About

My Journey Started with a Stitch...

Yvonne Cory

My love for textiles and the art of stitchery has been handed down from three generations. The skill of combining colors, fabrics, sewing techniques, and embellishments has been a life-long process beginning at the age of 6. My textile education has provided a solid foundation for understanding fibers, yarns, and fabrics. A passion for aprons offers many personal rewards one of which is the home sewer's legacy of creating many one-of-a-kind styles. This continues to inspire my artistic charm in solo art shows in Southern Minnesota and beyond.
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Biography

Yvonne Cory grew-up on a farm in southern Minnesota, she had many encounters with textiles and fibers; when she watched her parents sew everything from family clothing, home décor to car upholstery. A hand-crank Singer toy sewing machine ignited her love for fiber art at an early age. She completed a Post Graduate Needle Arts Course at the Minneapolis Vocational Technical

Institute and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Vocational Home Economics from Mankato State University, Mankato, MN. 


Her Family and Consumer Science teaching career over 35 years took place in southern Minnesota. Upon retiring, a new lifelong learning began as a Faribault County Fair employee, in which the duties included advertising, marketing and grant writing. These golden years sparked a passion for the apron and grew rapidly into an entrepreneurial art business beginning in the year 2010.

Her textile collection includes 1500 vintage aprons which are divided into ten educational and artistic programs given at public events in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin including The Great Wisconsin Quilt Show in Madison. Historical and artistic aprons displays are also part of this business plan. High-fashion apron designs honor memories and feature new and reclaimed textiles which are shared in art galleries. Her apron boutique features one-of-a-kind aprons for various tasks and ages. Her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions in Minnesota such as Red Rock Center for the Arts, Blue Earth Public Library, Art and Heritage Center, Montgomery, Albert Lea Art Center, Arts Center of St. Peter, The Waseca Art Center and Textile Center Minneapolis.


Yvonne received grants in 2014, 2020 and 2022 from the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council to help

move her artistry forward. She presently works from her family farm in rural Faribault County.

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Work Experience

- Quilt Expo - Wisconsin Public Television & Nancy Zieman Productions, Workshop Instructor & Lecturer, Madison, WI (Pictured)


- University Days - Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts, Keynote Speaker and Workshop, Cedarburg, WI


- Program Guest Speaker, Textile Center, Minneapolis, MN, Various Locations in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin

Awards & Grants

- Ballarat Apron Festival, Victoria, Australia. Apron Sewing Competition - Yarn Category - First Place


- 25th Annual Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council, Juried Art Exhibition, Fourth Place Award


- Minnesota State Fair Blue Ribbon Placing


- 2023 Juried Art Exhibition, Carnegie Art Center, Mankato, MN


- First Place - Rhubarb Fashion Show, Lanesboro, MN (Pictured)


- Recipient of the McKnight Foundation Emerging Artist Grant & Artist Development Grants, Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council

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Why Aprons?

An apron is the oldest wearable garment to embrace interesting history; it displays a variety of art techniques, all very intriguing to me. Since my childhood, watching my mother sew our cotton aprons, these garments have a deep meaning. They remind me how important a human hand was in the creation of the frills and yet served a purpose of collecting spills. Family aprons from past generations, plain and fancy, have a place in the collection, and I share their stories frequently.

The vintage collection and creatively designed aprons are elements of my fiber artistry that are interwoven in public performances, historical displays, a boutique and gallery shows.

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How Joys and Tears in the Apron Strings Came To Be

The Faribault County Fairgrounds, dotted with one-hundred-year-old oak trees, located in Blue Earth, Minnesota, is nestled between the Blue Earth River and Giant Park, where the 60-foot Green Giant statue stands. A very unique setting for a county fair, it has been named as one of the most picturesque fairgrounds within the state.


In 2010, as an employee for the county fair, I was doing a variety of jobs including writing grants for the purpose of bringing new art and cultural venues to the fair. A new program was developed called “Artist of the Day” in which each day of the fair, an artist was invited to share not only their art but their story and passion with others. The slate of artists was complete until one week before the fair when one artist experienced a conflict. It was out of a desperate need to fill a scheduled program slot that my vintage aprons sitting on a shelf became active, on that warm July day. The audience attending the pop-up-show was captivated by the aprons. As they say “The rest is history!”


Upon completion of the event, my thoughts began to wonder, might this be something I would like to do? Later in the year a couple of inquires were made, questioning if I would put on a program for their event. Thus the word-of-mouth spread the news of my apron collection and my apron passion was deepening with more intensity. 



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