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.