Ione Schmitz

    I received information from Dianne Cavender, daughter of Ione (Schmitz) Payette.  Unfortunately, Ione passed away in 2008, but the information I received is wonderful.  Dianne informed me that she will be asking her siblings to send stories to me.  It turns out that Ione, Carol, and Doris Schmitz are sisters, and Helen Rose is their Aunt.  Dianne had not heard of the quilt until a cousin sent her a copy of the article I wrote for the Door County Advocate.  Upon reading her letter, I realized that this is going to be an emotional journey for those who are sharing their stories and for me as well.  I am hoping that I will be able to find at least one of these twenty- four ladies who is still with us.  It seems that I have missed some of them by two years or less.
     I have adjusted the form on the 'questionnaire' tab.  It was not printing well, I think I have it fixed now.  Remember to keep visiting, I will update the site as I receive new information.

Getting the Word Out

     The site is up and running.  I will add to it as items come in.  Right now I'm focusing on letting people know that this site is here.  I am hoping that once people start finding this site, they will help to spread the word too. If you know of someone who is not exactly computer savvy or doesn't have access please give them my information.  I would love to be swamped with vitals and stories, and I don't want any of the ladies left out.  I know that there are some wonderful stories, just waiting to be told.  I have a few more pictures to download onto the pictures page.  Right now there are pictures of the individual quilt squares and a picture of the whole quilt as well.  Keep checking back, there will be more to see as this adventure progresses.

The Friendship Quilt

     In the fall of 2010, the Forestville, (Wisconsin) library received a very special gift.  A quilt top was found by Marge Miller of Portage, Wisconsin.  The quilt was very unique and she new she had found a treasure.  She sent the quilt top to our local library so it could be displayed in the place where it was made.  After all this time, the quilt found it's way home.  I was lucky enough to be contacted with this information, and wrote an article for our local paper, The Door County Advocate.  While writing this article, I realized that this was much more than a quilt.  I imagined that there must be many wonderful stories about the ladies who created it.  I also wanted to know more about the quilt itself.  Why was it made, are there others, and why wasn't it finished?  I decided to write a book about the quilters and the quilt.  This will take a lot of research and I can't wait to get started.  The ladies names are listed, and I will be adding lots of pictures.  If you, or someone you know knows anything about this quilt or any of the quilters, please forward them to this site.  I can't wait to hear all the stories and to find out about the rich history surrounding this quilt. Visit the site often to see how this project progresses.