Recently I've been moving around my older quilts. They're stored in pillow cases and tucked away safely on the top shelves of the master bedroom closet. But as I looked through these quilts, I wondered at how my tastes have changed.
This Plaid Spools quilt is an "oldie but a goodie." It's my first on-line quilt project.
 |
| Plaid Spools 59" X 83" |
The quilt came about through women who "met" through a chat room (Koffee Klatch). Anyone who wanted to participate would agree to make and swap blocks through the mail. It was an amazing concept in 1996!
Through the mail, each of us received a copy of a magazine pattern of pieced spools. We were instructed to sew blocks with plaid fabrics for the spools, and muslin for the background.
We were told to sign our blocks with our names and city/state. A few women added their email address. If I recall rightly, we returned our blocks to the swap coordinator who sorted and then mailed blocks back to each of us.
 |
| Carolyn Bohot, Austin, TX |
Where are these women are now?
 |
| Sally O'Callaghan, Whitesboro, NY |
Do they live in the same cities?
 |
| Nancy Adreae, Ely, MN |
Are they still sewing quilt blocks and making quilts, 16 years later?
 |
| Laurel Vaccaro Needles, Burke, VA |
 |
| Lisa McQueen, San Jose, CA |
Do they still have the same email address?
 |
| Rhonda Coler, Bremerton, WA |
 |
| Lyn Kruss, Bettendorf, IA |
At the time, many of us quilters, including me, worked in higher education (dot edu) which is where we were exposed to the Internet.
 |
| Janet Rogers, Stillwater, OK |
 |
| Bonnie Wilson, Juneau, AK |
 |
| Tina Johnson, Mason, OH |
Even though this quilt isn't a particular favorite (it's also one of my first free-motion quilted quilts) it's representative of how technology was beginning to impact our quilting lives. When you compare this small, but amazing (at the time), block swap to what we do today in the blogosphere and through social media - only 16 years later! - the advances downright boggle the mind.
I wonder if someone reading this post might know one of these quilters. Through the wonders of our mind-boggling technology, it could happen! Linda
Linda, we also met through kaffee klatsch and our friendship is still going on thank the internet!
ReplyDeleteHow cool! You will have to keep us updated now and then if you find any of these people. :)
ReplyDeleteThat quilt is really wonderful with it being signed like that. I hope that you find some of the people who signed it.
ReplyDeleteI don't know any of those quilters Linda but I do remember many years ago being on, I think it was called Quiltnet, a quilters list serve that came out of the U of Kentucky. We did a lot of block swaps during that time! blessings, marlene
ReplyDeleteThat's the beauty of block swaps like this Linda.
ReplyDeleteThere will always be that connection, even though you may never meet or hear from them.
I have a friendship swap. with names, most are from the States, I doubt that I will ever meet...would be lovely for you to hear from some of the swappers..
The world is smaller now with the net and bloggers..
Julia ♥
I love spool quilts - enjoyed the photos!
ReplyDeleteInteresting to see what pops up. I do know when I first started quilting there were many more published items from AK quilters than are seen today.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing quilt. Such a mystery...
ReplyDeleteHave you tried sending an e-mail to any of the swappers who included their addresses? I think it would be fun to reconnect and hope you are able to!
ReplyDeleteI was reading this and came upon a friend of mine's name!! Lisa McQueen is still in San Jose, CA!
ReplyDelete