Daily Blog - TheQuiltShow.com

Quilt World Loses Annabel Baugher

Annabel Baugher with her quilt at the AQS show in Paducah, KY April 2010. Photo by dlquilter

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Annabel Baugher on October 3, 2011.

Imogene Annabel Baker was born on April 1, 1921, in rural Sullivan County, the daughter of Nelson Miles (N.M.) and Thelma Pickens Baker. On May 18, 1940, she married in Princeton to Dale Baugher, her husband of 51 years until his death in 1992. In 1942 they purchased a farm in the Half Rock community, where they spent the rest of their life together. In 2009, she moved to Trenton after 67 years on the farm.

She spent her formative years enjoying life on farms in the Yellow Creek community south of Green City. Her education began in the rural schools of the area and continued at the Milan High School where she graduated in 1940. She remained a student the rest of her life as an avid reader, trying new challenges and traveling. She was taught to sew and crochet by her mother and later taught herself to knit and quilt. Initially she sewed to clothe her family and later handquilted for competition and to leave heirlooms to her family. She received recognition for her handquilting at local events, state fairs and the American Quilters Society in Paducah, KY.

TQS member dlquilter spent time with Annabel in 2010 at the AQS show in Paducah, KY. Annabel was there sharing stories about this quilt that spent five years on the frame. Read more here.

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Merry Silber

The Alliance for American Quilts recently notified TQS of the passing of Merry Silber (1914-2011). Merry Silber originally thought of quilts as blankets for the bed until she visited the home of her daughter, Julie Silber. Julie had quilts hung as decorations on her walls. She quickly changed her mind and began to see quilts in a different way.

Merry began to accumulate a collection of quilts and devoted herself to learning about their artistry and historical value. She curated her first quilt exhibit at the Galerie de Boicourt in West Bloomfield, MI in 1971. After this she went on to produce 13 annual quilt shows at the Somerset Mall in Troy, MI. These shows were groundbreaking in that not only did they show the quilts off to the public, she supplemented the exhibit with lectures, workshops, and vendors.

Merry also worked as an appraiser, helped build collections and assisted in the Michigan Quilt Project. She gave numerous lectures, designed many fundraising quilts and funded quilt projects. One of her favorite projects dealt with the blocks made to commemorate the Kindertransport. She also curated many shows including the first show in America dedicated to Jewish quilting.

Merry Silber was truly a quilt treasure and you can learn more about her by clicking here.

(photo: The Alliance for American Quilts)

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Ardis Butler James Passes Away at 85

Ardis Butler James, who established one of the world's largest public collections of quilts, passed away on July 7th at the age of 85. Mrs. James and her husband, Robert are responsible for starting the International Quilt Study Center & Museum at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. They began the museum by donating nearly 1,000 quilts from their personal collection. The Ardis and Robert James Collection of Antique and Contemporary Quilts is most noteworthy for its comprehensiveness.

“They tried to create a collection that reflected the entire gamut of quilt-making traditions,” Patricia Cox Crews, the Willa Cather professor of textiles at the university and the quilt center’s director, said on Thursday. “Some people have collected 19th-century American, others have collected only studio-art quilts, others may have collected the quilts of India and Pakistan, but theirs reflected the entire tradition.”

Ardis life was celebrated on July 16th, 2011, when she and her husband were inducted into The Quilters Hall of Fame.

The New York Times' story can be found by clicking here. Below is a photo taken in their home in 2002.

(Credit: Chris Maynard for The New York Times)

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Jean Ray Laury passes away at 82

Quilt artist Jean Ray Laury, a key national figure in the renaissance of quilting during the 1970s and 1980s and an internationally known fiber artist and author, died Wednesday. She was 82. Her husband, Frank, has said a memorial service will be held in the future.

Jean Ray Laury was a freelance designer, quilter, and writer with one-woman, and group shows at museums, galleries and universities across the country. Her quilts are in both private and museum collections.

Jean made her first quilt in 1956 and went on to write numerous books about quilt making and taught classes throughout the world. Her quilt, Barefoot and Pregnant , was considered one of the twentieth century's best American Quilts. Her name appears in the book 88 Leaders in the Quilt World Today and she was elected into the Quilter's Hall of Fame in 1982.

She was a treasure who will be greatly missed.

To learn more about Jean, click here.

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Irwin Bear

The Show Must Go On

As you may have heard, we lost Irwin Bear on Saturday. He was a great leader, mentor and friend to many, many people, and he will be sorely missed.

He wants to be remembered with joy, and he was adamant to the last that we should continue to move ahead with P&B and that The Show Must Go On. It is in honor of him that we forge ahead and prepare for Market.

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A 9/11 Quilt Story

Joan Strosin shares this story of Amy Sue Leasure and her use of quilts after 9/11.

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Bonnie Leman

Sadly an icon in our industry has passed away. Bonnie made incredible impact in our community and we invite you to visit The Quilters Hall of Fame to view a memorial.

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Ami Simms Mom - Beebe

Dear Ami - Our hearts are with you during this time of incredible saddness. You have fought a brave journey and have made us all aware of the painful process you have had to endure.

The following blog is from Ami's personal site - Friends may share with the family here

Her Name Was Beebe

I have been losing my mom, bit by bit, for at least the last seven years, whenever it was that Alzheimer’s first began its dirty work. I lost the rest of her this afternoon as I stroked her hair and told her how much I loved her. Jennie and I said good-bye as she took her last breaths, hopeful that she heard our voices, felt our caresses, and knew in her heart, if not in her mind, how much she was loved, what a good mother and grandmother she was, and how many lives she touched with her gentle spirit. We told her that she would live in our hearts forever, and she will.

Beebe clung to life longer than any of us expected, surprising two sets of hospice carers over the last 27 days as we kept vigil, first at the Alzheimer’s facility where she had lived for almost three years and at the hospice care center where she died. (Beebe’s obituary.)

I have made Beebe’s struggle with Alzheimer’s a public one. Sharing it has helped me deal with the grief and frustration of losing her over the years. It was also the only way I could think of to fight back. Connecting with others who walk along the same path has given me strength. Knowing that our journey has helped others cope has kept me going. Reading the comments you have written over the last month especially have given me comfort.

My job as personal advocate for Beebe is now over. The part of my brain that had to keep track of her safety and well-being, the minutia of caregiving, can now be filled with other pursuits. Although I will continue to fight Alzheimer’s in her memory, it is time now for me to reconstruct that memory, to focus on the woman who was my mother, not just on the woman who had Alzheimer’s and needed my care.

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TQS family mourns!

Our TQS family mourns the loss of Nanabear of Buena Vista, Colorado. Leslie passed-on yesterday after a most valiant battle with cancer. Leslie was an ardent supporter of The Quilt Show and has graced our audience with her presence during tapings here in La Veta. Leslie loved animals, loved quilting and loved life and her smile was a beacon of hope and compassion everytime I saw her. Although I know there are many, many people out there who have shown courage and dignity in the face of a terminal illness, but I don't know that I have had the pleasure of knowing one such as NANABEAR and MY life is richer for knowing her!!!! Please keep her family in your thoughts and prayers during this time. Justin

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