Cover of the first issue of Quilter's Newsletter

I never had the opportunity to meet Bonnie Leman. By the time I came to quilting, Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine was in the able hands of her daughter Mary Leman Austin. After I started working at C&T Publishing, I began to hear some of the stories about how Bonnie and her husband started the magazine.

I really came to understand what Bonnie had accomplished when I was working with Mary on a book to celebrate the magazine’s 35th anniversary. In the book, Mary told about how her mother, an experienced sewer, had a treasured scrapbook of her mother’s collection of Kansas City Star patterns. Mary explained that her mother found quilts particularly interesting, and as she researched them fell in love with the designs and history. In the 1960’s, seeing a need for patterns for quilters of the day, Bonnie started by selling patterns and templates.

As Mary recalled:

Before too long, a customer comment inspired Mom’s idea of a newsletter for quiltmakers. Inexperienced in publishing, but still knowing the way to the library she once again began to do research, but did not find as much information as she had hoped. However, she was determined to make her “Quilter’s Newsletter” as professional looking as she could. “We started on a shoestring,” she [Bonnie] has said, “and all I had to work with was a $25 used portable Royal typewriter, and a vast ignorance of procedures for preparing material for printing. The printer rejected the first sample I showed him, explaining that it was not dark enough to reproduce successfully. So, for the first few issues, before I took each page out of the typewriter, I carefully and slowly re-rolled it back to the beginning and typed it a second time to darken each letter. If I made a typo, I had to start over. If correction fluid had yet been invented, I hadn’t heard of it.”

Over the years Bonnie and Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine set the standard for presenting quilting patterns, news, and features, growing the magazine and its influence as the quilting movement itself grew. Bonnie was instrumental in keeping quilters up to date with new takes on traditional favorites while also introducing them to new innovations in design and techniques.

I can only imagine that the quilting world would not be what it is today, if it hadn’t been for Bonnie Leman’s love of quilting, her perseverance, and her advocacy for all things quilting.

From everyone at C&T Publishing, we are saddened to hear of Bonnie’s passing and our condolences go to the Leman family.

Visit the Quilter’s Hall of Fame site for more details about this remarkable woman.

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