For Joyce Gross, civic activities were paramount in her life until she became one of the
founding members of the Mill Valley Quilt Authority in 1970. She organized “A Patch in Time”
quilt exhibits, brought quilt art and historians to California, organized quilt study tours and Study
Rooms various conferences. Joyce’s travels took her to museums, conferences and to
individual quilters’ homes. Her interest in Who’s Who in the quilt world provided material for her
Quilters’ Journal, published from 1977 through 1987.
Joyce joined Honoree Sally Garoutte in organizing the American Quilt Study Group. She
presented a paper at their first seminar in 1980 on “Four Twentieth Century Quiltmakers.” Her
Study Rooms at conferences led her to organize at Point Bonita a place where quilt historians
gather to network and study. The true collector, Joyce has collected all items related to quilting:
quilts, postcards, books and ephemera. The American Museum of Quilts and Textiles
presented a one-woman exhibit of Joyce’s quilt collection in 1993, titled: “A Passion to Know:
Portrait of a Quilt Scholar, Archivist, Author-Joyce Gross.”
In 1997, Joyce and Honoree Cuesta Benberry organized and exhibit and seminar, “20th
Century Quilts: 1900-1970: Women Make Their Mark,” at the Museum of the American Quilter’s
Society, Paducah, Kentucky.
founding members of the Mill Valley Quilt Authority in 1970. She organized “A Patch in Time”
quilt exhibits, brought quilt art and historians to California, organized quilt study tours and Study
Rooms various conferences. Joyce’s travels took her to museums, conferences and to
individual quilters’ homes. Her interest in Who’s Who in the quilt world provided material for her
Quilters’ Journal, published from 1977 through 1987.
Joyce joined Honoree Sally Garoutte in organizing the American Quilt Study Group. She
presented a paper at their first seminar in 1980 on “Four Twentieth Century Quiltmakers.” Her
Study Rooms at conferences led her to organize at Point Bonita a place where quilt historians
gather to network and study. The true collector, Joyce has collected all items related to quilting:
quilts, postcards, books and ephemera. The American Museum of Quilts and Textiles
presented a one-woman exhibit of Joyce’s quilt collection in 1993, titled: “A Passion to Know:
Portrait of a Quilt Scholar, Archivist, Author-Joyce Gross.”
In 1997, Joyce and Honoree Cuesta Benberry organized and exhibit and seminar, “20th
Century Quilts: 1900-1970: Women Make Their Mark,” at the Museum of the American Quilter’s
Society, Paducah, Kentucky.
| Joyce Gross |
Quilt historian, archivist, collector, publisher of Quilter’s
Journal. Inducted in 1996 at The Quilters Hall of Fame
Celebration, Marion, Indiana.
Research Associate: Kathy Ronsheimer
Journal. Inducted in 1996 at The Quilters Hall of Fame
Celebration, Marion, Indiana.
Research Associate: Kathy Ronsheimer