Quilt to Auction

History of a signature quilt:

Signature quilts have been popular down through the ages of time. Some were made to raise funds for various causes from missionary work to supporting troops during a war. The finished quilt might have been auctioned off or people might have paid a fee to have their name placed on a block in the quilt. Individual blocks on a quilt could have been made over several years and sometimes were not put together into a quilt until years later. No matter how they were made, they all had the same purpose: to record memories of cherished friends or family members.

My reason for making this quilt:

I have made several quilts in the past several years and I just thought it would be a neat idea to make a quilt with signatures from those who attended the reunion in 2005. Several other things had been auctioned off at our past reunions in order to help defray with expenses, so I saw this as another avenue to get some extra income for our "kitty", plus providing some special memory to commemorate our reunion. In fact, the lady who did the machine quilting on this quilt just "had to show me which room was her Biology class" in the High School picture square.

Materials in the quilt:

The different colored squares in the body of the quilt were all made with fabrics from my scrap stash and from Linda Shelby Lyon's scrap stash of fabric. I did not start designing or working on the quilt until about 2 years after the reunion. Linda Shelby Lyons helped me piece the colored squares. New denim fabric was purchased for the border on the front of the quilt as well as the entire back of the quilt. New gold fabric was purchased forthe binding. The signature rectangles were made from unbleached muslin. A special type of pen was used when the rectangles were autographed to aid in keeping the names from fading or washing out in the event the quilt might ever be laundered. I will provide printed instructions for the care of the quilt.

What the Quilt Represents

The different colored fabrics in the center squares represent the different colors of personalities of all who signed. The denim represents the "tie that binds us"--as jeans were so popular back in our school days. (in fact, still are). The white and gold colors represent our school colors. The quilt measures appx. 72 inches square. The quilt is a memory of the 45th Reunion weekend held in October 2005. Of the 81 graduates who were in attendance, there are 78 signatures in this quilt. Only three graduates in attendance failed to sign. Spouses of graduates were not allowed to sign and we asked that each girl sign using her maiden name.

Jeanne is hoping to collect signatures again for those in attendance of the 50th reunion. She would like to make another quilt for the 55th reunion.