Sharing Boxes Under the Bed™ Discoveries with The Alliance for American Quilts

The Alliance for American Quilts is working to develop a way for local Boxes Under the Bed™ projects to share information about their discoveries with everyone interested in quilts and quilt history. We will post news on this website about the process as soon as arrangements are made. Meanwhile, you can make inquiries about the "Boxes Under the Bed™" by e-mailing us your questions." Your email will be forwarded to one of The Alliance volunteers working with the "Boxes Under the Bed™" project for a reply.

The Alliance for American Quilts is working with partner institutions to develop The Quilt Index, a comprehensive on-line research tool providing wide public access to information about quilts, both publicly and privately held. Much of the information to be included in The Quilt Index will come from published and unpublished works. Some of the information that we will find through the "Boxes Under the Bed™" project may become important additions to The Quilt Index.

Hopefully you or your quilt guild will want to start a "Boxes Under the Bed™" program in your community, to search out and record information from the "boxes under the beds" where you live. To help get you started, Merikay Waldvogel has provided some "Boxes Under the Bed™" success stories that show just how exciting and important the "Boxes Under the Bed™" quilt documentation project can be!

Successful Stories:

The Sears Contest and Mountain Mist stories developed when one or two individuals began piecing together the stories that the companies had not thought to save. The research on both projects began in the in the early 1970s when communication between collectors and researchers was not as easy as today. You have the opportunity to add to well-known stories or even introduce the quilt world to an as yet untold story.

• When Barbara Brackman began researching the winners of the 1933 Sears Quilt Contest, the Sears archives had precious few items pertaining to this important contest that attracted over 24,000 entries. Sears DID have some black-and-white photos and a list of the top 30 prize winners which had been published in a Sears Catalog after the contest. Using the list of winners and their hometowns, Brackman placed queries in their local newspapers. In this way, she located the quiltmakers' families or, in some cases, the winners themselves. One winner kept the entry brochure, a letter from Sears, the list of the winners, and a dated clipping from her local paper. Because Brackman had seen several examples of the entry brochure and the list of winners, the news account was the most valuable because it had a photograph of the top three quilts and the judges in the Philadelphia region. Sears Archives had photos of the first place winners of the ten regional winners, but not the second and third place winners.

• When Evelyn Banner told Merikay Waldvogel her recently deceased aunt (Margaret Hays of Jonesborough, TN) had designed quilt patterns 1929-30 for Stearns & Foster's Mountain Mist pattern line AND she had saved over 100 letters and pattern drawings, this was a major discovery. As Stearns & Foster had merged with various companies, files pertaining to its quilt patterns had been lost. Round Robin pattern collectors in the 1970s had tried to compile complete sets of wrappers with the 100+ Mountain Mist patterns. Some collectors also saved the little Mountain Mist pattern catalogs and ads. The company's history was in the hands of collectors. The Stearns & Foster correspondence with Margaret Hays provided the keystone with information on pattern design, naming, and production. The discovery came at the time of the company's 150th anniversary celebration.

What can YOU do with information you might gain from a quiltmaker's collection?

• Write an article for your guild newsletter or develop a lecture program. You will likely prompt others to search for such boxes.
• Contact a quilt historian or search out articles pertaining to the quilt history and patterns you have found. If you learn your discovery has not been published, consider writing an article for a quilt magazine or the American Quilt Study Group's publications.
• If you are not a writer, partner with a published writer or quilt historian to get your discovery published.
• You also might consider organizing an exhibit of quilts and/or the ephemera. Here is another "success story" to inspire you, showing the importance of quilt ephemera at the local level:

Emma Bachman Ramsier (1890-1984) of Ohio made nearly 40 quilts, 25 of them kit quilts in the 1960s-80s. Emma's output of kit quilts was unusual and her applique and quilting superb. The quilts have been handed down to her daughters and grandchildren. For the annual family reunion in 1997, grand-daughter Sharon Romich invited folks to bring Emma's quilts for a display. Since Emma was not there to provide the quilt names and dates, Sharon sent photos to a quilt historian. Using mail-order needlework catalogs such as LeeWards and Herrschners saved by Round Robin pattern collectors, most of the quilts were identified. Around their church's social hall, the quilts were hung as in a museum; original catalog pages were also displayed. Emma's family came from all corners of the country as they did most years, but 1997 was special. For some quilts it was the first time they had been out of a dark closet. For most of the family, it was the first time they had seen the quilts together. An open house was held the next day for the community.

• And don't forget, you can create your OWN box to preserve YOUR posterity as a quiltmaker. Include photos, patterns, news clippings, fabric swatches from your quilts, letters, diaries and other items that help tell your story. Download the Boxes Under the Bed™ inventory form now and start your own project!

 

Need Some Inspiration? Take a virtual tour of our Boxes Under the Bed™ Gallery !