HUNTSVILLE – Next month, Historic Huntsville Foundation’s American Signature Quilt will make a triumphant return to Harrison Brothers Hardware on Courthouse Square.
This special exhibition, to be held Oct. 9-25, marks the first time in 35 years the quilt returns to be on display at the place that inspired its creation.
The American Signature Quilt is a priceless piece of Americana created as a fundraising project in 1989 for Harrison Brothers Hardware.
Project chairs Lynn Jones and Dale Rhoades sent the most influential people of their day two fabric squares, a pen, a self-addressed, stamped envelope and a request for help. Their project resulted in two quilts: one raffled as a fundraiser for Harrison Brothers and one displayed in the Huntsville Madison County Library as a community heirloom.
In 2023, the library returned the quilt to the foundation. Raffled as a fundraiser, the quilt features the original autographs of 165 noted Americans, including Rosa Parks, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Minnie Pearl, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Billie Jean King and Ronald Reagan into its red, white and blue Ohio Star pattern.
“A Homecoming: The American Signature Quilt” launches with a celebration Oct. 9, offering the first public viewing of the quilt. It will be on display through Oct. 25. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. There will be extended hours on Greene Street Market Thursdays. Admission is free to the public.
The quilt’s return also launches the Historic Huntsville Foundation’s Signature Quilt Investment Campaign, offering opportunities to support its ongoing preservation with donation options ranging from $100 to $2,500. Visit https://www.
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