A History Quilt for Douglas County

When my Nanny Blanton passed away in 1962 she had been working on a rather large quilt. It was several years before my mother could look at it long enough to hand it over to an aunt to finish it up – mainly because she missed her mother so, and it held so many memories.

The quilt was made from scrap pieces of fabric, but each held meaning for our family. Everyone could look at the quilt and point out fabric that had been used to make a shirt, a dress, a skirt, a jacket, or even a tablecloth.
 

 

 The quilt held all sorts of memories such as memories for the first day of school, a honeymoon outfit, a flannel shirt that my kept my father warm and even a baby dress for me.

Even though it was just scraps of fabric the whole quilt is a touchstone that provides the spark that triggers memories for my family.
In 2002, the Douglas County Art Guild did something similar for you, for me and all of the other citizens of Douglas County.

 The Douglas County Art Guild was founded in 1973. It is a satellite of the Cultural Arts Council of Douglasville & Douglas County and exists to allow local artists to share common art interests and goals.
 

 

 Using money received from a grant awarded by the Georgia Council for the Arts along with money raised from local sponsors, members of the Art Guild created a very unusual quilt fashioned entirely out of paper. The grant money was used to pay Mona Waterhouse to “facilitate, teach and direct the creation of the quilt. “

The quilt tells the history of Douglas County one square at a time in a very lovely and unique way.

The hope was that the quilt would “revive a community spirit in the midst of a county experiencing tremendous growth. Its purpose [would] be to teach people and demonstrate that Douglas County is a great place to live.”

 

The quilt is on permanent display at the Douglas County Courthouse on Hospital Drive. You can find it on the second floor. You will find a book on the table below the quilt that provides more information.