Where in Western Pennsylvania are all the quilts?

Every once in awhile in your life, you get the opportunity to take inventory. And that opportunity can come to you from the most unlikely places. I have been on quilt making hiatus for about two months now (time to get going again) and had just sent off the quilt entries for ROAD TO CALIFORNIA for the AQS Grand Rapids, Michigan and Des Moines Iowa shows when a friend at the Museum brought me a post card last Monday morning. Addressed to no one in particular, it was entitled "Quilt Documentation Days." A group of textile historians from the Beaver County Historical Research and Landmarks Foundation and Saint Vincent College's Foster and Muriel McCarl Coverlet Gallery are sponsoring a two day event, asking the owners and makers of quilts in the region to bring their quilts to the gallery on June 1 & 2, 2012, to have them documented and added to the National Quilt Index (www.quiltindex.org). Of course, I immediately went to the web and checked out the quilt index. Yep, you betcha. I want my quilts as part of this source. So, before calling and making an appointment, I thought I should make a list of all the quilts I have made and I currently own, all the quilts I have made but given to others who live in the area, and all the quilts of my foremothers that I did not make but have the privilege to own for now, all which reside in our old house on Tremont Avenue. Here is the list: Quilts at home (my own): 1. Halloween cross stitch 2. Christmas cross stitch 3. Benny’s quilt 4. Watermelon quilt 5. Crown of thorns wall hanging 6. Ramona’s first quilt 7. Mom Long’s first quilt 8. Small Christmas quilt 9. Fall wall hangings (1) 10. Fall wall hangings (2) 11. Thanksgiving cross stitch quilt top 12. Ati’s star and log cabin quilt 13. Three hearts wall hanging (small) Quilts in the area (my own): 14. Phyllis Knupp Ligonier Valley Historical Society 2007 15. Vera Hisker Gramma’s quilt 16. Josh Parker pet quilt 17. Sara Parker spring quilt Family quilts: 18. Great Gramma White’s flower garden 19. Gramma Taylor’s maple leaf 20. Ruth’s mother's Texas star Collected quilts: 21. Yellow and purple pansies (bought in Adamsburg, PA) 22. Small pink Dresden plate (bought in Greensburg, PA) 23. Hand pieced quilt top 1 (bought in Greensburg, PA) 24. Hand pieced quilt top 2 (bought in Greensburg, PA) 25. Hand pieced quilt top 3 (bought in Greensburg, PA) 26. Hand appliquéd quilt top (bought in Ligonier, PA) 27. Birds in Flight w/black (bought in Pleasanton,CA) 28. Men’s shirt quilt (bought in Pleasanton, CA) 29. Blue yo-yo quilt (bought in Pleasanton, CA) 30. Monkey wrench in aqua and white (bought in Monterey, CA) 31. Sunbonnet Sue on pink (bought in Greensburg, PA) 32. Sunbonnet Sue and Overall Sam (bought in Greensburg, PA) 33. Robbing Peter to Pay Paul (bought in Greensburg, PA) 34. Brightly colored quilt (bought in Greensburg, PA) 35. Boston Commons Arch quilt (bought in Latrobe, PA) 36. Cross stitch rose quilt (bought in Greensburg, PA) 37. Whole cloth blue quilts 1987 (bought in Greensburg, PA) 38. Half square quilt (bought in Greensburg, PA) 39. Leaves appliqué quilt (bought in Greensburg, PA) 40. Flowers appliqué quilt (bought in Greensburg, PA) 41. Rustic log cabin quilt (bought in Latrobe, PA) 42. Rustic patchwork quilt (bought in Latrobe, PA) 43. Double wedding ring with swastika fabric (bought in Latrobe, PA) 44. Flower basket quilt (bought in Greensburg, PA) 45. Cross stitched flower quilt (bought in Greensburg, PA) 46. Triangles puff quilt (bought in Greensburg, PA) 47. Pastel Dresden plate (bought in Greensburg, PA) 48. Pastel patchwork (bought in Greensburg, PA) 49. Wool nine patch (bought in Youngwood, PA) 50. Red and yellow patchwork (bought in Latrobe, PA) 51. Sunflower quilt/tied throw (bought in Greensburg, PA) 52. Tiny blue patchwork wall hanging (bought in Greensburg, PA) 53. Amish wall hanging (bought on ebay) 54. Small green and wine wall hanging (bought on ebay) 55. Purple mountains majesty wall hanging (bought on ebay) Yikes! 55 quilts, quilt tops or quilted wall hangings. Far to many to haul to Saint Vincent so I called my friend, historian and fellow quilter, Karen Kehoe, to ask for some advise. She came up with a brilliant suggestion, call the historians and see if they will come to me! So I made a call to the Beaver County Historical Research and Landmarks Foundation and met a historian named Brenda Applegate who told me their goal is to document every, EVERY quilt they can find in Western Pennsylvania! Audacious, I said. I want to help you out, I said. I can show you 55 quilts in one day, I said. Will you come to me? So, yes, they are coming, not sure when, and we will make a day of it. They measure, describe, photograph and identify patterns when looking at these quilts so it will be great to learn the names of some of my beauties. I will set up the table extender on the dining room table (they asked if I had a space big enough) and open all the shutters (they asked if there was light enough) and feed them lunch to boot! My friend, Phyllis, also wants to bring her quilts so I am wondering, how long does it take per quilt? 5 minutes, 10 minutes? This could be a very long day. I have started calling local folks who have some of my quilts here in Pennsylvania and their quilts have started returning home. This weekend, Josh and Sarah Parker's kids quilts arrived. See my next post for pictures and info on them. I am expecting a quilt from my friend Vera and have to go pick up one from an acquaintance in Ligonier who received the 2007 Ligonier Valley Historical Society quilt in a silent auction. It is so cool to see these children of mine again and amazing how much I forget about them! Are we having fun yet?