World Quilt Show New England - August 16 -19

On August 16 -19 the Great Lakes Seaway Trail War of 1812 Bicentennial Quilts Traveling and Educational Exhibit will be at World Quilt Show New England in Manchester, New Hampshire. 

The 30-piece exhibit includes 26 quilts made in 1812-true style by McCarthy, other quilters, quilt guilds and historical societies in three Canadian provinces and 11 U.S. states.  New Hampshire resident Martha McCarthy is among the quilters whose work was selected for the international traveling exhibit.

Much of the war was fought in the freshwater shoreline region that is now recognized as the 518-mile Great Lakes Seaway Trail National Scenic Byway in New York and Pennsylvania. McCarthy, who grew up in Buffalo, NY, on the byway, now lives in Londonderry,  just 12 miles from Manchester, NH.

“The War of 1812 was emphasized in our school history classes and we were familiar with the (Buffalo) area attacked by the British. Through the Great Lakes Seaway Trail 1812 quilt challenge I could be involved in commemorating the war even though I now live in New Hampshire,” McCarthy says. 

McCarthy’s quilt titled “For Thomas” is made in the unique “cot-to-coffin” size,
30 inches wide and 70 inches tall, meant to cover a sleeping
or deceased soldier, sailor or militiaman. 

 “I was thrilled to have my quilt selected for the traveling exhibit and it’s an honor to have it displayed at such a highly-rated show as the World Quilt Show in Manchester,” McCarthy says.

Great Lakes Seaway Trail “Storyteller” cards displayed with each quilt share true facts about the quiltmaker’s family history; others are creative imaginations about a woman sending her man off to war with a quilt made of scraps of fabric from her apron, his son’s coat, his mother’s dress, etc.