QUILTERS HALL OF FAME READIES FOR ANNUAL CELEBRATION

July 15-17 are the dates for this year’s Quilters Hall of Fame Celebration. The historic Marie Webster House in Marion, Indiana is the setting for the annual event. Jean Wells Keenan will be the 40th honoree to be inducted into the Quilters Hall of Fame.

These three days are a visual-feast for quilt lovers. It’s also a great time to take a class and learn a new quilting technique. This year’s event will feature workshops by this year’s honoree, Jean Wells Keenan and Ann Fahl, who does extraordinary machine embroidery and embellishment. Mary Kerr will exhibit 170 vintage quilts at the Marion Public Library. Jean Wells Keenan’s quilts will also be on exhibit at the Marion Public Library and The Quilters Hall of Fame. Lakeview School will be the site of the Hoosier Heartland Show featuring the Merchant Mall and the Indiana State Quilt Guild’s exhibit as well as an exhibit hosted by Sandi Brothers of Leo, Indiana.

A tour of the Marie Webster House alone is worth the trip. Marie Webster was an extraordinary quilt designer. Her love of flowers is most apparent in her appliqué quilt designs. She designed her patterns and sold them by mail order out of her Marion home from 1911-1942. This time period encompasses the early 20^th century quilt revival; a time when the country celebrates the 200^th anniversary of the birth of George Washington (1932) and people rail against the darker side of industrialization (Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle). Marie dies in 1956 and over the next two decades her home falls into disrepair.

During this time (mid-1970s), the U.S. prepares for the Bicentennial celebration. Once again women hark back to the past and there is another revival of traditional crafting.

In response to the renewed interest in quilts and quilting, The Quilters Hall of Fame is founded in 1979 during the Continental Quilting Congress. In the late 1980s as the Marie Webster Home faces the wrecking ball, her granddaughter Rosalind Webster Perry arrives from California and deeds the home to the Continental Quilting Congress and the restoration begins.

The restoration process is a long and expensive labor of love. The call goes out for people to join, to buy inscribed garden bricks, to sponsor a staircase, a carpet, and yes, everything has a price. I ask myself, “What can I do to assist in this project?” I peruse the long list of items that need a sponsor and it suddenly hits me! I can afford the $200 to sponsor the water cooler! Cool water to restore a weary quilter’s spirit. What better item for a quilt restorer to sponsor? The check is written the deed is done.

I have attended Celebration twice; for the induction of fabric designer Barbara Brackman and once with husband Tom. We go down to check out the cooler. I added an extra $10 to my donation so a small plaque bearing my name can be added to it. We find it in its place of glory between the gift shop and the ladies room. How appropriate. The three basic needs of any quilter on a trip:  Shopping, potty and cool water. Tom snaps my photo standing by it to capture the moment. I sometimes wonder how many quilters over the years have had a drink on me.

The Marie Webster House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

For more information on the celebration and the Marie Webster Home go to www.quiltershalloffame.net/home.

The Quilters Hall of Fame is open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with extended hours during Celebration. Telephone 765-664-9333.

Do you have a quilt related question? Contact Lois at 515-9446 or visit the Website at www.bornagainquilts.com.