GPF Prairie Quilt

Forgotten Blanket

"A quilting bee had been held, as in times past, when the ladies of the prairie would gather together to sew and to socialize. The pattern was done in wildflowers of various pastel hues, all on a background of green to represent the new grasses and leaves. Prairie phlox was in delicate pinks; shooting star blossoms resembled flustered roosters' combs; the three-petaled spiderwort appeared in deep blue violet with an occasional red-violet spot. The pinks, purples, and white were knotted together with the yellow-orange arches of hoary puccoon. The prairie quilt of spring was nearly complete."

Journal of Susan Post
Edgewood Railroad Prairie
May 7, 1982

Writers often compare prairie landscapes to quilts - "the prairie was a riot of wildflowers more colorful than grandma's best quilt" or "like a thread-bare quilt with many worn spots, only remnants of prairie existed here and there." Quilts and prairies have certain similarities, other than those espoused in literary descriptions. The creation of quilts and prairies involves a lot of time. A prairie landscape takes many hundreds of years to develop; a quilt, too, doesn't just spring into being. Also, the prairies have almost all disappeared - undervalued and nearly forgotten. For awhile, quilts too, were in disfavor and used only as "forgotten blankets" to pack around more valuable items for that extended move to a new place, or were relegated to being a barrier between the damp ground and lunch on that family picnic. Both the art of quilting and the appreciation of prairie were almost lost. Fortunately, the country's bicentennial sparked a revival of the interest in quilts, and about this same time a revitalized interest in prairies arose. Both just in the nick of time.

With these similarities it seemed a natural fit for Grand Prairie Friends of Illinois (GPF) to undertake a quilt project. An added impetus was the 1993 publication of the book History from the Heart: A Two Century Heritage of Illinois Quilts and Quilt Making by E.D. Elbert and R.K. Elbert. Sharon Monday-Dorsey, a GPF member in Urbana, began to explore the idea of a prairie quilt as a traveling exhibit and educational tool about Illinois' prairie heritage. The GPF board of directors approved the project in 1994 with Sharon becoming the project's coordinator. The responsibility for designing the quilt went to Jackie Worden, an artist, librarian, and GPF member in Charleston. With the permission of the Peoria Quilting Society and designer Ann Pastucha, Jackie adapted a quilt design from the Elbert book - Gem of the Prairie.

Upon first glancing at the quilt, one is drawn to the yellow hexagonal blocks. From a distant perspective these blocks form the stylized flower of a large prairie dock or Silphium. Soon the eye will locate buds, the stem, and large textured leaves. Borders of colorful seasonal flowers and insects draw your attention next, and in each corner is a familiar constellation or a not-so-familiar Potawatomi design. A glance beneath the leaves reveals not an extensive root system, but a story of life and death on the prairie - the drama of the prairie king snake and white-footed mouse. As in an actual prairie, many of the "little things" are hidden in the Grand Prairie Friends quilt. Take time for a closer inspection of the tangled green background and find flowers and insects brought to life, not by the sweat of restoration efforts, but by the nimble fingers of the quilters' intricate stitches.

Altogether the quilt contains seven large center images, 12 side panels, four corner images, a top sky panel, and a ground-level panel. A variety of techniques was used, including applique, beadwork, trapunto, piecing, and embroidery.

Like any quilt, this one has many stories about its makers. The woman who did the Indian Grass block was pregnant at the time. Unable to work on her current prairie restoration project, she changed focus and spent over 80 hours doing intricate embroidery on the Indian Grass block. Even though most of the blocks are of organisms "easy to work on," the snake block and one of the insect blocks were traded about somewhat. Some volunteers were not so enamored with those denizens of the prairie! At least one bloodstain is present, for those who observe closely. A tragedy was also averted, for just prior to the Penfield Quilters receiving the quilt cover their building burned. Luckily, delays had prevented the Grand Prairie Friends quilters from getting their project to them on time. This is one "prairie" that would not have benefited from fire!

Grand Prairie Friends of Illinois is a not-for-profit, grassroots organization formed in 1984 to save Shortline Railroad Prairie, a six-acre prairie along an abandoned railroad right-of-way in Champaign County. Grand Prairie Friends members share a commitment to preserving and restoring native, tallgrass prairie. Grand Prairie Friends acquires and manages prairie remnants (some of which are Illinois Nature Preserves), conducts prescribed burns, propagates and plants native prairie species in reconstructions, and generates interest in prairie through a variety of educational programs. It preserves prairie remnants as a way of maintaining a link with Illinois' natural heritage. With the completion of this project, cultural and natural heritage have been melded into one.

Individuals and Groups Involved
Project Coordinator: Sharon Monday-Dorsey (GPF)
Quilt Designer for project: Jackie Worden (GPF)
Technical Advisor: Sandy Pijanowski
Artwork: Jackie Worden, Jean Eglinton, Jim Nardi (all of GPF) & George Godfrey
Fabric piece cutter: Deb DiPietro
Final piecing: Jeri Corso
Side binding: Sandy Pijanowski
Prairie Dock Trapunto: Jackie Worden
Prairie Dock Applique: Phyllis Norton (Illini Country Stitchers)
Frame: Charlie Sweitzer
Storyboard: Susan Post and Michael Jeffords (GPF)
Brochure: Susan Post
Brochure layout: Michelle Garland

Blocks:
Center Hexagon: Sandy Pijanowski
Person in Prairie: Margaret Bustard & Debra Langendorf (both of Illini Country Stitchers)
Badger: Debbie Kidwell (Quiltworks)
Bobolink: Rose Ganley (Illini Country Stitchers)
Coneflower: Carol Holden (Quiltworks)
Prairie Chicken: Debra Langendorf & Margaret
Bustard Buffalo: Joyce Nicklaus (Illini Country Stitchers)
Hawk: Phyllis Norton
Snake, mouse and strawberry runners: Marilyn Nash & Virginia Satterlee (both of Illini Country Stitchers)
Big Bluestem: Ellen Wolcott (Quiltworks)
Prairie Gentian: Marilyn Smith
Indian Grass: Marilyn Morris (GPF)
Royal Catchfly: Mare Payne (GPF)
Grasshopper: Kathryn Stewart (Quiltworks)
Cemetery: Mary Kay Solecki (GPF)
Shooting Star: Chris Johns (GPF)
Purple Prairie Clover: Pam Gutowski (Quiltworks)
GPF Logo: Judy Davidson
Monarch: Charolette Miller (Quiltworks)
Dragonfly: Beth Chato (GPF)
Spiderwort: Dixie Jackson
Beadwork in the four corners: Lela Jones-Olszewski (Illini Country Stitchers)

Quilting:
Penfield Quilters - Ruth Buck, Lottie Chenoweth, Olive Dewey, Pauline Dolder, Althea Dorsey, Margaret Dorsey, Betty Early, Marie Fruhling, Rosemary Mosson, Frances Olson, Delores Rawlings, Josephine San Miguel, and Dorothy Woller
Other Quilters - Mary McDonald and Kim Tanner

The quilt is currently being exhibited in community museums and libraries throughout East-Central Illinois. If you want to know where the quilt is currently on exhibit, or if you want information on how you can exhibit the quilt in your community, contact Sharon Dorsey at gpf@prairienet.org.

To see an image of this quilt, click here

updated: December 19, 2007
www: www.prairienet.org/gpf
email: gpf@prairienet.org