Friends of the Indiana State Archives, Inc.

Congratulations to veteran Archives’ volunteer, Elizabeth Hague. Her quilt (pictured here) received a coveted Governor’s Choice Award at the 2003 Indiana State Fair.

Entered in the “Wall Hanging: machine pieced and hand quilted” division, the quilt also received First Place, Sweepstakes, and Mountain Mist awards. The project, consisting of more than eighty-five neck ties, took approximately eighteen months to complete.

Elizabeth’s small collection of ties grew to the eighty-five plus accumulation used in the quilt as a result of the surprise 40th birthday “bring a neck-tie” party given by her mother. She told us this was the most challenging quilt she had put together, but she loved the pattern and couldn’t give up once she’d started. She said, “My quilt is a composition of unity – of my loved ones and their ties: the beautiful and the odd, the heavy and the thin, the bright and the somber, the flashy and the conservative are united by shape and origin. They blend together forming a meandering path of my first forty years. The “path” represents the twists and turns of life, the bright spots and the somber moments along the way. This is truly a celebration quilt that dances with bright and colorful pattern.”

Elizabeth has been quilting for approximately twenty years, having been inspired by the beautiful handmade quilts she saw while working at Conner Prairie.

“I loved the quilts,” she said. “So I decided to make my own.”

She has had other quilts exhibited in juried shows: AQS Show, Paducah, KY; International Quilt Festival, Houston, TX; Lands’ End/Good Housekeeping Show in Dodgeville, WI; Quilt America, Indianapolis, IN; Fitton Center for Fine Arts, Hamilton, OH; Pacific International Quilt Exhibit, CA.
Quilt #13, made of Japanese yukata fabrics in indigo and white that were collected on a trip to Japan, is in its final stages and Elizabeth is collecting Christmas ties for a future project.

Following is the official description of Elizabeth’s award winning quilt:

Forty Year’s ‘Tie’m
made by Elizabeth Hague, 2000

49.5” X 72.5” pieced by machine of multi-colored silk neck ties
low loft cotton batting with solid black cotton backing
hand quilted, moderate to heavy amount and 9 stitches per inch:
3 circular rows following shape of and in the arcs, with geometric flower in the circles.

Quilt is made of (40) 8” blocks, 5 wide x 8 long, each having two quarters of a circle in them, the arcs in those quarter circles each has six triangles. There are two borders: 1 ½ “ wide with tie labels appliquéd on it and a 3” wide border with tie points in it.

The binding is machine sewn to the top and hand sewn to the back. The construction is excellent; the seams match and the points are secure.

This quilt won first place in the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show in Bloomington, IN (2001) and honorable mention in the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show in Williamsburg, VA (2002).