More About the Quilt at the ARBA History Library

The quilt measures 13' X 5'. I have been making quilts for 27 years and have made quilts that had more square inches but never one that long. It was a lot of fun to make and trying to design Bob's ideas into fabric especially long distance was a real challenge! Getting the curve of the table just right was another challenge due to the fact the table was out of state and the dimensions had to fit exactly. I had the dimensions of the table taped off on our wood floor for many months, my husband said it looked like a basketball court.

There are many historical items on the quilt besides the breed patches, all the founding members names are embroidered on one end and all the Sec/Executive Directors are on the other end. The 5 State Star blocks represent the 5 states that the ARBA offices have been located along with the dates they were there. All the conventions from the first one in 1918 are embroidered in a center block with the location and the date. Patches then are used from the time they came out in the 70's. All the embroidery was done by hand. I am glad it is receiving so much attention, People seem to be really amazed to see it up close, I don't think you can appreciate the sheer size of it and the amount of embroidery on it until you see it in person.