Like all art forms, quilting has its -masters, - and Vicksburg, Mississippi's Martha Butcher Skelton is among them. Noted quilt scholar Mary Elizabeth Johnson chronicles Martha Skelton's life and her development into one of America's foremost quilt artists.

Born in West Virginia, Martha Skelton was reared in Oklahoma. Her interest in quilting began when, as a girl, she watched her mother and aunts make quilts and enjoy needlework. After graduating college and marrying, she moved to Vicksburg and served as a school librarian for a number of years while raising a family. During this time,...