Indianapolis, IN
Indy 500 ‘Quilt Lady’ dies: She gave winning drivers hand-stitched blankets since 1976
INDIANAPOLIS — Jeanetta Holder, perfectly enough, was born on an Indianapolis 500 race day in May 1932 on a family farm in Kentucky. Throughout her nine decades of life, she raced stock cars, claiming to be the first woman to flip one, worked part time hanging wallpaper and — most notably — became the beloved “Quilt Lady” at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Since 1976, when Holder gave Johnny Rutherford a hand-stitched red, white and blue quilt after he won the Indy 500, she has given more than 40 patchwork masterpieces to the Speedway’s race victors, as well as hundreds more to drivers at other tracks, a few celebrities and even President Jimmy Carter.
Depending on the year, and the winning driver, Holder’s Indy 500 quilts have been adorned with checkered flags, Chevrolets, Tony Hulman’s likeness, Borg Warner trophies and, almost always, hand-stitched autographs of drivers.
When Holder died last week at 91 years old, the racing community mourned a woman who never charged a penny for the hundreds of hours she spent on the quilts, not to mention the materials she bought in bulk.
She just loved racing, quilting and, especially, the drivers.
“The drivers do so much to make us happy,” Holder said in a May 1988 Indianapolis News article. “So, this is my gift to them.”
After Holder’s death last week, IMS president Doug Boles told IndyStar that Holder’s quilts were a perfect example of the organic traditions surrounding the Speedway.
“We don’t start these traditions,” he said. “The fans start these traditions. This is something Jeanetta started. This was her thing.”
And the drivers loved it.
“They welcomed Jeanetta and her quilts with open arms,” said Laura Steele, local media personality and Indy 500 reporter. “Her quilts were like a cozy gift on a warm, May day from someone who feels like your grandma, from someone who loves you.”
‘I know what it’s like to get upside down in a stock car’
Holder was born May 30, 1932, near Bowling Green, Kentucky, the same day Fred Frame won the Indy 500. It was the 20th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing and it was a memorable one as 26 of the 40 cars dropped out due to crashes or mechanical failure.
Growing up, Holder liked to boast that she was born on an Indy 500 race day. But she wasn’t sure which she loved more — racing or sewing. As a young girl, she would make clothes for her sister, who lived at a school for the blind, and she would sew tiny clothes for her dolls.
When she was 10, Holder concocted her first miniature race car using tobacco sticks and lard can lids for the body sheathing, she told David M. Brown in 2016. She used a nail as a shifter.
By the time she was 18, Holder was a trailblazer. She was a woman behind the wheel racing cars in 1950, which was virtually unheard of at the time.
On the oval dirt track, Holder gained a reputation for determined driving, Brown wrote. “I was the first lady to flip a car,” Holder said in 2016. “I was the second one, too.”
“I know what it’s like to get upside down in a stock car,” Holder told the Indianapolis News in 1988.
As she raced stock cars, Holder saw her first Indy 500 in 1950, watching Johnnie Parsons win a race that was stopped at 138 laps due to rain. She fell in love with racing at the Speedway.
When Holder met her husband, Clarence, in Indianapolis, they forged a bond over their love of speed. Clarence would travel to Pocono and Ontario to watch races. After they married, Holder and Clarence moved to Avon in 1962.
Their home was just a few miles west of the racetrack Holder loved so much. Living so close to IMS, Holder’s passion for the Indy 500 burgeoned.
In the early 1970s, with her own racing days behind her, Holder decided to find a way to do something to connect her love of racing with her newest hobby — making quilts.
‘Incredible woman who lived an extraordinary life’
The first year, Holder crafted a patriotic red, white and blue quilt, went to the 1976 Indy 500 and waited for Rutherford to be driven around the track in a convertible as a victor. Inside his garage, Holder handed Rutherford her blanket with a note that read, “Here’s a quilt I made for you,” according to Brown.
Rutherford’s wife, Betty, told the Indianapolis News in 1988 that the couple had two quilts crafted by Holder, one hanging on the wall of their Texas home and one on the bed.
“I’ve had many offers to buy them,” Betty said. “But they’re not for sale at any price.”
It wasn’t until the early 1970s that IMS opened the garage area to women and a 40-something Holder, never one to be shy about her love of racing, said it was about time.
She promptly made her way into the garages, walked up to drivers and began collecting autographs on pieces of white fabric squares. From there, she started including drivers’ autographs on quilts, hand stitching the letters over their signatures.
Just a decade after she got access to the garage area, Holder’s quilts were embroidered with more than 200 autographs of drivers.
“You see, a driver won’t just go up to another driver and say, ‘I want your autograph,’” Holder told the News. “But they are so happy when I make the autographs for them.”
Through the years, Holder has presented the quilts to the winners in the garage area, in Victory Circle and the day after the race during the victor’s photo session. She usually gave the drivers a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
One of Boles’ favorite photos from his time at IMS is one he snapped of four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves and two-time winner Juan Pablo Montoya in front of one of Holder’s quilts, on which she had accidentally swapped their autographs.
That quilt was hanging on the back wall of the IMS Museum. Throughout the years, many of Holder’s quilts made their way into public places, including the Speedway Motel, where the blankets would be raffled off.
“She was so proud of all of that. But she was over the moon that her quilt was in the IMS Museum,” said Steele, who became friends with Holder after doing a story on her in 2016. “Her love of IMS came out in the making of quilts.”
But Holder was more than just the “Quilt Lady,” Robby Unser posted on his Facebook page after Holder’s death.
“She was very special to me and my family. She used to babysit Jeri and I at races. I will cherish the wonderful time I got to spend with her at her farm in Bowling Green over the last several years,” wrote Unser, a former driver and son of Bobby Unser. “She was an incredible woman, who lived an extraordinary life, and she will be greatly missed.”
Services for Holder are pending.
Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on X: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com.
The Indianapolis Colts host the Tennessee Titans in NFL Week 16 action as the Colts try to remain in the AFC playoff race.
The CBS game will be shown in only the Indianapolis and Nashville NFL markets. It will also air in much of Indiana, Illinois and Tennessee, and in parts of Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.
When do the Colts play the Titans in NFL Week 16?
1 p.m. ET Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis
How to watch Colts vs Titans in NFL Week 16
CBS, with Tom McCarthy (play-by-play), and Ross Tucker and Jay Feely (analysis).
How to stream, watch Titans-Colts game for NFL Week 16
The Colts-Broncos matchup will stream on Paramount+ at 1 p.m. ET Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. The app is available in the Apple App Store or on Google Play. Fans can also download NFL+ in the Apple App Store or on Google Play.
Colts 2024 schedule
all times ET
Sept. 8: Texans 29, Colts 27
Sept. 15: Packers 16, Colts 10
Sept. 22: Colts 21, Bears 16
Sept. 29: Colts 27, Steelers 24
Oct. 6: Jaguars 37, Colts 34
Oct. 13: Colts 20, Titans 17
Oct. 20: Colts 16, Dolphins 10
Oct. 27: Texans 23, Colts 20
Nov. 3: Vikings 21, Colts 13
Nov. 10: Bills 30, Colts 20
Nov. 17: Colts 28, Jets 27
Nov. 24: Lions 24, Colts 6
Dec. 1: Colts 25, Patriots 24
Dec. 15: Broncos 31, Colts 13
Dec. 22: vs. Tennessee, 1 p.m., CBS
Dec. 29: at N.Y. Giants, 1 p.m., Fox
Jan. 5: vs. Jacksonville, TBD
The Tennessee Titans may be out of the playoff picture, but they find themselves in a big game against their AFC South rival Indianapolis Colts.
The Titans can play spoiler for the Colts, who need to win to hold onto their faint playoff hopes, by eliminating them from playoff contention in a win.
However, CBS Sports writer Pete Prisco doesn’t believe that will end up being the case. He predicts that the Colts will pull out a 24-17 win against the Titans.
“The Colts are alive in the playoff race — barely. The Titans are done and might be making a quarterback change. The Colts did some good things in losing to the Broncos last week in a game they should have won. They bounce back here. Colts take it,” Prisco writes.
The Titans are certainly an underdog considering the fact that they are on the road and have won only three games all year long.
However, we have seen how difficult it can be for divisional opponents to sweep a season series, and the Colts came away with the win when the two teams met in Nashville during Week 6.
The Titans are coming into the game with a massive chip on their shoulder and a new source of energy with Mason Rudolph taking over as the starting quarterback after Will Levis was demoted earlier in the week.
The Titans have the ingredients necessary for a win against the Colts, but they still have to execute their plan in order to leave Indy on a happy flight home to Tennessee.
The Titans and Colts are set to kickoff at 12 noon CT tomorrow inside Lucas Oil Stadium. The game can be watched on CBS or streamed on Paramount+.
Make sure you bookmark Tennessee Titans on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!
The Indianapolis Colts (6-8) are prepped for an AFC South clash at home against the Tennessee Titans (3-11), with still plenty on the line. If the Colts win this game, their slim playoff hopes stay alive at 15%. However, a loss destroys every probability of this happening, dropping Shane Steichen’s troops to 1% (NFL.com).
What this means is Anthony Richardson, Jonathan Taylor, and the offensive line must operate better than against the Denver Broncos, but the defense and Gus Bradley must carry over their performance at Mile High.
With Indy’s 15th game nearly here, these are the two X-Factors for the offense and defense (minus Richardson) most crucial to Indianapolis walking out of Lucas Oil with their seventh win on the season and with postseason aspirations still breathing.
Offense | Josh Downs
Colts’ second-year wide receiver Josh Downs has emerged as the most reliable target for Steichen’s offense throughout 2024. The former North Carolina Tarheel has reeled 56 catches on 86 targets for 626 receiving yards (11.2 average) and four touchdowns.
After being sidelined with a shoulder injury, Downs is ready to bounce back from his underwhelming three-catch, 32-yard performance at Mile High. The Titans are a gritty defense, and Downs will face off against Tennessee’s slot cornerback Roger McCreary. Downs dominated in the first meeting, catching seven of nine targets from Joe Flacco for 66 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Expect Richardson to look Downs’ way often, especially considering that Alec Pierce (concussion) won’t suit up for this one. While Michael Pittman Jr. and AD Mitchell will get their fair share of throws, Downs is the safety blanket and most reliable pass-catcher.
The Colts have to get Richardson into a rhythm throwing the football to help the young field general over the 50% completion hump; the best way to do that since there’s nearly no tight end receiving production is getting Downs the football. Expect at least eight-plus targets for Downs on Sunday.
What happens next for the Colts? Don’t miss out on any news and analysis! Take a second and sign up for our free newsletter and get breaking Colts news delivered to your inbox daily!
Defense | Laiatu Latu
After a rocky start to his rookie campaign, the Colts’ rookie 15th overall selection Laiatu Latu is finding his footing in the NFL. Along with Kwity Paye, the two have combined for 10 sacks, with Latu accounting for four. Latu also has Pro Football Focus grades of 72.7 overall, 72.9 pass-rush, and 64.3 run. While the last can improve, Latu is getting to where he needs to be under Charlie Partridge.
Against the Titans, Latu will have a chance to feast on a struggling Tennessee offensive line. The Titans’ protection ranks 28th in Pro Football Focus team grades for pass-blocking (56.6), so there’s areas where Latu can exploit.
While offensive tackle JC Latham has an acceptable pass-blocking grade (66.8), he’s second on Tennessee in pressures allowed (37) behind only fellow tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere (39). Latu has a chance to wreck Mason Rudolph with constant pressures that might lead to opportunities for sacks. For the year, the former UCLA Bruin has 34 pressures and will have a clear path to success against Latham and Petit-Frere.
Expect Latu to have a field day when taking snaps against Tennessee on Sunday, with a great chance at a sack or more.
Want more Colts content? Check out the latest episode of the Horseshoe Huddle Podcast!
Follow Horseshoe Huddle on Facebook and X, and subscribe on YouTube for multiple Colts live-stream podcasts per week.
Movie review: 'Babygirl' gives Kidman intriguing sexual conflict – UPI.com
We Who Wrestle with God: Perceptions of the Divine
‘SNL’: Colin Jost Forced to Tell Dirty Jokes About Wife Scarlett Johansson as She Watches Backstage: ‘Oh My Gosh, She’s So Genuinely Worried!’
SMU’s CFP nightmare: Interceptions, diverted billionaires and a ‘shell-shocked’ Cinderella
The Bears need a coach who holds players accountable. Look no further than Ron Rivera
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
Why Marjorie Taylor Greene was ‘kicked out’ of the Freedom Caucus according to Rep. Buck
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
The biggest Supreme Court decisions of 2024: From presidential immunity to overturning the Chevron doctrine
Trump threatens to take back control of Panama Canal over ‘ridiculous fees’
College students get emotional about climate change. Some are finding help in class
Read Blake Lively’s Complaint Against Wayfarer Studios
Trump announces newest nominations to lead DOJ, regulate US railroads
-
Politics1 week agoCanadian premier threatens to cut off energy imports to US if Trump imposes tariff on country
-
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25782636/247422_ChatGPT_anniversary_CVirginia.jpg "Inside the launch — and future — of ChatGPT")
Technology1 week agoInside the launch — and future — of ChatGPT
-
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25789444/1258459915.jpg "OpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskever says the way AI is built is about to change")
Technology1 week agoOpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskever says the way AI is built is about to change
-
Politics1 week agoU.S. Supreme Court will decide if oil industry may sue to block California's zero-emissions goal
-
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25546252/STK169_Mark_Zuckerburg_CVIRGINIA_D.jpg "Meta asks the US government to block OpenAI’s switch to a for-profit")
Technology1 week agoMeta asks the US government to block OpenAI’s switch to a for-profit
-
Politics1 week agoConservative group debuts major ad buy in key senators' states as 'soft appeal' for Hegseth, Gabbard, Patel
-
Business7 days agoFreddie Freeman's World Series walk-off grand slam baseball sells at auction for $1.56 million
-
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23951353/STK043_VRG_Illo_N_Barclay_3_Meta.jpg "Meta’s Instagram boss: who posted something matters more in the AI age")
Technology7 days agoMeta’s Instagram boss: who posted something matters more in the AI age