QUILTERS HALL OF FAME - Key Persons

Amy Emms described herself as a Durham quilter: She made whole cloth quilts using the pattern library and characteristic pattern set that came to be known as "Durham quilting.´ This particular style grew, withing the County of Durham, , out of the broader tradition of quiltmaking in northern England in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tradition characterized by the quality of the quilted surface stitchery rather than intricate piecing or applique. Mrs. Emms, as she was affectionately known, reflecting the old world courtesies of her generation and place, became the supreme practitioner of the craft in the second half of the twentieth century. Her whole cloth quilts, in satin and occasionally silk, with their characteristic centers of "scissors" patterns. "Durham feathers" and "feather twist" borders forming the pattern set that can be regarded as her signature, are now prized pieces in public and private collections. If the pattern library seems limited, the symmetrical arrangements and swirling feathers are testimony to a quilt designer of skill, experience, and confidence who recognized at a young age that she had a particular talent. "We all have a gift of some kind, and mine is quilting," she said. Amy Emms (nee Harrison) was born in 1904 to a mother widowed just before her birth. Like many women in northeast England at that time who found themselves in difficult circumstances, Amy's mother drew upon her skills to increase family income by making quilts for local customers, who paid a small sum on a weekly basis. Many of the whole clothe and "strippy" (Bars) quilts used throughout northeast England in the early years of the twentieth century were produced in just this way. So young Amy grew up in a household where quilting was an everyday activity and quilting frames an ever-present feature: "Frames were like furniture in our house." At seven years of age, she began threading needles; by fourteen she was helping her mother to quilt: "I loved it, for while we both sat quilting, Mother would tell me about her early life and how they quilted at night because there was no entertainment." Once she left school, Amy's life follow the conventional route of office job and eventual marriage at the age of twenty to Albert Emms, a glassmaker. They set up home with her mother in the house just outside Sunderland, so the mother-and-daughter quiltmaking activities continued despite Amy's motherhood and the onset of World War II. But the war years were not king to Amy; her husband had to leave home and join the forces, her mother dies in 1940, her eldest child, George, was evacuated, and the family home was destroyed in 1943 by a land mine. It was in the war years, however, that Amy joined the British Legion, an important step, for the legion encouraged fund-raising and community activities. Soon Amy was leading a quilting group. Annual exhibitions in Sunderland followed, with numerous prizes for quilts and cushions. This led to further evening class teaching, which continued right through the 1950's-aperiod when quiltmaking of any kind reached a low point in Britain as a whole. It can truly be said that the tradition of Durham quilting was kept alive by Amy Emms and a handful of other quilters in those years. The evening classes established just after the war continued until 1967, when Amy's husband retired and they left Sunderland to live in a cottage in the country-in the Weardale village of St John's Chapel, in the heart of a region with a strong quiltmaking tradition. For Amy, encouragement to teach and show her work now came from the Women's institute and from the North of England Open Air Museum (now renamed Beamish Museum) established in the 1970's. When the revival of quilting in Britain, from the 1970s onward, began as a follow-up to the American revival, it was not long before Amy came to the fore as an established quilter brought up within the oral tradition of a distinctive regional style of quilting and destined to be the last from that lineage. Her quilting skill and pattern drafting within this tradition were much admired when her work was given a wider platform through exhibitions arranged and promoted by such organizations as the British Crafts Council and the newly established Quilters' Guild of the British Isles in the early 1980s. And it was not only her quilts that were admired-er pen was praised too. Amy became a regular and popular contributor to the letters page of the Quilters' Guild magazine, her prose revealing the endearing personality that subsequently captivated audiences at the many quilt shows and exhibitions she was later to attend. In the late 1970s, Amy Emms began teaching in the Shipley Art Gallery in Gateshead. This particular gallery was establishing its reputation as a leading craft gallery, encouraging both contemporary and traditional crafts. Here, she encountered a new audience of dedicated quilters, eager for knowledge and skill, but also questioning traditional methods. Rising to the challenge, she embraced the new book-learning approach and wrote Amy Emms' Story of Durham Quilting, published in 1990 when she was eighty-six years of age. It fulfilled a long-held ambition. Amy Emms also received a singular honor, of which she was extremely proud. In 1984, she was appointed a Member of the British Empire (M.B.E) by Queen Elizabeth for her "services to quilting." It was a fitting award for someone who had become a legend in Britain in her lifetime. She was inducted into the Quilters Hall of Fame in 1992. In a letter published in the spring 1984 issue of the newsletter of the Quilters' Guild of the British Isles, she expressed her devotion to her art: "I have been thinking of retiring from quilting being as I am reaching a good age, but they want me to continue a bit longer. But as for quilting at home or giving any information about it, I shall never give that up. As I tell people it is in the blood, and it is the quilting that keeps me young and keeps me going"

Job Titles:

• Editor
• Designer and Writer for Good Housekeeping
• Editor of Good Housekeeping

Anne Orr was concerned about the accuracy of her directions and employed a number of Nashville women to produce handcrafted items using her patterns. One news article reported that she employed one hundred women. The Orrs had three daughters, who made their debuts at Nashville society balls. Later, two of them, Anne and Mary, managed the Anne Orr Studio. In 1928, at the age of fifty-three, Anne Orr became a widow with a lavish house and lifestyle to maintain. Her thriving needlework business may have provided the financial stability the family needed as the economic depression widened. At the end of the 1920s, Anne Orr took note of the revival of quiltmaking and added some traditional quilt patterns to her needlework offerings. By 1932, when she published a pattern booklet titled Quilts and Quilting - Set No. 100, she had introduced modern designs to tempt contemporary women who may not have considered quilting as a hobby. Her line of pieced patterns reminiscent of cross-stitch became her trademark in quilt design. Because of her national reputation as a needlework designer and writer for Good Housekeeping, Anne Orr was chosen to judge the first national quilt contest held at the Eastern States Exposition at Storrowton Village in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1932. The following year, she was a final round judge for the Sears national Quilt Contest at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. In 1939, Good Housekeeping and Macy's Department Store sponsored a quilt contest in association with the New York World's Fair, and again Anne Orr was a judge. In January 1940, Anne Orr's final needlework article appeared in Good Housekeeping. She later wrote briefly for Better Homes and Gardens in 1943 and entertained the idea of designing patterns for the Stearns & Foster Co. Mountain Mist patterns. She did design quilt patterns for their competitor, Lockport Batting Company, which brought out an edition of her last pattern book, Anne Orr Quilts - Book 50, originally published by Anne Orr Studios in 1944. The book's introduction, which Anne wrote herself, summarized the success of her career: Anne Orr is no newcomer to the field of textile and pattern design. For more than two decades she has greeted American women through the pages of national magazines, and her name has become a by-word wherever women knit, tat, or do any kind of needlework. She has a following in three generations: mothers, daughters and grand-daughters... Anne Orr's work has endured because she has never been a faddist. Her patterns and designs have always had the basic appeal of superior good taste that women everywhere are quick to recognize. Her ideas are young, fresh, alive and they are firmly grounded upon experience. Anne Orr knows the mechanics of her craft. She is a creative pioneer, who can interpret needlework for the novice as well as for the expert. Although her life and accomplishments paralleled those of other quilt luminaries of the first half of the twentieth century, such as Ruth Finley, Florence Peto, Bertha Stenge, and Marie Webster, no evidence exists that she ever met them. Some of her sophisticated center medallion floral designs appear to have been inspired by Marie Webster's patterns. Anne Orr died unexpectedly on October 29, 1946. The Nashville Banner obituary praised her ability to "capture beauty from everything around her and weave it into the tapestry of her life." Her daughter, Mary Grigsby, kept the Anne Orr Studio open until the mid-1950s, and one granddaughter maintained the Orr pattern copyrights after the business closed.

Job Titles:

• Editor

Austin, Mary Leman, editor. The Twentieth Century's Best American Quilts: Celebrating 100 Years of the Art of Quiltmaking. Golden, CO: Primedia Special Interest Publications, 1999, p. 36.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Women 's Institute

Averil Colby was the eldest of three girls and two boys, whose father was a North County doctor in Yorkshire, England. As a young woman, she was educated at Cheltenham Ladies College in Gloucestershire and then studied horticulture at Studley Agricultural College in Warwickshire from about 1917 to 1920. On leaving college, she teamed u with a fellow graduate and together they rented the Old Court House with forty acres in Somerset County in the West of England. The small holding supported a milk delivery route with a pony and cart and a butter-and cheese-making enterprise. For about ten years, Averil enjoyed country life, transforming the Old Court House garden from a wilderness into a spectacle of great beauty. In the early 1930's there was a parting of the ways, and Averil moved to live with her widowed mother in North Devon and then Hampshire, but she yearned to return to the Old Court House. Her brother Richard remembered, "She was never happier than when her fingers were delving in the earth tending her plants." Averil joined the local branch of the National Federation of Women's Institutes, where she became involved in making a group quilt and quickly became hooked on patchwork. Averil and patchwork were made for each other, as her natural flair and horticultural training has sharpened her designer's eye. After a short time, Averil returned to The Old Court House, the home she so dearly loved. With just a spell in the Women's Land Army during the second World War, when she filled in for farmers who were off to war, she was able to spend the rest of her life in this much loved home. Having set the stage, what of her as a person? Her stern Yorkshire upbringing meant that Miss Colby did not suffer fools gladly. She was immensely practical, full of common sense, and a marvelous cook. When her youngest brother stayed with her, they took it in turns to do the cooking, she teaching him. She had a warm personality and enjoyed her many nieces and nephews, who had great affection for her, assuming the role of grandmother after her own mother died. She was fun to be with, a lively, energetic little lady who took her family completely by surprise when, nearly sixty, she took up writing. Batsford, a London publishing firm, asked her to write a book on patchwork, as up to then nothing had been published in such depth on the subject in England. She was a tireless researcher and traveled throughout the country looking for material for her books. Her first book, Patchwork, published in 1958, described the early history of quilts. The use of all the geometric shapes, other patterns and different techniques of appliqué are discussed, as well as the importance of design and color placement in quilts. A chapter is given to finishing, in which she points out that "however well the patchwork is executed, the whole can be spoilt by a bad finish." The illustrations of quilts dating back to 1708 were gathered from museums and private individuals. Since its publication, Patchwork has been reprinted many times. Four other books by Averil Colby followed: Samplers (1964), Patchwork Quilts (1965), Quilting (1971), and Pincushions (1975). Patchwork Quilts included detailed documentation of thirty-three quilts, describing their origins and characteristics, with instructions. A reviewer of Patchwork Quilts in a British newspaper called Averil Colby "a Virtuoso of Patchwork" and "Britain's main authority," but "the odd thing is that once she could not sew, and even now she seems surprised by her own knowledge and finds it rather funny: 'I'm really only a farmer, you see.'" It is in her book Pincushions that her sense of humor is best shown. Her brother remembered, "she liked to sit in the evening, never still, always working at something and often suddenly a pincushion would materialize from scraps of fabric that were to hand." Quite often departing guests would be presented with a pincushion which had been made while they sat and chatted. Averil Colby was a meticulous worker and abhorred slovenly work. Although she maintained that she could not sew before she became "hooked" on quilts, excellence in needlework was part of a girl's education in the days of her youth. Feeling that quilting is a craft demanding greater needle skills than she possessed, she never became a quilter. Her work, usually without batting, employed only a little quilting around some of the blocks to unite the two layers and invariably relied on discreet knotting. She was empathetic that quilts were for use and should always be washable. Equally emphatically, the right fabric for the job was of great importance to her. The contents of her scrap bag spanned nearly 200 years, so that when she was asked to dress a nineteenth-century doll's bed, she could use a fabric of the appropriate date and suitable small design. Rosettes, swags, trails, and wreaths of flowers, all executed in hexagons, some as small as one-half inch across, are the hallmark of Averil Colby's patchwork. Background also played a great part in her quilts. Instead of using a plain white background, she cut hexagons from a wide variety of white fabrics, such as dimities, piques, twills, and sateens to construct the background. This gave the finished quilt a vivacity and richness that was both subtle and extremely pleasing. She might have remained an unknown enthusiast but for Muriel Rose, the Craft Officer to The British Council, who borrowed some of Averil's work for an exhibition of English needlework to travel abroad. As well as promoting the work of leading craftsmen and women, Muriel Rose was instrumental in revitalizing patchwork and quilting in Wales. Orders were taken at her shop and passed through the Rural Industries Bureau to the Welsh quilt makers. It is thought that Averil executed designs for several of these orders. She was a frequent visitor to the American Museum in Britain at Bath, to evaluate quilts new to the Museum's collection or to research quilts for one of her books. Honoree Shiela Betterton, until recently the Keeper of Textiles at the museum, was Averil's friend for many years. Averil Colby remained a faithful member of the Women's Institute, working diligently at local and district levels to promote patchwork and quilting crafts. From 1956 to 1961, she was Chairman of the Handicrafts Committee, where she arranged classes and organized exhibitions on a national scale. With her substantial designing ability and very high standard of execution skills, she made an excellent judge. In 1979, Averil Colby was named the first honorary member of The Quilters' Guild of the British Isles and was inducted into The Quilters Hall of Fame in 1980. She kept the engraved box which she had received when inducted on a table beside her favorite chair, with her cat Hobo, a one time stray who had somehow lost his tail, sitting nearby. She died just three week short of her eighty-third birthday, on January 5, 1983.

Bonnie Hale was born in Purdin, Missouri, where she excelled in both academics and sports. She was the valedictorian of her class, as well as a basketball player and table tennis champion. Throughout her life she was a formidable table tennis player until she fell and broke her wrist while playing the game. She entered Park College, near Kansas City, Missouri, at the age of sixteen and graduated three years later with a degree in home economics and a minor in English. After moving to Colorado in 1953, she obtained her teaching credential from the University of Denver, where she met her husband, George, a fellow graduate student. Bonnie's quilting story began in 1968, when she and George realized that they needed additional income for their family of six children. They decided to start a mail-order business that Bonnie could run from the kitchen table, allowing her to stay home with the children. Experienced in sewing and needle crafts and inspired by her mother's collection of old Kansas City Star quilt patterns.

Job Titles:

• Founder and Editor of Quilters Newsletter Magazine, Barbara

Barbara Brackman's first introduction to quilts came in the early 1960's through her college roommates at the University of Kansas. Even her boyfriend had quilts. "It was the personal value they place on those quilts that first caught my attention." remarked Barbara when interviewed by the author in 2001. Though Barbara saw no quilts during her early childhood, she nevertheless was taught to sew and embroider, which she enjoyed very much. She was born in New York City and only moved to Overland Park, Kansas when she was entering high school. "My real introduction to quilt research seems almost fortuitous when I look back". Barbara said. "I was taking an art history class in 1965 at the University of Kansas. One day I got to poking around in drawers at the back of the classroom at the University of Kansas Art Museum and came a upon the Carr Hall block collection. Hall had donated the collection to the University in 1935. I was immediately drawn to them because I loved the elements of pattern. The blocks had languished there for some time....I immediately became interested in cataloguing the. Carrie Hall had also donated a lot of paper ephemera to the University. This was my next discovery. It was like my own little playground." This chance encounter with the Carrie Hall collection eventually changed the course of her life. "I began recording quilt patterns on index cards from day one." stated Barbara, "starting with the Carrie Hall Block Collection and the paper ephemera accompanying her collects, but I didn't try to make a quilt until 1966. I tried using Rose Kretsinger and Carrie Hall's book, The Romance of the Patchwork Quilt in America, as my guide. Not the best "how to" book for a beginning quilter, but it was the only book about quilts that I was aware of at the time." Barbara soon began to comb libraries for books and old magazines that might carry quilting designs and added a new index card every time she found another pattern."My card index file continued to grow steadily". she said. "Once I had the information and pattern sketched on the index card, I would sort the cards. I am so visually oriented that I very quickly began to intuitively see the interconnections of the vast number of patterns." In the early 1970's another major milestone occurred in her slowly evolving second career as a quilt historian: Barbara received a gift subscription to Quilter's Newsletter Magazine. Her immediate reaction was to realize that she could write pattern history articles. When she contacted Bonnie Leman, founder and editor of Quilters Newsletter Magazine, Barbara was invited to submit some articles. The two met face to face in Denver in 1975, launching Barbara's long and productive relationship with the magazine, which continues to this day. Her very first article-on the history of airplane patterns-was published in December 1977. In 1976, while living in the Chicago area, Barbara began teaching classes on basic quilting, with the emphasis on design, at evening continuing education classes. During the day, however, she continued to teach within her career field, developmental education. About this time she also began lecturing on the history of quilt patterns, Returning to Lawrence, Kansas, at the end of the teaching year. Barbara joined the Kaw Valley Quilt Guild and delved ever deeper into her fabric and pattern studies. From the late 1970's on, Barbara would play a remarkable number of rolls within the quilting world: author, lecturers, teacher, curator in pattern and fabric identification would have a profound impact upon quilt history nationally and internationally. Quilt historian Merikay Waldvogel commended Barbara for sharing her discoveries by publishing what she found: "My twentieth-century quilt research built upon Brackman's findings, and her advice and counsel was always forthcoming and welcomed." she says. The theme of Barbara's unfailing generosity in encouraging others, of sharing her ideas and knowledge as well as her time and practical assistance, is echoed again and again by those who have worked with her. As the demand for access to her research increased in 1979 Barbara translated her index card pattern identification system into a self-published photocopied series. The many state quilt documentation projects that began in the mid-1980's would draw upon this research extensively. In fact, so frequently was Barbara's pattern identification system referred to that patterns simply became known by their "Brackman Number." Barbara credits three other Quilters Hall of Fame honorees as highly influential mentors: Cuesta Benberry for her emphatic advice. "Do your own original research"' Sally Garoutte for setting high standards for accurate history; and Joyce Gross for her tireless encouragement and razor-sharp questions. Barbara presented her research on patterns and on World's Fair quilts in four papers at American Quilt Study Group Seminars, from 1981 to 1983. Fabric dating became a logical extension of Barbara's interest in quilts, and in 1985 she decided to educate herself in a field with a scarcity of published material. Four years later her book Clues in the Calico: A Guide to Identifying and dating Antique Quilts was published. Her own self-published pattern identification work, Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns, was published in a new hardcover edition in 1993 and has become probably the most referenced book in the study of quilt history along with its companion volume, Encylopedia of Applique. As a freelance writer specializing in history and folk arts, Barbara's research has never simply been limited to quilt history. She also writes and consults about women's history, visionary art, cowboy costume, and Civil War history and she has written for a variety of publications, including Country Living, Fiberarts, the Carion, Kansas!, the Christian Science Monitor, Americana, and Fine Homebuilding. She has served as a curator and consultant to numerous museums as well. Barbara shared a studio space with business partner and friend Terry Clothier Thompson in Lawrence, Kansas, from 1997 to 2001. Their classes in textile history attracted students from around the nation; they offered these same classes as far afield as Germany and Japan. In 1999, their first of many reproduction antique fabric lines with Moda of United Notions of Dallas was released at the spring Houston Quilt Market. In 1999, Barbara began to publish her first mini-newsletter series Material Pleasures, focusing on the history of nineteenth-century fabric production and dyes. This series formed the basis for her later book America's Printed Fabrics 1770-1890. Her 2002 series Making History: The Twentieth Century focused on pattern designers of the early twentieth century. The subsequent book Making History: Quilts & Fabric from 1890-1970 made the 2009 Kansas Notable Book List, In 2008, she received the Lawrence Cultural Arts Commission Phoenix Award. The latest honors simply reinforce the significance of Barbara Brackman's lifetime achievements. The Quilters Hall of Fame recognized her many pioneering contributions to the study of quilt and textile history by selecting her as the 2001 honoree. "My interest in computers and visual perception may have influenced the way I look at quilts, but I must confess my childhood fascination with girl detective Nancy Drew may have influenced me more. Each undated quilt I see as an unsolved mystery that summons the quilt detective in me."

Job Titles:

• Board Member / Decatur, in

Job Titles:

• Artist and Fellow

Carrie Hall probably met appliqué artist and fellow Kansan Rose Kretsinger while on the lecture circuit and asked her to write the section of the book on "The Art of Quilting and Quilting Designs." In 1938, three years after the publication of their book, Carrie donated her block collection, research materials, scrapbooks, and a quilt she made in honor of the 200th anniversary of George Washington's birth to the Thayer Museum. Carrie's enthusiastic collecting spirit spilled into other areas of her life as well. She amassed more than 3,000 books for her private library, which included Lincoln books and memorabilia, Theodore Roosevelt biographies, "Shakespeareana," and design and travel books. Her delightful second book, published in 1938, From Hoopskirts to Nudity, reviewed the fashion follies from 1866 to 1936, a world that Carrie Hall knew well. World War II found Carrie making quilts for benevolent purposes as a Red Cross volunteer, but she also found herself dealing with serious legal and financial difficulties. A rumor persists that she absconded with money belonging to a club for which she served as treasurer. Always resourceful, however, she quietly moved to North Platte, Nebraska, in 1941, where at the age of seventy-five she began to manufacture and sell playtime and character dolls of historical figures. She prided herself on the detail and craftsmanship of these dolls. With abundant sales, as well as loans and moral support from friends- including Emma Andres, her longtime Arizona correspondent, and Quilters Hall of Fame honorees Florence Peto, Grace Snyder, and Bertha Stenge- Carrie's talent and courage again enabled her to become financially stable. In January 1955, she machine-pieced a Delectable Mountains quilt top for a special friend and a Nine Patch for a new baby. These would be Carrie's last quilts. At the age of eighty-eight, on July 8, 1955, her needle was stilled forever. Carrie Alma Hall was inducted into The Quilters Hall of Fame at the Continental Quilting Congress in Arlington, Virginia on October 5, 1985, for her significant contributions to the quilting world through collecting, lecturing, quiltmaking, and writing. She would have been amazed that in 1998, her George Washington Bicentennial Quilt and part of her collection of quilt blocks were exhibited in Japan, with quilts made by honorees Rose Kretsinger and Marie Webster, in the American Quilt Renaissance exhibit.

Carter Houck is a woman with a lifelong passion for "women's work" - needlework, fashion, quilting, sewing - who has used the threads of her experience to create a life that touches all who love textiles. Carter Green was born in Washington, D.C., because there were no hospitals near her family farm in what she calls the "absolute boondocks" of Fauquier County in northern Virginia. As a child, she was tutored at home and learned needlework from embroiderers in her family. Carter inherited one of the family's Victorian crazy quilts, which showcased their skills. Cater attended St. Margaret's School, an Episcopal girls' boarding school, in Tappahanock, Virginia, graduating at the age of seventeen. Interested in learning more about fashion, but knowing that her family would not allow her to live in New York City at such a young age, she wrote to Vogue magazine inquiring about fashion schools in the South. Carter accepted their recommendation and studied at the Richmond Professional Institute of the College of William and Mary in Richmond, Virginia. Two years later, Carter fulfilled her dream of moving to New York City to get a "real fashion job." In the middle of World War II, very little was happening in the fashion world, so she worked for two pattern companies instead. These jobs provided valuable training for her later work as a needlework teacher, fabric store owner, and author of articles and books about sewing. Carter married and moved to Oklahoma, where she had two children, then moved again, this time to Texas. Believing that the local newspapers needed a sewing column and that writing was a job she could do while caring for her small children, she approached the Fort Worth Star Telegram "with the brashness of a twenty-four-year-old" and got a job. She wrote and illustrated sewing columns three times a week for the Telegram from 1950 to 1952, when she moved back East. Carter's other passions are mountain hiking and sailboat racing. She joined the Appalachian Mountain Club, which coordinates hiking and backpacking activities and helps maintain the Appalachian Trail. She has hiked trails far and wide, as well as leading groups of hikers. Hiking, she says, "is sort of the opposite end of the world to quilting, except it goes back to the mountain heritage, the mountain women." Living on Long Island Sound for years gave her the opportunity to race sailboats. Carter believes that hiking and sailing imposed a discipline on her life, and thus a balance to her freelance writing. From 1961 to 1968, she again wrote a sewing column, this time for Parents magazine. In the 1960s and early 1970s she owned a fabric shop in Darien, Connecticut, and taught needlework. In 1973, she began to edit a monthly magazine, Lady's Circle Needlework. In 1974, she also became editor of Lady's Circle Patchwork Quilts, a position she held for almost twenty years. Her work on both magazines broke new ground in both the style of photography and the concept of traveling to see quilts from all over the United States. The influence of Lady's Circle Patchwork Quilts on the blossoming quilting movement is immeasurable. For the first time, people were able to see color photos of antique quilts in a monthly magazine and to read about quilters and quilt collections across the country. Carter's colleague, professional photographer Myron Miller, developed a unique style of quilt photography. By showing quilts on beds, Myron Miller imbued the quilts with warmth and life. As Carter wrote in her introduction to American Quilts and How to Make Them, "The quilts are a bit like very fragile spring flowers in that they look best in their natural setting and fade some if they are just seen hanging flat." Carter had the innovative idea of devoting each issue of the magazine to a different state. By the time the state quilt documentation projects were being organized in the 1980s, Carter had already unearthed some real quilt treasures in museums and private collections. At the time she wrote them, her sewing columns for the Fort Worth Star Telegram and for Parents magazine may have seemed to be just a way to make a living, but they paved the path for her later career as an author and magazine editor. Carter remembers well the first assignment she and Myron Miller were given. She had arranged to tour a group of historic homes in Connecticut that housed small quilt collections. The year was 1974, the year of the energy crisis. Cater and Myron "drove between what few open gas stations there were, saying prayers all the way." The two were so enchanted and inspired by the results of that particular quilt foray that they proposed a book to Charles Scribner's Sons of New York. The rest is history. American Quilts and How to Make Them was published in 1975, serving as one of the catalysts for the new quilt revival. In addition to this major book, Carter has authored many others on needlework, sewing, and quilting. Her knowledge can truly be said to be encyclopedic, for she is the author of The Quilt Encyclopedia Illustrated, published in 1991. She coauthored two books with Robert Bishop for the Museum of American Folk Art: All Flags Flying: American Patriotic Quilts as Expressions of Liberty, (1986) and The Romance of Double Wedding Ring Quilts (1989). Perhaps her most charming book is one written for children, Warm as Wool, Cool as Cotton: Natural Fibers and Fabrics and How to Work with Them (1975). And she collaborated with Quilters Hall of Fame honoree Donna Wilder on two books, Creative Calendar Quilt: A Block for Each Month of the Year (1996) and Back to Basics: A Quilter's Guide (1997). After retiring from Lady's Circle Patchwork Quilts in 1993, Carter contributed a series of articles to Quilter's Newsletter Magazine called "Museums & Quilts." In these articles, she continued to share her discoveries of historic quilts from across the country, from New England and Virginia to Arizona and Hawaii, in museums both large and small. Carter has also had a strong impact on the judging of major quilt contests, including the International Quilt Festival in Houston, the Vermont Quilt Festival, and quit shows sponsored by the Museum of American Folk Art in New York City. With a wealth of knowledge about textiles, craftsmanship, and aesthetics, she possesses and eye for technical skill and artistic vision. Carter has found that the quality of both design and execution of quilts has improved considerably since she began judging in the 1970s, leading to the conclusion that quilt contests have great value in raising standards. It is difficult to imagine the quilt renaissance without the constant presence, influence and guidance of Carter Houck, and this is precisely the reason she was inducted into The Quilters Hall of Fame in 1990. Her sustained advocacy for quilts and other forms of needlework shines through in her lecturing, teaching, and writing. By highlighting quilts from all regions of the United States, she promoted networking among quilters, collectors, teachers, and quilt historians. All movements need leaders who are able to recognize beauty and worth, and then are able to articulate these values to the public. The quilting revival of the late twentieth century has Carter Houck.

Crow, Nancy. Crossroads: Nancy Crow. Elmgurst, IL: Breckling Press Publishers, 2007.

Job Titles:

• Quilt Research Collections at the Great Lakes Quilt Center

Cuesta served as a consultant for several state quilt projects often writing the forewords for the catalogs. Requests for her slide lectures increased, and she found herself in demand as a speaker throughout the United States and Europe.

Job Titles:

• Executive Director / Marion, in

Job Titles:

• President / Board Member / Marion, in

Donna Wilder has been an innovator in the quilting business world for more than thirty years. By promoting the work of contemporary quilters and fabric artists, Donna has inspired thousands to achieve their finest work. As a facilitator of the highest order, she challenges her audience through a fascinating array of contests, fashion shows, TV programs, and exhibits. She was named recipient of the Silver Star Award at the International Quilt Festival in 1998, and in October 2007, as recognition for her contributions and dedication to the art of quilting and fiber arts, Donna was the recipient of the Michael Kile Award of Achievement. This award is presented annually at the International Quilt Market and honors those who have had a significant influence on the quilting industry. The oldest of three girls, Donna was born in Sacramento, California, and grew up in Clarks Green, Pennsylvania. Her childhood was enriched by unique experiences that set the stge for her high-profile career. She learned to sew at the age of five and appeared on television with her mother, Janet Miller, who was the host of a cooking and sewing program called At Home with Janet. At the age of twelve, Donna was featured on the program giving instructions on how to make a cake. From the time she was a young girl, Donna knew that she wanted to go to new York City and work in retailing. After graduating from Pennsylvania State University in 1964 with a B.S. in home economics, clothing, and textiles, she began her retail career as an assistant buyer for the costume jewelry department of Abraham & Strauss in Brooklyn. Employment with Simplicity Pattern Company, Fabricland, Riegel Textile Company, and Springs Industries gave Donna fabric merchandising responsibilities at both the retail and mill levels as well as extensive travel throughout the northeastern United States and Japan. Donna married Daniel Wilder in 1973 and raised two sons, Andrew and Matthew, while pursuing her active career. In 1978, Donna joined Fairfield Processing Corporation, manufacturer of batting products. As vice president of marketing, Donna was responsible for the promotion of the company's products as well as all communications and product development. Donna also collected contemporary quilts for Fairfield's Corporate Art Collection in the company's headquarters in Danbury, Connecticut. Through her positions at Fairfield, Donna was the catalyst and coordinator for many quilt block contests, quilt contests, and quilt shows. Fairfield's quilt block contests began in 1980, with themes like "These Are a Few of My Favorite Things" and Quilting Through the Century." The winning blocks were made into quilts and exhibited at major quilting events across the country. These quilts now reside in the company's permanent collection. The famous Fairfield Fashion Show, an invitational designer show of wearable art, started in 1979 at the suggestion of Donna Wilder, with help from Karey Bresenhan, president of Quilts, Inc.; Priscilla Miller, then of concord Fabrics; and Anita Wellings of Fairfield. This extravaganza provided a showcase for the most creative and innovative designers in the quilted clothing world of the day. More than one thousand articles of clothing by more than four hundred designers were featured. Donna issued invitations to approximately fifty designers for each year's show and served as show moderator. The unveiling of these innovative creations at the International Quilt Festival and Market in Houston, Texas, was eagerly awaited each fall. The collection then traveled across the United States and overseas for a year, where it was exhibited and modeled at major quilt shows. The garments were also featured in quilt magazines and in a video version of the fashion show. In 2001, Bernina began sponsorship of the fashion show, with Donna continuing as commentator until 2003. In addition to the block contests and the fashion show, Donna created other well-known quilt events. One of the most popular was the State Quilt Flags show exhibited at the Great American Quilt Festival II held in New York City in April 1986 to celebrate the centennial of the Statue of Liberty. her years of promoting quilt products and creating contests and shows have made Donna a popular choice for judging quilt shows. Among the many shows she has judged are the Vermont Quilt Festival, New England Images, American Quilter's Society Fashion Show and Quilt Contest, shows for Better Homes and Gardens and American Patchwork & Quilting, and the International Quilt Festival show in 2000. Also an author, Donna wrote "Quilts at an Exhibition" for America's Glorious Quilts, published in 1987, providing a concise history of quilts in shows, contests, and state documentation projects. She has also written for consumer magazines and trade publications on contemporary trends in quilting. She penned more than a dozen books based on techniques taught on the television show whe hosted and produced, Sew Creative.. This series of half-hour shows began in 1991 on public broadcasting stations. Covering a variety of sewing and quilting topics, the show's format was designed for all levels of ability, with simple directions for the novices and innovative ideas for the experts. Donna has served on the boards of many organizations, including the International Quilt Study Center, the New England Quilt Museum, and the Hobby Industry Association (now CHA). She was a member of the advisory board for Quilt Market and served on the acquisitions committee and as vice president of the board of trustees for the National Quilt Museum. In 2000, Donna started a new fabric company, FreeSpirit, a division of Fabric Traditions, to manufacture fabric specifically for independent fabric and quilt shops, utilizing talented artists to create unique designs. Honorees Jean Ray Laury and Michael James are a few of the popular quilters who have designed for FreeSpirit. Donna Wilder has been the catalyst for thousands of quilts and quilted fashions. Inspired by her mother and with dreams of a big city career in fashion merchandising, she found a comfortable match for her talents in the expanding textile craft industry. her innovative themes and design ideas have inspired quilters to explore new territory, and her exhibits have provided artists with opportunities to showcase their quilts and quilted clothing for a broad audience.

Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi has been the recipient of many state and national honors, among them the 2003 Ohio Heritage Fellowship Award, the first such award for any Ohio citizen; in 2014 she was named a National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment for the Arts, one of the most prestigious national arts awards an American citizen can receive; also in 2014 she was awarded the Distinguished Scholar & Celebrated Artist Lifetime Achievement Award by Faith Ringgold's Anyone Can Fly Foundation, Inc.

Dr. William Rush Dunton Jr., has been honored for both his professional achievements and his quilt research. In 1957, he was given the Award of Merit by the American Occupational Therapy Association, and in 1979, he was among the first to be inducted into The Quilters Hall of Fame. Dunton's pioneering quilt studies have had a lasting and very important influence. He generously shared the results of his research, contributing to a wider appreciation of quilts, their history, and their artistic qualities. With the recent heightened interest in quilt pattern history and Baltimore Album quilts, his contributions are even more highly valued today.

Grace Snyder's most famous quilt is undoubtedly her Flower Basket Petit Point, which was selected as one of "The 20th Century's 100 Best American Quilts" (Plate 30). She was inspired by a plate made by the Salem China Company, with a design based on a needlepoint picture. Grace translated the design into one-inch blocks, each made up of six to eight pieces, to give the needlepoint effect. She set up thirteen pieced baskets on point, surrounded by an elaborate rose vine boarder. According to her autobiography, she spent sixteen months in 1942 and 1943 designing, cutting, and piecing the quilt, which contained more than 85,000 tiny pieces. In her epilogue to No Time on My Hands, daughter Nellie Snyder Yost wrote that Grace also used a dish design for her Bird of Paradise quilt, and granddaughter Josee Forell recalled Grace sketching a tiger lily from her garden for the Tiger Lily Quilt. In the 1940s, Grace's Semi-Circle Saw and Return of the Swallows quilt pattern appeared in the Kansas City Star. She made her lovely Appliqué Grapes in 1951. Princess Feather was her last quilt, completed in 1953, when cataracts began in seriously affect her vision. Grace Snyder is shown holding the engraved box commemorating her induction into The Quilters Hall of Fame in October 1980. Her daughter, Nellie Yost, wrote to President Hazel Carter: "Mother is so proud of her lovely box, and we are all proud of her and her award. It is, indeed, an honor... She said to me, 'I'm so glad I lived to see this.'"

Job Titles:

• President
• Founder / Honorary Board Member / Vienna, VA

Job Titles:

• Administrative Assistant / Marion, in

Jean Ray was born March 22, 1928, in Doon, Iowa, second of the four daughters of Alice Kloek and Ralph Robert Ray. During her high school years, her family moved to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where she graduated from high school in 1945. Her childhood love of drawing and painting led her to pursue a degree in art and education at Iowa State Teachers College, Cedar Falls. After college, she moved to California, where she plotted weather maps in the geology department a UCLA while her fiancé, Frank Laury, was in Navy flight training. After he received his wings, they married and moved to San Diego, where he was stationed and where their son, Tom, was born. The young couple next entered graduate school at Stanford University, where they both studied art and design. Their daughter, Lizabeth, was born while they were living in student housing. The quilt Jean made for a class project at Stanford in 1956 launched her career. She retained a vivid memory of a quilt she had seen years earlier in a Nebraska museum. The quiltmaker had recorded his own life by piecing bits of old Civil War uniforms into his quilt. This inspired Jean to express her own life in her quilt, setting a precedent for much of her future work. This quilt, which she named Tom's Quilt for her four-year-old son, featured bold colors and graphic images that would appeal to any child: an ice cream cone, a train, a birthday cake, the sun, flowers, children playing, and a host of other visions. Included in a Stanford student exhibit at the de Young Art Museum in San Francisco, the quilt was chosen for a world tour sponsored by the United States Information Service. Jean's career was off and running. In 1958, she entered her quilt in the highly esteemed Eastern States Exposition at Storrowton Village in Springfield, Massachusetts. Her work captured the attention of contest judge Roxa Wright, needlework editor for House Beautiful. Roxa encouraged Jean, calling her work "the first attempt she had seen to modernize the art of quiltmaking that combined good design and contemporary color with inherent simple and structural integrity that should be the basis of any quilt." Jean's successful writing career developed in tandem with her quiltmaking. Roxa Wright invited her to write for House Beautiful, where her first article was published in the January 1960 issue. Jean's work has also appeared in Woman's Day, Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, Cosmopolitan, Needle and Craft, and many other publications. In 1982, Jean began writing her column, "Keeping it All Together," for Quilter's Newsletter Magazine, followed by her "Talking it Over" series in 1984, which delivered her supportive advice with a sense of humor. Jean Ray Laury was widely acknowledged as a leader of the quilt revival that started in the 1960s. Through her writing, teaching, and lecturing, she encouraged quilters to experiment with ideas and techniques, and to express their own lives in their work. She wrote the first contemporary quilting books, Applique Stitchery (1966) and Quilts and Coverlets: A Contemporary Approach (1970). Jean enjoyed a special rapport with young mothers, who face difficulties allowing their creativity to flourish while caring for their families. Her book, the highly regarded The Creative Woman's Getting-It-All-Together at Home Handbook, published in 1977, was directed at this group of women. Jean was an original and prolific writer in a variety of styles on a wide range of topics. She also illustrated her humorous Sunbonnet Sue series and the children's storybook, No Dragons on My Quilt. Her recent titles, Imagery on Fabric, The Photo Transfer Handbook, and The Fabric Stamping Handbook, focus on surface design. She drew inspiration from children and their fresh approach, and she tried to keep a similar lack of barriers in her own work. Other sources of inspiration were the serene setting of her home in the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada Mountains, as well as current events.

Jean Wells is known nationally not only as a designer and quilter, but also as an author, television personality, teacher, and extremely successful entrepreneur, credited with starting the famous outdoor quilt show in Sisters, Oregon. Jean graduated from Redmond (Oregon) High School and then from Oregon State University in 1965, with a B.S. degree in home economics education. In 1969, she earned an M.S. in guidance and counseling from Portland State University. She then taught home economics at Beaverton High School. Jean first became interested in quiltmaking when she was searching for a project for her high school class. The geometric shapes of patchwork, she thought, would be a perfect way to include math in the project of making pillows. her lifelong love of patchwork and quilting was born! In 1975, Jean and her family moved to Sisters, a small 1880s-style town, with a population at that time of only a few hundred. Jean used her $3400 teaching retirement money to open a small quilt shop, The Stitchin' Post, one of the first in America. Her grandmother, who taught her to sew had a pharmacy in the same location in the 1930s. When Jean decided to hang twelve quilts outside her store on a summer Saturday, including some made by her grandmother, that was the start of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. A few years later, the newly formed East of the Cascades Quilters Guild began helping with the show, which has continued to grow to the present day. From the showing of those few quilts, the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show has become the world's largest outdoor quilt show. In 2009, it displayed some 1300 quilts from twenty-eight states, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Ireland, and Rwanda. The show was founded to encourage quilters of all levels of experience, and continues to do so, for the quilts are neither juried nor judged. Quilts wrap downtown, hung on storefronts, fences, walls, and buildings. Volunteers make it successful, spending some three thousand hours hanging the quilts, hosting the event and then taking down the quilts in the late afternoon of the same day. Jean Wells has been teaching quilting for thirty-six years and has had an impressive number of titles published, mainly by C&T Publishing Company. She has authored twenty-seven quilt and pattern books, including some coauthored by her daughter Valori Wells Kennedy, who is now her business partner. Jean has also written extensively for magazines, has lectured and taught quilting classes worldwide, and has appeared on numerous television shows. Her workshops on "Quilting Inspirations" and "Tips on Running a Successful Quilt Shop" are especially popular. Jean is very active in community organizations like the Sisters Chamber of Commerce, the Sisters School Board, and the Oregon State Small Business Development Board, where she often teaches classes. She has taught workshops nationwide, not only in quilting, but also to share her expertise and to encourage other shop owners. "The foundation of my business is education," emphasizes Jean in her Quilt Market business classes. Jean has received many well-deserved honors. In 1997, she was the first person inducted into the Primedia Independent Retailers Hall of Fame. Her shop was the first to be featured in the premier issue of American Patchwork & Quilting, in an article called "Top Ten Shops." In 1998, she received the Michael Kile Award for Lifetime Achievement, honoring commitment to creativity and excellence in the quilting industry. The Sisters Chamber of Commerce named the Stitchin' Post "Business of the Year" in 1999 and Jean received their "Citizen of the Year award in 2007. Jean's pride in her profession, her skill in sharing knowledge, her commitment to community service, and her significant ethical vision are some of her outstanding qualities. Literally thousands of people have been positively influenced and inspired by Jean during her life. An educator at heart, Jean is an outstanding example of what is happening in the quilting world today- designing and making innovative creative art while preserving our past and recognizing that today's events will become "our past history" in time.

Job Titles:

• Board Member / Salina, KS

Jonathan Holstein and Gail van der Hoof sparked renewed interest in quilts as an art form through their 1971 exhibit, Abstract Design in American Quilts, at New York City's Whitney Museum of American Art. For Jonathan, this exhibit was the culmination of a lifelong interest in the arts and Americana that began when he was growing up in antiques-rich central New York State. Although no one in his family made quilts, he saw them in many homes; they were a part of the American folklore that fascinated him then, and they still do. Jonathan maintained a strong interest in early American life and its artifacts through his years at Harvard College, where he was an English major. He attended law school after college and later worked as an editor on a trade magazine and as an art photographer, eventually becoming professionally interested in Native American art. When he met Gail van der Hoof in Aspen, Colorado, in 1967, they discovered their mutual interest in modern art. Gail joined him in New York City in 1968, where their circle of friends included many artists. On weekends, they would escape to Pennsylvania and spend time looking at American antiques. They soon discovered troves of quilts in which there was little interest, and pieced quilts became an obsession for them. Jonathan Holstein's book, The Pieced Quilt: An American Design Tradition, a combination of historical study and aesthetic analysis of American quilts, was published in 1973. In 1975, he assembled an exhibition for the Shiseido Corporation in Tokyo and the American Cultural Center Kyoto. The next year Jonathan and Gail sent an exhibition to the Kyoto Museum of Modern Art. These exhibits of American quilts were the first to held in Japan and created widespread interest in quilting there. In 1980, Jonathan and Gail assembled the first exhibition of Amish quilts, a group of thirty from Pennsylvania and the Midwest. Called simply Amish Quilts, it was seen in ten museums in the United States. Jonathan Holstein served as a driving force in the revival of quilts in the 1970s and initiated many "firsts" in the quilt arena. His work continues today, as he writes, lectures, plans exhibits, juries quilt exhibitions, and advocates for the scholarly study of quilts on the international level.

Rose Kretsinger's quilts continue to inspire quiltmakers to the present day. In 1992, the Wichita Art Museum and the Kansas Quilt Project organized the exhibit Midcentury Masterpieces: Quilts in Emporia, Kansas, which featured the appliqué work of Rose Kretsinger and her Emporia friends. In 1998, her quilts toured Japan and were featured in the publication American Quilt Renaissance: Three Women Who Influenced Quiltmaking in the Early 20th Centur y, along with the work of honorees Carrie Hall and Marie Webster.

Job Titles:

• Independent Quilt Historian

Job Titles:

• Designer of the Early 1900s

Marie Webster was incredibly productive during the decade from 1911 to 1921. Five additional articles in Ladies' Home Journal showed twelve new quilts and nine pillow designs. She studied the flowers in her garden, creating a naturalism in her appliqué, enhanced by her use of linen fabrics in solid pastel colors. Some of her patterns revived the central medallion style of the mid-nineteenth century, with graceful scalloped borders framing the central design. While most of the quilting was done by others to her specifications, her own appliqué was exquisite. While creating new designs, she was also busy researching and writing Quilts: Their Story and How to Make Them, the first book devoted entirely to the subject, with many photos of antique quilts and of her own designs. The book was published in October 1915 to glowing reviews and an avalanche of enthusiastic letters from quilt lovers around the world. She lectured extensively, often dressed in a period gown. Her mail-order pattern business thrived. As the quilt revival gained momentum after World War I, Marie decided to sell kits, basted quilts, and finished quilts in addition to the patterns. In 1921, her sister Emma Daugherty, and two friends, Ida Hess and Evangeline Beshore, joined her in a new business venture, the Practical Patchwork Company. Their products were promoted through ads in women's magazines and illustrated catalogs, and were sold by well-known retailers like Eleanor Beard Co., A.M. Caden and Mary McElwain. Marie continued to design new patterns until about 1930 and was involved with the business until her retirement in 1942. Hers had been a remarkable thirty-year career of designing, writing, lecturing, judging quilt contests, and conducting a thriving cottage industry. Marie Webster's influence was far reaching. In 1916, Dr. William Rush Dunton Jr., wrote to her after reading her book, which inspired him to advocate quiltmaking as a form of occupational therapy for his patients. They corresponded again in the 1930s, when Dunton sought her advice about publishing his book Old Quilts. Rose Kretsinger also was inspired by Marie Webster, stating in a letter to Ruth Finley in 1929 that she had received "such encouragement from [Mrs. Webster's] kind letters to me." The style of pastel floral appliqué that Marie popularized through Ladies' Home Journal articles was widely adopted by professional designers in the 1920s and 1930s. Quilts: Their Story and How to Make Them also had a significant impact. It legitimized the serious study of quilt history and celebrated the importance of women's artistic efforts. Its success demonstrated the broad appeal of the subject of quilts, not only to quiltmakers, but to a much wider audience that appreciated the artistic and social importance of these artifacts. Furthermore, it was the only quilt book in print until 1929, when Ruth Finley's Old Patchwork Quilts and the Women Who Made Them was published. Even in the early 1970s, when the late twentieth-century quilt revival began, Webster's book was one of the few available for use by a new generation of quiltmakers and quilt historians. Marie Webster's designs appear frequently in quilt magazines, and her book is often cited in contemporary writing on quilt history. Quilt lovers both here and abroad have seen her quilts. A retrospective exhibit of her quilts mounted by the Indianapolis Museum of Art traveled to several venues around the United Stated from 1991 to 1994. Her quilts were also featured in an exhibit that toured Japan in 1998, American Quilt Renaissance: Three Women Who Influenced Quiltmaking in the Early 20th Century, together with work by the Quilters Hall of Fame honorees Rose Kretsinger and Carrie Hall. In 1999, Marie's Grapes and Vines quilt was selected as one of America's 100 Best Quilts of the 20th Century. The Quilters Hall of Fame has showcased Marie Webster's quilts in three special exhibits. The organization's very first exhibit, in July 1992, was The Quilters Hall of Fame Celebrates Marie Webster. Marie Webster's Garden of Quilts was shown in July 2009, celebrating the 150th anniversary of her birth. In 2010, another selection of quilts, both old and new, made from her patterns, was exhibited in The Quilters Hall of Fame: Marie Webster Quilts: A Homecoming. In recognition of her pioneering work, Marie Webster was inducted into The Quilters Hall of Fame in 1991. A most modest woman, she did not seek fame for herself. Her legacy, as she would have wished, is inspiring others to create quilts, to appreciate quilting as an art form, and to preserve this heritage for the future. She would have been delighted to know that her home would one day become The Quilters Hall of Fame.

Marti Michell was born Martha Glenn on August 23, 1938 in Des Moines, Iowa and raised near Mitchellville, Iowa on the family farm called Glennsdale Farm. Marti was an over achiever from the beginning with a race to the hospital for an early start on life. Some people just can't wait for a chance to conquer the world (of quilting). At three Marti was named Grand Champion Baby Health girl at the Iowa state fair, a fore shadow of good things to be ahead. Fast forward to her college years at Iowa State where Marti majored in textiles and clothing and home economics journalism. The next chapter takes us to romance with Richard Michell who entered Iowa State the same year. Dick grew up in a Chicago suburb, so farm girl meets city feller. Dick and Marti were married in December 1961 and left Ames, Iowa after graduation. They have shared their lives for over sixty years. Along the way Dick became an integral part of the business, each exercising their own particular skills. In the early years of marriage Marti worked for the Dairy Council in Wichita KS. Their son Jeff was born during those years. They relocated to Ohio and during those five years daughter Stacy was born. Dick and Marti moved to Atlanta for Dick's job. Always preferring to plot her own path Marti started a sewing school in her home. Patchwork was not a part of the curriculum, but serendipity took a hand and with the urging of a friend's comment Marti enrolled in a quilting class. Back in the day fabrics well suited for patchwork and quilting were scarce and uninteresting. Available books on quilting and patchwork were equally hard to find. The entire selection of those books would fit comfortably on a foot of shelf space. Among those books none were instructional. The Standard Book of Quilt Making and Collecting by Margarite Ickis yielded important secrets of needed skills. Some of her sewing students were curious and expressed an interest in quilt making. Now she had to stay one step ahead of the students and a new path opened up. She and a friend dived into producing patchwork articles for local craft shows. Production limitations tilted her toward kits instead of finished products. Marketing those kits began the next chapter. She connected with a company at the Atlanta gift show. Her company called "Yours Truly" (1972) marketed the kits and she opened a retail outlet called Ginger Snap Station. If Marti couldn't readily find what she needed she searched until she did OR Richard searched until he found a source to produce it for Yours Truly. For example, Marti was unhappy with the industry-wide quilt batting sizes available in 1975 and she turned to Richard. He forced a new supplier, and they created the most common standard sizes used by nearly all batting companies today, including 120"x120" King size. The growing momentum for patchwork and quilting put the wind at her back. One thing led to another, as things do, and Marti designed the "Quickest Quilt in the World" for Woman's Day magazine. And then Marti designed and converted 100% cotton prints. She was the first to publish quilt books for direct sales to quilt shops. Successful Machine Applique by Barbara Lee was the first. Soon the list of authors included names now very familiar to quilt makers like Jean Wells, Marianne Fons and Liz Porter, Cheryl Bradkin, Mary Ellen Hopkins, Harriet Hargrave and Susan McKelvy, all filling an important niche and making patchwork and quilting instruction accessible.

Job Titles:

• Media Kits / Member Directory / Membership

McDowell, Ruth B. Fabric Journey: An Inside Look at the Quilts of Ruth B. McDowell. C&T Publishing, 2005.

Job Titles:

• Artist

Michael James was born in 1949 in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the oldest of seven children born to Claire Savoie James and Robert A. James Jr., who were English and French-Canadian heritage. As a young child, Michael attended a French/English bilingual parish school, St. Anthony's in New Bedford. He studied painting and printmaking at Southeastern Massachusetts University, and later moved to Rochester, New York, for graduate studies in painting and printmaking at the Rochester Institute of Technology. In 1972, he married Judith Dionne; they have one son, Trevor. In 1973, Michael completed his M.F.A but ceased painting a few months after graduation. He had begun studying quilt history and techniques, and by late summer he exchanged paintbrush for needle and thread. His first exposure to Amish quilts was at a lecture by Jonathan Holstein at the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester in January 1974. With his young family, Michael moved back to his boyhood home and began substitute teaching for his former high school art teacher. He also began to teach quiltmaking at adult education workshops throughout southeastern New England. By 1974, Michael had completed his first hand-pieced and hand-quilted full-size quilt, Meadow Lily. But he spent relatively little time with traditional quilt patterns before exploring and successfully producing what are know today as art quilts. Michael James quickly master the techniques necessary for precision in quiltmaking, which became a hallmark of his work. These skills have been carefully articulated n the books he has written, The Quiltmaker's Handbook: A Guide to Design and Construction (1978) and The Second Quiltmaker's Handbook: Creative Approaches to Contemporary Quilt Design (1981).In 1975, while teaching at the DeCordova Museum School in Lincoln, Massachusetts, he participated in the museum's exhibition Bed and Board: Quilts and Woodwork, one of the first nontraditional quilt exhibitions in the country. In 1976, his quilts were also part of the exhibition Quilts for ‘76 in the Cyclorama Building of the Boston Center for the Arts. In 1976, Michael attended a quilt conference held in Ithaca, New York, where he met Beth Gutcheon, Jeffrey Gutcheon, Bonnie Leman, Jean Ray Laury, and Myron and Patsy Orlofsky. In 1977, Michael began to teach quiltmaking throughout the United States and Canada, and trips to England (in 1980) and France and Switzerland (in 1983) soon followed. He first solo exhibition of quilts, organized by Bridgewater (Massachusetts) State College, included Night Sky 1, Razzle Dazzle and Tossed Salad, among other works. He was awarded a Visual Artists Fellowship in Crafts by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in 1978 and soon after moved into his new home studio in Somerset Village, Massachusetts, which more than tripled his workspace. He also received his first corporate commission and created The Seasons for the Waltham Federal Savings and Load Association in the late 1970's. Although Michael had always liked quilts and was fascinated by the history of quiltmaking, only his very early quilts were in a traditional style. When Michael began his series quilts, he also began to explore color gradations, primarily with strip piecing. When Michel began his series quilts, he also began to explore color gradations, primarily with strip piecing. With this new method, the sewing machine was used to create fabric from strips of many different colors. By cutting the resulting pieced cloth into curved shapes, he created a sense of movement as he explored the color and value transitions made possible by this technique. These strip-pieced quilts came to represent the Michael James style. Strip piecing also allowed for exploration of color interaction with linear designs, which was his primary focus at the time. He received numerous prestigious awards as well as a second NEA fellowship in 1988. In the mid-1980's, he made a series of quilts based on musical and dance motifs (the Rhythm/Color series). He then began working with radical angles and more color/light exploration, advancing far from the earlier grid patterns. Swirls and waves with a strong sense of movement dominated is work. His style was further enhanced by experiences gathered in his travels, and he also drew inspiration from the natural world. At the invitation of Nihon Vogue, Michael visited japan for the first time in 1990, giving lectures and workshops both in Tokyo and Osaka. Later that year, as a beneficiary of an NEA U.S.A./France Exchange fellowship, he traveled to La Napoule, France, to join five Europeans and ten Americans as artists in residence at the La Napoule Art Foundation. During his residency, he worked exclusively on paper, completing a series of oil pastel drawings that eventually let him to a major breakthrough in his quilt work. The University of Massachusetts (Dartmouth, formerly Southeastern Massachusetts University), Michael James' alma mater, awarded him an honorary doctor of fine arts degree in 1992. His induction into the Quilters Hall of Fame followed in1993, along with more international travel, including trips to Florence, Italy, and Barcelona, Spain. The Smithsonian Institution acquired Quilt No 150: Rehoboth Meander in 1994. This was also the year he received the first biennial Society of Arts and Crafts Award in Boston. The early 1990's was a very prolific period for the artist, who introduced curved forms with angles into his work. Lush Life is regarded as a turning point for Michael, with a look back into his interest in biomorphic forms and ahead to the expressiveness of his more recent work. While in Oslo, Norway, Michael was inspired by a sixteenth-century Russian icon with a simple but intriguing black-and-white geometric pattern, and not long after, Ikon was completed and exhibited in Quilt National 1997. Two of Michael's quilts, Aurora (1978) and Rhythm/Color: Improvisation (1985), were selected for the America's 100 Best Quilts of the 20 th Century. In the catalog entry for Rhythm/Color: Improvisation, Alyson B. Stanfield stated, "His mature work…is completely abstract and is characterized by exhaustive study of color relationships. Minute differences in ton and value appear to be the subject" Michael James was honored in 1999 with a twenty-five-year retrospective of his work at the Museum of the American Quilter's Society in Paducah, Kentucky, and his quilts have been included in six Quilt National exhibits as well as invitational shows at the museum of Arts and Design (formerly the American Craft Museum) in New York City, Michael delivered the keynote address at the American Quilt study Group Seminar in 2000. In 2001, he was named a fellow of the American Craft Council. Since the organization's founding in 1997, Michael has worked closely with the International Quilt study Center, beginning as an adviser. In 2000, Michael left his longtime home in Massachusetts to assume a position as senior lecturer at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, in its Department of Textiles, Clothing and Design, the parent department of the international Quilt Study Center and Museum. He was granted tenure as the Ardis James Professor of Textiles, Clothing and Design in the College of Education and Human Sciences in 2003. Two years later, he assumed the position of department chair and currently continues to hold an administrative appointment. He Co-chaired the international Quilt Study Center's first symposium, "Wild by Design," in 2003. The year 2003 also brought a tremendous change in Michael's quilts, a change largely due to his increasing ability to successfully use sophisticated design software like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. In a feature article he wrote titled "The Digital Quilt" for Fiberarts Contemporary Textile Art and Craft Magazine (November/December 2003), he further explained:

Job Titles:

• Board Member / Baltimore

Mimi is a strong advocate for quilting guilds. She is a founder of both the The Village Quilters in Catonsville and the Baltimore Applique Society. Mimi sees guilds as a great way to fellowship with other quilters and continue learning. Everyone has different techniques, fabrics, and styles to share with each other. Mimi Dietrich has been presented with several awards and honors in her 45-year career. First and foremost, she has been selected as the 2015 Quilters Hall of Fame honoree. Secondly, she was named Professional Quilt Teacher of the Year by the International Association of Creative Arts Professionals in 2013. It is with great honor that we welcome Mimi Dietrich into the Quilters Hall of Fame as the 2015 honoree. Mimi stated, "Last week I was getting quilts together, and I realized that one of my early dreams about being a quilter was coming true...having a one-woman show!!"

Job Titles:

• Officer to the British Council

Job Titles:

• Online Store

Nellie Yost also wrote that her mother's quilts appeared "in huge quilt shows in Texas, Virginia, California, Washington, Tennessee, Louisiana, Michigan, Kansas, Colorado, Iowa, and Utah." Grace and her daughters, especially Nellie, continued to travel with the quilts into the 1980s. Honoree Joyce Gross and other quilt scholars remember Grace and Nellie fondly.

Job Titles:

• Board Member / Marion, in

Robert James entered the burgeoning quilt world the same year The Quilters Hall of Fame was established- 1979, when, at a quilt festival in Michigan, they bought their first quilt, simply because it appealed to Ardis visually. In Masterpiece Quilts from the James Collection, the catalog of an exhibition of eighty-eight of their quilts shown in Japan in 1998, Ardis is quoted as saying that first quilt "was a Mariner's Compass with a sizable hole in the middle and had... the most interesting border I had ever seen." Bob encouraged Ardis's collecting and then, becoming intrigued by the quilts' aesthetic qualities, went on the hunt with her. Said Ardis: "He didn't want to be left out of the fun." On their first joint outing looking for quilts, they bought thirty-two. From the beginning, the Jameses were collectors whose interest began with a single object, which led to another and another as their knowledge expanded. When I asked them if they had a favorite quilt or quilts in their collection, their response was: "Of course there are always favorites, but these... are frequently chosen for reasons other than beauty or color or workmanship... For example, an Iowa Amish quilt was Bob's favorite for a long time. Why? We had known Amish existed around Cedar Rapids, Iowa but we had never actually looked closely at an Iowa Amish quilt and had to be taught why these were different from Ohio or Pennsylvania or Canadian Amish examples. So this quilt was a learning experience and therefore a favorite." Thus do wonderful obsessions begin and flourish. Bob and Ardis were both born in Nebraska in 1925, he in Ord, whose population was then, and is now, about two thousand. He lived both in the town and on a farm, where they still used horse-drawn equipment. Ardis was born in Lincoln. While just in high school, she worked for the Omaha Stockman's Journal, a once-significant publication in the field that became more and more her project as men left for World War II.

Rosalind Webster, and Marty Frolli. A Joy Forever: Marie Webster's Quilt Patterns. Santa Barbara, CA: Practical Patchwork, 1992.

Ruth McDowell first became intrigued with quilts in the early 1970s, a time in America of renewed interest in quilting. Drawn to "making things" since childhood, the quilt world in the 1970s offered Ruth a new opportunity to explore colors, textures and design, interpreted through the traditions of piecing and appliqué. After she graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1967 with a B.S. in Art and Design, her training in color, proportion, value and line soon found a new outlet. After a brief career as a technical illustrator, Ruth began teaching herself machine piecing. In 1972, Ruth became captivated by the original block designs of Ruby McKim-artist, quilt designer, entrepreneur and 2002 Inductee into The Quilters Hall of Fame. Ruth later wrote in her book Art and Inspirations, "I was fascinated with the designs I found in Ruby McKim's 1931 book, 101 Patchwork Patterns. Her original blocks based on poppy, iris, rose and trumpet vine were graphically interesting, botanically recognizable, and straightforward to piece with traditional methods.... The trumpet vine I found especially fascinating." Inspired, Ruth made a pair of twin-sized quilts using pieced flower blocks, then hand appliquéd the stems and leaves. "My previous experience with a sewing machine allowed me to adapt block patterns to machine piecing these first quilts... a method I've preferred ever since." Having discovered the burgeoning community of quilters in the mid 1970s, Ruth joined The Quilters Connection guild in Arlington, Massachusetts. From its inception, The Quilters Connection's annual quilt show was open to all members. With no jurying of entries or prizes, members were encouraged to share their quilts in each show so everyone in the community could learn from each other. It was here that Ruth first encountered the quilts of Nancy Halpern, Rhoda Cohen and Michael James, the 1993 Inductee into The Quilters Hall of Fame. Soon, Ruth joined Nancy, Rhoda and Sylvia Einstein in a small group, meeting monthly to share ideas, information and fabric. "Though we have quite disparate styles and methods of working, seeing my work through their eyes was invaluable to me as I developed my personal style." Ruth's earliest quilts explored traditional repeated blocks, creating intricate patterns with solid color cottons. By 1980 she was designing her own block patterns. "Nasturtium was a twelve inch block I designed in the style of Ruby McKim. Not finding the right shade of green for the leaves and blue for the background at the fabric store, I quickly learned to be flexible in my color schemes. In every quilt I've made since then, color choices come from the fabrics I have at hand." Ruth McDowell's work has received national and international acclaim. Solo exhibits of her work include The Gallery on the Green, Lexington, MA; Hearts and Hands Quilt Festival, Tokyo, Japan; the National Quilt Museum, Paducah, KY; San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles; East Bay Heritage Quilters, Oakland, CA; and New England Quilt Museum. Among the invitational art quilt exhibitions that featured Ruth's quilts are: Los Angeles Art Gallery; Museum of Art at Penn State University; Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival, Japan; and Castle Gallery, Lake Constance, Germany. Her quilt, Cod, appears in the "What is Art?" episode of the video, "Why Quilts Matter." Ruth was recognized as an "All American Quilter" by the American Quilter's Society in 2004. Two of her quilts, The Twelve Dancing Princesses and Yellow Maples, were selected for The 100 Best American Quilts of the Twentieth Century exhibit and book. Ruth's quilts are also included in the permanent collections of The National Quilt Museum; Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA; JV Fletcher Library, Westford, MA; New England Quilt Museum, Lowell, MA; International Quilt Study Center and Museum, Lincoln, NE; the Thomas Contemporary Art Quilt Collection; the John M. Walsh Collection of Contemporary Art Quilts; the Shaw Contemporary Art Quilt Collection and many other corporate and private collectors. She has received numerous awards and recognition, including the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Studio 28 Contemporary Art Quilt Group. Ruth B. McDowell's distinctive quilts are an exceptional contribution to contemporary art and to the quilt world. Her skills as an artist and a quiltmaker are echoed in the lives she has touched as an extraordinary teacher. Her induction into The Quilters Hall of Fame in 2014 honored her innovative body of work as a quiltmaker and her passion as a teacher. Ruth's extraordinary career has touched the lives of many people and continues to inspire generations of quilters. Ruth McDowell with her daughters, Leah Lofgren (R) and Emily McDowell (L), at the Honoree exhibit of Ruth's quilts during Celebration 2014 in Marion, Indiana.

Ruth Finley secured her reputation as a recognized authority in the quilt world with the 1929 publication of her book Old Patchwork Quilts and the Women Who Made Them. To the present day, this work is a popular resource for authors and quilt researchers, due largely to its detailed descriptions and pattern diagrams, along with nearly one hundred photographs of quilts and fabrics. Its folksy narrative style gives it a personal appeal. Ruth was born September 25, 1884, into the socially prominent and well-educated Ebright family of Akron, Ohio. Her father was Dr. Leonidas S. Ebright, a physician who served at various times as surgeon general of Ohio, a state representative, and Akron's postmaster. Her mother, Julia Bissell Ebright, was a graduate of Oberlin College, the first American college to grant degrees to women. Julia's family, with seventeenth-century roots in Connecticut, had two state governors in its lineage. Ruth used her background advantages as an embarkation point for her own intellectual pursuits and creative undertakings. Lovina May Knight, a family friend of the Ebrights, described Ruth as a young woman who possessed an attractive combination of good health, strength, and femininity, with a perceptive wit and a sense of fun. In 1902, Ruth enrolled for one semester at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, and then transferred to Buchtel College (later the University of Akron), where she completed only two terms. Instead of finishing her formal education, she spent a year touring the western United States, writing stories and poems as she traveled. Her journalistic career begin in August 1907, when she accepted a job as cub reporter with the Akron Beacon-Journal. She rose through the ranks as society editor, music critic, and special interviewer, earning her first byline when she secured a rare interview with Mrs. Henry Ford. By the time she left the newspaper in 1910, she had become the editor of its women's page. She then moved to Cleveland for a job as feature writer for the Cleveland Press. In 1910, her career began to blossom when she assumed the pen name of "Ann Addams" and went undercover to report on the harsh working conditions of women in factories and households. During this time, she also wrote poems, fiction serials, and short stories for the paper. She met her future husband, Emmet Finley, also a reporter, while she was doing her investigative writing. The were married August 24, 1910. Ruth grew up with a knowledge of quilts through her family connections. During her years as a newspaper writer and editor, she began to collect antique quilts. From 1910 to 1919, during the first years of her marriage in Cleveland, and after the couple moved to New York in 1920, she would take little motor vacations along the country roads of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and New England. When certain quilts hanging on a clothesline caught her attention, she stopped at the farmhouse and asked for a drink of water. With that simple entrée, she elicited from the owners the pattern names and stories of the quilts. Ruth sometimes purchased these quilts to add to her growing collections. Ruth also collected patchwork patterns, making diagrams and identifying each by name. If more than one name was given to the same pattern, she recorded all variants and eventually included in the her book the one she thought most appropriate. Her meticulous research continued for several years, culminating in the book that was to bring her lasting fame. The writing of Old Patchwork Quilts and the Women Who Made Them began in 1915 and ended in 1929, a fourteen-year effort. The first quilt book published since Marie Webster's Quilts: Their Story and How to make Them appeared in 1915, it included information on more than three hundred quilt patterns. Her empathy for the women of the nineteenth century is evident throughout the book. There is no doubt that this book had a profound influence on quilters and designers of the day, as well as on many who came later. For example, Rose Kretsinger wrote to her asking for a pattern of The Garden quilt. When Ruth replied that she had no pattern, Rose designed her own, using only the black-and-white picture in Old Patchwork Quilts. Several other excellent quilt makers also made versions of The Garden, and three were selected as among America's 100 Best Quilts of the 20th Century. Although not a quilter herself, Ruth did design one particular quilt: the Roosevelt Rose, named in honor of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In a 1934 article in Good Housekeeping, she claimed she was reviving "a peculiar and paramount tradition- the creation and naming of new designs in honor of events political, economic, and social." Photographs and descriptions of the quilt portray it as "a rectangular wreath of fantasy flowers appliquéd in gorgeous bas-relief. A great variety of brilliant calicoes were used for the flowers of the wreath against a background of black sateen. The quilt was lined and corded with lipstick red. Ruth's husband shared her interest in collecting antiques, but in 1916, the two discovered a heretofore unexplored common bond- a keen interest in the occult. While waiting for a snowstorm to subside, the two began playing with a Ouija board. To their great shock and surprise, the board spelled out messages from a young American soldier who had been killed while fighting with the French Army in Alsace. Although they first reacted with disbelief, they continued the activity through much of 1917, with Emmet hastily jotting down the messages as Ruth received them. While their public careers flourished, Ruth and Emmet wrote a book, Our Unseen Guest, published in 1920 under the pen names "Darby and Joan." They kept this facet of their lives a deep secret in order not to jeopardize their careers or offend their families. Until the cover-up was discovered by Lovina May Knight in 1990, only their publisher and their little group of psychic friends shared the knowledge of their true identities. Ruth also received messages from "the other side" from her friend Betty, wife of Steward Edward White. Stewart wrote a book called The Unobstructed Universe in 1940, based on these communications. Following Stewart's death, the Finleys started writing Content of Consciousness, based on messages from Stewart. Emmet became ill and died in 1950, leaving this book unfinished. Ruth Finley's last known writing was the start of her autobiography. Fourteen typewritten pages, with penciled margin notes, are all that remain of this attempt. After a lingering illness, Ruth died in Glen Cove, Long Island, New york, on September 24, 1955, the day before her seventy-first birthday. In 1979, Ruth Finley was among the first group to be inducted into The Quilters Hall of Fame. An early feminist, Ruth Finley promoted quilting as women's folk art. Through her personal contacts with the quilters and their stories, she recognized the importance of the art of quilting in the lives of American women. In honoring quilters past, Ruth created a work of lasting value. The patchwork quilts that she thoroughly researched and meticulously described have provided valuable historical information for generations of quiltmakers and researchers. The frequency with which she is cited in recent publications reveals the depth of respect still felt for her in the quilt world.

Sally Jeter Garoutte was an energetic, independent, and accomplished woman. Born to Myrtle and Harry Jeter in Kokomo, Indiana, Sally moved with her family to LaMesa, California, when she was twelve year old. After high school graduation, Sally earned her R.N. degree from the San Diego County Hospital School of Nursing, where she met her future husband, Dr. Bill Garoutte, and they were married in 1948. After the birth of their first child in 1949, they spent Bill's Fulbright Scholarship year in London, England, where Sally studied at the Royal School of Weaving. This was the beginning of her continuing exploration of textile arts, while raising their four children and pursuing her nursing career. Travel abroad took her to Indonesia in 1956 and to Tokyo in 1963. In 1957, she studied oil painting at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, where twenty-six years later she would lead a discussion on quilt history. In the 1960s, even after she obtained a real estate license and became a community activist involved in Marin County politics, Sally continued her interest in visual arts and took private lessons in stitchery. Her serious interest in quilts emerged in the early 1970s while she studied silk-screen printing. It was during this period that Sally Garoutte and Joyce Gross founded the Mill Valley Quilt Authority, an organization devoted to the promotion of quilting and the preservation of quilts. In 1972, the Mill Valley Quilt Authority organized a quilt show, Patch in Time. This exhibit was a significant event in the West Coast quilt revival of the early 1970s, leading to the collaboration of Joyce and Sally on Quilters' Journal and the American Quilt Study Group. Concurrently, Sally decided to study art and graduated with a B.A. in 1976 from Goddard College, where her senior thesis was on color. She energetically pursued her independent research on quilts and textiles, and traveled across the United Stated (including Hawaii) and Europe, examining quilts and historical documents as well as interviewing quilters and collectors. This investigative style continued throughout Sally's life. From 1977 to 1982, Sally actively participated in the production of Quilter's Journal. With Joyce Gross as editor and publisher, Sally performed the duties of textile editor and contributing editor, writing twenty-one groundbreaking articles for the journal, documenting the lives of individual quilters, and exploring a variety of topics in textile history. She researched subjects such as Turkey red dye, seventeenth-century American textiles, and Hudson Bay blankets. She also wrote an influential analysis of crazy quilt styles. With so much time devoted to research, writing, and organizational duties, Sally had little time for quilting. In fact, when asked why she took up quilting, she responded, "Can't understand it! Don't like to sew." The only example of her quiltmaking is Friends and Relations, made in 1974, which appeared on the cover of Textile Chemist and Colorist in 1978. Nevertheless, Sally was a self-proclaimed "fabric freak" with a large fabric collection. Her good friend and colleague Laurel Horton incorporated some of this fabric into several quilts after Sally's death. From the early 1980s until her death in 1989, Sally Garoutte devoted herself to the development of the American Quilt Study Group and was the guiding force behind that organization. In November 1980, fifty people, whom she regarded as co-organizers, attended that first seminar in Mill Valley, California. Given the strong interest shown, a nonprofit organization with a board of directors was formed, and annual seminars have been held ever since. Sally also edited the seminar papers for the first seven volumes of Uncoverings, which is published annually by AQSG. The American Quilt Study Group provided Sally with the opportunity to combine her talent for leadership, her need for creative expression, and her powerful hunger for historical truths. Directing the group eventually usurped most of Sally's time and, quite literally, most of her home. Initially, Sally's dining room was the location of the AQSG library, seminar presenters were housed with the Garoutte family, and Sally attended to the organization's bookkeeping, correspondence, and publication duties. In addition, she presented four research papers at various seminars on Marseilles quilts, Hawaiian quilts, early colonial quilts, and California's early quilting traditions. By 1987, the AQSG has outgrown the Garouttes' dining room, so the headquarters was moved to San Francisco, but the library remained in their home. Upon Sally's death, her library, textile collection, and quilt ephemera were bequeathed to the American Quilt Study Group, whose seminars continue to expand the knowledge of the history and social context of quilts and textiles. Her books are now in the Sally Garoutte Core Collection of the Archives/Special Collections of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In addition to her work establishing AQSG, she served as a consultant to various quilt projects, such as the Kentucky Heritage Quilt Search and the California Heritage Quilt Project, as well as to Ferrero Films for the company's 1985 production Hearts and Hands. Sally Garoutte's motivation came from her strong desire to discover and share the truth about textile history, an important aspect of women's history. In her foreward to the 1983 volume of Uncoverings, she wrote:

Job Titles:

• Secretary / Marion, in

Job Titles:

• Vice President

Job Titles:

• Member at University of Akron

Virginia Gunn has also demonstrated a gifted ability to inspire, motivate and empower those who have an interest in doing quilt research outside the purely academic community through her long association with the American Quilt Study Group. Her influence and hands-on guidance of others in maintaining the highest standards of scholarship in AQSG's publications has played no small part in the acceptance of said publications in at least eight academic indexes that are accessed by researchers, museum curators and academics from around the world. Virginia served on the AQSG National Board of Directors for a decade (1984-94) and as the President of the Board from 1990 to 1994. In addition, Virginia served as editor of Uncoverings, the annual volume of AQSG research papers, from 1994 to 2003 and served on the scholarship review committee from 2004 to 2013. She has presented 11 research papers of her own for the annual AQSG Seminar, in addition to numerous papers and presentations at other academic venues throughout her career in the field of quilt history, women's domestic social history, and care and conservation of quilts and other textiles. What makes her particularly valuable to anyone studying local and state history in her adopted state of Ohio is her knowledge of decorative arts, material culture and historical methodology. Gunn continually emphasizes to all her students and volunteers alike the importance of "well developed research to figure things out." In her position as a faculty member at University of Akron, Virginia Gunn has worked successfully at encouraging a younger generation to explore and pursue the field of quilt and textile history. In 1997 the Dr. Virginia L. Gunn Scholarship in Family and Consumer Sciences was created through a gift from a former University of Akron student to recognize and honor the mentoring and encouragement that Dr. Gunn has provided so many. This is a powerful statement about how deeply Gunn's dedication to education within the field of quilt and textile history has touched and will continue to impact student for generations to come. It is with great enthusiasm and respect that we salute Dr. Virginia L. Gunn as The Quilters Hall of Fame's 2017 Honoree.

Webster, Marie D. Quilts: Their Story and How to Make Them. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1915. Expanded edition with color illustrations, notes, bibliography, and biography of the author by Rosalind Webster Perry. Santa Barbara, CA: Practical Patchwork, 1990.

And her involvement in the quilt world continues. Xenia is a former Advisory Board member for the International Quilt Study Center and Museum, the former acquisitions coordinator (she facilitated the acquisition of the Sara Miller Amish crib quilt collection of 90 quilts in 2000) and a current Associate Fellow, supporting IQSC with research and a strong commitment to its mission. In her private life, Xenia has been married to Mike for 57 years and they have four children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. She quilts weekly in two small groups and is a charter member of the Kokomo Piecemakers Guild (celebrating its twenty-fifth year). As a quiltmaker, she has made over 100 quilts, many of them for charitable organizations. Her personal quilt collections include kit quilts, chintz quilts, name- inscribed quilts and "Russian Sunflower" quilts.

Lately, Yvonne has been motivated to experiment with new techniques that are less stressful on her hands. She prefers fused fabrics, which are looser and less defined than the shapes that were previously appliquéd, allowing her to combine cotton and silk fabrics in the same piece. Yvonne is a tireless advocate for the art quilt movement through her teaching, writing, and curating, and is amazingly generous with her ideas and advice. In 1989, she founded Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public, documenting the art quilt movement, and advocating the recognition of the quilt as art. The organization sponsors annual educational conferences and consults on regional and national exhibitions, while encouraging critical writing. Yvonne proved her commitment to the mission of SAQA by continuing as president of the board of directors until 2000, at the request of its members. The cause isn't finished, since she remains troubled by the lack of serious attention given to fiber artists by collectors, galleries, and museums. She sees a great deal of work ahead for all involved. Yvonne is a favorite speaker across the country and has shared her talents with students in Japan, France, Germany, Australia, and Switzerland. In 1998, she was selected as one of a handful of artists to represent the United States in the Ninth International Triennial of Tapestry in Lódz, Poland.