The Long Hill Quilt Book

This week's Musings from Main announces a new online offering available for you to explore on our website, the Long Hill Quilt Book. We hope you enjoy it! The original booklet is available to peruse in person, by appointment. Please contact Leith Johnson, Friends of Wood Memorial Library Archivist if you would like to take a peek at it.

The booklet was produced in 1998 by Jean H. Klein to document the Long Hill Quilt. Jean served as Educational Coordinator for the Friends of Wood Memorial Library for over 25 years, and we are extremely grateful to her for all of the work she did to bring the history of this quilt and its creators to life. Learn more about Jean Klein on page 40 of our Formative Women of the Friends of Wood Memorial Library online exhibit.

The Long Hill Quilt Book documents the making and makers of the Long Hill Quilt, a Pennysquare Quilt. The booklet also describes the Long Hill area, Pennysquare and Friendship Quilts in general, and gives a brief biographical sketch of the 50 women, one boy and a man who contributed autographed squares including photos of the area and the people mentioned. As you explore the book, you will notice that there are several contributors to the quilt that are unidentified or have little biographical information associated with them.  If you can provide any additional details about these women, we would love to hear from you.

The squares, stitched in 1892-93 and long forgotten, were found by Susie Lathrop Briggs when she was 97. She had been one of the youngest members of the Long Hill Missionary Circle, the group which had stitched the squares. In 1975, quilters, under the leadership of Arline Bidwell, pieced the squares together into a completed quilt and two pillows. (Learn more about the Long Hill Quilt by reading the July 22, 2022 Musings from Main also available on our website.

Also included in this booklet is information on a bedspread of the same "pennysquares," donated by Lucy Chandler Buell, in the 1980's. Lucy's mother, Mrs. Charles Chandler ( Emma J.), also worked on the Long Hill quilt. Her stitching group for the bedspread lived mostly on Ellington and Pleasant Valley roads.

The Long Hill Quilt used to be on display but has since been packed away safely and is currently in storage with the two pillows, the bedspread and the other quilts in our collection in keeping with preservation best practices. We are excited to announce however, that in celebration of National Hobby Month, we are taking these treasures out of the archives and putting them on display from January 23, 2023 thru February 16, 2023. 

Interested in starting the quilting group up again? This is your chance! Join us for a reception on Thursday January 26, 2023 from 5-6pm to meet with like minded hobbyists and voice your interest.  Light refreshments will be served to attendees as they explore the connections between the hobby of quilting and the Friends. More information is available on our website.