How did you learn to quilt? In my case, no one in my family was a quilter, so I was introduced by a friend. I purchased four block of the month kits from JoAnns and gave it a try.  Then I started reading. I got Harriet Hargrave’s Quilter’s Academy books (freshman and sophomore years only—I was an academy drop out), Ruby Short McKim’s One Hundred and One Patchwork Patterns, a number of how-to books and a few coffee table books for inspiration. If I had been born 50 years later, I’d probably have just looked on the internet and found Alex Anderson and Jenny Doan.

But what would I have done if I had been born 50 years earlier? I would have read Marie Webster (Quilts: Their Story and How to Make Them), Ruth Finley (Old Patchwork Quilts and the Women Who Made Them), and Marguerite Ickis (The Standard Book of Quilt Making and Collecting. These classics are part of the quilt historian’s essential library, and are still available on eBay and the open market. Today I want to tell you about one of these authors.

If you read the bio on the Hall of Fame website (link below), you’ll see that Marguerite Ickis re-invented herself many times over.  Her way of putting it was that she had nine lives–hence “The Cat”.  We know her from her quilting books, but she’s known for much more. But before I get to that, here are the quilting books.

The “Standard” book is just that, an all-inclusive handbook.  To give you an idea of its scope, here’s what the publishers say about it:

All this for under $5.00 at today’s prices! But a word of caution: the directions may not be so simple.  Here’s how to make a Caesar’s Crown block: “Fold block diagonally each way across center and then across to get center creases. Draw in 2 circles. Use compass to draw center block. The tops of the diamonds will come along the fold in the block. Piece design and appliqué to block.” Here’s the block, in case you can’t visualize it from the directions:

Even so, the book is more than worth the cost for this famous quote from an unknown Ohio great-grandmother:

It took me more than 20 years, nearly 25, I reckon, in the evenings after supper when the children were all put to bed.  It scares me sometimes when I look at it.  All my joys and all my sorrows are stitched into those little pieces.  When I was proud of the boys….When the girls annoyed me….And John too….Sometimes I loved him and sometimes I sat there hating him as I pieced the patches together.  So they are all in that quilt, my hopes and fears, my joys and sorrows, my loves and hates. I tremble sometimes when I remember what that quilt knows about me.

Wow!  If that doesn’t make quilting into something magical and mystical, I don’t know what would.

With an undergraduate degree in education from Ohio University and a master’s in botany from Columbia, Ickis’ first career/”life” was as a teacher. Before going to Columbia, she was an instructor in recreation at New York University and Dean of the New York Recreation Training School. She then went East to work as the curator of the Botany Department at the Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station (Mass. Agricultural College) in Amherst.

Following that “life,” but related to it, was a career with the Girl Scouts. Beginning with the Paterson (New Jersey) Council in 1923 as a “first class nature specialist”, she went on to direct the acclaimed nature museum at the Council’s summer camp. She spent almost a decade working with the Girl Scouts as a trainer at the national level, and was affiliated with the National Recreation Association as a member and as Assistant Editor of “Recreation” magazine. She was also Dean of the Recreation Training School for the Works Projects Administration (WPA). This was a time when the “Playground Movement” was coming into its own, and Ickis would be glad to know that there is a playground named after her in Massachusetts.

Playground on Cape Cod named after Marguerite Ickis.  See more at link below.

A few of Marguerite Ickis’ “lives” came from difficult circumstances.  When she was around 60, she began losing her sight to cataracts. Rather than retire, she did two things: she started painting and she opened a restaurant.

The restaurant was located in the town of Dennis on Cape Cod.  She poked fun at herself in this “life” saying that even though she had no restaurant experience, she could see enough to measure three cups of flour and one cup of lard for a pie crust. She ran the restaurant for fourteen years, and “The Pheasant” is still at the original location, serving freshly-caught seafood and other food cooked on an open wood fire. This new popular restaurant is a far cry from where Ickis started her foodie career. As she explained, “My building had been a storehouse for clipper ships on the Dennis shore and had been moved to Main Street. There was a stall in it which housed a horse and it certainly smelled terribly. We used grills. I had no screens. And do you know the Rockfellers, Fleischmans and others of that ilk came often and loved it.” (“Dennis Author-Painter Still Lives Valiantly,” Women’s World, 1978). I’m including photos of the new restaurant—because I miss going out to eat in pandemic times, and this makes my mouth water. See the link below for their Facebook page; if you are in the area, they have take-away these days.

Ickis also took up painting.  She said she wanted to stop chain smoking and using a paint brush gave her something to do with her hands. Her paintings have been likened to Grandma Moses, but she thought they were less stick-like.  In fact, she tried to make them homey and personal.  One painting is a reminder of the shopping trips with her mother and sister at Stone and Thomas in Ohio to buy new hats—one every year for Easter and another for the county fair.  Another is based on people from her childhood town: the butcher and his wife, the man with the ear trumpet, the woman who nursed her baby “right in church”.

Marquerite Ickis’ painting of a quilting bee.

You can see more of Ickis’ paintings in “The Ickis Room” of the Dennis Senior Center, Dennis MA—if we ever get to travel again.

Ickis had a well-established “life” as a writer. In addition to her quilting books, she had several titles related to crafts, hobbies and the “Playground Movement”. Among these are Nature in Recreation, Pastimes for the Patient, The Book of Games and Entertainment the World Over,Weaving as a Hobby, The Book of Arts and Crafts, Folk Arts and Crafts, and Handicrafts and Hobbies for Pleasure and Profit. Garnering the most hits on Newspapers.com are articles about Ickis’ holiday books.  Between 1965 and 2000, journalists all over the country relied on her for filler in their feature stories whenever a holiday came around. In October, Ickis was cited as attributing Jack-o-lanterns to the Irish; in the Spring she was quoted on the origin of Easter egg hunts.  And at Christmas time, the papers trotted out her craft ideas for holiday decorations. Here are the holiday books:

I want to close by coming full circle in Marguerite Ickis’ nine lives, and end with her life as a quilter.  This was probably her first “life”; she learned to quilt at a young age in Ohio.  She was taught to quilt by her mother and Quaker grandmother and she helped batt quilts with wool produced on the family sheep farm. The Quilters Hall of Fame is very lucky to have an Ickis quilt; this one was made with scraps of costumes from WPA theater productions. (Thanks for the donation, Holice Turnbow!) There’s a link below for more information about the quilt.

Marguerite Ickis. Fan Medallion c. 1940

Well, that’s the many “lives” of Honoree Marguerite Ickis. I think I would have enjoyed knowing her; she had a sense of humor and self-deprecation as well as a determination to make the most of the hand she was dealt. Worthy traits to emulate.

Your quilting friend,

Anna

Hall of Fame bio https://quiltershalloffame.net/marguerite-ickis/

Ickis Playground https://capecodplaygrounds.blogspot.com/2015/05/johnny-kelley-park-dennis.html

Restaurant. https://www.facebook.com/thepheasantcapecod/

Fan Medallion quilt https://quiltershalloffame.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/342CC602-9798-4B42-AA73-866582057530

Hooray! Hooray! Yippee! Hooray!  It’s a good thing I’m writing rather than talking because I’d be tripping over my tongue with excitement. I have big news.

A few months ago, I told you about the process for nominating someone to be selected as a Quilters Hall of Fame Honoree. Well, I went through that process last year, nominating Mary Gasperik to be a Heritage Honoree—the category for a person who is deceased or was active in the quilt world at least 80 years ago.  And now the word is out that Mary was chosen and will be inducted in 2021. I couldn’t be more thrilled, but I’ll try to contain myself and tell you about my journey with Mary Gasperik. It all started when I went to the American Quilt Study Group 2012 Seminar in Lincoln, Nebraska.  I had just retired, and was checking things off my bucket list, including a visit to the International Quilt Museum.  I didn’t dream that rather than being a “one and done” trip, this jaunt would open up a whole world of quilt study and travels for me.  I didn’t know anyone there, but everyone welcomed me and treated me with a level of collegiality that I had no reason to expect. One day, I was standing next to Merikay Waldvogel (Hall of Fame Honoree, scholar, and nationally-known expert on the quilts of the Chicago World’s Fair) and she asked what I was studying—as if, naturally, I would have an area of expertise.  I told her that, being from Chicago, I would have been interested in researching the 1933 Sears quilt contest at the Fair, but that she had already covered that ground. Without missing a beat, Merikay assured me that there was plenty more to look into, especially some of the individual quilters. When I came home from Lincoln, I took a look at Merikay’s book and learned that there were Park District-sponsored quilting clubs in 1930s Chicago, and that Mary Gasperik was active in one of them. Here’s a photo of Mary (on the left in the back row) in front of her Laurel Wreath quilt with some of the other ladies of the Tuley Park Quilters.

Something hit a familiar chord when I saw that picture: not only did Mary remind me of one of my favorite aunts, she was also—like me—a South Side girl. Anyone familiar with Chicago knows about the rivalry between the North Side and the South Side. The Cubs and Sox slug it out in their crosstown classic mini-series every year (except this year, with COVID-19), and there are other bones of contention which I’ll tell you about when I write up Bertha Stenge, a Hall of Fame Honoree from the North Side.  Anyway, I decided that Mary Gasperik and I were sympatico. I started learning about Mary indirectly when I prepared a presentation on Alice Beyer who, in her capacity as an “Artcraft” supervisor for the Park District, worked with the Tuley Park Quilters to publish a quilting handbook in 1934. Here’s the cover of the book, with a sample page and the quilt Mary Gasperik made from that pattern. 

And, so you’ll get a preview of Mary’s work and start to know why she was chosen as an Honoree, here’s a close up shot of the quilting:

I’m pretty sure this quilt will be at Celebration next year, and you won’t want to miss seeing it in the cloth. And there are some great stories to go with it, but I won’t spoil that for you now.

One of Mary’s granddaughters, Susan Salser, helped me with the Alice Beyer lecture by filling in lots of information about the Tuley Park Quilters, and this naturally included Mary Gasperik.  Susan is a scholar in her own right: she has researched, from microfiche if you can imagine, hundreds of articles about the Detroit News Quilt Club Corner to learn about her grandmother’s participation in the “club”; she has scoured design records to find the sources of images that appear on the quilts; she’s been a keeper of family records related to Mary’s quilting.  And the crown jewel of Susan’s efforts is the fact that every known Gasperik quilt has been documented, in detail and with the help of Merikay Waldvogel, on the Quilt Index.

Well, the more I talked with Susan, the more I thought that Mary Gasperik should be in the Hall of Fame. Her quilts are many and varied, ranging from whimsical to elegant; her workmanship is superb; she even has a quilt on display at the Smithsonian. Her story is worth recognizing: as a Hungarian immigrant with little command of the English language, she assimilated through quilting in the Park District and membership in the Detroit club which required bus trips to participate in their shows. Unlike several other Honorees who had a formal art background, Mary used her untrained eye to adapt published patterns and to create her own original masterpieces. Mary wasn’t a society lady, but she was like so many unsung quilters of her era who just plain enjoyed quilting.

So, let me tell you about the nomination process. Mary Gasperik’s nomination was made in the name of the Northern Illinois Quilt Study Group, my local quilt study group. I had given a Power Point presentation about Mary to the group, and we were lucky to have two other granddaughters bring us some of Mary’s quilts to examine.  These granddaughters also brought family scrapbooks, appliqued clothing made by Mary, and other ephemera. The study group had a great time, and everyone was so impressed that they readily adopted my suggestion to nominate.

There’s a form for the nomination on the website, but it’s really bare bones.  The first part is writing about why the nominee is deserving. Once I had lined up the reasons above, I just had to put down my thoughts. Writing is easy for me, but if you are thinking about submitting a name, don’t let writer’s block worry you; what’s important is the nominee’s merit, not the nominator’s writing talent.

Then you need to gather up a record of supporting evidence—in the case of a quilter, it’s her quilts.  Here’s where I chose well: with all of Gasperik’s work on the Quilt Index, I could get pictures and information all in one place. If you’re going to nominate a contemporary quilter, you might be lucky and find their work on their website or elsewhere on the internet.

The last part is getting references, and this is where I had some nice experiences, rubbing elbows with the big wigs. Shelly Zegart, producer of the series “Why Quilts Matter”, had referenced Mary Gasperik in several episodes, and she was able to use those points again to boost Mary’s nomination.  Merikay Waldvogel graciously contributed by placing Mary Gasperik in the context of the 1930s milieu.  And Marsha McDowell wrote a nice letter about the significance of having the Gasperik collection online at the Quilt Index, and of recording family legacies in general. Susan Salser added to the backup with a reference from the woman who had coordinated a museum exhibit of Gasperik quilts, and quilt historian Karen Alexander also gave a reference.

If you’ve ever thought “So-and-So should be in the Hall of Fame” or asked why a certain prominent quilting personality hasn’t been named, the answer may be that no one has made a nomination of that person yet. The Hall of Fame relies on you to bring a name forward—you can do this. I’m here to tell you that submitting a nomination is a little like herding cats, but it’s well worth the effort. You’ll learn a lot, meet some interesting people, and (almost as an aside) maybe your efforts will pay off with a selection, and you can come to Celebration to see your nominee honored. 

I know where I’ll be in July 2021 (pandemic permitting), and I hope I see you there—in Marion, welcoming Mary Gasperik into the Quilters Hall of Fame.

Your quilting friend,

Anna

Link to the Nomination form on The Quilters Hall of Fame website: https://quiltershalloffame.net/honoree-nomination/

My first blog entry was about Gail van der Hoof, who is known as one of the forces behind the ground-breaking quilt exhibit at the Whitney Museum in 1971. Now it’s time to tell you about the other half of that partnership, Jonathan Holstein. As a refresher, the exhibit they mounted, Abstract Design in American Quilts, at New York City’s Whitney Museum of American Art, is credited with taking quilts from the bed to the wall as a form of art to be appreciated not for warmth but for artistic qualities such as form, color and design. You can read a fleshed-out version of the Holstein/van der Hoof collecting and exhibit story, along with more info about his life at the bio link below.

Today, I want to go to a museum—at least in my mind—and think about art. Having repeated the conventional view of the Whitney exhibit, I wonder how accurate it is. Haven’t there always been quilters who saw their work as art? Remember last week when we talked about Rose Kretsinger’s designs? Surely, she was applying the principles of form and design that she learned at the Art Institute of Chicago. As did Bertha Stenge, another Hall of Fame Honoree who studied at the San Francisco School of Art. Take a look at the center of one of Stenge’s quilts, Gazelle, and see if you don’t recognize the Art Deco elements. Or The Spectrum, which was another quilt artist’s entry to the 1933 Sears contest at the Chicago Worlds Fair, which certainly shows color, form and line.

I would say that the artistic element could always be found in at least some quilts, but it took a Jonathan Holstein to make the art world –and not just the quilting world–aware of it.  So, what was special about the Whitney exhibit that makes us say (properly) that it was the beginning of quilts being seen as art? For a scholarly analysis, I read Karin Elizabeth Peterson, cited below.  Peterson makes the interesting  point that it’s the whole museum experience that transformed quilts into art. First, it’s the venue in  which the quilts are displayed. She says, “Museums can be understood as places where quasi-sacred rituals take place. Rituals that define legitimate objects, legitimate artists and legitimate viewers…. Museum space facilitates an art-for-art’s sake experience by employing a series of architectural and display cues: isolated rooms, small labels, white walls, spotlighted pedestals, space to stand back from works and grasp their effect…. The museum, which is structured to appear neutral, objective and disinterested, privileges a special way of viewing objects within its walls.”

The other aspect Peterson notes is Holstein’s discourse about the quilts. For example, when he “pitched” the exhibit to the Whitney staff, he presented slides of the works, just as he would have done with his photographs. In titling the exhibit, he carefully chose wording that would make a connection to the world of abstract art.  And when he wrote the catalog and promotional materials, he was careful to write about quilts as he would any other work of art: not focusing on workmanship, but using phrases like “sensibilities and visual skills of the artist”, “laying on colors and textures”, “a traditional American approach to design, vigorous, simple, reductive”. (1971 Exhibit catalog)

So, here’s the takeaway: Art is seen at the art museum, not the local school gym.  And if you’re going to call it art, you have to use art jargon.  Sounds simplistic and a bit cynical, but that’s just what Jonathan Holstein did, and he was successful with it. The quilt world hasn’t been the same since.  

There were other “art” exhibits after the Whitney: in 1972, American Pieced Quilts, opened at the Renwick Gallery of the National Collection of Fine Arts in Washington, D.C. (this exhibit traveled to twenty-one American museums and two English venues under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES); in 1975, there was an exhibition for the Shiseido Corporation in Tokyo and the American Cultural Center Kyoto, the first show of American quilts in Japan; the following year, another exhibit was mounted at the Kyoto Museum of Modern Art.; and in 1980, Amish Quilts, from Pennsylvania and the Midwest, was seen in ten museums in the United States. 

Holstein is also the author or co-author of several books, all of which are in the Quilters Hall of Fame collection and available for purchase on the open market.

In 2003, the entire Holstein/ van der Hoof collection of quilts and ephemera was donated to the International Quilt Museum in Nebraska.  It was then valued at around $2.2 million—not bad for collectors who had initially set themselves a $36.00 limit when buying a quilt. There’s a link below to a charming video of Holstein reminiscing about the first Amish quilt he purchased—for $5.75! There’s also a link that will give you access to all of the quilts now in the IQM, but I’ve put in a few here as a teaser.

These two are graphic, and I think I can recognize what must have drawn Holstein to them.

OK.  You’ve seen my choices. When you have time, take yourself to the International Quilt Museum and pick out your own favorites from the Collection. Let me know what you find, and what strikes your fancy; leave a comment at the end of the blog.  And if you have lots of time, you might also enjoy hearing Jonathan Holstein walk you through an exhibit that was shown at the IQM called “Quilts in Common”. (link below) There are a few quilts from his Collection, but the exhibit format was comparing pairs of related quilts.  Holstein’s artist’s eye, which first got quilts on the Whitney walls, is well worth looking through as he talks about these quilts. And he shares some stories and photos which are a funky and fun view of his early buying days.

After I’ve written something like this, I find myself thinking “What if??” and recognizing how much I don’t know.  What if I had studied design or trained to be a museum curator? What if I had chosen, as Jonathan Holstein did, to center my professional life around quilts? Well, I didn’t, so I can just be grateful that Holstein was on the scene when he was, and that he continues to be active in the quilt/art world today.

Your quilting friend,

Anna

Biographical info https://quiltershalloffame.net/jonathan-holstein/

Karin Elizabeth Peterson, “Discourse and Display: The Modern Eye, Entrepreneurship, and the Cultural Transformation of the Patchwork Quilt,” Sociological Perspectives. Vol 46, Number 4, 2003

First Amish quilt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8vD8UhoBBM

Holstein quilts at International Quilt Museum https://www.internationalquiltmuseum.org/collections/search?title=&field_quilt_primary_pattern_tid=All&field_quiltmaker_value=&field_quilt_geo_origin_country_tid=All&field_quilt_geo_origin_state_reg_tid=All&field_quilt_predominant_techniqu_tid=All&field_quilt_object__value=&field_quilt_collection_tid=8024&field_quilt_date_range=&field_cultural_group_tid=All&combine=

Quilts in Common lecture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUs5m7AqvOY

I wondered when I’d get a chance to say “It’s not rocket science” here.  And then I came across Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi.  This Honoree has a PhD. in aerospace engineering! But as intriguing as that might be, it’s not what she’s known for among quilters.

Dr. Mazloomi is an author who has written a dozen books on quilt related topics. Her book, Spirits of the Cloth (Random House), was given the “Best Non-Fiction Book of the Year” award by the American Library Association. She is also a curator and has presented numerous exhibitions of African-American quilts, beginning in 1998, “Spirits of the Cloth” at the American Craft Museum, New York City, New York and most recently in 2019 with “We Who Believe in Freedom” at the National Freedom Center Museum, Cincinnati, OH.  As the founder and general factotum of the Women of Color Quilters Network, she has helped preserve and promote the cultural significance of quilt-making in the African-American community.

You can read more about Dr. Mazloomi in the several links below—and you should because she has an impressive list of accomplishments.  But she has been called a fiber griot (a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, or musician), and I want to take a look at her quilts and the stories she tells with them. 

Dr. Mazloomi sees herself as a storyteller as well as a craftsperson; yes, the process may be exciting and wondrous, but what’s behind it is more significant. From an Oral history interview with Carolyn Mazloomi, 2002, September, 17-30, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution:

The ability to create a piece of work that’s graphically complex from a simple piece of cloth is fascinating. The ability to combine various pieces of cloth, various colors and textures of cloth, to create a graphic piece to me is mind-boggling…. It’s always about the story and the finished product. And I think as with all artists, all quilt-makers, as long as you’re living, as long as you can think, you will always have stories. If you lived 100 lives, you can’t get all these stories out…We will always have stories and you want to get them out, and that’s the satisfaction of quilt-making.

One of the big stories Dr. Mazloomi tells is family. In her view, this is a central cultural theme for African-American quilters.  In talking about their quilts, she says,

They were made for family. They were made for friends. And for us, friends are family. In the past it was about taking those bits of cloth, and still now in the South, taking old clothes and making them into a quilt to give to the grandkids or to one’s children. Again, you go back into that oral history about who we are and sharing who we are, and you know, sharing that with our families and friends. But that was the – that’s the backbone of African American quilt-making. Even to this day, the majority of the quilt-makers make the work for their family. And they love to show references of the family, or people in the family, on the quilts. That just binds the family, bonds them closer together, you know…. “I am quilting. This is my legacy for my children. This is what I leave for my children. I leave a bit of myself in these quilts for my children. I leave this for my family. This is who I am. This is who we are.”

Here is one of her own quilts—not for, but about, family. It’s made in a striking black and white woodcut style that she favors (when she’s not going wild with color). You can see more quilts in this series on her website linked below.

Another major theme is politics, because, as she says about herself and quilters of her generation,

Events in our lives that have happened to us socially and politically are reflected in our work, okay. We came up in that ‘60s and ‘70s generation; you know, we were the children of the civil rights movement. Of course, it’s going to be in our work, because we can’t forget that. You don’t live through that and leave it behind. People say we should leave it behind, but I’m bringing that baggage with me, because it’s just something I can’t forget. It’s something that I shouldn’t forget.  

Here is a quilt she made to honor the Selma March; it’s dedicated to the late John Lewis.

On another note, (pardon the pun), Dr.Malzoomi tells the story of jazz.  As a child she was close to and supported by an aunt who owned a juke joint.  In true griot fashion, Dr. Mazloomi sings the praises of this beloved woman through her portraits of Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, the jazz scene, and this quilt.

So many stories to tell! And what happens to these stories once the quilts are made? Dr. Malzoomi said in an interview for NEA Arts Magazine 2014,

When the quilters are in sync with the social and political and the cultural currents in their community, they render that in their artwork. So, the quilts are community property. It’s one of the ways that we as artists use this tool, these quilts, to foster knowledge. And it’s about engaging other people in our culture as well.

But they’re creating these community documents and actually they’re cultural documents. They’re pieces of history that tell the story of our culture, what’s happening here in the United States. They’re serious, serious cultural documents and I’m just in awe.

When you can look at something and it has the power to touch you and inform, then you’ve done your job as an artist. And I often tell the quilt makers sometimes you can make a quilt that’s so powerful in story and it touches so many people. Then you have lost that quilt, because the quilt does not spiritually belong to you anymore. It belongs to the public. It belongs to the people that see it because it becomes a part of their spirit, and it’s touched them in such a way that is so profound it becomes unforgettable.

I don’t make quilts like this—it’s not in my cultural tradition or my personal inclination, but I’m glad that Dr. Mazloomi and the other artists she has encouraged to keep up this work are out there touching our spirits. I imagine she has “lost” a lot of quilts over the years.

Your quilting friend,

Anna

All quotes, unless otherwise noted, are from Oral history interview with Carolyn Mazloomi, 2002 September 17-30. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Further reading and viewing:

Carolyn’s Website: https://carolynlmazloomi.com

On The Quilters Hall of Fame website: https://quiltershalloffame.net/carolyn-mazloomi/

Oral history interview https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-carolyn-mazloomi-11504#transcript 

Dr. Mazloomi will be the Keynote Speaker at Virtual AQSG 2020 Saturday, October 3, 2020. “Surviving Blackness in America:
Quilts as Political Statement” https://americanquiltstudygroup.org/

In addition to writing this blog, I am also a member of the Quilters Hall of Fame Collections Committee.  At our annual meeting a few weeks ago, something came up that started me thinking about quilt collecting.

 The Collections Committee reviews potential donations and recommends to the Board which items to add to our Permanent or Education Collections. We try to preserve items that will give meaning to the legacy of our Honorees. We have practically no budget for acquisitions, so we rely heavily on donations. One of the items offered this year was from Honoree Donna Wilder’s collection; it had been selected by another Honoree, Georgia Bonesteel, as one of The Twentieth Century’s Best Quilts, Judges Choice.  So, we had a dilemma: accept it for the Wilder collection or for the Bonesteel collection. In the end, we decided that the selection by Bonesteel, along with her explanation of why she thought the quilt was significant, said more about her than we knew about Wilder from her “mere” ownership. Tough choice! And I’ve been ruminating about it ever since, which brings me to write about collecting and Mary Barton.

One very nice thing about the COVID-19 closures is that, since we can’t see collections in person, many museums and individuals have been sharing their quilts online. And that has given me a little glimpse into some things I didn’t know about my friends and acquaintances; what they collect often says something about them. Most of us know that Ken Burns has a quilt collection, and we understand that it reflects his love of history. Some of us may know people who have family quilts and their collections reflect personal memories. Recently several friends have been participating in the Facebook “Post a quilt for 10 days” challenge, and I can almost always tell whose collection is up by the style they choose. Clearly, our collections say a lot about who we are.

I have a number of vintage and antique quilt tops, most of which I acquired from eBay.  It was back in those heady days of dial-up internet connections when the challenge of a putting in a last-minute bid was as exciting as the item itself.  I tried to obtain a fair representation of block patterns, and when I had most of the common ones, I moved on to looking for interesting variations of the old favorites.  Here are some of the star tops I got when I thought I might take my show on the road to give lectures at quilt guilds. (That third one, the Lone Star, is made from ribbons from 1930s Livestock Show.)

But did that make me a collector or just a diversified shopper?  When I compare myself with Mary Barton, I know I’ll never be a serious collector (and that’s okay). But hat’s off to Mary, and I’ll tell you why.

Have you heard the old saying, “When you have three of something, you have a collection”?  Mary had a collection of quilts; she had three times three, times three times three, and more. Between 1987 and 2001, Mary Barton of Ames, Iowa, donated more than 1,500 items, including over 100 quilts, to the State Historical Society of Iowa. Barton also donated quilts from her collection to the Living History Farms, Simpson College, and the Farm House Museum at Iowa State University. Most, if not all of these quilts are related to the State of Iowa: either made there, collected there, or owned by someone who locates there. Mary didn’t want the Iowa quilts leaving home, and her purchases were driven by her affection for her home state. You can see some of the quilts Mary collected at the links below.

Mary didn’t just collect quilts, and her collection shows her to have been a serious researcher.  She was a pioneer in fabric dating and determining the age of a quilt by the fabrics it contained. Her collections also included 30 shoe-boxes of annotated fabric samples and 15 notebooks of quilt blocks and fabric swatches.  She also assembled a fashion collection; there’s a link below if you really want to take a side trip.  But maybe it’s not so much of a side trip since Mary used her fashion records in quilt dating. Here’s a photo of her doing a comparison of the fabric in an old quilt, a dress and a costume illustration.  

Mary’s research career began when, as a member of the Faculty Woman’s Club, she became involved in 1968 with a group called the Heritage Division. Mary did her own study and gave the group a program on quilts and quilt history that included a play, Aunt Mary’s Quilting Party, actually performed around a quilt frame. From there, she went on to design and make her Heritage Quilt which depicts the settling of pioneer America, and specifically of central Iowa. The 100 x 102 inch quilt was completed in 1976 and won first place at the Iowa State Fair that year. The quilt also received honorable mention at the National Bicentennial Quilt Contest held in Warren, Michigan in 1976 and was later selected as one of America’s 100 Best Quilts of the 20th Century. I love the pioneer women walking West with their little quilt blocks!

This wasn’t the only quilt Mary made. She loved the old patterns and made an indigo Storm at Sea, a blue Churn Dash with red sashing, a Tree Everlasting with chrome on indigo fabric, and a sampler of Hawaiian applique designs. The Quilters Hall of Fame has the patterns for “Hawaii Remembered” along with a hand-written note from Mary explaining how she and her husband loved the flowers they saw when they visited that State. There’s a link below, and it includes shots of all the pattern pieces as well as photos of the Hawaiian quilt and the others mentioned.

Mary was always generous with her research results. In 1983, she created an early “Study Center” at the Heirloom to Heirloom Quilters Conference held in Ames, Iowa to share her collections. In the “paper” room were rows of three ring binders containing quilt-related periodicals from the 1920s and earlier, patterns, research material and personal notes. In the “textile room,” Mary shared dozens of antique quilts and tops along with her shoe-boxes of fabric swatches. Here are a few photos of the scene:

Another thing makes Mary Barton beloved among quilt historians: she collected old blocks and mounted them on panels for study purposes. She used them to show pattern and fabric choices, and how use affects fabrics. Mary explained, “One reason for the panels — I started with one and organized more as the collection grew — for the researcher they would be more meaningful than just a pile of blocks. Also, if they were mounted they would not be used for small projects and lost for historical reference.”

Here are just a few of the 111 panels in her collection.

I wish I could see this one in person. I have a feeling that some of the colors might be more purple than they look online. Oh heck; I wish I could see all of these panels, including the next one which looks almost good enough to be a banner or wall quilt.

(If you want to know what the blocks are, they’re listed below.)

So, after having read about Mary Barton and her collections, what do you think of your own collection? What does it say about you? If you are a collector or want to become one, I hope you give some thought to what and why you are collecting, and what you will do with your treasures. I think that’s the lesson from Mary Barton: she collected to preserve Iowa heritage and to learn about quilt history, not just to add to her acquisitions, so that’s what made her more than just a shopper like me. And of course, that’s what makes her a Hall of Fame Honoree.

Your quilting friend,

Anna

1. Quilts held by Living History Farms. https://livinghistoryfarms.pastperfectonline.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search_criteria=barton&searchButton=Search&only_images=only
2. To see Mary’s Collection on the Quilt Index, go to http://www.quiltindex.org/index.php. Then click these tabs: Browse. Collection. Mary Barton
3. Mary Barton Fashion Illustration Collection https://digitalcollections.lib.iastate.edu/fashion-plates. The collection (1776-2008) contains plates of general fashion dating back to the 18th century and continuing through the 20th century. Additional categories within the files include accessories, baby and beach fashions, bridal fashions and portraits, children’s and communion clothing, footwear, inaugural gowns, maid uniforms, masquerade costumes, men’s fashion, millinery, mourning dresses, negligees and undergarments. There are also magazine issues relating to fashion as well as magazine articles discussing fashion of the Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, and Modern periods.
4. Hawaii Remembered and others https://quiltershalloffame.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/51F86959-33E2-45F6-A002-383291449415
5. 21 blocks. Described in rows, upper left to lower right. Row 1: #1 North Dakota, the Windmill, Windmill Star, the Wandering Flower, Quilt Star, Crazy Star Quilt, Amethyst (Brackman 3873). #2 Cake Stand/Basket (Brackman 707). #3 See #1 (Brackman 3873) Row 2: #1 Square and Points (Brackman 2138 c) #2 Broken Dishes, Jack in the Pulpit, Double Square (Brackman 2472) #3 Square and Points (Brackman 2138 c) Row 3: #1 Balkan Puzzle (Brackman 1211) #2 Variation – Nine Patch in center (Brackman 2121) Row 4: #1 Ocean Waves, Tents of Armageddon, Thousands of Triangles (Brackman 3150) #2 Monkey Wrench, Snail’s Trail, Indiana Puzzle (Alternate coloring to make square in a square) (Brackman 2399) Row 5: #1 Nine Patch, Sheepfold, Irish Chain (Brackman 2020) #2 Checkerboard Design, Nine Patch (Brackman 1601 a) Row 6: #1 Checkerboard Design, Nine Patch (Brackman 1601 a) #2 Square Within a Square (Brackman 1102 b). Colored to appear like Brackman 2020. Row 7: #1 Double Hour Glass (Brackman 1701) #2 Double Hour Glass (Brackman 1701) Row 8: #1 Nine-Patch, Checkerboard Design (Brackman 1601 a) #2 Nine-Patch, Checkerboard Design (Brackman 1601 a) #3 Nine-Patch, Checkerboard Design (Brackman 1601 a)

Did you enjoy the 2020 Virtual Celebration? I sure did!  While nothing takes the place of seeing quilts “in the cloth” and getting together in person with quilting friends, it was still a fun experience.  Maybe you bought something in the vendor mall or bid on an auction item—thanks for your support of The Quilters Hall of Fame. I’ve put some links to quilters featured during the Virtual Celebration 2020 below.

Usually I write about persons who have been inducted as Honorees of the Hall of Fame, but today I’m going to tell you about one person who’s behind it all.  We wouldn’t have The Quilters Hall of Fame or Celebration without her, but since she’s not an Honoree, you may not know her.

Hazel Carter is the Founder of the Quilters Hall of Fame; she began honoring inductees at the 1979 Continental Quilting Congress (which she had also founded).  When asked in an interview what aspect of her research or contribution to textile studies satisfied her the most, she replied, “I saw The Quilters Hall of Fame officially opened to the public in July 2004. Our book on Honorees (was) published at the same time.”  Here’s a photo of the 2011 printing of the book:

This is a beautiful coffee-table book and a font of information about the Museum and Honorees, and it’s still available for purchase on the Hall of Fame website (link below).  Hazel has every right to be proud.

Hazel Carter is still an Honorary Board member of TQHF, and will always be closely connected with the Museum (we hope), but she’s got her own story to tell too.

Back in 1972, Hazel ran across and article about the renowned 1708 Levens Hall bed furnishings, and she began her serious study of quilt history.  She went to England to view the ensemble in person and in 1985 wrote her own article about them in Lady’s Circle Patchwork Quilts. Here’s a photo of what started it all for Hazel; you can see why she was interested—think about those fabrics being available when the US was still colonial!

Hazel went on to write numerous articles, for the popular quilting magazines of her day, for her professional appraisal colleagues, and for the American Quilt Study Group.  Here’s a partial list of her publications:

• “Apple Pie Ridge Star Quilts.” Blanket Statements, Summer 2010.
• “Unique and Diverse Strippy Quilts in the United States.” Blanket Statements, Spring 2007.
• Introduction in “Quilts of Virginia 1607-1899.” Virginia Consortium of Quilters PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2006.
• “New Revelations about The Garden Quilt.” Blanket Statements, Winter 2004
• “Three Centuries of Quilts Observed Over Two Decades of Appraising”. Blanket Statements, American Quilt Study Group Newsletter, Winter, 2002.
• “Three Centuries of Quilts Observed Over Two Decades” and “Timeline of Early Textile History up to 1700”. Personal Property Journal, American Society of Appraisers, Winter 2000.
• “What is the Value of My Quilt,” Baltimore Appliqué Society Newsletter; May 1998.
• “Retreat”, Traditional Quilter, July 1998
• “The Evolution of Organized Quilting”. Blanket Statements, American Quilt Study Group Newsletter, Fall 1997.
• “American Quilts – 1750 to 1950” Personal Property Journal, American Society of Appraisers, Fall 1996.
• “Quilt Appraisals:  A Pleasure and a Privilege”. Virginia Quilt Museum Newsletter, Winter 1995.
• “What is the Correct Price for a Quilt?” (with Bunnie Jordan), Patchwork Quilts magazine, October 1994
• “Quilters Unlimited”, Patchwork Quilt Tsushin (Japan), August 1990.
• “American Patchwork Pillowcases and Shams”, Quilting Today, October/November 1990, p.52
• Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine:
  • “The Smithsonian Collection,” August 1988, pg 12: July/August 1977, p. 12 and June 1977, p. 12.
  • “4th International CQC Tour Goes Downunder,” April 1987, p. 6.
  • “U.S. Postage Stamp Promotion,” July/August 1978, p. 17.
  • “Woodlawn Quilts,” March 1978, p 17.
  • “Wall Quilt to Ceret, France,” October 1977.
  • “The Meeting Place- Introduction of Jinny Beyer,” September 1977, p. 11.
  • “Teacher Tac Tics,” January, 1977, p. 11.
  • “The Meeting Place- Introduction of Hazel Carter,” September 1976, p. 20.
• Virginia Quilts, 1987, publication resulting from Virginia quilt search.
• “Quilt Touring in England:  Oldest English-Made Patchwork”, Lady’s Circle Patchwork Quilts November 1985, p. 62
• “The Conference Speaker”, The Professional Quilter, September 1984, p. 6
• Bee Quilting resource book published by the Smithsonian Institution, 1997. Resource book accompanied exhibit “Quintessential Quilts,” SITES program.
• Start Quilting, 1977 and 1975.  “How-to” manuals, self published.
• “Bicentennial Quilt Presentation”, Nimble Needles Treasures, 1975, p 33.

And that list doesn’t include the numerous articles she’s written for the Quilters Hall of Fame Newsletter. Or the many exhibits she has curated at the Marion IN Public Library in conjunction with Hall of Fame Celebrations.

Her interest in quilt history also inspired Hazel to organize one of the earliest series of international quilt tours, with tours to England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales in 1981 and 1985 and to New Zealand, Australia, and Hawaii in 1986. These days, we think nothing of retreats, quilting cruises, shopping trips to London for quilts, but it was all new back then, and Hazel was in the forefront of organizing the fun.

Hazel is a quilter herself. She was born in Iowa and she credits her mother, Grace McDowell, and her grandmother, Elsie McVey, with starting her off in quilting as a child. Here’s one of her quilts which is featured in the Hall of Fame book.

In addition to being a quilt history devotee, Hazel has been an appraiser of quilted textiles. Since you need to be able to determine the age of a quilt to know its value, she and her quilting buddy, Bunnie Jordan, organized the Fabric Dating Club, an informal research and study group that has been meeting in Virginia since 1995. And, as if three groups weren’t enough for any one woman to start up, Hazel also began Quilters Unlimited which now has 11 chapters of active quilters in the northern Virginia area. Phew! What a remarkable woman!

You would think that the Hall of Fame would have many Carter artifacts in its Collection, but I couldn’t find much.  And the reason for that may be because Hazel seems to be giving things away.  I don’t think a year goes by when there isn’t some Hazel Carter donation made for the Celebration auction.  And some years, she buys items from other Honorees and gifts them back to Collections; we’ve gotten Sally Garoutte silk screen prints and Mary Schafer quilt blocks from the Joyce Gross collection that way.  Thanks, Hazel.  These and your other contributions to The Quilters Hall of Fame have been many.

Next week, I’ll get back to my rotation of Honorees, but I hope that whenever you think about The Quilters Hall of Fame, you remember and cherish Hazel Carter.

Your quilting friend,

Anna

Hall of Fame book https://shop.quiltershalloffame.net/products/the-quilters-hall-of-fame-42-masters-who-have-shaped-our-art

If you were quilting in the late 1970s and 80s, you were lucky to have Eleanor Burns; she made quilting easy.  She pioneered the use of time-saving devices like rotary cutters and specialty rulers, and showed you how to make a quilt in a day. And if you didn’t start out with Eleanor, she’s still someone you should know about because she’s still going strong. If you want to see Eleanor in action, join The Quilters Hall of Fame Virtual Celebration 2020 and watch her video on July 17^th about log cabin quilts.

I’ve made a few log cabins in my day: a pair of flannel ones that cover our couches in the winter, the one in my profile picture using my hand-dyed fabric, the straight furrows setting I showed in the post about Jean Wells, and this top.

But, even though this is a basic block, I’ll bet I can learn something from Eleanor, so I plan to watch the video.  She will probably demonstrate the use of her log cabin ruler which is on sale now through Connecting Threads (link below)

The log cabin block is a fitting subject for Celebration; Eleanor launched her quilting operations with “Make a Quilt in a Day: Log Cabin Pattern” published in 1967. She went on to write 125 quilting books including several more in the Quilt in a Day series, and she named her business Quilt in a Day. Here are some of the titles still available, from the original to the 6^th edition.

Eleanor is also known for her early promotion of strip piecing—another way to make a quilt easily. Many of her students are proud to say, “Eleanor Burns taught me to strip”, and some have the t-shirt to prove it. If you’ve been to Quilt Week in Paducah, you know Eleanor for great shopping—the year I went, she had three locations around town, including one in tents where she offered sales on a different color every day. You can still shop with Eleanor virtually (link below). There are 240 different rulers and template sets; I came away with one for Winding Ways that has helpful registration marks—I’ll post if I ever get something made with it.  And a nice feature of the fabric store is a link to other fabrics in the same line; if you see something on sale, you can check whether companion fabrics are available.

But although she is an energetic and successful quilt entrepreneur, Eleanor Burns is a teacher at heart. With her BS in Ed (same as me, a long time ago), she has the perfect background to know how to reach and motivate students.  And she’s generous with it; you can find dozens of videos and free patterns on her website—if you want a really rowdy, fun time, try the block party series. Or, check out some of the episodes on the playlist below. Why didn’t I find these at the beginning of shelter in place?  If I had watched a video once a week, and tried the techniques Eleanor demonstrates, imagine how much my quilting repertoire would have improved!

And in her spare time, she has designed several fabric collections for Benartex, Inc., including “Eleanor’s Anniversary Florals,” “Rainbow Florals,” “Yours Truly, Eleanor Burns,” Yours Truly Holiday,” Magic Vine,” “Victory Garden,” “Ellie Ann,” and “Zoey Christine.” .”  Below are samples from her recent Garden Party Collection (from the Benartex website). I think I could make a quilt out of this line—it’s so fresh!

It’s no wonder that Eleanor Burns is a Quilters Hall of Fame Honoree. But look at this list of other awards and recognition:

• Primedia Awards of Excellence, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2003
• Business Advocate Award for San Diego 1993
• San Diego Book Awards Association Certificate for Outstanding Accomplishments 1993
• Michael Kyle Award of the San Diego Book Awards Association for outstanding accomplishments in “How To” books
• American Quilter’s Society All-American Quilter 2005
• Michael Kile Lifetime Achievement Award given by Quilts, Inc. (host of International Quilt Market)
• Spokesperson for Elna sewing machines and for Baby Lock Quilters Dream machines

With all those accolades, you might wonder if Eleanor Burns has a swelled head—no such thing!  She’s the most down to earth person around. She’s been described as a “scream” and a “hoot”, and she’s not afraid to dress up and have a little fun. These photos are from the Quilters Hall of Fame archives, but you might also see her like this in Paducah.

Eleanor’s designs are well-represented on the Quilt Index.  This sampling shows not only to her popularity, but also her ability to teach so many. None of these quilts is flashy or modern, but each one is a reminder of the impact Eleanor Burns has had, and continues to enjoy, on the world of quilting.

So, how was that for eye candy?  If you want more, Eleanor has a Facebook page, Quilt in a Day and Eleanor Burns, and you can keep up with her there.

And one more reminder: check the Quilters Hall of Fame website for details on Eleanor’s Log Cabin video on July 17 during our Virtual Celebration (https://quiltershalloffame.net/).

Your quilting friend,

Anna

Connecting Threads site: https://www.connectingthreads.com/quilt-in-a-day-log-cabin-ruler/p/82595

Quilt in a Day shopping https://www.quiltinaday.com/shoponline/

Free patterns https://www.quiltinaday.com/freepattern/

Playlist https://www.youtube.com/c/quiltinaday/playlists?view=1&flow=grid

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 wasn’t convinced. When I resisted, they brought out their ultimate argument, “You never know when you’ll need to slap something on to cover up a poorly joined seam”.

I signed up, needle-turned a leaf and stem, made a charming ruched flower, and never finished the project. In fact, I just recently tossed it out in the Great Covid Cleanup. But over the years, I have come to terms with appliqué, and even enjoy it in small doses. Here’s my largest hand appliqué project. I’ve also just finished two tops with appliqué or broderie perse borders, and if I remember, I’ll show you photos when they come back from the quilter.

So, not too shabby for someone who was dragged kicking and screaming into appliqué, but I wonder what my attitude would have been if I had known Mimi Dietrich in my quilting salad days? Well, it’s never too late to find out.  Mimi Dietrich, the Pride of Baltimore (quilting, not the ship), will be teaching in The Quilters Hall of Fame Virtual Celebration which starts this week. But let me tell you about her before I give you info on the class.

Mimi is a Baltimore native and graduate of the University of Maryland.  It’s no wonder she specializes in Baltimore Album quilts. She is the author of numerous books, including “Baltimore Basics: Album Quilts From Start to Finish,” “Baltimore Blocks for Beginners: A Step-by-Step Guide” and “Baltimore Bouquets: Patterns and Techniques for Dimensional Appliqué” . She has taught for Craftsy and for University of Maryland and was named Teacher of the Year by the International Association of Creative Arts Professionals. Here’s the little quilt she donated to the Hall of Fame when she was inducted:

Earlier this year, Mimi was featured in the Hometown Girl exhibit at the Maryland Historical Society with quilts made by her and her students. It’s over now, but here are two of her quilts that were on view, a classic applique and a quirky conglomeration (“Pun Quilt”).

Seeing them together, you wouldn’t guess they are made by the same quilter, but it shows Mimi’s depth and sense of humor. If you would like to see more about this exhibit, there’s a link below to Mimi’s “Farewell Tour” in which she describes the sections of the exhibit and talks about her Top Five pieces.

Mimi has a long-standing association with the Maryland Historical Society (MdHS) eginning in 1993 with the exhibition, “Lavish Legacies: Baltimore Album Quilts, 1845-1855,” when she lectured and gave a workshop. In 2001, she and members of the Baltimore Applique Society (BAS) prepared quilts for the MdHS exhibition “The Baltimore Album Quilt Tradition.” Between 2011 and 2015, Mimi was a key member of the volunteer group that catalogued and rehoused the MdHS quilt collection. Additionally, in 2014 she was chosen to applique the stars on a reproduction Star Spangled Banner and lead 200 volunteers in the effort. A real Hometown Girl! And a reminder to us all that our local museums and historical societies could use our help and quilting expertise.  Mimi is so well-regarded by the MdHS that they consulted her about a special 1840s red and green applique quilt in their collection.  There’s a link below to a video of Mimi sharing her knowledge about the quilt.

Don’t you wish you could learn applique from someone as skilled and knowledgeable as Mimi Dietrich?  I’d like to talk my guild into having her come to us when the pandemic is under control.

In an ordinary year, there would be lectures offered in conjunction with the July Celebration, but this year we’ve had to punt, and Mimi Dietrich has graciously stepped in to help.  Even though it won’t be the same as an in-person class, you can still learn from Mimi in a virtual format.  Join her on July 14^th at 10:00 EDT (details coming to the Hall of Fame website) and see how she creates her beautiful applique. You won’t be calling it the ‘A’ word anymore.

And if you would like to own an original piece by Mimi Dietrich, you can try to win this beauty in the Quilters Hall of Fame online auction.  Bid at https://www.benefitbidding.net/auctions/listings/details.cfm?item_id=121839

Before I go, I want to wish a belated Happy Birthday to Honorees Michael James (June 30) and Eleanor Burns (July 3).  I’ll tell you about Eleanor next week because she also has a Celebration activity coming up, and Mr. James will go onto my random rota. In the meantime, here’s a virtual card for them both.

Log cabin for Eleanor; graphics for Michael.

Your quilting friend,

Anna

Farewell Tour https://vimeo.com/399169303

Backstage Consultation of 1840s quilt https://vimeo.com/398923199

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 will make you pick out your stitches with your nose”?  Well, that’s what happened to me; seventeen seams in, all but four taken out.  But thank goodness for my seam ripper!  Or as I like to call it, the Mulligan Stick. (If you or your husband golf, you’ll recognize a Mulligan as an opportunity for a do-over.  My husband turns on a wood lathe, and he can’t correct his mistakes like I can, so I try to keep a cheerful attitude about un-sewing.) 

We all joke about seam rippers and the stitch removal process.  We use terms like frog stitching/ ribbit; reverse sewing, etc. I recently ordered some tools online that were called stitch fixers: same thing, but with a more positive spin. So, who invented the seam ripper, and why isn’t he in The Hall of Fame?

Here’s the answer to the first question, from Tenrandomfacts.com:

Seam rippers where probably invented sometime in the late 1800s, and one of the earliest patents for a similar tool was a thimble that had the addition of a small knife that was patented in the United States by W Miller in 1883, that was used to rip threads in a similar way; while a later patent exists for a tool designed for the sole purpose of ripping seams, in 1898 by John Fisher from Canada.

Fisher’s device was a piece of twisted metal with a small blade held between two pincer-like ends. The drawing with the patent doesn’t show up well here (a better view is in the link below the photo), but you can recognize this as an ancestor of what we use today.  The design evolved from the single slicer between tiny jaws into a curved blade by the 1950s, with a little knobby protector appearing later. We’ve come a long way and today we even have electric ripper scissors, but that’s too modern for me.

As an aside, I learned that I have been using my ripper incorrectly—or at least not as originally designed. Fisher prescribes the method of slashing along the seam line, but I insert the blade into every third to fifth stich on one side, and then pull up the uncut thread on the other side.  At the risk of starting something akin to the toilet paper role debate, I’ll ask, “Which way do you rip?”

I couldn’t sew without John Fisher’s invention, and there are many other tools that have changed quilting in a dramatic way. How about the rotary cutter and mat? Or all those specialty rulers we know and love?  And, of course, the invention with the biggest impact on our craft/art—the sewing machine.  I’m sure you’ve got some favorites too.  Why aren’t these inventors in the Quilters Hall of Fame?

And for that matter, why isn’t Jenny Doan of Missouri Star in?  Or someone from the Modern Quilt Guild? Or that fabric designer who always comes up with a new line for you to fall in love with?

Well, the number one reason someone doesn’t get in to the Hall of Fame is that they haven’t been nominated. Yes, everyone agrees that Elias Howe and Isaac Singer made invaluable contributions to the world of quilting, but unless someone puts those names forward, they won’t be honored.  There is no group at the Hall of Fame whose job it is to cast their collective mind around the quilting world and see who is worthy. Instead, the Selection Committee relies on you—actual quilters, quilt enthusiasts, scholars and historians — to present a name for consideration. It’s a way to ensure that the Committee doesn’t play favorites or skew the decision to their own ideas, but it doesn’t work unless you give them something to work with.

The process is quite simple; you can find the nomination form and instructions on the Hall of Fame website (link below). But essentially, all you have to do is “Tell how he/she has made outstanding contributions to the world of quilting.”, and provide some back up info.  The website doesn’t tell you, but there are two categories of inductees, one for contemporary nominees, and the other for persons who lived/quilted 50 years ago or are deceased (Heritage Honorees).  

One caution: nominations close on August 30^th for selection/ announcement at following Celebration. So, you either need to get organized quickly for a 2020 submission/ 2021 decision/ 2022 induction, or take your time knowing, that the earliest your nominee would be honored would be 2023. Either way, it’s worth doing.

I submitted a nomination last year, proposing a woman from my hometown, Chicago, who had begun her quilting career around the time of the 1933 World’s Fair.  The process was enjoyable and gave me the opportunity to get acquainted with my quilter’s descendants, learn more about quilting and the Century of Progress, and practice using the Quilt Index. If you go this route, you’ll soon become an expert in your area.  If you propose a current quilter, you can rely on your own experiences (maybe your nominee gave a lecture or workshop at your guild), you’ll find it easy to gather data from the internet, and you may even make a connection with your nominee. Please consider making a nomination.

Next week, I’ll be back to writing about actual Honorees. Don’t ask yourself why that person was chosen.  Ask why you haven’t made your choice known. (Channeling JFK here—sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

You’ve been very attentive to all this narrative, and I know that Fourth of July is coming up, so here are some photos of my Patient Piecers Bee group and our patriotic projects. The first two are a round robin started with some unusual (read: ugly; Americana prints don’t often have that coppery green) fabric, and the second is Quilts of Valor.  Have a good Fourth!

Your quilting friend,
Anna

Suggested Links:

http://tenrandomfacts.com/seam-ripper/

https://quiltershalloffame.net/honoree-nomination/