‘Our Boys and Girls’ antique quilt blocks displayed at Annual Conference

Church of the Brethren Newsline
August 1, 2018

by Frank Ramirez

The Association for the Arts in the Church of the Brethren, in cooperation with the Brethren Heritage Center in Ohio, has highlighted quilt block patterns featured in the Dec. 7, 1929, issue of the Brethren youth magazine of the time, “Our Boys and Girls.”

A small quilt was on display at Annual Conference in Cincinnati in early July, featuring blocks created by then 10-year-old Grace Shock. She was an avid reader of the periodical and the blocks traveled with her wherever she went.

By 2017, Grace Shock Voorheis had moved to Timbercrest Retirement Community in North Manchester, Ind. There, with the help of Mary Ritchie who matched the original blocks with antique cloth from the same period, the blocks were pieced, quilted, and donated to a grateful Brethren Heritage Center. Karen Garrett has curated the exhibit.

The accompanying photos show the connection between the antique quilt blocks, now almost 90 years old, and the original pattern from “Our Boys and Girls.”

— Frank Ramirez was a member of the volunteer news team for Annual Conference for 2018.

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