MOUNT VERNON — Frances Sturtevant, a longtime resident of Mount Vernon and Bellville who passed away in November 2005, was a master quilter and a member of the Lucy Knox Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She and her daughter, Gwen Wallot, joined the DAR in 2001 through the lineage of patriot John Garrett.
Sturtevant was active in the Knox County community, serving as a member of the Ohio Child’s Conservation League since 1956 and as a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church for 60 years. As a member of the church’s altar guild, she made the altar linens, all by hand. The Exchange Club of Mount Vernon presented her with its Golden Deeds Award in 1975.
Last year, in her honor, the Lucy Knox Chapter created the Frances Sturtevant Memorial Scholarship Fund. To raise money for the fund, the chapter raffled a red, white and blue quilt and pillows that Sturtevant began in January 2005 and finished that June. Due to serious illness, she was unable to complete the pillows, but they were finished by a fellow DAR member.
The raffle raised more than $1,600, and the quilt and pillows were won by Shelly Laslo.
Wallot said she donated her mother’s quilt to the chapter to get the fund started, and also sold her mother’s DAR jewelry and hats and raised an additional $2,200 for the fund.
“Mother first learned of quilting when she was about 10 years old,” said Wallot. “Her grandmother had a set of quilt frames set up in the dining room all the time. She would sit under the frames and watch her grandmother quilt.”
Sturtevant began her own quilting in 1981 when her husband, Edward, retired.
“She was always disappointed that her mother was never able to see one of her quilts,” said Wallot. “Her mother passed away before her first quilt was finished.”
Sturtevant made quilts for everyone in her life, using designs such as Wedding Ring, Star, Cherokee Rose, Leaf, Clematis, Triple Tulips, Ohio Rose, Winner’s Circle and Christmas Time.
“She always had a quilt on the frame,” said Wallot. “For 25 years, she had a quilt in the process of either appliquéing or sewing by hand-piecing to make the design. She quilted during the day and pieced in the evenings.”
Scholarship applicants must be the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. of living or deceased members of the Lucy Knox Chapter of the DAR and be enrolled in an accredited postsecondary program. Applications will be available the second week of February at www.lucyknox.org and are due April 15. The recipient will be named at the chapter’s May meeting.
