Quilts for Isaiah House
1 media/JQG_GEN_28_thumb.jpg 2024-05-02T11:48:55-07:00 Archives of Appalachia fd81101222c39f89c61f93d59b8033a391e28876 45116 3 A table filled with quilts for donation to Isaiah House were made by members of the Jonesboro Old Town Quilters Guild. Isaiah House provides a temporary place for children awaiting placement. plain 2024-07-09T04:09:17-07:00 20240409 220426 Archives of Appalachia fd81101222c39f89c61f93d59b8033a391e28876This page is referenced by:
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Jonesborough Old Town Quilters Guild
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On April 11, 2024, the Jonesborough Old Town Quilters Guild held the monthly meeting in the Fellowship Hall of the Jonesborough United Methodist Church, located at 211 West Main Street. While the official meeting time is at 10:00 a.m., several members arrived at 9:00 for fellowship and also set-up.
Vice-President, Jackie Rose, had a table at the front complete with lectern, which was draped with a Hexy runner. Two quilts, c1930s-40s, made by Rose’s grandmothers, were draped over each side of the table: on the left, a scalloped bordered Scrappy quilt, made by Julia Elizabeth Paxton, and on the right a Double Wedding Ring, made by Mollie Franklin Hensley, also with a scalloped border. The box gracing the center of the table, filled with quilting ephemera, belonged to Rose’s maternal grandmother, Mollie Franklin Hensley.
Two long tables were filled with quilts for Isaiah House, and another table held various pieces of material left by a guild member who had recently passed away.
The program for the day included a representative of Isaiah House, who shared information about this ministry. Rose presented “Suitcases and Shoeboxes,” describing the contents of the boxes and speaking lovingly of her grandmother’s quilting expertise, and the importance of heirlooms. This theme was continued during Show and Tell when various guild members shared heirloom quilts. The Archives of Appalachia was represented to conduct research for a digital exhibit. The business meeting followed with announcements of a Sit and Sew from 1:00 to 4:00 that day, numerous upcoming events: Fall Quilt Sale during the October Storytelling Festival, quilts on display in the Jonesborough Library, a quilt challenge, upcoming “sew-ins” and Mystery Quilt event, and the monthly presentation of birthday gift and door prizes to members. The number of upcoming events was quite impressive!
Thirty of the 40 members were present at the meeting. Of 18 people surveyed, 14 were retired. Of the 14, five were educators. Also included in this group were: homemakers, a social worker, a behavioral scientist, and a registered nurse. The youngest member of the group was 24, and an electrical engineer. The average age was 73, with one member, Polly Reed, proudly announcing she was 88! Before her retirement, Polly was an educator, teaching at University School at ETSU. She owned Tennessee Quilts in Jonesborough for ten years, and now conducts an annual quilting camp, May through November, at Buffalo Mountain. She is a third-generation quilter, and a charter member and co-founder of the Jonesborough Old Town Quilt Guild, which began in 1992. With no notion of slowing down, she is currently working on a flour sack quilt!
When asked the reason for quilting, the consensus was that quilting is a relaxing, meditative, creative, and interactive outlet that produces a sense of accomplishment that is tangible and enduring. There were mixed answers as to whether or not the quilting tradition will continue due to careers and the obsession with technology, but the overall consensus was positive that, yes, the tradition will continue. Reasons for this optimism were more opportunities to learn how to quilt through in-person classes or online videos, more artistic license and self-expression, long-arm technology, and even the introduction to quilting in schools. The Jonesborough Old Town Quilters Guild is a warm, welcoming, skilled, and enthusiastic group, whose sole purpose is to carry on an enduring tradition through meetings and activities that provide a venue for expert quilters to continue their craft, while graciously offering assistance and teaching the art and craft of quilting to any and all, and to give back to the community.SHOW AND TELL QUILTS
Instructions on how to make a crazy quilt is demonstrated by the women of Sulphur Springs in the Broadside Television Collection, housed in the Archive of Appalachia, and accessible here: Sulphur Springs Quilting Bee.
The Step Around the Mountain Quilt (above) presented by Vickie Lilly at the Jonesborough Old Town Quilters Guild Meeting, on April 11, 2024, was also made by her grandmother Florence LaFollette. One of Lafollette’s quilts was featured on page 18, in the book Quilts of Tennessee, Images of Domestic Life Prior to 1930, available in the Archives of Appalachia.
Lilly, taking great pride in this fact, had frames made for family members featuring the book cover and description.
