Eleanor Burns Announced as 2012 Inductee

Photo courtesy of Quilt in a Day

Join us for Celebration 2012 as we induct Eleanor Burns!

The Quilters Hall of Fame is pleased to announce Eleanor Burns, author of over 107 quilt instruction books, and host of her own television show for over 22 years, as the 2012 Quilters Hall of Fame inductee.

Eleanor Burns' fans are legion. Her warmth, sense of humor and passion for teaching is legendary; her marketing skills and enterprising spirit greatly admired; her classes kept up to date to reflect the latest contemporary trends in the market.

The 1978 self-publication of her first book, "Make a Quilt in a Day: Log Cabin Pattern," was a pivotal decision in Burns' business career. Yes, she self-published before the day of e-books! Thereafter, she became a prolific author, revered teacher trainer, popular television personality, and celebrated industry role model.

Burns ventured into the television world on The Learning Channel in 1985. In 1990, her Quilt in a Day TV series began airing on PBS and is still broadcasting nationwide and abroad. In 1998 Burns created her first collaboration fabric design series, Anniversary Florals, with Benartex, Inc. followed by several other popular fabric design series.

In 1999 Burns received the Michael Kile Lifetime Achievement Award for her support of the quilting industry and her work to achieve a long-lasting effect for the advancement of quilting. This award is the most prestigious and coveted award in its field. In 2005, Eleanor Burns was named one of 5 quilters voted All American Quilter by an on-line survey conducted by the American Quilters Society.

The date for Burns official induction is July 21, 2012. Visit Burns' media theater here.

In looking over past Celebrations, I came across an article I wrote for the Fall 2000 edition of the newsletter of The Quilters Hall of Fame and thought you might enjoy it.  Eleanor Burns was a speaker that year as was Merikay Waldvogel, another future inductee of TQHF. 

Quilting has a long colorful history in America, much of it surrounded by myths still hard to shake off in spite of the now well documented field of quilt history that was launched in 1980 with the founding of the American Quilt Study Group.  The humble quilt has touched innumerable aspects of the American experience and reflected the evolution of our culture.

The mission of The Quilters Hall of Fame is to celebrate quilting as an art form by honoring the lives and accomplishments of those people who have made outstanding contributions to the world of quilting; by restoration and preservation of the National Landmark home of quilt designer Marie D. Webster in Marion, Indiana; by promoting programs, exhibitions, publications and research; and by collecting, preserving and documenting materials related to the honorees of The Quilters Hall of Fame.

Enjoy!

Karen B. Alexander

Past President

PS: Double click on the two images below to enlarge.

Double click on the above to enlarge.