I buy most of them second-hand. They are a great source of inspiration and I return to them again and again. Many of their titles are similar, and so I struggle to remember which ones I own.
What’s interesting is that many weren’t written for quilters. Each book’s aim is slightly different, but only a few feature patterns for making the quilts inside.
About a week ago, on Jan. 28, Mary Fons posted a YouTube video called “Stop Cutting Up Quilts to Make Clothes.” A graphic image (below) was used on Instagram to publicize the video.
And the graphic did its job. Not only did it entice me to watch the video, almost 15 thousand other people watched it too. Many of those watched after this became news in the quilt world, but still. For the sake of comparison, Mary has about 8000 subscribers and her videos mostly garner a few hundred views each on YouTube/Twitch.
Mary Fons is the 40-something daughter of quilting superstar Marianne Fons. Marianne and her business partner Liz Porter created an empire of sorts selling magazines, books, videos and tools for quilters, among other things. They became widely known before selling the business.
Mary Fons has long been inside the quilt industry. She hosted Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting television program on PBS, she founded a magazine for beginning modern-leaning sewists called Quilty, she wrote a long-running column for Quilts Inc. (the organization that gives us International Quilt Festival), she more recently served as editor-in-chief of Quiltfolk magazine and she’s an active live-streamer on various quilt topics via YouTube and Twitch. (There’s much, much more to her quilting resume.)
And that’s an understatement. There were quilters at every turn who did not like her and they weren’t shy about saying so. They made awful comments and personal attacks. Mary called them out and forged ahead.
There was a time when I wondered if it wasn’t convenient to ride (into the industry) on her mother’s coattails, but then I heard Mary speak at QuiltCon and she was eloquent. She is smart, she generally does her homework and she isn’t afraid to take a stand.
Part of her background is in theatre and so she is…theatrical. She’s very expressive and it seems like many of her detractors have taken issue with that. But it’s how she communicates—her way of being in the world.
Mary spoke passionately about famous designers like Emily Bode and regular quilters like you and me cutting up quilts to make garments. She strongly opposes the practice and she tells us why.
…wrong, privileged, dramatic, clickbait, condescending, gatekeeping girl boss and more. So much more. The general idea among these folks is “how dare you tell me how I can make art.”
Mary’s YouTube video: What started this storm
Lots of opinions via Reddit: Mostly negative comments
Passion for patchwork: make-do-and-mend hits the Paris catwalk: More about Emily Bode and her fashion designs made from old quilts
Bode’s homepage for lots more quilted clothing: See the weird and wonderful here
I can’t wait to hear what you think.
Quilt on,
I read obituaries. It doesn’t matter if I knew the people or not—death notices are endlessly fascinating. I read them in the local paper, I read them in my hometown paper, and I read them in other places when I’m traveling. I’ve learned to find obituaries and burial sites online, which has greatly expanded my reading material, let me tell you. So that is one part of today’s story.
I went to Des Moines this week to see my great-nieces and great-nephew show their pigs on the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
My family’s roots in the livestock industry go way back, and these kids are the fifth generation that I know of to show competitively.
Today’s feature is a guest post by my friend Donna di Natale. She’s a quilter and author with Nebraska roots. After retiring from the medical field, Donna was an editor for Kansas City Star Quilts. She lives in Lenexa, Kansas and enjoys history, antiques and vintage quilt treasures.
I have procrastinated writing the last part of this post, hoping for something more positive to write. As with a lot of research, you look and look and ponder and hope, all to no avail.
My last entry ended on a note of hope. A number of the people whose names were on the bear had been located through online genealogy resources, and there was a logical reason for these people to be associated with Mormon temples.
Once every few months, I get to spend a day at International Quilt Study Center & Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska, about 140 miles from home. Next to the quilts, the best part of these visits is checking out the used books for sale in the museum gift shop.
I always leave with my arms full of books, and not just any books. They’re the kind of quilt books that hold all sorts of treasures, sometimes literally and sometimes in the form of inspiration for my own work.
I collect books from state quilt documentation projects, and Florida Quilts by Charlotte Allen Williams is one I do not have. A steal at $4.
Double Wedding Ring made by Edna Earle McKee in 1931 in Cottondale, Florida, 78″ x 78″, pieced by machine, hand quilted in a fan pattern, cotton batting.
And if this Double Wedding Ring quilt photo was the only one in the book, it would have been worth ten times what I paid. I mean, have you ever?!? Quilts like this give me courage! Edna Earle McKee made it in 1931 in Cottondale, Florida. Edna was a woman after my own heart. Edna wasn’t too worried about whether the fabrics matched.
Texas Quilts, Texas Treasures from Texas Heritage Quilt Society goes into my collection, too.
Pattern quilt c. 1900 by Nancy Fredonia Chapman Sears, Rusk County, Texas
The color photos in this one just never end, and the quilts are from all sorts of people. I can’t get enough of it. This sampler, called a “pattern quilt” in the book, inspires me to make a sampler from all the extra blocks filed away in my studio.
A slightly damaged America’s Quilts and Coverlets was just $1. It’s by Carleton L. Safford and Robert Bishop.
Inside the book were some interesting things: A triangular cardboard template, an advertising card for coffee, and some clippings with quilt patterns.
I wonder who clipped these out and tucked them inside the book. Did he or she use the Grandma’s Wedding Ring quilt pattern? What happened to that quilt? I hope it went to a good home.
Here’s an example of the quilts pictured inside.
Patchwork quilt, unnamed design, c. 1800.
No maker is listed in the book for this quilt, and isn’t that heartbreaking? I view this quilt as a permission slip to do whatever works in the moment. Notice that there are full blocks, half blocks, and even a quarter block up in the corner. How fun! We worry too much about everything. If your quilt isn’t quite long enough, then just add another border along the bottom and presto! Just right.
A woven coverlet
I’m also interested in weaving, so the coverlet section of the book intrigues me. I’d love to be able to weave something like this someday! I was given a floor loom a few months ago (for free!) but that’s a story for another day.
And if these vertical sashes aren’t the happiest, yellowest, staunchest pillars you’ve ever seen…! And consider this: There is hardly any other yellow in the quilt. I think we can all stop stressing over our sashing choices.
This black and white photo from the book is especially useful. You can see the values (lights and darks) without being distracted by the color. Isn’t it curious that this quilt maker used diamonds to create fan blocks instead of sewing the sections together to make a bursting star? I love this idea. It will probably show up in my own work.
Contemporary Quilts from The James Collection is from 1995, two years before the quilt treasure-store of Robert and Ardis James (New Yorkers with Nebraska roots) came “home” to establish International Quilt Study Center and Museum. Now boasting the largest publicly held quilt collection in the world, it has grown into an international phenomenon with quilts and related items dating from the early 1700s to the present and representing more than 50 countries.
The booklet is based on an exhibit at Museum of American Quilter’s Society curated by Penny McMorris, whose name you may recognize. She has worn many hats over the years, and today she is one of the owners of The Electric Quilt Company, where the quilt design software Electric Quilt originates. Quite a peek into the last 30 years of contemporary quiltmaking.
Whether your quilting library has new books or vintage titles like these, pull them out regularly. Browse for inspiration and soon you’ll have so many ideas, you won’t know where to begin.
If you’ve watched popular documentaries such as Jazz, Baseball, The Vietnam War and The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, then you may know Ken Burns as a filmmaker. His highly acclaimed work is known the world over. 
What you may not know is that Ken Burns is also a quilt collector. Some of his quilts are on exhibit for the first time at International Quilt Study Center & Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska through May 13. I’m lucky enough to live within a few hours’ drive and I visited last week.
Recently I heard a wonderful guild program given by two local quilters. They have quilts made by women over six generations of their family. You read that right—six generations! It was an unusual and interesting approach.
