Grace Snyder is an icon of American
quiltmaking. Recognized in the United States as one of the 20th century’s most accomplished quiltmakers, this remarkable Nebraskan’s legacy lives on in the 24 quilts she created expressly for exhibitions and competitions, as well as in the less-seen family quilts.

Her first quilt entry was at the 1912 McPherson County Fair in Flats, Nebraska when she was 30 years old.

Grace enjoyed displaying her quilts in public and entered local, national, and international quilt exhibitions. In 1944, she was awarded $2.50 when her Flower Basket Petit Point was chosen as sweepstakes winner at the Nebraska State Fair.

At the 1951 Nebraska State Fair, 18 of her quilts were shown together at the Fine Arts Building.

In a separate display case, Grace’s Grape Quilt was awarded the purple sweepstakes ribbon.

Grace loved flowers and used them often in her quilts, but it was difficult to grow a garden in the Sandhills. Fierce weather destroyed gardens as well as crops. Grace adored geraniums and fuchsias and was very proud to have saved the rose bushes her family moved from Missouri to the Nebraska homestead and then to her Sandhills ranch.

Finished in 1943, the remarkable masterpiece, Flower Basket Petit Point, took 16 months to create, with well over 87,000 tiny triangles, reproducing a china design manufactured by the Salem China Company. Eight triangles sewn together created a small block that was no larger than a two-cent postage stamp.

According to her daughters, Bertie and Billie, Grace used 5,400 yards of thread in piecing the blocks.

When Mr. F. W. McKee, Salem China Company’s president, received a picture of the Flower Basket Petit Point quilt, he was so impressed that he gave Grace 6 place settings of the china pattern, banded in 23-karat gold.

Over the years, he continued to send more china for her growing family, eventually equaling 18 place settings.

In 1950, four of Grace’s quilts were displayed at the Women’s International Exhibition in New York City. Covered Wagon States won a special ribbon in the International Division, and the Grape Quilt won a blue ribbon for Grace’s fine appliqué work. The Flower Basket Petit Point and the Bird of Paradise were placed in a special division since there was nothing else like them at the exhibition. They were awarded the two highest ribbons of their division.

In 1999, Flower Basket Petit Point was included in Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine’s 100 best American quilts of the 20th century.

Grace cut a multitude of small triangles and squares to create the brilliantly colored Bird of Paradise that perches gracefully on a flowering branch. Even the off-white background within the hexagon was cut and re-sewn in small squares to provide a unified look within the main design.

Beyond the branches, the quilting pattern changes into a smaller grid pattern. Between the swag border and the quilt edges, the quilting lines begin to echo the waving lines of the appliquéd swag. Close to the quilted branches, Grace included 1950 and her initials GS.

The Hexagon Mosaic was also included in the elite list of 100 best American quilts of the 20th century. It is perhaps Grace’s most intricate work — in fact, Grace herself thought it was one of her finest quilts.

The original design, created by Albert Small of Illinois, included 63,450 pieces and appeared in a magazine article in the late 1930s. Intrigued by the quilt, Grace asked Albert to send her the tiny template. Grace’s Hexagon Mosaic was bed-sized by the time she had hand-stitched well over 58,000 pieces together.

The simple hexagon shape can produce a multitude of quilt designs, and this Hexagon Mosaic quilt is an extraordinary example of the complexity and beauty that can be achieved. There is no record of how Grace chose her colors or determined her exact design, but we have the marvelous result of her efforts.

There is no batting between the front and back of the quilt, perhaps a clue that Grace intended it for exhibition and not for practical use to keep anyone warm in bed. Grace simplified the quilting pattern to a single line through the middle of some of the pieces.

Grace exhibited her quilts in Washington, D.C., Massachusetts, Virginia, Texas, Nebraska, and California. When her daughter Nellie began flying to the exhibitions by herself, a separate seat was purchased beside her for the large box containing Grace’s quilts. They were too valuable to include with the luggage.

By displaying her quilts in competitions and exhibitions throughout the country, Grace established herself as one of the pre-eminent quiltmakers in mid-20th century America. Her significant achievements were acknowledged in 1980 when, at age 98, she was inducted into the national Quilter’s Hall of Fame.

Grace Bell “Pete” “Gheet” McCance Snyder passed away on December 8th, 1982 at age 100 and is buried in the North Platte Cemetery. Four years later, she was inducted into the Nebraska Quilter’s Hall of Fame. Her quilts continue to be displayed and admired as examples of extraordinary needlework as well as reflections of her challenging life in the Sandhills.

Oh, and that third daydream to look down on the clouds? In the early 1940s, Grace wanted to go to a California family reunion during one of the busiest times on the ranch. The only way to make it fit the demands of the ranch was a quick trip by plane, her first of many views from above the clouds.