Every Quilt Has a Story

The Saginaw Rescue Mission Auxiliary held its second Quilt Turning & Luncheon this afternoon at the Saginaw Art Museum, and it was such a delightful event!   A quilt turning is not an ordinary quilt show.  Each of the thirty or so featured quilts was layered on an actual bed (situated on the platform), and as each quilt was held up by the "turners," the story behind the quilt was shared with the audience.  It was so interesting to see such an array of quilts, from historical to sentimental to family heirloom. I marvel at the hours of work that went into creating such treasures!  

I submitted a pinwheel quilt that my paternal grandmother made in the 1940s, when she was attending a weekly quilting guild at Hollis, Kansas, which, by the way, became a virtual ghost town in 1909 when it was decimated by. . .you guessed it. . .a tornado.  I don't know how many quilts Grandma made, so I'm very thankful to have this family heirloom.  


Here are a few of the quilts shown today (click on picture to enlarge):

My pinwheel pattern quilt made by my grandmother

I can't remember the name of this pattern, but the colors were so beautiful!

"The Drunkard's Path block played a significant role in the journey of
slaves to freedom. The Underground Railroad could not openly broadcast
information about where, when, and how runaway slaves could arrive safely at their
destination. A system was therefore devised by which quilts were displayed,
whether on a clothesline or over a porch railing, that contained hidden messages.
The particular type of blocks in the quilt would tell the person making the
journey what to do. When the Drunkard's Path block was displayed, the runaways
would know to zigzag their path to make capture difficult."

A colorful winter themed quilt

This quilt was made by Japanese women in the Saginaw area.  
The building shown on the right is the Castle Museum in Saginaw.  

One of the oldest quilts in the show - a cathedral window patterned quilt.

This quilt was absolutely gorgeous!  The pattern is called cornrow, after the hairstyle,
and is associated with black quilting heritage.  

After each quilt was featured, the turners carefully displayed them on tables.   The dark quilt on the right was another quilt made by the Japanese women.  I wish I had a better picture of it, because the beading was fabulous!

Several more quilts on the display tables - my quilt is in the center.