Quilt Exhibit
The Ellis County Historical Society is preparing for their 30th Annual Quilt Exhibit entitled “Life’s Celebrations,” which will be held April 1 to May 9, 2008.
The annual quilt exhibit will display quilts from the museum’s collection, as well as quilts loaned from area residents. These will include quilts made for organizations, weddings, births or any other important milestone. “Many people in the community have quilts of these types in their own homes which have been handed down from generation to generation, or which have been made more recently,” explained Elisha Beck, Curator & Exhibit Designer for the Ellis County Historical Society. “Quilts such as these often preserve significant information such as names, dates, or even pictures, therefore making them very valuable records of history.”
The quilt pictured above is known as a “Crazy Quilt,” which was popular during the Victorian times. Using silk thread, women would place decorative stitches on each seam and throughout the quilt, often signing their names and date in the quilt. The date for this quilt is embroidered as 1908 and also includes several last names such as Oliver, Lesher, Bobbit, Shaw, Nelson, Boswell, Carlson, Walton, Lindsey, Hoffman, Jones and Allen. Instead of being functional, these quilts were made more to showcase ones quilting skills and were often given as wedding gifts.
In addition to viewing the selection of quilts and their history, visitors will also get the chance to learn about the general history of quilts and how they have come to be so important for us today. Plan a visit to the Ellis County Historical Society located at 100 West 7th Street. The museum is open Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission cost is $4.00 for adults and $1.00 for children between the ages of 3 and 12. Members and children under the age of 3 are admitted free of charge.
This quilt was a gift from its quilter, Barbara Gerritzen, to her parents, Peter and Caroline Gerritzen, for their Golden Wedding anniversary in October 1986. The "FLYING GEESE" pattern was chosen because her family lived 3 miles north of the Cheyenne Bottoms in Barton County where wild birds would rest in the bottoms and fly over the family farm. The gold color in the quilt represents her parents' Golden Wedding anniversary, the green because it was her mother's favorite color, and the blue as her father's favorite color, and the blue and green with gold embossing actually came from a full circle skirt Barbara wore in high school.
Micki Armstrong made this "Mariner's Compass" quilt for her son, Nathan, as a graduation gift. She began the quilt in 1997 and finished it in 2003, the year he graduated from high school. All the compasses are hand pieced. Nathan picked the pattern since compasses are suppose to give direction.
This quilt entitled "Trip Around the Sun" or also known as "Sisters Around the World" was a gift from Julia Simens to her sister Jackie Wright as a way to celebrate being sisters while Julia was living in Duri, Indonesia. The quilting was done by hand by an Indonesian women named Eses.