I have had the state quilt guild's archives in the basement for over a year, so last week I started sifting through the files. They had been stored in previous historians' basements and garages, so the totes they're in are not the cleanest. I'll be glad to get them organized, out of our house., and into the collection of the Vermont Historical Society (VHS).
Most of the records have been put into sheet protectors and three ring binders by year, making it all very bulky. Sheet protectors are a no-no for long term storage because, unless they are of archival quality, they tend to adhere to the print over time. I have been removing the papers from the sheet protectors and putting them into file folders. The guild was started in 1979, so this has resulted in a lot of trash and recycling. There are duplicates and unrelated stuff, too, that are being jettisoned.
Most of the files are now in a "bankers' box" in used folders arranged not by year but by topic, as I learned to do while volunteering at VHS. I'll make a list of topics after I have the files more or less in order before turning them over to VHS for safe keeping.
Among the treasures I've found are many years' worth of catalogs from the Vermont Quilt Festival, which at one time was the biggest quilt show in New England. Alas, the pandemic and changes in the quilting industry caused its demise several years ago. Their files are stored at VHS so I'll give the catalogs to them to fill in their collection if necessary. I found newsletters of other guilds in the state also which I'll pass along.
I did find a small cookbook that the guild produced for its tenth anniversary as well as a pattern for an anniversary quilt block. I will share those with the guild at our spring meeting in May. I thought I'd pass out recipes for cookies, cakes and pies and ask anyone who wants to to make one to share for the refreshment table at our fall meeting. I will also challenge folks to make a block to put in the fall block raffle. It looks a little complicated, though, so I'll try making a test block soon. It uses half rectangles which I've been wanting to try.
There are several binders left to go through, but I've been happy to get started on this project. There's o a tote marked "stationary" which I've been avoiding; I will dig in soon.
1 comment:
it sounds like you took on a huge job to get those files in order!! I don't think I would want that job
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