MARTHA BLOCKS

I asked current members to share photos of blocks and quilts from the hands of Martha Allwander, a founding member of Pioneer Quilters.  They are treasures to their families, but also to some current Pioneer Quilters who are fortunate enough to own examples of Martha's creativity and skill.  Martha was beyond generous in sharing her handiwork with members of the group.  I'd like to show you some examples:

Diane Jeffcott shared these two quilts made of what we typically call "Martha Blocks"--blocks hand sewn by Martha and donated to Pioneer Quilters.  I remember Martha visiting one Wednesday as we were quilting the second one in the frame.  She sat down and added some lovely stitches to it too.

Ginny Morrow won these wonky log cabin blocks made by Martha, at a  silent auction.  They are paper-pieced on newspaper,  but unfortunately none show the date.  So far, Ginny has made a placemat from a few of them.

Karen Wilson won this kit of precut1930's reproduction fabrics for 72 blocks.  Martha had completed these four of them.  Karen gave the kit to Sigrid Reinhardt, who has decided to use it for her friendship blocks in our current exchange.

This sweet quilt showcases Dresden Plate blocks by Martha Allwander combined with Sunbonnet Sue blocks sewn by Leona Kuddlemeyer, assembled and bound by Susan Rogers, fairly recently handquilted by Pioneer Quilters.  Photo taken when our quilting was just completed, and the quilt was not yet bound.

Barbara Fox's quilt of Martha blocks was the first one Pioneer Quilters quilted when we started meeting again after the pandemic.

Daryl Eccles was the lucky winner of  two sets of blocks in one of the auctions.

Jeanne Wong won these Martha blocks and pieced them into a quilt which she hand quilted before giving it to a grieving friend. 

Carol Gassman won these pink tulip blocks strip-pieced by Martha at a gift exchange at our Christmas party one year, and designed this quilt to feature them.  Pioneer Quilters hand quilted it and here it is as it came out of the frame--quilting completed!

Pat Glassow shared a photo of the quilt she designed using Martha blocks, which she won in a drawing.  Jodie Perry was also enamored of the blocks, so Pat came up with this design that didn't use all of the blocks and she shared the others with Jodie!

Sue Oja shared details of this Martha quilt, which you'll get to see in person at our 50th Anniversary Celebration May 2 & 3.  Notice the fussy-cut hexies in the middle photo.

Martha made all of the smaller Sunbonnet Sue blocks in Beth Weldy's quilt.  This was Beth's friendship block quilt--participating members created blocks of the larger Sues doing various things at the Lane County Fair.

And Beth is finishing the binding for this one--see it in person at our 50-Year Celebration!

Lois Scott shared the Martha quilt she owns:

And these are the Martha blocks Lois's daughter Sally Scott Oliver won and is piecing into a quilt.

So much of Martha's amazing generosity over the years is documented here,  but I'd also like to share blocks made for her in one of our 1984 Friendship Block exchange. You'll see them at the Celebration!

In May of last year, Lois visited Martha (left), bringing her this cheerful quilt she'd made out of some colorful blocks Martha had donated.  

We were so very sad to lose Martha last summer, at the age of 101. What an amazing, creative, generous and delightful woman she was!

A STUNNING RAFFLE QUILT!

 We have received a donation of an amazing vintage Yo-Yo quilt to raffle off at our celebration!  As hand quilters, we know what effort goes into beautiful quilting and sewing by hand.  

This one is incredible, not only in workmanship, but also in the arrangement of the fabrics and colors.  The yo-yos themselves delightfully petite, a rarity. The quilt measures 47" x 54", a very convenient size for displaying in the home.

We have a bit of provenance for this lovely beauty.  We know the name of the baby who received it in 1940 or 1941, the city where they lived, and that it was made for her by her mother.  It was lovingly cared for by the recipient throughout her life, and came to us via the executor of her estate.

Tickets are $2.00 apiece, or three for $5.00, so be sure you bring your lucky dollars to our 2-day show.

TWO FOUNDING MEMBERS

Carol Gassman is the only Pioneer Quilters founder who is still local and an active member.  She is our featured speaker on Friday (1:30) at our 50th Anniversary Celebration.  Be sure to come in time to hear her tell about Pioneer Quilters in the beginning and over the years!

About ten years ago, I wrote a blog entry about the porthole quilt Carol made from the blocks other members made for her in a friendship block exchange.   Click on the underlined words to be taken to that piece.

Martha Allwander was also a Pioneer Quilters founder and she lived to be over 100!   She was still able to join us on occasion in some of  those last years, and it was so nice to see her.  Martha was extremely beloved, and so generous with the blocks she loved to piece, and often would donate several dozen to us--setting off a "Martha's Blocks Bidding War" amongst members.  I wrote a blog entry about her too!

Do take the opportunity to scroll back through our decade of blog entries. Even if you've read them before. I wrote them, and many of them seem new information to me!

1975--OUR BEGINNINGS

So, how does a group like Pioneer Quilters come into existence?  

Since joining these hand quilters over a baker's dozen years ago, I’ve chatted with founding and early members, and here are some of the fun facts that I’ve learned.

Louise Smith was one of the founding members and a major organizer of our group, and was terrific not only at quilting, but also at documenting our history---which is really helping me put this together!

 

Louise, along with Martha Allwander, Dorothy Bettis, and Suzette Shoulders took on the task of calling quilters and telling them about their idea of forming a group to hand quilt together, informing them of the meeting at the Pioneer Museum.

  

Dorothy Bettis, Martha Allwander, Suzette Shoulders, and Louise Smith

They advertised the organizational event in the Register Guard:

They held their planning meeting at the Pioneer Museum (currently named Lane County History Museum), at the fairgrounds on September 24, 1975.   They discussed how they’d organize, meet, etc., along with what to call themselves.  They decided to name the group Pioneer Quilters, inspired by their organizational meeting being held at the Pioneer Museum.

The first quilting meeting was held just a week later, in the home of Bernie Clark, and that also was listed in the Sunday newspaper's upcoming events:

They continued to advertise for interested potential members with a weekly announcement in the Calendar section of the Register Guard, noting any special info for attendees.  As they mostly met in the members' homes at that time, the announcements were very helpful. 

Between those attending the organizational meeting and the first quilting get-together, there were 23 who attended (names listed in the previous post).

I think I can speak for all Pioneer Quilters over the years in saying we very sincerely appreciate the vision, hard work and efforts of our founders to create this very special group, celebrating half a century this fall!

This is our 50th year!

Have you put it on your calendar?  Don’t forget that in May Pioneer Quilters is commemorating 50 years of hand quilting together!  Will you celebrate with us?  Friday, May 2 (1:00 to 6:00) and Saturday May 3 (10:00 to 4:00) at the First Congregational United Church of Christ at 1050 23rd Avenue in Eugene. (The entrance faces 24th Avenue, with parking lots on the west and north sides of church).

It’ll be wonderful to see the display of quilts made by our earliest members.  We really appreciate the quilters and their families who are so generously allowing us to display these treasures. 

We current members are looking through our creations to each select a few small quilts/wall hangings, etc. that we will also have on display for your viewing pleasure.  I can’t wait to see them all! 

You won’t want to miss founding member Carol Gassman’s presentation about the early days of the group on Friday at 1:30, followed by a reception at 2:00.

Who were the visionary women who created this long-lived hand quilting group? Thanks to the efforts of our historian Judie Plancheon, we have a bit of information to share about that! The women who attended the  organizational meeting at Pioneer Museum on September 24, 1975 and/or the first meeting on October 1, 1975 were Martha Allwander, Donna Andrew, Alice Ariss, Dorothy Bond, Dorothy Bettis, Bernie Clark, Rose Hagerman, Loretta (Conger) Harrison, Althea Fisher, Pam Forster, Dorothy (Fox) Luttrell, Betty Jackson, Carman (Johnson) (Mowery), Evelyn Johnson, Donna Lake, Betty Metzler, Hilda Nielsen, Sheila Rose, Suzette Shoulders, Louise Smith, Carol (Sorenson) Gassman, and Iris Spangler. 

So far, we haven’t come across a photo of these 23 women together, but we do have early photos to share.  If you scroll back in this blog to our 4-24-15 post, celebrating 40 years, you can see some early group photos.  And there will be many at the celebration, as well as some must-read articles in national magazines.

A list of members ten years later (1985) included 4 women who are currently still active members—Jenny Bonynge, Sylvia Bugley, Carol Gassman, and Sheila Steers.  Forty years of weekly group quilting gatherings—amazing ladies!!  As is their talent!

UPDATE: And here we are (most of us) on April 24, 2025!  Our backdrop is a quilt that you can see in person at our May 2nd and 3rd show next week.  It was Louise Smith's quilt from a block exchange--each participating member made a block, with a prompt from Louise, such as color, theme, etc. (The next month a different member would give guidelines for her blocks.) I'm currently attempting to decipher all the embroidered signatures from the makers of the blocks--a lovely piece of Pioneer Quilters history.  Louise hand quilted it. 

I’ve been sporadically blogging here for you about our hand quilting and quilt shows since 2014, most heavily close to quilt show times.  Do spend some time scrolling back to see more history and photos of this enduring group!  

 

 FRONTIER HERITAGE FAIR 

AND OUR 50 YEAR CELEBRATION!

We will once again be demonstrating the beautiful art of hand quilting at the Frontier Heritage Fair this month.  Members of Pioneer Quilters will be quilting around a frame both Saturday and Sunday.  We will also have a few completed and vintage quits displayed to delight your eyes, including an award-winning quilt made in the late 1990s by 4th and 5th graders in the Brattain Quilt Club celebrating Oregon Trail history.

When you come to the Frontier Heritage Fair, you can see our ongoing demonstration of hand quilting, along with all the other fun historical activities that celebrate Oregon's  pioneer heritage and ancestors.  You'll get a glimpse of how different life was in the 1800s. 

Join us February 15th (9 am to 5 pm) and 16th (9 am to 4 pm) at the Lane County Fairgrounds Events Center and enjoy the history demonstrations.

 and in May . . . 

PIONEER QUILTERS CELEBRATES FIFTY YEARS OF HAND QUILTING TOGETHER!

In 1975, a few local women decided to form a group to hand quilt each other's quilts.  Pioneer Quilters will be celebrating our 50 years of continuing love of the art on May 2nd and 3rd at the First Congregational Church on 23rd Avenue in Eugene.  The friendships formed while stitching on quilts around a frame are golden, a much appreciated benefit of quilting together each week.

At our two-day celebration, you'll see some beautiful quilts created and quilted by those founders, as well as some eye candy from current members of our group.  Enjoy the speakers and take the opportunity to purchase some handmade items, all made by our talented members, at our popular Pioneer Quilters' Boutique.

Stay tuned for more details!

MASK MAKERS!

A couple of weeks ago pleas went out nationwide and worldwide for fabric masks.  The masks don't have the ability to protect you from the corona virus, but do a pretty good job of protecting others from your germs.  So, as the Czechs are saying, "I protect you.  You protect me."

There have been many articles in the media internationally about how sewing volunteers are jumping in, forming information-sharing groups, posting patterns and tips, and donating their time and supplies to get the masks made and distributed.  The New York Times posted this one today.  The Cottage Grove Sentinel featured our own Robin Fouquette and the many masks she's created in their April 1 issue.  Many governments, local, state and national, are urging or requiring everyone to wear a mask when they leave their homes.  Los Angeles just joined this group today.

We quilters just happen to have a wee bit of fun and beautiful fabric in our homes, and we jumped at the chance to use it to help keep our family, friends and community a little safer.  There are several styles of masks available, and many of us have made a variety before settling on one we personally prefer.  For us, probably the most fun part is the fabric, and we Pioneer Quilters been sharing some photos of our creations with each other.  Many are now in the hands of local essential workers, while a few others have gone to friends and family members here and across the country.

Enjoy a peek at our online Show and Tell, just a sampling of the several hundred masks Pioneer Quilters have made and distributed in the past few weeks.  So many styles, and such fun fabrics!