Annie Ruth Davis

Quilting

I grew up in rural Georgia, in a family that sharecropped for the Sheriff of Bartow County. We had no electricity – my sister and I did our homework by kerosene lamplight. After the chores were completed, my family (two brothers, three sisters, and I) would gather around the fireplace and sing. I inherited my love for sewing at an early age. Being the youngest, however, I was not allowed to sew or clip threads at first – instead I made doll clothes. My maternal grandmother and my mother made clothes from feed and fertilizer sacks. My family also hand-turfed chenille bedspreads for a spread house in Dalton, Georgia. You could see bedspreads hanging on clotheslines for sale at service stations and Mom and Pop grocery stores along Hwy 41.

I have been a quilter for most of my life. I made my three daughters’ prom dresses and wedding gowns, as well as my son Nehru’s jacket and western shirts. I became hooked on quilting when I was invited by a friend to enroll in a Continuing Education Quilting Class. Since then, I have attended many seminars and quilting workshops across the US. After a week long seminar in California with TV personality Eleanor Burns, we heard the teachers and staff were going on a cruise. That night, we students secretly gathered in my room and made yo-yo bikinis (small circles gathered and tied with ribbons). We presented them at graduation, much to everyone’s amusement.

Annie Ruth Davis became the co-owner of a quilt shop after her children graduated from high school. She and her co-owner organized the first quilting guild in their area. She has had some famous clients over the years, including Jami Sutter, wife of the Atlanta Braves’ pitcher Bruce Sutter. She has been blessed with 25 years of experience, and now has a quilting service. She makes quilts by special design as well as hand quilting tops and turning quilt squares (blocks) sewn by relatives into quilts. Her latest technique is designing photograph quilts for weddings and other special occasions. She makes these special gifts for each one of her 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren as they are married. In addition to practicing her craft, she also gives lectures and spreads the art of quilting.