Donna Wisnoski
Two years ago the PebbleCreek Quilters launched a local chapter of the nationwide project to help preserve quilts and quilt history for everyone and they need not be quilters.
In the early 1990s the Quilt Index was born out of the need for scholars, curators, folklorists and writers to have one central location for historical information to be used for education, research and public access. The need for linking this information in an inclusive and comprehensive way for both the public and the scholarly was at the heart of the creation of the Quilt Index. The Center for Human Arts, Letters and Social Sciences at Michigan State University has been the roadmap of this project. In 1999 the database planning phase started with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. In October of 2003 the website was officially launched and to date there are over 50,000 recorded quilts with their histories plus pictures for all to enjoy.
When we do a documentation of a particular quilt we ask that you help us with as much information as possible. Sometimes this past history is vague. It will take about a half hour to complete the process, including pictures and assigning a number to the item. We treat your item with care and consideration knowing that it will always be in the database for you and those of future generations to view.
Arizona started to work with the Quilt Index about five years ago and there are now over 2000 Arizona quilts included. We at PebbleCreek have documented close to 200 and that has been mostly from our quilt group. We who do this work feel we are preserving a piece of art either made by a member of your family or yourself for posterity.
Want to have some fun? Look up www.QuiltIndex.org and you can search by any number of ways: design, quilt block, color, state, etc. Interested? We will be starting up the project again after the holidays, so please contact Donna Wisnoski, 920-757-5110 or at [email protected] for additional information, dates and times. Preserve your family’s wonderful piece of art!