July 2004
The Grand Opening of The Quilters Hall of
Fame
by Teri Klassen
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Gathered on the lawn in front of the Marie Webster House, over
300 enthusiastic guests celebrated the Grand Opening of The
Quilters Hall of Fame. “We’re all her making history,” said event
coordinator Karen Alexander. This sense of history-in-making
was pervasive throughout the four-day Celebration, thanks in
large part to the presence of so many quilt-world legends.
Eleven Honorees, identified by commemorative medallions on blue
ribbons, were on hand to attend the Grand Opening. Site
Manager Madonna Fowler estimated that the three-story Webster
House, festive with Honoree quilts and memorabilia, a gift shop
and vintage garden, received at least 200 visitors a day during
the four-day event. Participants from different parts of the
country and different spheres of the quilt world – art quilts,
traditional quilts, quilt history and the quilt business – truly
shared a sense of community.
In her program on the history of the sewing machine, Honoree
Jean Ray Laury observed that early manufacturers presented it as
an elegant piece of furniture rather than as a tool. Among the
advertising cards and postcards she showed was one that
pictured men watching a woman at a sewing machine. “You
obviously exude a great deal of sex appeal as you sew,” said
Jean. She is shown here with her pioneering Tom’s Quilt,
exhibited in the Webster House. Jean also led a workshop on
“Photo Transfer to Fabric.”
Honoree Jeffrey Gutcheon gave a slide lecture on his experience
teaching Haitians to quilt as part of an economic development
project in 1974. Jeffrey exhibited his quilt, Hamish to the Amish
#1: Pretty Polly, at the Honorees’ exhibit in the Marion Public
Library.
Honoree Yvonne Porcella treated us to a talk on her delightful
quilts, “Dog, Frogs & Cherubs,” followed by lunch at Marion’s
elegant Hostess House. Yvonne also led a workshop at the
library: “1930s Quilt Block: Quick Clips Original.” Her colorful wall
hangings were exhibited at the library as well as in the Marie
Webster House. Honoree Donna Wilder staged a nostalgic fashion
show, “Wearable Art: A Quilted Expression,” at the Country Club,
using local teens as models. Garments selected from 20 years of
Fairfield Fashion Shows included Caryl Bryer Fallert’s coat with a
Flying Geese motif, a dress and headwrap made of men’s ties, a
pieced Elizabethan coat with embroidered portraits of Henry VIII
and his six wives, and a wedding gown with trapunto work.
Outfits created by Honorees Yvonne Porcella, Jean Ray Laury and
Georgia Bonesteel were modeled.
Honoree Jinny Beyer presented her popular “Color Confidence”
workshop at the Honeywell Center, in nearby Wabash, Indiana,
on July 15. Also featured in Wabash was a tour of Marie Webster’
s childhood home, courtesy of the present owners, Jim and
Bonnie Haughn. Jinny spoke about “My World” on July 16 at
Marion’s Meshingomesia Country Club, showing slides of the
faraway places where she has lived, and of the garden she
designed with sections laid out like quilt patterns. Her famous
1977 Ray of Light quilt, exhibited in the Marie Webster House,
awed many visitors. Her Windows quilt, made following the tragic
events of 9/11, was shown at the library in the exhibit “Today’s
Honorees: Collectors and Designers.”
At the “Reclamation of Our Quilting Heritage” panel at the public
library, Karen Alexander and Honoree Georgia Bonesteel
interviewed Honorees Joyce Gross, Cuesta Benberry, and Barbara
Brackman. The panelists agreed that quilt research now requires
more documentation than when Marie Webster wrote the first
quilt history in 1915, but that writers still make mistakes. They
recommended that readers read critically and not neglect the
older sources, even if they contain some errors. Cuesta
emphasized that even official sources make mistakes. They urged
researchers to study the written records and material culture that
give quilts context: tops, blocks, fabrics, patterns, embroidery
designs, letters, postcards, diaries, newspapers, magazines, and
vintage photographs. When Georgia observed, “I think we have a
trio of private investigators,” Joyce confessed, “I watch Angela
Lansbury religiously.”
In her workshop, “Dating Old Quilts: Material Pleasures,” held on
July 18 at Gethsemane Episcopal Church, Honoree Barbara
Brackman examined piles of quilts brought by attendees, and
organized them by date and style. Barbara complimented Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, and Pennsylvania on producing fine red-and-
green appliqué quilts. “In Ohio they have the showoffs, and in
Indiana,” she said. “Further west, there’s nothing of this quality.
So you guys are living in the right places.”
Honoree Georgia Bonesteel had a busy weekend. In addition to
moderating the panel discussion, she interviewed all the other
Honorees for a documentary she is producing on the Great Quilt
Revival. Her son, film maker Paul Bonesteel, was on hand to
videotape the interviews and the Grand Opening events. We hope
to see the program on Public Broadcasting stations next year.
Georgia also led a workshop on July 18, “Catch Crazy Patch
Fever.”
Honoree Jonathan Holstein, who spoke at the very first induction
ceremony in 1979, also gave a lecture, 25 years later, at the
Founder’s Luncheon on July 16, 2004, at the Country Club. He
recalled his excitement at discovering traditional quilts and
introducing them to the art world in the 1970s. He called Marie
Webster “the first quilt celebrity” and noted the many roles that
Honorees have held: artist, designer, author, editor, historian,
television host, teacher, lecturer, collector, curator, founder,
entrepreneur and company executive. He paid tribute to his
former wife, Honoree Gail van der Hoof, who died recently. As a
backdrop for his talk, he chose a fine Amish Center Diamond quilt
that was her favorite. “If there is a great quilting bee in the sky,
you can be sure that is where Gail is,” he said.
Honoree Karey Bresenhan spoke enthusiastically about her work,
“The Best Job in the World: Celebrating Great Quilts!” During her
talk at the Country Club on July 15, she reviewed major trends of
the 30-year quilt revival and art-quilt movement including the rise
of machine quilting, use of embellishments, landscape quilts, and
days we couldn’t get yellow,” Karey said, noting that quilts are
now a $2.5 billion industry.
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