Thursday, May 14, 2009

Merikay Waldvogel 2009 Honoree



Help us celebrate the induction of Merikay Waldvogel of Knoxville, TN, as our 39th Honoree, July 16-19, this summer! To access the CELEBRATION REGISTRATION FORM, CLICK HERE.

Merikay Waldvogel, one of the key players in the late 20th century quilt history revival, has served on the board of directors of both the American Quilt Study Group and The Alliance for American Quilts (AAQ). She has been a key player in building The Alliance’s online Quilt Index and has also taken a key role in the Quilt Treasures, two of the four programs that are the major contributions of AAQ to American cultural history. Waldvogel is 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 1983 Waldvogel began her collaboration with TQHF Honoree Bets Ramsey to co-direct the Quilts of Tennessee project through its mission of documenting the quilts of that state. Together they wrote the book Quilts of Tennessee: Images of Domestic Life Prior to 1930, and put together a traveling exhibit, 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, she 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.



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

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.




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



Left: examining a quilt made from a kit.

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



Waldvogel's Uncoverings
articles for AQSG on the WPA Milwaukee Handicraft Project (1984), on 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.



Waldvogel has written for Quilters Newsletter Magazine, McCall’s Quilting Vintage Quilts, American Patchwork and Quilting, and Quilting Today/Traditional Quiltworks.







Her latest book Childhood Treasures: Doll Quilts By and For Children highlights Lincoln, Nebraska quiltmaker Mary Ghormley’s extensive doll quilt collection.

Come join us in Marion to induct Merikay Waldvogel into The Quilters Hall of Fame!

Merikay Waldvogel is a graduate of Monmouth College in Monmouth, IL and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She was raised in St. Louis, Missouri, but now resides in Knoxville, Tennessee.

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

For additional information about The Quilters Hall of Fame's Celebration, July 16-19, 2009, send a postcard or letter to CELEBRATION 2009, P.O. Box 681, Marion, IN, 46952 or click here to Email us.


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

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Welcome!

The Quilters Hall of Fame is located in the restored historic Marie Webster House in Marion, Indiana, just northeast of Indianapolis.

We are celebrating Marie Webster's 150th birthday as well as the 30th anniversary of the founding of The Quilters Hall of Fame in 2009. Come visit us in 2009 and help us celebrate!






We hope you'll use this portal to keep up with current events, annual Celebration plans, contests, exhibits and one of a kind opportunities at TQHF.

2009 CELEBRATION REGISTRATION FORM NOW AVAILABLE! CLICK HERE.


The National Register of Historic Places is featuring Marie Webster in May. CLICK HERE to go to their website and see the article they wrote.

Thank you, National Register of Historic Places, for your coverage of Marie Webster and The Quilters Hall of Fame!


Baltimore Applique Society Donates Quilts for TQHF Auction!

The Baltimore Applique Society voted in 2008 to make some 30-50 one-block small finished quilts for our 2009 July 17 auction to raise funds for The Quilters Hall of Fame. They have used Marie Webster’s patterns from Rosalind Webster Perry's books A Joy Forever and Marie Webster’s Garden of Quilts and are stunning!

A big THANK YOU from The Quilters Hall of Fame to the Baltimore Applique Society for their on-going support of TQHF and the Marie Webster House over these many years!


Click here to visit the BAS website. Then click on the TQHF Auction link in the top left corner to see photos and to bid. Browse the BAS website while you are there and learn more about the wonderful work they are doing with applique quilts and their history.

~~~

Karen B. Alexander
The Quilters Hall of Fame
Public Relations
Past President
926 South Washington Street
P.O. Box 681
Marion, IN 46953
click here to Email us.