Thursday, November 5, 2020
Ann has been quilting since 1975, when she thought everything had to be pieced and quilted by hand to be a “real quilt.” Since then, she has learned that real quilts are sewn in as many ways as there are quilters. She is particularly interested in working with vintage quilts to translate and interpret those designs by using modern fabrics, methods, and techniques.
She started teaching in the 1980s and, along with her husband Dale, opened a quilt shop in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in 1997. Now living in the Hershey area, she is involved with several quilt guilds and meets regularly with an antique quilt study group in Lancaster.
At her studio in Hummelstown (Hershey area), Pennsylvania, she works on books and patterns. She teaches quilting and design classes in what she considers to be the perfect classroom. The space is available for others to teach sewing, quilting, and other arts and crafts workshops. Monthly sewing sessions are held to make Quilts of Valor.
Ann has written two books: Making the Lancaster Diamond Sampler (Schiffer, 2013) and, along with authors Sue Reich and Renelda Peldunas-Harter, Quilts of Valor: A 50-State Salute (Schiffer, 2018).
Visit Ann’s website for more information.
Lecture
Quilts that Honor Friends, Family, and Freedom:
The Lancaster Diamond Sampler Quilt
The Lancaster Diamond Sampler is one of a small group of similar quilts that were made in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in the mid-1800s by a group of quilters who referred to themselves as the “girl cousins.” They were friends and family, old and young, new quilters and experienced quilters, who got together to visit, to eat, to share knowledge, fabric, and patterns, and to work on quilts.
Ann fell in love with this quilt and has been studying it and making the blocks (there are 173 and all are different) since 2009. She just keeps discovering more interesting and mysterious features every day about the quilt and the unknown quilter who created it.
In this fun and informative lecture and trunk show, Ann discusses the history of the quilt and the various techniques used to create the unique designs. This quilt will remind you of why you got into quilting in the first place. As part of this program, Ann will discuss the role of quilting in response to conflicts in American history. Groups, mostly made up of women, quilted together to support those who served to defend our country.
She will explain how to form your own group to make quilts for service members as part of the Quilts of Valor project. She teaches quilting workshops, delivers lectures at quilt guilds, historical societies, and national retreats and shows; designs patterns; and writes about quilting.