Carrie Hall
(1866-1955)
|
Collector, quilter, dollmaker, coauthor of The Romance of the Patchwork Quilt. Inducted in 1985 at
the Continental Quilting Congress, Arlington, Virginia.
Research Associate: Diane Hammill
|
Carrie Hall was a great seamstress. She made her first quilt at the age of seven, winning 1st place at
the County Fair. Among other quilts that she made was one commemorating the 100th anniversary of
George Washington’s birth.
As a child, Carrie was an avid reader and became not only a schoolteacher but even the
superintendent of schools for a time. She moved to Leavenworth, Kansas, where she became an
outstanding dressmaker. When ready-made clothing affected her business, Carrie took up quilting in a
big way. She gave lectures dressed in colonial costume and began making cloth blocks, seeking to
copy every quilt pattern– an awesome task! She actually completed 884 blocks, which became a major
part of the book she wrote with Honoree Rose Kretsinger. The Romance of the Patchwork Quilt in
America, published in 1935. Her second book was From Hoopskirts to Nudity: A Review of the Fashion
Follies and Foibles of 1866-1936.
During World War II, she became a Red Cross volunteer, making many quilts for that effort. She also
opened a shop that evolved into a doll making business. Her quilt block collection, quilts and
scrapbooks are located at the Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence.
|
|
