History Repeated: Block Exchange Quilts by the 19th-Century Patchwork Divas
Betsy Chutchian and Carol Staehle met through the Quilter's Guild of Arlington, Texas, more than 20 years ago. They quickly formed a friendship through their common interests in quilting, love of traditional quilts, and appreciation of antique quilts.Carol began her sewing journey making clothes at age 12. Both of her grandmothers quilted but the quilting gene skipped a generation. Although she was a lifelong sewer, Carol's mother never made a quilt but she nurtured her daughter's love of sewing. She gave Carol her first sewing machine, a Singer featherweight, which she still has today. After graduating from Purdue University with a teaching degree, Carol taught Language Arts and English for junior and senior high school students in Michigan, Iowa and Ohio.She took a quilting class in the mid-1980s and hasn't looked back since. In the mid-1990s, Carol began teaching quiltmaking classes at her local quilt shop in Arlington, Texas. An award-winning quilter, she currently leads a monthly quilt club at Cabbage Rose Quilting and Fabrics in Forth Worth, Texas. Carol and her husband John live in Arlington, Texas, and have a son, Jim, daughter-in-law, Pon, granddaughter, Clarrisa, and two cats.As a child, learning to sew on her two grandmothers' treadle sewing machines, Betsy fell in love with fabric and quilts. In 1980, she received a B.A. in History from the University of Texas in Arlington and taught herself to quilt after receiving a quilt top made by a great aunt and great grandmother. This began a passionate journey combining her love of fabric, quiltmaking and history.A former quilt shop owner, Betsy has taught quiltmaking at a number of quilt shops since 1990 and she has traveled across Texas, sharing her love of 19th-century quilts through lectures, trunk shows, and workshops since 2004. She leads a monthly club at Lone Star House of Quilts in Arlington, Texas. In 2010, Betsy's first reproduction fabric l ine was printed with Blue Hill Fabrics and a second in 2011.In addition to quilting, Betsy enjoys cooking, antiquing, and collecting antique quilts. She and her husband Steve live in Grand Prairie, Texas. They have a daughter, Rachel, son, Matt, son-in-law, Craig, and three cats.