Free Lunch & Learn Opportunity:
Eat, relax, and be transported by the power of storytelling! Jean Wakely leads guests through The Jewell Wolk Story Quilt Project, a collection of 11 story quilts created over a period of 20 years by Jewell Wolk (1924-2011) of Cut Bank, Montana. The quilts depict a wide scope of topics from Jewell’s childhood memories, her children’s lives, women’s history and biblical storytelling. Jewell left her quilts to her eldest daughter, Jean, who manages the project in Jewell’s honor. At each hour-long Lunch and Learn, Jean will share Jewell’s artistic process and cover the stories included in one of her mother’s quilts, including time for questions from attendees. Guests should bring a bag lunch. Space is limited; please reserve your seat by emailing heather@northfieldartsguild.org or call 507-645-8877
January 18 11:30-12:30 The Time & Life of Ruth quilt
January 25 11:30-12:30 Women of the Plains quilt
February 4 11:30-12:30 The Purple Sandwich quilt
Jewell Wolk
Jewell was a student of life, a teacher at heart, and a curious person about life. She was also an extraordinary artist and creative storyteller. Born in 1924 to a German sodbuster farmer, Henry Otto Peterson and schoolmarm, Mary Blyth Peterson, Jewell was their third child of five. Jewell attended country school and Cut Bank High School. After high school, she was a telephone operator for the Cut Bank party line system. Jewell married Robert Walter Wolk and they raised seven children in Cut Bank. She found her quilting passion after her seven children left home. She was a strong believer in the art form of storytelling, which she felt was becoming lost in the multi-media age.
Each new quilt that Jewell made started with a question, launching Jewell on a research adventure. It would take her one to three years to fully develop the theme of each quilt.
As Jewell entered her 80’s, she was going blind, and eventually had to pack away her fabric, thread and needles and stop making her story quilts. The object of her quilts is not perfection in art nor in stitch, but in the story it depicts.
Each quilt tells a story, taking about 45 minutes to cover. Her quilts have traveled extensively, have been widely published and documented, and have been used for many storytelling events. Her daughter Jean is creating a booklet for each quilt, and presents a portion of the collection in this Storied Design exhibition.
Jean Wakely
Jean’s storytelling with her mother’s quilts has taken her across the county to many quilter and museum programs. Jean is currently creating booklets documenting each of her mother’s quilts and the stories they tell. To book Jean as a speaker, to find out more information about the quilts, visit www.StoryQuiltProject.com
