The Story of the Reunion Quilt

The project‘s beginnings: by Marcia Shaffer                    View Quilt

I grew up listening to stories of my grandfather’s dairy. There were many stories about Aunt Lizzy and Uncle Chris but when it came to quilting my mother talked about Aunt Emily. My mother had visited the dairy as a new bride and had spent hours in the kitchen with her mother-in-law, Sarah. There was a quilt frame set up in a room upstairs and Aunt Lizzy and whoever was at the dairy at the time spent many hours quilting. According to my mother, Aunt Emily was a beautiful quilter. With Aunt Emily’s inspiration my mother went on to become a quilter herself and when I grew up, she taught me how to quilt.

When the first reunion was held in 2004 I was pleased to meet Mona Carver who was Aunt Emily’s great granddaughter and find that she also was a quilter. The following year when we held the big reunion we talked about making a heritage quilt as a group project for the 2010 reunion. But how could we manage to make one when we all lived so far apart? We started emailing ideas about how to make a community quilt and figured out that the experienced quilters could make several blocks and the non quilters could make one block and we discussed ideas for the different blocks. Through this process we were fortunate to discover that Jo Lynn Buell, Maggie‘s great granddaughter, was an experienced quilter. She offered to manage this project much to Mona’s and my relief.

Here in her own words is Jo Lynn’s part of the story:

I was delighted to be a part of this project as my Great Grandmother Maggie was also a quilter. Her husband John was a tailor and I believe Maggie used scraps from his work to make some of her quilts. I have 15 quilt blocks that Maggie made which were given to my mother, Lenora by her Aunt Ruby. Aunt Ruby was Maggie and John’s youngest daughter. The fabrics used are dated from the late 1800’s and are not generally used in quilts but rather in fine clothing. The blocks were not protected very well from the elements and the general wear of storage over the past 100 plus years and are in need of restoration which I have begun. It is a slow process as I search for like fabrics at yard sales, antique and second hand stores but the process is one I am enjoying and having fun with.

When Marcia contacted me about making a quilt there was still some dialogue in the emails as to whether this should be a signature quilt or a heritage picture quilt. Not wanting to hurt any feelings and not being able to choose, it was decided to combine the two. A preliminary sketch was made and the two ideas came together nicely.

Once that had been decided another list was solicited from the group for the contents of the blocks that would best show the history of Archie, Esther and their 15 children. As this list evolved it naturally divided itself into five categories: 1. Our Roots, 2. Travel, 3. Faith, 4. Occupations and Professions, and 5. Interests and Entertainment. This was then sent around so everyone could choose which blocks they were interested in making. Each person was asked to construct the block using any technique they wanted and was given help if needed.

I choose fabric called “reproduction fabric” that was copied from actual fabrics of the past. The dark brown/red which goes around the blocks and the neutral fabric which was used to connect the blocks is actually copied from fabrics of the early 1900’s. I also picked out the backing fabric and material for the background for each block, which I sent to the ladies. Most of the ladies then found their own fabrics to decorate their block. Angie Miller was a big help in researching some of the blocks and finding photos, etc. to help us stay as historically correct as possible.

Mona Carver, who has beautiful penmanship, volunteered to write names on the alternate sashing blocks. She was able to fit Archie‘s, Esther‘s, their children’s and their spouse’s plus the grandchildren’s names in the blocks.

As the quilt blocks were completed and sent to me, I marveled at the work each lady put into her blocks. The stitching, techniques, and colors were amazing. I machine stitched the blocks and sashing blocks together and “made the sandwich”. The sandwich is the layers of backing, batting and top which are basted and then sewn together. I used a long arm machine for this process. The quilt was then sent to Marcia for the final hand quilting in each block.

As I look back on it I realize how truly talented, smart and organized each person was and even though I feel like I know them I look forward to meeting these new friends in person at the 2010 reunion.
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