The Rio Grande Valley Quilt Guild: Preserving Art, History
by Eryn Reddell Wingert
Photos courtesy of the RGV Quilt Guild
Quilts are not just decorative blankets or wall hangings. They hold memories, tell stories and document history. It is the mission of the Rio Grande Valley Quilt Guild to encourage and preserve the art of quilting.
“We are trying to keep the art alive and pass it on to future generations,” says Guild publicity chair Marsha Santow.
Quilting saw a rise in popularity after America celebrated the 1976 Bicentennial. The local guild was created in 1981 as a result, according to its website, rgvqg.com. The Texas Sesquicentennial celebration in 1986 further rallied interest on a local level.
The State of Texas began planning its year-long celebration well in advance by forming the Texas Sesquicentennial Commission. Numerous committees were then formed to preserve and document the state’s culture and history; two were dedicated specifically to quilts.
According to the thesis, “Quilt Documentation Projects 1980 – 1989: Exploring the Roots of a National Phenomenon” by Christine Humphrey at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln (2010), the committees were “cautioned they were unlikely to find quilts worth recording because Texas had been a pioneer state and all of the good quilts remained on the East Coast.”
Ultimately, Humphrey’s thesis explained, one of the committees–the Texas Sesquicentennial Quilt Association (TSQA)–documented more than 3,500 quilts during 27 “quilt days” over the course of a six-year project chronicling the art form.
The McAllen International Museum (now the International Museum of Art & Science) hosted a local TSQA quilt day January 12, 1985, according to the Guild’s website. Members assisted with gathering quilt details and measurements.
Over 80 quilts were evaluated and photographed that day, and two were selected to be included in the 1986 exhibit “Lone Stars: A Legacy of Texas Quilts, 1836-1936” in the Texas State Capitol Rotunda in Austin.
One of the quilts belonged to Pam Moore of McAllen and the other to Jean Brady Fox of San Benito whose quilt was made by her great-grandmother in 1854.
Fox’ heirloom quilt, “Double Irish Chain,” was made by Harriet S. F. Spicer in New York for her son, William Porter Spicer, as documented by the TSQA. Further documentation cited at quiltindex.org explains that after separating from her husband, quilting was one of the ways Harriet supported herself and her three children.
The TSQA also recorded how the quilt made its way to South Texas. William took the quilt to South Dakota in the 1880s, then to San Benito in 1913. His brother, Fox’s grandfather, inherited the quilt when William died in the 1914 flu epidemic.
Examples like this motivate the Guild to promote the art form. One of the ways they do so is by hosting the annual Rio Grande Valley Quilt Show, a two-day event showcasing quilts and quilted items.
The Guild’s first quilt show took place in March of 1983. where 109 quilts were displayed and approximately 2,400 people attended, including Susan Powell, Miss America 1981, according to The Monitor archives.
Quilt Show proceeds support the Guild’s community service projects, which over the years has included providing quilts for veterans, shelters, and hospitals; quilting camps; scholarships for sewing and fashion-related fields; and even dog beds for local shelters.
“Wherever there’s a need,” says Santow, “we’ve got people making quilts.”
The Guild’s membership is around 200. Santow says it’s an “open, inviting, and supportive group” offering classes, speakers, workshops, and retreats.
The Guild is providing a quilt appraiser at the upcoming Quilt Show. An important investment to consider, according to Santow, who recently had a quilt appraised for $1,700. She says insurance may only replace a quilt for the same value as a blanket from a big-box store.
To sign up for an appraisal and for more information about the Rio Grande Valley Quilt Show–or for Guild meeting and class information–visit rgvqg.com.
