Art in the Gallery

Antique Quilts from the collection

of Phyllis Hatcher

October 26th through November 30th

  About the Collector - Quilter

Phyllis Hatcher's journey in quilting began with her interest in the Amish community, where quilt making played a large part in the lives of Amish women. Phyllis found their creative outlet fascinating and after college and when her family was young, she discovered the fun of attending an annual Amish auction in Gordonville, Pennsylvania. She successfully bid on one quilt each year until she realized that she had a newly made Amish quilt on every bed in the house. With no excuse left for buying quilts, she had to admit that sewing one herself might be the next step. Her mother had taught Phyllis many sewing skills (although no one in her family had ever made a quilt) and with the help of Pat Steiner's Cottonseed Glory Quilt Shop in Annapolis, she began exploring the creative, colorful world of quilt making.

 Phyllis lectures and teaches workshops on quilt/textile history at quilt shows, conferences and guilds. She has been curator of several antique textile exhibits at national quilt shows and currently serves on two committees of the Quilters Hall of Fame in Marion, Indiana and has published a book and magazine articles on quilting.  Phyllis is a Woods member. She can be reached at 410-571-8847. For more information about the Woods Gallery and its Exhibits, call Nancy Saar1as at 410-647-0135.

 Although busy teaching first grade at Severna Park Elementary School and raising two daughters, Phyllis found time for quilt making, teaching quilting classes, and attending quilt shows. She noticed that a large quilt show in Williamsburg featured a quilt appraiser. On a whim and with great curiosity, she took her own newly made quilt to the show's appraiser. Although her personal quilt was unremarkable, Phyllis found the process of appraising intriguing. When classes in quilt appraising were offered at Belle Grove Plantation in Virginia, Phyllis signed up and her future role in the professional quilt world began.