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Every year I get away with two of my favorite quilting buddies,Joen Wolfrom and Darra Williamson and we head to the hills to QUILT! What started as a three-day adventure has now morphed into a week. At the summit, we not only sew our brains out, but often make major decisions there. For example, that is where Joen decided to start JWD Publishing (she is the pattern company I use) and was advised to sit tight and keep my eyes open for a better opportunity after the cancellation of SQ - HEY - they are here!!! Gotta go - tell us about you personal quiltie retreats!

SORRY NO PHOTO - GOTTA GO!!!! They're honkin the horn!

 

 

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Don't miss your chance to support the Alzeheimer's Art Quilt Initiative by bidding on your favorite small quilt.  These amazing little jewels have been generously donated to the auction which runs through 10pm (EDT) June 10, 2009.  To learn more about the auction and how to bid click here.

 

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Photo by Gregory Case Photography

Do you love the look of silk ribbon embroidery, but lack the patience to do it by hand. Join us as Susan Schrempf teaches you how to create stunning silk ribbon work using your sewing machine.  From flowers to leaf, you will be amazed at how precise your ribbon work can be with just a few machine stitches.  To watch the show, click here.

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Jelly fish have always been an amazing design feat, but now they are a problem.  To read more click on the picture.

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I (Alex) just got this email from our top notch editor of the shows, Rick. I am SO pleased that in his travels he is doing his work on behalf of TQS - Here is his email and photo.

"Sue and I stopped by the Phat Quarter in Galena IL to make sure they had their Bernina sign up and their Ricky and Alex books displayed. "

I sense a new quilter about to be born...........HEY RICK - inquiry minds want to know - did you buy a new Bernina for Sue????

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Photo by Karen Alexander

Like so many who were lured into quilting in the 1970s and 80s, it was often a serendipitous occurrence that attracted future quilters at that time. Many who answered the call were already weavers or knitters and seamstresses, but not quilters. 
Enter stage left - Merikay Waldvogel of Knoxville, Tennessee.

Merikay Waldvogel, one of the key players in the late 20th century quilt history revival, was one of those who had not grown up quilting but was hooked when she happened upon a colorful North Carolina Lily quilt in an antique shop in 1974 that "called" to her. She purchased it on impulse and took it home, wondering about the woman who had left the quilt unfinished. This purchase and the questions the quilt engendered about the maker would eventually change Waldvogel's life forever. If you have ever heard Waldvogel lecture, you know what I mean when I write that her passion for documenting and giving voice to "forgotten" women is palpable and her research meticulous.

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photo by Karen Alexander

By 1977 Waldvogel had become a "collector" and discovered that quilts offered the perfect vehicle for creative, thought-provoking programs for the women's center at which she worked at that time and invited Bets Ramsey to present a program.  Soon after, Waldvogel began attending the Southern Quilt Symposium (SQS) at the Hunter Museum of American Art.
Founded by TQHF Bets Ramsey in 1974, this symposium would eventually influence many future quilt historians. (Ramsey's story was told in the May 11 edition of this Quilt Pioneer Series here).

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Photo courtesy of Merikay Waldvogel

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Photo courtesy of Merikay Waldvogel

While attending the Southern Quilt Symposium, Waldvogel met members of the American Quilt Study Group and the seeds of another aspect of her future quilt career was launched. Waldvogel soon began in-depth research on one of the quilts in her collection with a sailboat theme. The quilt bore a Works Progress Administration (WPA) stamp, indicting that it had somehow been associated with the WPA during the 1930s.

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Photo by Karen Alexander

This quilt became the vehicle of her first research paper presented at the annual AQSG seminar in Mill Valley, California in 1984. It's a fascinating story of sleuthing that is well worth reading. The 1984 back issue you see in the photo is available from AQSG here as are the 1990, and 1994 issues of Uncoverings.

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Photo by Karen Alexander

Waldvogel's other Uncoverings articles for AQSG were Southern Linsey Quilts (1987), the Anne Orr Studio of Nashville (1990), Round Robin Pattern Collecting (1994), and the early history of Mountain Mist patterns (1995) were all groundbreaking research.

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Photo by Karen Alexander

In 1983 Waldvogel began her two-year collaboration with Bets Ramsey to co-direct the Quilts of Tennessee.  At the end of the two years together they wrote the book Quilts of Tennessee: Images of Domestic Life Prior to 1930, and put together a traveling exhibit that toured the state from 1986-1988, one of many exhibits Waldvogel has curated over the years. 

They later collaborated on the book Southern Quilts: Surviving Relics of the Civil War.   In the Southeast, Merikay is known for her writings about Southern women and their quilts in Appalachian Life and Smokies Life magazines.  She also lectures frequently to quilt guilds, historical societies, and museums in the area.

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Photo by Karen Alexander

In 2003, Rosalind Webster Perry and Waldvogel co-edited the first book of articles about the honorees, The Quilters Hall of Fame.

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Merikay Waldvogel has served on the board of directors of both the American Quilt Study Group and The Alliance for American Quilts.  She has been a key player in building the online Quilt Index and has also taken a key role in Quilt Treasures, two of the four programs that are the major contributions of AAQ to American cultural history.  Waldvogel is also a fellow of the International Quilt Study Center (IQSC) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she has worked with graduate students and has built an important database of quilt kits.

In addition to serving quilt history organizations, Waldvogel is recognized as an expert on quilts of the twentieth century quilt revival.  Her own book Soft Covers for Hard Times: Quiltmaking and the Great Depression is the key work on mid 20th century quilts and quiltmaking. 

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Photo by Karen Alexander

Her collaboration with 2001 Honoree Barbara Brackman on Patchwork Souvenirs of the 1933 World's Fair was another major contribution to quilt research.

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Photo by Karen Alexander

Waldvogel has labored over the creation of a Kit Quilt data base for a number of years, collecting images as well as manufacturing dates and other pertinent data.

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Waldvogel examining a quilt possibly made from a kit while attending events at
The Quilters Hall of Fame in Marion, Indiana in 2001
.  Photo courtesy of Merikay Waldvogel

Merikay Waldvogel has written for McCall's Quilting Vintage Quilts, American Patchwork and Quilting, Quilting Today/Traditional Quiltworks and Quilters Newsletter Magazine, one of her most recent articles in QNM magazine being the story of Hungarian immigrant Mariska Mihalovits Gasperik, who arrived in 1906 at the age of 16. Quilting became a way of avoiding isolation, writes, Waldvogel of Gasperik, and soon quilting became a passion for Gasperik. Many of the Gasperik quilts can now be seen on-line at the Quilt Index here.  Be sure to browse through all of them. Maybe one will inspire you!

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Waldvogel's latest book Childhood Treasures: Doll Quilts By and For Children highlights Lincoln, Nebraska quiltmaker Mary Ghormley's extensive doll quilt collection. To view a podcast about doll quilts click here to go to the International Quilt Study Center and hear Mary Ghormley talk about her doll quilt collection. You will have to scroll down to about the 14th lecture to find the one on doll quilts.

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Photo by Karen Alexander

Merikay Waldvogel is a graduate of Monmouth College in Monmouth, IL and earned a M.A. in Linguistics at the University of Michigan.

Come join us July 16-19 in Marion, Indiana, to induct Merikay Waldvogel into The Quilters Hall of Fame and to see the wonderful exhibit she will have hanging in Marion. For additional information send a postcard to CELEBRATION 2009, P.O. Box 681, Marion, IN, 46952 click here to Email us mailto:quiltershalloffame@sbcglobal.net or click here to download the Celebration Registration form.

Karen B. Alexander
Past President, The Quilters Hall of Fame
Member of AQSG since 1981

 

SOURCES:
1) Brackman, Barbara and Merikay Waldvogel. Patchwork Souvenirs of the 1933 World's Fair, Rutledge Hill Press, 1993

2) Horton, Laurel. "Bets Ramsey", The Quilters Hall of Fame, ed. Merikay Waldvogel and Rosalind Webster Perry (2006 Supplement)

2) Ramsey, Bets, and Merikay Waldvogel. The Quilts of Tennessee: Images of Domestic Life Prior to 1930. Nashville: Rutledge Hill Press, 1986.

3) Ramsey, Bets, and Merikay Waldvogel. Southern Quilts: Surviving Relics of the Civil War. Rutledge Hill Press, 1996.

4) Ramsey, Bets. "Merikay Waldvogel's Quilt Odyssey", The Quilters Hall of Fame Newsletter, Spring 2009

5) Waldvogel, Merikay. "Quilts in the WPA Milwaukee Handicraft Project" in Uncoverings 1984, American Quilt Study Group.

 6) Waldvogel, Merikay. "Southern Linsey Quilts of the 19th Century" in Uncoverings 1987, American Quilt Study Group.

7) Waldvogel, Merikay. "The Marketing of Anne Orr's Quilts" in Uncoverings 1990.

8) Waldvogel, Merikay. "Mildred Dickerson: A Quilt Pattern Collector of the 1960s and 1970s" in Uncoverings 1994, American Quilt Study Group.

9) Waldvogel, Merikay. "The Origins of Mountain Mist Patterns" in Uncoverings 1995, American Quilt Study Group.

10) Waldvogel, Merikay. Soft Covers for Hard Times: Quiltmaking and the Great Depression, Rutledge Hill Press, 1990

11) Personal conversations and emails with Merikay Waldvogel

 

 

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Our visit to Costa Rica has sadly come to a close - my new friends Rocio and Maria Teresa remind me that no matter where in the world you might find yourself - kindred spirits are everywhere! The event that these ladies hosted on behalf of their quilt shop, El Costurero (in San Jose) - meaning The Sewing Basket, was a 100% success. Imagine 300 Costa Ricans wanting to learn more about quilting - is that EXCITING OR what?  We have fallen in love with the people of Costa Rica as well as their attitude of life - Pura Vida!   More to follow................

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Sunrise today. A view from my east window.

I was up at pre-dawn this morning (like 4:30) and I could tell that once again the morning would not disappoint me. I was NEVER a morning person, but having moved to Colorado 9 years ago, I find myself not wanting to miss what mother nature will bring each day. So, I get up and I've become a morning person. Many mornings I get a lot done before the hustle and bustle of the day.

So - are you a morning person or an night owl? What time of day do you prefer? When are you most inspired? When are you most productive?

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Drawing Day is a worldwide drawing event encouraging everyone to drop everything and draw for the sake of art. They set a goal to create 1 million drawings online on June 6, 2009. 

The Quilt Show.com was one of 22 websites featured as a "Supporter" of Drawing Day 2009.  http://www.drawingday.org/support-drawingday.php

The Quilt Show.com was also featured as a "Website You can Draw Online" and a "Website to Upload Your Drawings". http://www.drawingday.org/participate.php

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Drawing Day: Draw and Win

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It's Drawing Day...a worldwide initiative to get everyone to draw for the sake of art.   TQS is joining the effort and has opened a Show & Tell area to put up your drawings.  We want not only your drawing, but we want to become a "worldwide refrigerator" and see the drawings of your family.  Here is a chance to encourage the creativity of your kids and grandkids and give them an opportunity to see their work on the web.  So take away the video game remote for today and give them a pencil, crayon and paper.  Then they can help you upload the picture by:

1.  Scanning your picture and uploading it to our Show & Tell area

2.  Taking your camera and getting a picture of the drawing and then uploading it.

Your drawing uploaded to our site automatically enters you for a chance at a special quilting goody bag.

Kids seldom need ideas, but if you need some ideas: show us a quilt block, a quilting pattern, a flower in your yard, a self portrait, a bird from your area, or a tree.  (This will be for the whole family, so keep it family safe.)  If this is outside your comfort area, then even better. 

The worldwide "Drawing Day" goal is 1 million pictures.  Our goal at TQS is several hundred pictures.  Can we reach 500?