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Coralane Boyes

Quiltmaker

  Ionia, Michigan, United States    

Michigan Quilt Project

Great-granddaughter of Mary Gardner Crawford
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Coralane Boyes is a fourth generation quilter. She finished a top made by her great-grandmother and her grandmother and mother were also quilters. In a letter dated April 17, 1985 she says:

I have pieced and quilted since the mid 1930s. I still do this type of thing. Presently I have on my quilting frames a quilt with the blocks hand-painted (probably in the 1950s)...We have a family tradition of piecing blocks for a quilt for the bride, as a wedding gift. The blocks were made by sisters, cousins, grandmothers, aunts, god-mothers, mother and then I finished the quilt. Some of these were tied but the last two quilted... Most of the work I have done has been of a practical nature as we used them on the beds daily. So you can see they were not fancy, as some of the ones I see today. Over the period of years I have quilted about twenty quilts and tied more than that.

I have made quilts, because I enjoy doing it. I like to use my hands and get satisfaction from using materials I have on hand rather than throwing them away, as so many people have done. Other than the first 2 quilts that I made in the 1930s (which I sewed on the machine) I have had much more satisfaction of doing them by hand...in the old-fashioned way. I find them softer and more pliable. All our quilts have been made to be used. I therefore have put new outting flannel in them. Or some of them have had old outting flannel blankets put in them. I have worked with batts, but other than making for baby quilts as gifts I prefer not to use batts. In early years I did use batts, but frequent washings made them bunch too soon. I have some friends baby quilts that have bunched from the modern batts...but some seem to hold better than others.

Was the maker a woman, man or a group?

Female

Date and place of death.

Born April 11. Died, 10/23/2005.

Educational background:

Ionia High School

Religious affiliation:

Episcopal

Where was the quiltmaker born?

Portland, Ionia County, Michigan (MI), United States

Where did the quiltmaker grow up?

Rural

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

McLeod

Father's Name:

Guy McLeod

Father's ethnic/tribal background:

Farmer

Mother's Name:

Floy VanHouten McLeod

Mother's ethnic/tribal background:

Housewife

Spouse's/Spouses' name(s):

Harry E. Boyes

Spouse's/Spouses' occupation:

Public relations

Number of female children:

4

Number of male children:

1

How did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

Self-Taught

Other reasons the quiltmaker makes/made quilts.

I would not call it teaching, but have helped other people get started...either piecing tops or showed them some of my works. Have also helped others tie quilts.

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