"The Book Cover Quilt"
At The Jesse Stuart Foundation, 1645 Winchester Avenue
Ashland, KY
Artists: Caroline Wilson and Steven McClements
The Jesse Stuart Foundation is the location of an ABC Quilt Alley quilt block in downtown Ashland, Kentucky. This quilt block represents the history of the Stuart’s family in the region. It honors his sister Glennis Stuart Liles as a quilter and honors Jesse Stuart as a best-known and best-loved writer. Jesse Stuart was born August 8, 1906.
In an old, local newspaper article, Mrs. Stuart is pictured standing beside a bed in the upstairs bedroom in their home in W-Hollow with a quilt on the bed. Mrs. Stuart is telling the history of the quilt that is decorated with jacket covers from Stuart’s books. His sister, Mrs. Liles, who lived nearby, did the quilting and a niece, Mrs. Ken Lowmiller, who lived in Xenia, Ohio, reproduced the covers. This was a gift to Jesse to honor him and his work.
The jacket covers are appliquéd on with the titles embroidered. Some of the book covers have uncompleted embroidery work on the titles. The date of the quilt is believed to be 1958.
This quilt inspired Dr. James M. Gifford and the employees of JSF to have the Jesse Stuart Foundation as a location for a quilt block. This is part of the ABC Quilt Alley, Kentucky Quilt Trail and National Quilt Trail. When visiting JSF you may see this quilt with other memorabilia in the Jesse Stuart room.
Caroline Wilson, Community Scholar, and Steven McClements, Shipping Manager, are local artists that work for the JSF and volunteered their time to paint the quilt block. Jim Marsh is the artist who did the “Kentucky Is My Life” jacket cover for the book. Nancy K. Osborne coordinated the quilt block project for the JSF. The quilt block was installed September 18, 2006, right before the Jesse Stuart Foundation Weekend celebrated his 100th birthday. There are one hundred spring bulbs planted under the quilt block to also celebrate his birthday.
This quilt block was funded by donations from Erma Slavens, a retired school teacher; Donna Sue Groves, in honor of her mother, Nina Maxine Groves, a retired school teacher and quilter; other anonymous friends of JSF; and the Friendship Quilters from Wurtland, Kentucky in Greenup County, birthplace of Jesse Stuart. Jim Osborne, who built the frame, and Steven McClements, installed the quilt block.
Visit the JSF anytime you are in the Ashland, Kentucky area. The staff is available to answer your questions about the Foundation and about Jesse Stuart. It is a place to purchase Kentucky items, visit the Jesse Stuart room where you can see the works of Mr. Stuart; the book jacket covers quilt and other items from his life. There are two bookstores, containing both new and used books, an art gallery, and a photographic exhibit which periodically may change. We are happy to have the JSF as part of the quilt trail.
Kentucky’s Jesse Stuart
Jesse Stuart (1906-1984) was one of America’s best-known and best-loved writers. In 1976, late in his writing career, the editors of Country Gentleman magazine boldly proclaimed Stuart “America’s Most Famous Chronicler of Rural Life.” At that time, nearing the end of a five-decade writing career, Stuart had published nearly 60 books, including biography, autobiography, essays, and juvenile works as well as poetry and fiction. These books have immortalized the Kentucky hill country that inspired his writing.
Thousands of his short stories, articles, and poems appeared in America’s most widely read magazines, journals, and periodicals. His frequent literacy appearances from the 1930s through the 1970s made him an American icon and a famous writer throughout America. Stuart also taught and lectured extensively. His teaching experience ranged from the one-room schoolhouse of his youth in Eastern Kentucky to the American University in Cairo, Egypt.
Jesse Stuart Foundation
We at the Jesse Stuart Foundation (JSF) are deeply committed to our dual mission of preserving the human and literary legacy of Jesse Stuart while fostering appreciation of the Appalachian way of life through our book publishing and other activities. The JSF has reprinted many of Stuart’s out-of-print books along with other books that focus on Kentucky and Appalachia. The Foundation promotes a number of cultural and educational programs and encourages the study of Jesse Stuart’s works and related regional materials. Our primary purpose is to produce books which supplement the educational system at all levels. We have thousands of books in stock and we want to make them accessible to teachers and librarians, as well as general readers. We also promote Stuart’s legacy through videotapes, dramas, readings, and other presentations for school and civic groups, and an annual Jesse Stuart Weekend at Greenbo Lake State Resort Park. We are proud of the fact that we have become a significant regional press and bookseller and a major source of books for writers, historians, educators, collectors and readers of all ages.
The Jesse Stuart Foundation is open Monday through Friday from 9:00AM to 5:00PM.
Phone: 606-326-1667.
E-mail: jsf@jsfbooks.com
Website: www.JSFBOOKS.com