn more to geometric rather than organic shapes, they suggested that I should have this skill in my wheelhouse. Having heard other piecers refer to appliqué as the ‘A’ word”, I…
I’ve been writing every week about Honorees of The Quilters Hall of Fame, but this time I’m going to switch up and write about people who haven’t been inducted—yet. My inspiration, if you can call it that, was my sewing experience earlier today. Did your mother ever say, “Don’t sew on Sunday or the Devil…
I had planned to write about Mary Barton who had a birthday last week, but I spent time weeding my garden, and that put me in mind of Marie’s Garden at the Hall of Fame. Let me show you a little of what’s blooming here, and then we’ll head to Marion. When you park in…
Honorees Mary Barton and Bets Ramsey share a birthday today, June 9th. I thought to write about them together, but there’s too much to say about each of them. I’ll start with Bets, and get to Mary next week. Before I start though, I want to thank all the gals in my guild (shout out…
Marie Webster loved the flowers of the Dogwood tree, among the earliest to bloom each spring. She loved them so much she designed two quilts featuring Dogwood flowers. White Dogwood, pictured above, was first published in January, 1912 in Ladies’ Home Journal. Instead of a traditional square block format, White Dogwood has blocks set on…
How’s this for a tee shirt or Facebook meme? Everything I needed to know about color, I learned from Jinny Beyer. It’s not quite accurate; I’ve known the color wheel most of my life, and as a dyer, I’ve read lots about color. But if there is one person in modern quilt history who is…
