Leaves From My Family Tree

I have about two dozen old quilts, many of which were made in the late 1800's.

The oldest quilt in my collection, the Rose Wreath Quilt, was made by my great-great grandmother, Ruth Payne Bever, prior to her marriage. She was married on February 21, 1861 to Joseph Bever in Dallas County, Iowa.

I have displayed this Rose Wreath quilt at several local quilt shows, and it was one of 100 quilts featured in the 1999 PBS program "Quilts of Oregon".

Click this thumbnail photo to learn
more about the Rose Wreath Quilt.

Links to a few other quilts in my collection:
Wedding Ring	Ocean Wave	Double Irish Chain

My great-grandmother, Minerva "Maggie" Bever Henderson was a prolific quilter. She purchased the family's first sewing machine sometime after her marriage in October, 1891. From that time on, Maggie did all of her piecing by machine. Her mother, Ruth Payne Bever, continued to do her piecing by hand.

Ruth Bever hand-pieced many, many blocks through the years. At some point, either at the time that they were pieced or sometimes many years later, her daughter, Maggie, sewed the blocks together by machine and made finished quilts. Maggie had a quilting frame in her basement up until about 1955.

My mother and uncle remember when they were children and their Grandmother Maggie would invite women over to quilt. The frame was attached to pulleys, and would be lowered from the ceiling for the quilting bees. Mom remembers that she even did some quilting on occasion when she was fairly young.