Baltimore Applique Society Supports TQHF

Two "Wayside Rose" quilts made by members of BAS in 2000.




The Baltimore Applique Society has provided great support for TQHF in the past. They made and donated 2 quilts in Marie’s "Wayside Roses" pattern in 2000. (See one block of "Wayside Roses" above.) One quilt was donated as an opportunity quilt and raised over $5,000 for TQHF. The other became a part of the TQHF permanent collection and is often displayed in “Marie’s Studio” in the Webster House.

In 2007 and 2008, BAS donated $1,000 to help with our expenses. BAS members also had quilts on exhibit at TQHF from March-July 2008. We are excited and very grateful to the BAS members for their past support and for undertaking this latest project for us.

Special thanks to Marylou McDonald for initiating the latest BAS one-block quilt fund-raiser project on behalf of TQHF. Be sure to browse the BAS website to see some of the work of their members. Also visit the Maryland Historical Society here, the home of many outstanding Baltimore Applique quilts.

I hope many of you will be attendance at the auction in Marion, Indiana come July and bid. If you have ever seen the quality of applique work that BAS members produce, you will know why! You will want to own one of these Triple Anniversary mementos!


PS: You can read more of my quilt research by clicking here.

Honoree Bets Ramsey in the News

Congratulations to Bets Ramsey our 2005 TQHF Honoree!



Tennessee Governor’s Arts Award Recipients Announced


Awards were presented to eight recipients on April 14, 2009, at an invitation-only reception in Nashville for Tennessee’s highest honor in the arts. These eight were selected because they exemplify the state’s finest cultural traditions. Established in 1971, the Governor’s Arts Awards was presented by Governor Phil Bredesen and First Lady Andrea Conte in a special ceremony produced by the Tennessee Arts Commission.


Recipients were selected from 56 nominees to receive awards in three different categories: The Folklife Heritage Award, the Arts Leadership Award and the Distinguished Artist Award. The Distinguished Artist Award recognizes artists of exceptional talent and creativity in any discipline, who over the course of a career, have contributed to the arts and have helped guide and influence directions, trends, and aesthetic practices on a state or national level.

The three outstanding Tennessee artists presented the Distinguished Artist Award were: John Baeder of Nashville, one of America’s most admired realist painters; Cherry Jones, born and raised Paris, Tennessee, one of the foremost theater actresses in the United States who currently portrays the first female president on the Fox television series 24; and Bets Ramsey of Nashville, who has a long distinguished career in the quilt world in many roles as a curator, educator, historian, writer, project director, organization founder, and award-winning fiber artist.




Comments or questions? Contact the author Karen Alexander by clicking here.

Click here to read more about Bets Ramsey.



PS: You can read more of my quilt research by clicking here.

Windham Fabrics Launches Marie Webster-Inspired Line

Windham Fabrics Celebrates Marie Webster

Click here to see a sneak-preview! Run, don't walk, to your nearest Quilt Shop and ask them to order the Marie Webster/TQHF line!




The Quilters Hall of Fame is excited to announce the launch of a Marie Webster inspired line of fabric by Windham Fabrics. With the launch of their Marie Webster inspired line, Windham Fabrics is honoring an early 20th century quilt designer known for her elegance and simplicity.

Over eighty years ago the public was electrified by the new design concepts and colors in Marie's appliqué quilts, which were inspired by nature and reflected Marie's belief that beauty should be combined with practicality. It was The Ladies Home Journal that introduced Marie's quilt designs into the mainstream of the world of home-decorative arts in 1911. The pastel coloration and unique rendering of repeat motifs lend an inviting overall sense of unity to her quilts.

Marie’s thirty-year career of designing, writing, lecturing, judging quilt contests and conducting a thriving cottage industry was a remarkable undertaking for a woman of 52 years of age. She was a pioneer in numerous ways of many quilt-related entrepreneurs that would emerge in the late 20th century. Marie lived in Marion, Indiana until 1942 when she retired from her quilt pattern business. She spent her last years with her son's family in Princeton, New Jersey, where she died on August 29, 1956.

The majority of Marie's original floral patterns were done in solid colors but in this 150th anniversary salute to Marie Webster, Windham Fabrics has ventured into a collection of small prints inspired by Marie’s overall quilt designs, in addition to the four solid colors offered.

Be sure to ask your local quilt shop to order the Marie Webster line from Windham Fabrics. Then make something to celebrate Marie’s 150th birthday and send us a photo.

With the opening of The Quilters Hall of Fame in 2004 in Marion, Indiana, in the restored Webster house, people can now visit Marie's studio where her quilts were designed and the first book dedicated solely to quilt history was written.

Please help us celebrate this remarkable woman’s life by asking your quilt guild or women’s group to throw a 150th birthday in her honor! You can see the details of the contest by clicking Marie Webster Birthday Party Blog.

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Comments or questions? Contact the author Karen Alexander by clicking here.



PS: You can read more of my quilt research by clicking here.

New Series of Honoree Articles

New Series of Honoree Articles on TQS!

In January The Quilt Show (Alex Anderson/Ricky Tims-TQS) invited TQHF to do aa series of articles about the Honorees of The Quilters Hall of Fame. They call it their Quilt Pioneers Series.

Click here, then look in the right hand corner of the page that opens for the box that says "select a category". Click on that. A menu will open and give you a list. Select "Quilting Pioneers" from the menu to see all the articles about the Honorees.

To date Florence Peto (Jan), Ruth Finley (Feb) and Dr. William R. Dunton (March) have been covered. We are very grateful for this opportunity to share the stories of our Honorees with a broader public and hope you will visit their website to check them out.

Alex and Ricky also started filming a series of interviews of those whom they select as Quilt Legends. Their first two choices (Jinny Avery and Jinny Beyer) also happen to be HONOREES of TQHF! Ricky and Alex go right into the homes of both Jinny Avery and Jinny Beyer and film them on the spot. What a privilege to see these two Honorees in their own environment.

The Avery interview is included when you purchase Series One from The Quilt Show and the Jinny Beyer interview is included in their Series Three. These interviews were not made by TQHF nor are they sold by TQHF. However, we wanted to make quilters and quilt historians aware of the existence of these interviews.

Another wonderful source of video interviews of both Jinny Avery and Jinny Beyer are the interviews conducted by the The Alliance for American Quilts Quilt Treasures project, one of many wonderful projects of The Alliance for American Quilts. Click on the highlighted Quilt Treasures link to explore more information about both Avery and Beyer as well as The Alliance's other Quilt Treasures.

Seven other Honorees are also featured in The Alliance's Quilt Treasures project: Cuesta Benberry; Joyce Gross; Jean Ray Laury;Bonnie Leman; Yvonne Porcella; Bets Ramsey and Mary Schafer. Do watch all of them!

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Comments or questions? Contact the author Karen Alexander by clicking here.

Cruise for A Cause Fare Reduction!

On March 31, Princess Cruise Line announced REDUCED FARES on many cruises, including the one planned for this summer in the British Isles that will benefit THE QUILTERS HALL OF FAME.

Join Marianne Fons, Pam Holland, Kathy Kansier, Sandi Lush and Yvonne Porcella on the QUILT CRUISE FOR A CAUSE ~ This tour will benefit THE QUILTERS HALL OF FAME, arts and scholarship OR disaster relief, the choice will be yours. 15 Days: British Isles Quilt Cruise with optional tour to the Festival of Quilts for only $2,188.

12 Day Cruise only, begins at $1,698.

Now, for an incredible price, one can spend 15 days exploring the British Isles with almost all meals included. Begin your stay with 3 days at Europe's finest quilt extravaganza, the Festival of quilts in Birmingham. Then, take our luxury coach south to Southampton and our ship, the Crown Princess. From here we will spend the next 12 days visiting London, Guernsey, Cobb (Cork), Dublin, Liverpool, Belfast, Glasgow, Inverness/Lochness, Edinburgh and Paris/LaHavre. One does not have to be a quilter to enjoy this cruise! There are 100s of activities onboard the Crown Princess to delight any interest.

Dates: August 21-September 5, 2009. For the cruise only, the embarkation date is August 24. For more information and complete itinerary with inclusions list, click here.