Holice Edward Turnbow (born October 1, 1930) is an American quilter, artist, and textile consultant. Since the early 1970s, Turnbow has curated, judged, and lectured at a multitude of quilting events throughout the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

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. He is certified by the National Quilting Association as a judge and teacher. In 1988, he co-founded the Hoffman Challenge, a national quilting, clothing, and dolls contest featuring hundreds of participants. His design have been commissioned by Spartex, Inc., Stencil House, and Benartex, Inc.

Early life, career

Turnbow was born in

Shamrock, Texas Shamrock is a city in Wheeler County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 1,910. The city is located in the eastern portion of the Texas Panhandle centered along the crossroads of Interstate 40 (formerl ...

, on October 1, 1930. He has three sisters, each of whom was also born in Shamrock, Texas. His sisters, Martha Turnbow Darr and Nancy Turnbow Simpson, are also a quilters. Holice began his quilting career in the early 1970s after he was asked to teach needlework and

quilting Quilting is the term given to the process of joining a minimum of three layers of fabric together either through stitching manually using a needle and thread, or mechanically with a sewing machine or specialised longarm quilting system. ...

for a county recreational program. Turnbow first received national exposure in 1978, when he was asked by the

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

Department of Culture and History to consult on and organize a quilt show. The show was in conjunction with the

U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

issuing a

commemorative stamp A commemorative stamp is a postage stamp, often issued on a significant date such as an anniversary, to honor or commemorate a place, event, person, or object. The ''subject'' of the commemorative stamp is usually spelled out in print, unlike defi ...

that recognized quilting as a

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative. The makers of folk art are typically tr ...

. That same year, he also served on the planning committee for the First Continental Quilting Congress, which was held in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

. After these two events, he was invited to teach and lecture at numerous quilting events across the

and

Judging

Turnbow is a quilt judge and teacher certified by the National Quilting Association. He has been a judicial fixture in a multitude of quilting and craft events since the 1980s. In 1988, Turnbow and Betty Boyink founded and curated the Hoffman Challenge, a national contest of quilted wall hangings, clothing, and dolls. The event, which started out with 94 quilters, has since grown to regularly over 700 participants. Turnbow and Boyink curated the event until 1998.

Exhibits

Turnbow has designed and made garments for two invitational exhibits; "Statements", which was sponsored by P and B Fabrics, and the Fairfield Fashion Show." He has designed and made quilts for a multitude of special exhibits and challenges, as well, including the exhibit "Men of Biblical Proportions".

Stencils

In 1992, Turnbow was asked by Spartex, Inc., a

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

fabric company, to develop and design whole cloth patterns to be printed onto fabric. Included in Turnbow's designs was a series based on quilts from the National Museum of American History at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

. Afterwards, he served as a quilt consultant to various textile and fabric companies, including the Canadian company Stencil House and the thread company Talon, Inc. He also provided further designs, including whole cloth quilts, to companies such as the New York fabric company Benartex, Inc. and the Stencil Company. His stencils are also re-published by various merchants online.

Teaching

Turnbow continues to teach quilting techniques, both hand and machine, to quilting groups, quilt shops, and national conventions across the United States. In addition to teaching regularly for local quilt shops, guilds, and conventions, he was a regular faculty member for the Original Sewing and Quilting Expo which conducted sewing and quilting events eight times a year.

Media presence

Turnbow has written regularly for various quilting magazines. He has been featured on ''Quilters TV'', and appeared on Kay Wood's ''Strip Quilting with Kaye'' and ''Quilting for the '90s.'' He also represented the Stencil Company in six shows on ''QNN'', and in 2006 was named ''QNNs "Designer of the Month for July." He has appeared in 13 segments of the television series ''Heirlooms by Design'', which was shown through the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

network. He has recently completed the quilting series ''Quilt as Desired'' for ''QuiltersTV'', which began showing on the internet in late April 2011. This was the third time he provided instructional videos for the site. The series is sponsored by the Stencil Company. He was also featured in the book ''Men and the Art of Quiltmaking'' by Joe Cunningham, published by the American Quilter's Society.

Selected judiciary events

*"Central Oklahoma Quilters Guild Show" *Northern Quilters Watertown, NY *"Charlton Sewing Center EQ16 Challenge" *

Plano, Texas Plano ( ) is a city in Collin County and Denton County, Texas, United States. It had a population of 285,494 at the 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. History European settlers came to the area near ...

Quilters Guild *Machine Quilters on the Waterfront –

Duluth, MN , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

*"Machine Quilters Showcase" - ''twice'' *"Pennsylvania National Show" * Blue Ridge, VA Quilters Guild - ''twice'' *"Rose Hill Manor Quilt Show" - Hagerstown, Maryland, ''twice'' *Western Maryland Quilt Guild - ''thrice'' *"Jackson Mills Annual Show" -

*Southern Maryland Quilters Guild *"New Jersey State Guild Show" *"Lowell Quilt Festival" -

Lowell, MA Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as o ...

''(180 quilts)'' *"Narragansett Bay Quilters Show" - East Greenwich, RI ''(165 quilts)''

Personal life

Turnbow currently lives in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.

References

External links

*
Holice Turnbow
at ManQuilters {{DEFAULTSORT:Turnbow, Holice Living people American quilters People from Shamrock, Texas 1930 births People from Sturbridge, Massachusetts