Peggy Derrick
Catalog Number: 2011.014.01
An organization like the Homemakers Club in Barre Mills was a part of the fabric of rural communities, building relationships and creating ties that broadened women’s lives beyond their families and churches. Women enjoyed creating this signature quilt as they built community while stitching together. The Homemakers Club in Barre Mills made this quilt, which was given to either the mother or grandmother of the donor, Vernetta Fish.
The quilt has 16 blocks, mostly wools and other clothing fabrics. Names of club members, and their birthdates, are embroidered all over the quilts, along with the inscription: Homemakers Club, Jan. 10, 1924. Individual patches are outlined with colorful embroidery stitches in a variety of different stitches. Backing is flannel, dark pink with a floral print.
Homemakers Clubs were incorporated into the Wisconsin Extension program in 1939, with a mission to provide demonstrations to local groups of rural women across the state. Over the years, topics ranged from safe canning of garden produce to how to use a computer.
This article was originally published in the La Crosse Tribune on February 14, 2015.
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