Archer, Iowa — An heirloom bearing the names of people who lived in Archer several decades ago has been restored, and is now on display in the O’Brien County community.
The heirloom is a quilt that, as near as anyone can figure, was made in the mid-1930’s in Archer. Carol McDowell of Archer tells us how the quilt came to be returned to the town, one November day in 2015.
McDowell says the quilt wasn’t in the greatest condition when it came home to Archer.
She says she found, quite by accident, the person who would eventually agree to repair and restore the quilt.
She says she finally contacted Heetland, who told her that she doesn’t normally take on the quilting projects of others, but eventually agreed to tackle the project.
McDowell says Heetland devoted some fifty hours to repair and restore the heirloom.
She tells us about the process Heetland used to clean the restored quilt.
McDowell says the now fully-restored heirloom is displayed in Archer.
The quilt, which is pictured above, contains the embroidered names of 201 people who lived in Archer, as close as can be determined, in the mid-1930’s. As to who made the quilt, and why? McDowell says that remains a mystery.
