Border to Border Book Review

Today I'm doing something different. This book - Border to Border Historic Quilts and Quiltmakers of Montana by Annie Hanshew - was given to me by a dear friend and I'm absolutely in love with it. History and quilts - what's not to love!

So back in 1987, a few quilters in Montana started collecting oral histories and registering quilts. The idea caught on and the Montana Historic Quilt Project was formed. More than 2000 quilts were registered throughout the state and the Montana Historical Society continues to encourage people to document their treasured quilts through the Society's Research Center.

Annie Hanshew has done a fabulous job of writing about the histories of the quilts registered during this project, their makers and recipients, and the time periods in which they were made. Lots of beautiful photos too! The book takes the reader back to when Montana was still a territory (pre-1889), through early settlement days, the depression, post-WWII, and then to modern days (about 2003).

Ms. Hanshew notes in her preface that during the 1980s and 1990s, similar quilt registration projects were done by groups across the U.S. So maybe your state has a similar book! In these days of Google search, it shouldn't be too hard to find out.

If you like history and quilts, I recommend getting this book. You can find Border to Border at Farcountry Press' website at http://www.farcountrypress.com/details.php?id=769 and while you're there, Farcountry has lots of other historical books.

That's all for now!

Happy Quilting!

Elaine