A Journey into the Study of Quilt History
Hannah M. Sheppard
Greenwich, N.J. Feb. 22nd, 1847
"She maketh herself coverings of tapistry." Proverbs XXXI:22
AQS Certified Appraiser NQA Trained Judge Quilt Repair
My passion for quilts.
If you are passionate about what you do, you'll never have to work a day in your life! For me that passion is the study of quilt history.
I first learned to quilt as a child at my Grandmother Martin's farm in Crawford County, PA. Like many women in the 1970s, the celebration of our country's Bicentennial sparked my love for quilt-making and an interest in the history of quilts.
Shortly after settling in Connecticut in 1980, the Connecticut Quilt Search Project began. Alongside approximately fifty dedicated women, I documented and researched 3,000 plus quilts over six years, culminating in the publication of Quilts and Quiltmakers Covering Connecticut. That experience and my membership in the American Quilt Study Group became the spring board to more publications Quilting News of Yesteryear: 1,000 Pieces and Counting; Crazy as a Bed-Quilt; World War II Quilts; Quiltings, Frolicks and Bees: One Hundred Years of Signature Quilts;World War I Quilts; Quilts: Presidential and Patriotic; World War II Quilts, 2nd Edition; The Quilter's Night Before Christmas and three pro bono books; Quilts of Valor: A Fifty State Salute; All Star Quilts of Valor and All Star Quilts of Valor, Revised. Through presentations and exhibits, I've had the opportunity to share my collections of World War II quilts, Flower Garden quilts, Signature quilts, Crazy quilts, Connecticut quilts, Red and Green Quilts and Christmas Quilts, etc.
At the International Quilt Museum
October, 2012
Presentations via Zoom
- Quiltmaking That Saw US through the War Years: 1941 - 1945.
- World War I Quiilts
- Quilts and Quiltmakers Covering Connecticut.
- Crazy Quilts: The Renderings of Nineteenth Century Quilt Artists.
- Is It Scrap Happy or 1,000 Pieces and Counting?
- A Gathering of Red and Green.
- Merry Christmas Quilts
- Connecticut's Contribution to the American Textile Industry.
- Sewing Trade Cards of Connecticut.
- Happy Birthday, America: Centennial and Bicentennial Quilts.
- Documenting, Appraising and Judging Quilts: Knowing the difference.