QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-925

Who documented this quilt?

Michigan Quilt Project; Quilts and Health

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Michigan State University Museum

Michigan Quilt Project Number:

99.0487

Quilt's title:

Living A Dream

Quilt top made by:

Harbison, Edna

Quilted by:

Harbison, Edna

If you are the quilt owner, how did you acquire this quilt?

Made the quilt

Where the quilt was made, city:

Ontonagon

Where the quilt was made, county:

Ontonagon

Where the quilt was made, state:

Michigan (MI)

Time period:

1976-1999

When was the quilt started?

5/1991

When was the quilt finished?

2/1992

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's city:

Ontonagon

Quiltmaker's county:

Ontonagon

Quiltmaker's state:

Michigan (MI)

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Wenger

Quiltmaker's birth date:

2/25/1950

Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:

German/Swiss (Pennslyvania Dutch Mennonite parents)

Quiltmaker's educational background:

High School (Zeeland, MI)

Quiltmaker's religious affiliation:

None

Quiltmaker's occupation:

Self employed, quilt designer, maker and freelance writer

Quiltmaker's father's name:

Wenger, Harvey Martin

Quiltmaker's father's ethnic/tribal background:

German/Swiss Pennsylvania Dutch

Quiltmaker's mother's name:

Wenger, Edna Hurst Rissler

Quiltmaker's mother's ethnic/tribal background:

German/Swiss Pennsylvania Dutch

Quiltmaker's marriage date(s):

Aug. 16, 1969

Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and /or partner's/partners' name(s):

Harbison, Paul (Boe)

Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and/or partner's/partners' occupation:

Self employed woodwright, singer, musician, songwriter

How did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

From Relative

When did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

Age 30-39

Why does the quiltmaker quilt?

Income

Estimated number of quilts made by this quiltmaker:

more than 50

Does/did the quiltmaker sell quilts?

yes

Does/did the quiltmaker teach quilting?

yes

Does/did the quiltmaker belong to a group? Name of the group?

Ontonagon Quilter's Guild; American Quilter's Society

Where does/did the group meet?

Ontongagon, MI

This is a:

Finished quilt

How wide is the quilt?

72"

How long is the quilt?

96"

Quilt's condition:

Excellent/like new

What is inscribed on the quilt?

Edna R. Harbison

What is the date inscribed on the quilt?

1992

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Piecing

Applique techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Applique

Embellishment techniques used to make the quilt top:

Embroidery

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton

Number of pieces of fabric in the quilt back:

2

What is the width of the binding (measure on the top only)?

less than a half inch

What kind of filling is used in the quilt?

Polyester

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 1:

10

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 2:

12

Quilting designs used, background fills:

Grid/crosshatch

Describe the quilting designs used:

Outline/Ditch

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Original to maker

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

Carrie Jacobs-Bond Composing Threaders, Iron River, MI, 1995; The Michigan Quilt Project: New Discoveries, exhibit, July 29-December 31, 2001.

Contests entered:

State of Michigan Winner, 1992, All American Quilt Contest, sponsored by Land's End and Good Housekeeping Inc. Juried into American Quilter's Society Show and Contest, 1993, Paducah, KY. Special Invitational Exhibit, 1992, Houston International Quilt Festival, Houston, TX. Second Place, 1992, Art Impressions Art Show, Open Media Cometition, Land O'Lakes, WI. First Place, Viewer's Choice, and Best of Show, 1993, Western Heritage Quilt Competition, Billings, MT. Best of Show, 1994, Tulip Time Quilt Show, Holland, MI. People's Choice Award, 1995, Carrie Jacobs Bond Composing Threaders Quilt Show, Caspian, MI. People's Choice Award and First Place, Traditional Applique, 1995-6, Quilts=Arts=Quilts Show, Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, NY

Publications (including web sites) where this quilt or maker was featured:

Photos of quilter; Clippings or photocopies; Templates; List of quilts, exhibitions, etc.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Edna Rissler Harbison

Quilt owner's city:

Ontonagon

Quilt owner's county:

Ontonagon

Quilt owner's state:

Michigan (MI)

How was this quilt acquired?

Made by owner

Describe anything about the history of the quilt that wasn't already recorded in a previous field:

This quilt is meant to encourage people to reach for their dreams, no matter how overwhelming they may seem. Step by step, one can accomplish even the biggest goals. This quilt was inspired by my husband and my dream of calling the log cabin we built one summer, in the woods of the Upper Peninsula, our "home". We've been here now, for over eleven years, and our goal remains: to be able to go on living here the rest of our life. I had to have Periwinkle Blue for the sky and a friend Marthianne Wood helped me dye it. My father died when I was within 8 weeks of completion. I was working 8-10 hours a day on the quilting to get it done in time for the "All-American" Quilt Contest, sponsored by Land's End and Good Housekeeping and I almost quit, but my husband encouraged me to finish it. I won the state of Michigan award. Three weeks after I won, my dear wonderful husband (a Viet Nam Vet and victim of child abuse many years before, suffered a tragic nervous breakdown, that nearly cost us both our lives in the heartbreak. I blamed myself for his illness and blamed my working on this quilt for a long time. I couldn't even look at it and gave up designing quilts for 3 years. But with hard work, love and professional help, we've made it back to good health, peace, joy of living and are both more creative than ever- me and my quilts and Boe and his music. I tell him often "Even the most horrendous storms in life can be followed by sunshine and peace, if we just hand in there and keep looking."

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

How did the quiltmaker participate in the creation of the quilt?

Made entire quilt

If the source helped design the quilt, describe their input:

Designed the pattern

Copyright holder:

Michigan State University Museum