VERGENNES — Math educator and longtime quilter Nola Forbes of St. Johnsbury presents “Quilting, Mathematics, Genealogy — Oh, My!” at the Bixby Memorial Library in Vergennes on Thursday, March 21, at 7 p.m.
A pieced cotton quilt with 53 signatures from four generations of Eastman and Beede family members caught Forbes’ attention and sent her on a quest to find out about the people who had signed the quilt. The home for many of the signers in the early 1900s was in Washington, Vt. Forbes will describe the research she undertook to help identify these spirits and bring them back to life. 
Forbes has enjoyed a career as an educator of mathematics and computer programming. As a seventh-generation Vermonter, Forbes also enjoys genealogical research. She is an active member in the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) for the regional Saint John de Crevecoeur Chapter and for the state of Vermont. She has a deep appreciation for the heritage that quilts and their makers have developed. She is a 35-year member of the Kirby Quilters; past President of Green Mountain Quilters Guild; volunteer and former trustee for the annual Vermont Quilt Festival.
Forbes demonstrates traditional and contemporary techniques, teaches, and judges for many quilt venues throughout Vermont. She completed interviews for the national Quilters’ Save Our Stories (Q.S.O.S.), www.allianceforamericanquilts.org/qsos, an oral history project, for which she received a national award from the DAR.
For additional information on this and other programs in the Bixby Library’s Third Thursday series contact the library at (802) 877-2211. All Third Thursday events are free and open to the public.