Rising Sun variation
Unidentified Maker
Circa 1915
Probably Gettysburg, PA
The Ardis and Robert James Collection 2006.043.0101

I had heard, many times, about the quilt room at the home of Ardis and Robert James, extraordinary philanthropists who helped launch the IQSCM by donating nearly a thousand quilts in 1997. The Jameses had expanded their home in Chappaqua, NY to build a storage room where they piled quilts high on four flat frames. I don’t remember the very first trip to their home, but each began the same way: with a welcome toast in the breezeway and a bull dog named Beauty snuffling in the corner.  

Bob wanted to know everything about everything and loved to go off on a tangent about quilts and their place in the art world. Ardis sat in her favorite spot—an old dental chair—with a jumble of newspapers, books, and letters strewn in front of her. She’d allow Bob to dominate the conversation for a while, and then, with a level look and piercing eyes, would open a paper-filled folder. The papers ranged from IQSCM press releases and articles that I’d collected and sent her (always edited and returned with comments) and an assortment of articles, catalogs, and notes she felt we needed to know. She was smart and funny and teased me often, knowing she could easily get me flustered. I was in awe of her and it showed.

After our discussions, Bob would ask Ardis what he should show us. We would head upstairs to the Quilt Storage room. There were always new quilts amid the favorites on the walls—Ardis continued collecting for 10 years after the initial 1997 gift. Those new quilts eventually made their way to the collection. In 2006, the Jameses gave 300 quilts purchased since 1997, and in 2009, asked us to pack up the last 60 or so that were the constant favorites in the house, in preparation for a move to a more accommodating apartment. Those meetings at their home are some of my favorite memories!  

Album Quilt
Ladies of the Sewing Circle of the First Baptist Church
Dated 1846
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Byron and Sara Rhodes Dillow Collection 2008.040.0004

When I watched Sara Dillow, talking in an aside to her husband Byron, at an IQSC event in 2000, I thought to myself, “Sara, you don’t know it yet, but we are going to be the best of friends.” I knew that we both had a deep love for early fabrics and a desire to discover and preserve early historic quilts. Sara quickly recognized our mutual passion, and a few years later we began working together. Sara became our first Acquisitions Coordinator, and during her tenure, found many of the most significant, pre-1850s pieces in our collection. When the Dillow collection was given to the Museum in 2008, after the unexpected deaths of both Sara and Byron, the early American segment of the collection became one of our best. 

Sara also brought one of our first international collections to the IQSCM—the Kathryn Berenson Collection. The 30-plus French, Marseilles quilts were like nothing I’d ever seen. They opened my eyes to possibilities of other international collections. If pieces like these were yet to be found, what else did we have to discover? The French collection began a quest that took the IQSCM down a wholly new and remarkable path, leading us to develop an unparalleled international collection of both historic quilts and studio art quilts.

I treasure the Dillow collection and still miss my dear friend, Sara.

Double X
Mary Ghormley (Lincoln, Nebraska)
1996
The Mary Ghormley Doll Quilt Collection 2008.034.0166

Throughout the 20 years I’ve worked here, I have been inspired repeatedly by the individuals who volunteer. We say it often, but it’s true—we really can’t do it without them. The volunteers have worked thousands of hours vacuuming and refolding quilts, leading tours, accessioning quilts, and taking photographs. They’ve also performed less glamorous tasks like washing tables, moving chairs, and peeling vinyl. Really, they graciously do whatever we ask of them.  

Our volunteers have a passion for quilts and a dedication to service that is epitomized by the life and work of Mary Ghormley. Mary, a collector, historian, and maker, was a founding member of the Lincoln Quilters Guild, and one of the members of the Wednesday Girls, a group committed to documenting Nebraska quilts during the 1980s in an effort to save the state’s quilt history. Mary volunteered at the center, and later the museum, every Friday afternoon for more than a dozen years. She showed off the collection to visitors when all we had was the small storage room in the Home Economics Building. Then, she greeted visitors in the Mary Ghormley Reading Room in our museum, where her doll quilts were featured. She rarely missed a day until well after age 90, when her health required she give up volunteering.

The many volunteers that work regularly here at the museum have taught me the strength and grace that results from committing time and energy to a passion greater than one’s self. Their passion keeps them young and their interest in learning keeps them vital and involved. They are my dear friends and my mentors, and have shown me how I want to act when I grow up! They are the best, and I’ve been honored to work side by side with this group of amazing individuals. 

Log Cabin
Mary Ghormley (Lincoln, Nebraska)
1994
The Mary Ghormley Doll Quilt Collection 2008.034.0214

Ruth Eissfeldt (Essen, Germany)
Atlantis
Circa 2001
The Ardis and Robert James Collection 2006.043.0010

For many years I attended the opening of Quilt National, a juried biennial exhibition of contemporary quilt art, with Ardis and Robert James. As sponsors, they were given a sneak peek a few hours ahead of the crowd. It was always fascinating to watch Ardis as she walked the gallery. During a walk-through in 2001, Ardis stopped in front of Atlantis by German artist Ruth Eissfeldt. She looked for a moment and turned to Bob and said, “This one.” They purchased it immediately.  

Atlantis is strikingly simple—a square composed of green rectangles surrounded by a blue ground and accented with curvilinear quilting. I love its simplicity. Then you read the title and immediately see how Eisffeldt has stylized an image of the fictional island of Atlantis surrounded by the sea. The various shades of green hint at the land, while the undulating, random quilting lines give the impression of waves. Atlantis works on so many levels—the simple shapes that lead my imagination to far-away islands, ancient civilizations, and the burning question: Could Atlantis be real?

Adele Phillips (Beaver Crossing, Nebraska)
Indigenous Opulence
2010
Gift of the artist. 2017.065.0001

I grew up in Nebraska and love the wide open farmland on the eastern end of the state where I spent summers with my grandmother. I remember playing with milkweed, watching the hot summer winds toss the weightless seeds down the dry road that lead up the hill to the house. 

I met Adele Phillips in 2017, when she delivered her donated piece Indigenous Opulence to the IQSCM. She described the laborious task of gathering, cleaning, and removing the delicate floss from the milkweed pods, as well as the difficulty inherent in positioning the floating floss as she sewed the quilt. She persisted, transforming the common plant, often viewed often as a weed, into an ethereal quilt that celebrates the Nebraska prairie.

I was moved by Adele’s vision. Indigenous Opulence connects me again to my Nebraska roots.