Mrs. J.M. Cline of Coldwater, though 87 years of age, is in quite good health, does all of her housework and finds time to piece and make quilts.

She is shown here with three of her finished quilts and a nine-patch in her lap on which she is now working. The quilt to the far left in the picture is made from a pattern of General Eisenhower's mother.

Between it and Mrs. Cline is a quilt she calls the Curiosity pattern; to the far right is a quilt made of 28 blocks, each of which has 144 one-inch squares to the block. she has made nine quilts of this last pattern.

Last year Mrs. Cline made six or eight quilts and has finished six this year.

Mr. and Mrs. Cline came to Kansas from Evansville, Ind., in 1907 and she and Mr. Cline in 1912 built their new home, where she still lives. He passed away in 1953. They raised 10 children, nine of whom are still living. Mrs. Cline was the eldest of 13 children born to Mr. and Mrs. Frank Metzker, early-day residents of Comanche county.

Mrs. Cline has 28 grandchildren, 63 great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren. She says she inherited her quilt-making from her Grandmother Metzker.

Notes by Rhonda Nickel: "Handwritten date at top of article: "Dec. 31 - 64." I assume this article to be from The Western Star.

I checked, and I have the very same "Curiosity quilt" shown in the picture. I also have a "Tumbling Blocks" quilt, similar to the one on the left in the photo, that Grandma (Minerva) pieced and Mom (Gloria Cline) and I quilted. As a little girl, I spent countless hours at Grandma's house, which was only 2 houses away. I often sat by Grandma as she pieced quilt pieces together."

Mrs. J.M. Cline Has Made Many Hundreds of Beautiful Quilts.
News clipping dated 31 Dec 1964, courtesy of Rhonda (Cline) Nickel.

Also see:

James Marion & Minerva Frances (Metzker) Cline   Family history, obituaries and many family photographs.

Come Home to Coldwater Quilters Club   The tradition of quilting continues in Comanche County, 2003 club report.

Thanks to Rhonda Nickel, grand-daughter of Minerva Frances (Metzker) Cline, for transcribing the above article and providing scans of it for use on this web site.

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