Author Description

Patchwork Souvenirs of the 1933 World's Fair is the story of the largest quilt exhibition ever organized: the Sears National Quilt Contest held in 1933 during Chicago's Century of Progress Exposition. The result of several years' research, the book presents a thoughtful picture of quiltmaking in the early twentieth century and of what happened when the art of quiltmaking collided with commercial opportunism. Attracting quilters nationwide, the Sears contest offered a grand prize of $1,200 for what was to be America's champion quilt; total prize money would be $7,500. More than 25,000 quilts were entered in local and regional contests nationwide, and the 30 winners from those contents were put on public display in the Sears Pavilion at the fair.