Mississippi Library Association

Martha Skelton: Master Quilter of Mississippi

Johnson, Elizabeth. Martha Skelton: Master Quilter of Mississippi.
Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2008.
208 pp. $28.00 (hardcover)

Quilters throughout Mississippi have long been familiar with Martha Skelton, a master quilter who has shared her love of the craft with others throughout the state. In Martha Skelton: Master Quilter of Mississippi, author Elizabeth Johnson provides a detailed narrative of the life and work of Mississippi’s renowned quilt artist.

Johnson, the author of numerous books on quilting and a long-time acquaintance of Skelton, consulted oral histories and scrapbooks to tell Martha’s story. She also lets the quilts “do the talking,” using them to illustrate significant events and places, as well as other sources of inspiration in Martha’s life.

The narrative is accompanied by ninety full color photographs by J.D. Schwalm of the Clarion-Ledger. The photos capture the beauty and detail of Skelton’s quilts, illustrating her skillful use of color and design. The photographs are arranged chronologically, so readers can follow Skelton’s development as a quilter from her childhood through the present. Martha Skelton was born in 1919 and grew up in Oklahoma surrounded by quilters. She enjoyed a variety of needlework as a child, and pieced her first quilt as a teenager. After she graduated college, Martha worked in a library and earned her library degree. She and her husband later moved to Vicksburg. Martha continued to quilt while raising a family, and she also worked for over ten years as a school librarian.

After her children left home, Skelton became increasingly active in Mississippi’s quilting community. She taught numerous classes throughout Mississippi, and her work was displayed in venues around the state and the nation. She has also been active in state quilting organizations, and she helped set up the quilting program at the Mississippi State Fair. She has won numerous awards, and twice participated in the Smithsonian’s Folklife Festival. She has made over two hundred quilts, and is recognized as a master quilter and teacher.

Martha Skelton: Master Quilter of Mississippi is appropriate for readers interested in arts and crafts in Mississippi, and will appeal particularly to those interested in quilting. Johnson’s narrative is clean and straightforward and the photographs of Martha Skelton’s quilts are stunning. This book is recommended for public libraries and academic libraries in Mississippi.

Laura Capell
Digital Archivist
University of Southern Mississippi

Entry Filed under: Book Reviews
Posted on: September 29th, 2009