‘Crazy quilt’ enthusiast from Maine will give virtual lecture for Cobblestone Museum

Provided photo: Betsey Telford-Goodwin of Maine shows one of the antique Crazy Quilts in her collection of more than 700. She will do her first ever virtual lecture at 2 p.m. Jan. 27 to benefit the Cobblestone Museum.

CHILDS – The Cobblestone Museum is planning a first-time virtual lecture at 2 p.m. (EST) Jan. 27 with a world-renown quilt expert and collector.

“I am not a quilter, but two previous lectures that focused on quilts were very well attended,” said Sue Bonafini, assistant director of the Cobblestone Museum. “Virtual lectures are a way to generate operating funds for our museum during our off-season.”

Last fall, Bonafini contacted Brenda Radzinski of Albion, who is a quilter, to suggest a topic related to quilting that might resonate with members and friends of the Museum.

“She suggested a program about Crazy Quilts, which have historical roots from Victorian times,” Bonafini explained. “I simply began researching crazy quilts and their history on the internet, and Betsey’s shop came up in my search engine.”

Crazy Quilts are one-of-a-kind treasures, named for their random patches, irregular shapes, haphazard fabrics and meticulous embroidery.

“Betsey” is Betsey Telford-Goodwin, an antique quilt expert who owns Rocky Mountain Quilts in Maine. She launched her business in Palisade, Colo. and relocated to York, Maine in 1997, when she purchased an 18th century home there and turned its barn into her shop, which contains almost 700 antique quilts. It is a destination for people from as far away as Australia.

Goodwin’s interest in quilts and fabrics was handed down through her family, beginning with her great-grandfather who ran textile mills in New England.

“I originally became interested in quilts as forms of art,” Goodwin said. “Quilts are art. I feel they are very undervalued.”

She has the largest collection of antique fabrics in the United States, outside of a museum, she said. Her quilts date from 1780 to 1955. She restores quilts using original same date or older fabrics.

Goodwin is a member of the prestigious Antiques Council of America, the Maine Antiques Dealers Association, the New Hampshire Dealers Association, the American Society of Interior Designers and the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiques.

She shares how her business began, with four mint condition quilts.

Then clients needed quilts repaired, so she began hand washing and restoring them. After developing a method of restoration, she taught talented hand sewers the art. Betsey learned her master sewing skills at Beaver Country Day School in Chestnut Hill, Mass. At yard sales,  antique shops and antique shows, she purchased all the genuine antique fabrics and clothing she could find. She also purchased “whole cloth” quilts, which she would take apart for fabric.

“Taking apart these quilts enabled me to learn the techniques used in their construction,” she said.

Goodwin explained the Victorian Crazy Quilt is very sophisticated and a symbol of an era when there was no limit to embellishment of one’s home or other environment, indoors or out.

“Women, who did not have the right to vote, could create textile art that still amazes us today,” she said.

Although Goodwin has lectured throughout the United States and the world, including Japan and France, this will be her first virtual lecture. Her husband, a talented computer engineer, is assisting her with what will be needed for this occasion.

She is excitedly looking forward to this new adventure and perhaps visiting Orleans County when the weather is warmer.

Those wishing to become part of this debut virtual lecture should register at the Cobblestone Museum’s events page.