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The Quiltin' Bee

May 1, 1938
Detroit News Quilt History Project; Michigan State University Museum; Susan Salser
Detroit, Michigan, United States
A Detroit News Pictorial page.
The Quiltin' Bee

Eight pairs of hands will make short work of this quilt stretched on a frame in the home of Mrs. Ever Everson, near Fern, Mich. The quilters are members of the Ladies Union Society.
Photos by Philip Palmer

Mrs. Francis Shad helps Mrs. Everson prepare dinner.

While mother quilts, Gale Reed casts a longing eye over the refreshments.

Mrs. Clara Bedker is an earnest quilter.

The pictures on this page are of an old fashioned "quilting bee" in the farm home of Mrs. Ever Everson, in Mason County, near the settlement of Fern. The quilters are members of the Ladies Union Aid Society of the Methodist Church and they meet once a month or so to work on a quilt. When it is finished it is sold.

The first quilters arrive about 10:30 a. m. with their sewing equipment and food for the pot-luck dinner. Some "set up" the quilting frame while others get the meal started. Then all start to work on the quilt. There is a pause at noon for dinner and a chat, then the dishes are washed and quilting continues until late in the afternoon.

Quilting bees are a survival of the days when women had to do practically all their own sewing - before factories began to do it for them. They were popular social gatherings in an age when there was little time for recreation. And in these days they are not confined to the rural areas, as witness the popularity of The Detroit News Quilt club, in which thousands of Detroit woemn are enrolled. Many church organizations raise funds by making quilts.

Courtesy of The Detroit News Archives.

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