I grew up in Grand Island, Nebraska; a community rich in architectural styles—but in 1980, tornados destroyed 1/3 of the community in one night. Since then, many have forgotten the history of the architecture. My goal is to bring attention back to some of the best the city has to offer.
Grand Theater is the first piece in the Grand Island series.
The Grand Theater is an early theater remodeled in the 1930’s with an Art Deco theme. The fountain on the quilt is a reproduction of a portion of the ornamentation that is on the theater walls. The theater is pink with blue accents and black behind all of the fountains that festoon the walls. The ceiling panels have hand stenciled designs running from the back of the stadium seating all the way down to the proscenium.
I have used hand dyed cottons and Kona cottons, with fabric paint to present the ornamentation that remains in the theater. The marquee sign has changed over the years, the style of sign that existed in the 1960’s has been rendered in gray and white fabrics.
The stencils were hand cut using photos of the ceiling as a guide. They have been rendered in silver paint on black to act as a background for the notable Art Deco details on the wall.
“Tactile Architecture”, special exhibit at IQF in Houston, TX, 2011
In private collection.
Veterans Home and Hospital is the second piece in the Grand Island series.
The Veterans Home and Veterans Hospital have served veterans of every military action since the Civil War, hence the suggestion of a memorial in the border, with every engagement seemingly carved in white marble.
One of my first memories is going to the home in 1959. I spoke with a resident who told me that he remembered being a child during the Civil War. I have never forgotten that man or his story. This quilt is my attempt to help others remember the people served by these facilities.
The ‘covers’ (hats) in the foreground of the quilt visually present the original name of the home; Soldiers and Sailors Home.
The left border of the quilt is a two story column from the 1890’s Pershing Building; one of the residences at the home. The Art Deco flowers and flourishes are taken from terra cotta decoration on the Administration Building. These flourishes weave themselves into the stone face at the end of a wing of the Veterans Hospital, tying the two together.
Behind the architecture in the gray haze of memories flies the ghost of the flag of these United States, serving as a reminder that behind these facilities is the patriotism all of the people they have served.
“Tactile Architecture”, special exhibit at IQF in Houston, TX, 2011
In private collection.
The Lessons We Learned is the third piece in the Grand Island series.
From the earliest history in Grand Island, the schools have been acknowledged as important instruments in the development of this city. The pieces of the collage that make up this quilt were selected for the symbols and messages presented to us as we grew up.
Mother Goose; an Art Deco fireplace surround in a Kindergarten at Dodge School; imagination.
Memorial Stadium pilasters, the clock tower, the dramatic masks in the auditorium, the exterior façade of the auditorium and the clock tower are at Grand Island Senior High; strength, integrity, and balance.
Stone pediment from the old Walnut Junior High formerly the old high school; history.
Commercially printed cottons, Kona cottons were the primary fabric used, these fabrics were painted with fabric paint to render Mother Goose and the eagle resting on the pilaster. Mother Goose’s background was machine appliquéd. The brick walls and masks were heavily stitched to present surface relief. The exterior façade of the auditorium and the clock tower were machine pieced. Most of the various architecture elements were joined with hand stitching prior to being machine quilted
Making this work of art has been a delight and I hope that everyone seeing it will feel the same way. The designs rendered in the quilt are by no means the only notable school architecture that Grand Island has to share. Maybe seeing this piece will inspire people to observe the buildings that are Grand Island, they all have messages to share.
Third Place in 43rd Annual NQA Show, Columbus, OH, 2012
In private collection.
Published in Art Quilting Studio - Autumn 2022 edition. “Fiber Art - Under Construction” article by Linda Syverson Guild; pages 24 through 29.
The Autumn 2022 edition is available for purchase through Stampington & Co.
Grand Island Downtown is the fourth piece in the Grand Island series.
Grand Island grew up around the Union Pacific railroad line. It was a major point of connection to rest of the country. Being in the center of the country it was a good location for travelers to rest on their cross-country travels. The large number of travelers and the movement of commerce on the train resulted in a bustling town that was suggested as the State Capitol at one time.
I have created a map of the Business District south of the railroad tracks, which presents the buildings and businesses as they existed in 1968 – 1969. This is the town of my youth prior to the construction of a shopping mall and subsequent shift of active commerce to the western side of Grand Island.
The buildings represented on this map were built predominately in the first three decades of the twentieth century and were alive with activity. The business district was not affected by the tornadoes that wreaked havoc on the remainder of the community. Yet, for many years these buildings were viewed as a detriment to Grand Island.
Recently this same community has come to recognize the intrinsic beauty and value in these buildings. Resulting in new life for the downtown, buildings are being redeveloped and given new purpose. Regrettably, many of the buildings on this map have been replaced by parking lots, but a group of community leaders who believe in the history and relevance of the Downtown are now bringing change and growth to the heart of this community. This quilt is dedicated to those people of insight and faith.
In private collection.
South Locust is the fifth piece in the Grand Island series.
South Locust Street is a primary artery in Grand Island. This street and its landmarks figure prominently in the memories of my youth. I remember being drawn to these places, with their lights and activity.
Pier Park and the Municipal Swimming Pool were an integral part of the youth of Grand Island. In the early days of Grand Island, these fields were used by the high school football and baseball teams. In later years, picnics and many games of hide and seek were played in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty’s torch and the stone walls of the park, while the pool drew people to its cool and refreshing waters. Just to the north of the Park is Ashton Street, as it hosted displays of Christmas lights, becoming an eagerly anticipated tradition. Around the corner is the old Fire Station. The light fixtures mounted to the brick beside these large doors continue to display their red glass.
The Blackstone Apartments and their gardens have stood with dignity since the 1920’s. Behind this complex is one of my favorite buildings, it is a late 1950’s concrete block buildings with diamonds molded into the block walls, only surpassed by the chevron shaped roof and the sign announcing OK Liquor once resided in this location.
The bricks behind the Fire Station lantern are painted onto a batik cotton while the Blackstone arch is rendered in crayon and the Statue of Liberty and her torch are thread painted. The stones of the west entrance to Pier Park and the bricks of the 1920’s porch are individually placed and appliquéd in-place. While the porch posts and molded concrete blocks are painted on Kona cotton. Finally, tucked behind the other figures as if tugging at the edges of our memory, sit the portholes that punched the walls of the bath houses at the Municipal Swimming Pool.
South Locust extended its reach far beyond this little corner, but it seems that will be another story in another quilt.
In private collection.
In Service to the Public is the sixth piece in the Grand Island series.
The intersection of Second and Locust Streets was at the heart of the functioning government agencies in my youth. All of these buildings represent a strength and integrity that was pervasive throughout Grand Island. The fact that they survive is a testament to the strength of the original designs. I have tied these buildings together by sizing the brick uniformly throughout.
The 1910 Federal design of the old Post Office (now Federal Office Building) sits at that intersection.
While one block to the east stands the 1930’s Art Deco City Hall building.
One block south on Locust Street resides the 1901 Beaux-Arts Classical design of the Hall County Courthouse.
Two blocks west on Second Street is the Neo-classical Revival styled Carnegie Library that was dedicated 1903 in the presence of then President Theodore Roosevelt.
In Service to the Public is a collage of these buildings employing a variety of techniques. The stone and brick of the Courthouse are pieced cotton. Which transitions into the arch above the main entrance of the Old Post Office, these bricks are painted on Kona cotton and the arched window is a photograph printed on Kona cotton as well. The sculpted keystone melds into the geometric terra cotta keystone of the Old City Hall, the terra cotta details are pieced and stenciled on a commercially printed cotton. Holding a position in the center of the quilt is the stained glass ceiling in the rotunda of the courthouse. Supporting the stained glass is the pediment of the old Carnegie Library rendered in crayon on commercially printed cotton fabric.
These buildings are landmarks, each in their own right. Together, they reinforce the strength and integrity of the people upon which this community was built.
“Tactile Architecture”, special exhibit at IQF in Houston, TX, 2014
In private collection.
Published in Art Quilting Studio - Autumn 2022 edition. “Fiber Art - Under Construction” article by Linda Syverson Guild; pages 24 through 29.
The Autumn 2022 edition is available for purchase through Stampington & Co.
Mr. Bartenbach’s Building is the seventh piece in the Grand Island series.
George Bartenbach emigrated from Germany by way of New York City. He built the first brick building in Grand Island. It had space for six shops, his paint store filled one of the spaces, on the ground floor. An Opera House occupied the second and third floors. The building had the first cast iron fire escape, and the first neon sign in town.
Mr. Bartenbach’s Building is a collage of many of the most notable parts of the building; the wall in the background shows the decorative use of brick work on the building. Flanking both sides of the quilt are ‘blueprint’ images of the millwork that is in the Opera House. Also included in the collection is a reproduction of an advertisement for the building from the 1880’s, the decorative top on the building, ornamental metal work from the cast iron fire escape, one of the cast iron column covers from the ground floor and the neon sign that continues to announce the presence of the building with its size and the glow that emanates from it after dark.
This building is a landmark that continues to stand on its corner in the center of town.
Second Place in American Quilter’s Society, Grand Rapids, MI, 2015
In private collection.
Published in Art Quilting Studio - Autumn 2022 edition. “Fiber Art - Under Construction” article by Linda Syverson Guild; pages 24 through 29.
The Autumn 2022 edition is available for purchase through Stampington & Co.
Ghosts: Grand Army of the Republic is the eighth piece in the Grand Island series.
In private collection.
Published in Art Quilting Studio - Autumn 2022 edition. “Fiber Art - Under Construction” article by Linda Syverson Guild; pages 24 through 29.
The Autumn 2022 edition is available for purchase through Stampington & Co.
Signs: Memories of Our Youth is the ninth piece in the Grand Island series.
In private collection.
As children, we constructed magnificent structures with simple blocks that stacked and were easily knocked down. Growing up, our blocks have become much more intricate and intriguing. They are constructs of our imagination, becoming anything we wish them to be.
Materials: Scraps from a series of 9 architecturally based quilts, commercial cottons, Cherrywood Hand Dyed cottons, and photographs printed on cotton and machine embroidery stabilizer, faux suede
Techniques: Hand painted and stenciled, inked, crayoned, machine appliqued from reverse, stitched from reverse, machine embroidery, machine pieced, raw edge applique, machine quilted.
Edith and Grace Abbott grew up in my hometown, Grand Island, Nebraska. They were the daughters of a pioneer lawyer father and a Quaker, suffragist mother. The girls grew up believing in the power of the written word and they were advocates for people who did not have a voice: immigrants, women and children. Grace and Edith championed the right for children to have the opportunity to enjoy their youth, unlike the children in the photos on the left. Edith became the first female chair of a graduate school in this nation at the School of Social Service, University of Chicago. Grace was the highest ranking female in the federal government during the Depression as the Director of the Children’s Bureau. They were a team throughout their lives.
Grace (on left) was two years younger than Edith. Grace was the persuasive speaker, Edith mastered the written word. Both women wrote books and articles presenting their views; a few of the titles are ‘carved in stone’ behind them. Their silhouettes represent the only photo that exists of them together. The figure between is from the title page of Edith’s first book. The Abbott sisters believed in the treasure of the written word; their mother was on the Board that saw the Carnegie Library in Grand Island built. The column on the quilt is from that library whose building and contents inspired my appreciation for architecture and reading. Ninety-eight years after her birth, the Edith Abbott Memorial Library replaced the old library.
In the collection of the Grace Abbott Memorial Library, Grand Island, NE
Published in “HERstory Quilts: A Celebration of Strong Women” book by Susanne Miller Jones, 2018.
I grew up in Nebraska and remember history lessons about the pioneers and Native Americans who came before me.
I grew up believing that a person can accomplish anything that he or she sets their mind to. Nebraska was the place where personal opinions mattered and each person did matter.
The place where history is personal, as are free speech and creative endeavors.
It is a state where:
93 counties have a say,
There is one major river,
One major Interstate highway,
The State Capitol has its own identity,
Love has a place in the Heartland,
Nature is protected
And tomorrow is built upon yesterday.
Semi-Finalist in “Celebrating Nebraska” Challenge, premiered at International Quilt Museum in Lincoln, NE, 2017
Toured around Nebraska to celebrate 150th Anniversary of Nebraska’s Statehood
In private collection.
Attending reunions and other get-togethers we recognize and celebrate the connections we have shared for more than the past 50 years.
Two reunion t-shirts are displayed on this quilt:
The 10th Reunion shirt was designed by John Dunn
And the 40th Reunion shirt by Russell Hansen.
The third image suggests that each and every reunion was celebrated in proper style.
When you study this quilt, you quickly recognize a shadow map of Grand Island behind the 450+ names of the Grand Island Senior High Class of 73. Finally, notice that some names have a red line under them. These are our classmates who have passed away. This quilt celebrates everyone who have a shared history as part of the Class of 1973 at Grand Island Senior High, living and dead.
We are Classmates Forever!
Materials used: photo commercially printed on fine cotton fabric, Cottonwood Hand Dyed cottons (purple and gold), two old t-shirts from previous reunions. Machine quilted with a black binding.
Techniques: The design for this quilt began with a computer and typing the name of people in the class. The list was laid over a map of Grand Island along with images of 3 t-shirt designs. This image was sent off to be printed and when it returned. The fabric was cut to allow the purple and gold borders. The piece was quilted and trimmed t-shirts were machine appliqued to the quilted surface. A black binding was stitched to the edge to frame the quilt.
2023, Purchased by the Class of 73 and displayed in the offices of the Grand Island Education Foundation.
