Quilt is a showstopper <br> at Autry’s ‘Home Lands’ exhibition

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At the press opening for ‘Home Lands: How Women Made the West,’ a new exhibition running through Aug. 22 at the Autry National Center, there were lots of cool things to look at, including an amazing Cheyenne deerskin dress and a 1,000-year-old seed storage jar from New Mexico. But the most oohing and ahhing was reserved for the quilt pictured at right. The late 19th century log cabin pattern quilt, fashioned from vibrant silk, was a gift for Eurithe LaBarthe, a high school teacher and principal, bestowed when she left Colorado Springs for Salt Lake City. Embroidered on each edge is the name of a town LaBarthe called home. (Two are visible in the photo: Peoria on the top, and Denver on the bottom. Colorado Springs and Salt Lake City, cropped out, are on the sides.) Around each town, embroidered in smaller script, are the names of friends she made in each place. Salt Lake City is unadorned, a new home awaiting new friends.

The quilt, which is on loan from the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, is displayed in an exhibit about women’s travel in the West. Not only did LaBarthe cover miles, she moved up. She went on to become Utah’s first female legislator.

Autry National Center, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles. (323) 667-2000 or theautry.org. Admission is $9 for adults, $5 for seniors and students, $3 for children 3-12. Free every second Tuesday of the month. Open Tues.-Fri., 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Mondays.

-- Deborah Netburn