Texas Tech Press Book Wins Texas Writers’ League Award

“Texas Quilts and Quilters” chronicles 34 Texas quilts and their Lone Star legacies.

Written by Sally Logue Post

TTU Press

“Texas Quilts and Quilters,” by Marcia Kaylakie, with Janice Whittington, has won the Writers’ League of Texas Violet Crown award for nonfiction.

The award was announced Nov. 1 in Austin. The book, published by Texas Tech University Press, features 34 quilts. Kaylakie uses the stories behind the quilts to give the reader a look into the cultural development of Texas. The quilts are from all parts of the state and range from the 1870s to the turn of the 21st century.

“I was thrilled and honored to receive such a prestigious award for the book,” said Kaylaki. “I am grateful not only to everyone who worked on it with me, but especially to those wonderful quilt owners who generously gave their quilts and their stories. They are the true centerpiece of this award.”

The Writers’ League of Texas sponsors the Annual Violet Crown Book Award to honor outstanding books published each year. The name of the Violet Crown award comes from an O Henry phrase describing Austin as “the city of the Violet Crown.”

Kaylakie spent more than a decade travelling the state to collect the quilts and their stories. She is a quilt collector, teacher, judge and certified appraiser. Her lectures and workshops feature antique and vintage quilts from her own collection as she shows how American quilts reflect social, political and economic history. She also teaches quilt care, conservation, storage and documentation.

Kaylakie wrote the book with Janice Whittington, who has taught English and writing for more than 30 years. Whittington is author of the prizewinning poetry book “Into a Thousand Mouths” and coeditor of “The Waltz He Was Born For: An Introduction to the Writing of Walt McDonald.”

Jim Lincoln provided photography for the book. He and his wife, Judy, have photographed for numerous quilt calendars and books, including “America from the Heart-America Remembers 9/11,” “Celebrate Great Quilts,” “I Remember Mama” and “Imagine That!”

All books from Texas Tech University Press can be found at www.ttup.ttu.edu.