National Quilt Collection

"Quilt": A cover or garment made by putting wool, cotton or other substance between two cloths and sewing them together. An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, LL.D., New York 1828. 

The National Quilt Collection incorporates quilts from various ethnic groups and social classes, for quilts are not the domain of a specific race or class, but can be a part of anyone’s heritage and treasured as such. Whether of rich or humble fabrics, large in size or small, expertly crafted or not, well-worn or pristine, quilts in the National Quilt Collection provide a textile narrative that contributes to America’s complex and diverse history. The variety and scope of the collection provides a rich resource for researchers, artists, quilt-makers and others. 

Part of the Division of Home and Community Life textiles collection, the National Quilt Collection had its beginnings in the 1890s. Three quilts were included in a larger collection of 18th- and 19th-century household and costume items donated by John Brenton Copp of Stonington, Connecticut. From this early beginning, the collection has grown to more than 500 quilts and quilt-related items, mainly of American origin, with examples from many states, including Alaska and Hawaii. Most of the contributions have come to the Museum as gifts, and many of those are from the quilt-makers’ families. The collection illustrates needlework techniques, materials, fabric designs and processes, styles and patterns used for quilt-making in the past 250 years. The collection also documents the work of specific quilt-makers and commemorates events in American history. 

Learn more about the quilt collection and step behind the scenes with a video tour.

Mary Hise Norton of Russellville, Kentucky, owned this elaborate silk quilt in the second quarter of the nineteenth century. Each of its thirty-six 14-inch stars is pieced using 32 diamond shapes cut from velvet and striped, checked, plaid, brocaded, and warp-printed silks.
Description
Mary Hise Norton of Russellville, Kentucky, owned this elaborate silk quilt in the second quarter of the nineteenth century. Each of its thirty-six 14-inch stars is pieced using 32 diamond shapes cut from velvet and striped, checked, plaid, brocaded, and warp-printed silks. The stars are set off by 4-inch and 8-inch squares and 4 x 8-inch rectangles along the edges, all of plain green silk.
The larger silk squares and the rectangles have quilted and stuffed motifs of flowers or foliage sprays, each a different design. Their backgrounds and the smaller squares are quilted in a diagonal grid. The pieced stars are outline-quilted, all at 12 stitches per inch.
Mary Hise Norton’s quilt has been displayed at many venues and has won prizes, among them the 1917 McCracken County (Kentucky) Fair Blue Ribbon and in 1981 the Kentucky Heritage Quilt Society Prize.
In 1981 the donor wrote: “Our family has a rare quilt . . . the preservation of my quilt is my primary consideration. The quilt has been saved and passed down through seven generations. When my grandmother died in 1930 it was taken from her trunk and stored in a cedar chest from then until the late 70’s . . . . It is a treasure that has been added to my life. It is too rare and old to be used on a bed, I have decided to donate it to [the] Museum.” The donor noted that her great-great-grandmother, Mary Hise Norton, was known for her “artistic worth.”
The daughter of Frederick and Nancy Hise, Mary Hise was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, on March 12, 1797. She moved with her family to Russellville, Kentucky, about 1810. On April 11, 1813, she married William Norton. Born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on September 2, 1781, William Norton also moved to Kentucky, settling in Russellville about 1810.The Nortons were the parents of six sons and three daughters and owned a blacksmith shop and iron store. They continued to live in Russellville, Kentucky, until William’s death in 1858 and Mary’s in 1878.
According to David Morton, who in 1891 wrote The Nortons of Russellville, Kentucky, “William and Mary Norton journeyed together as husband and wife for nearly forty-five years, until they became so thoroughly assimilated as to think, talk, and even look alike . . . . Mrs. Norton was more robust in body and mind and more vivacious in temperament than her husband. She did her own thinking, had well-defined opinions and expressed them freely, loved to talk and talked well. A model housekeeper, she rose up while it was yet night and gave meat to her household, nor did her candle go out by night. She ate not the bread of idleness, and her children called her blessed; her husband also praised her. Much of the energy and financial skill evinced by her sons was derived by inheritance from her.”
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1825-1850
date made
Second quarter, 19th century
quilter
Norton, Mary Hise
ID Number
1982.0392.01
catalog number
1982.0392.01
accession number
1982.0392
Purchased at a church bazaar in Fort Smith, Arkansas, this Bible-inspired rendition in fabric of the Garden of Eden is a testimony to the ingenuity and creativity of quilt makers in the second half of the nineteenth century.
Description
Purchased at a church bazaar in Fort Smith, Arkansas, this Bible-inspired rendition in fabric of the Garden of Eden is a testimony to the ingenuity and creativity of quilt makers in the second half of the nineteenth century. The donor's grandmother, Laura Doty Diffey, acquired the quilt in 1900. It is possibly the work of Sylvia S. Queen of Olathe, Kansas, as a quilt with similar vignettes, attributed to her, is in the Johnson County Museum in Shawnee, Kansas.
The center medallion of this quilt represents the firmament, with the sun, stars, and four phases of the moon. Artfully arranged around the center are scenes from the Old Testament: Adam and Eve, Eve tempted by the serpent, Eve giving Adam the apple, and, finally, Adam and Eve running out of the Garden of Eden. Appliquéd motifs of birds, butterflies, flowers, and fruit trees are interspersed. A flowering vine that grows from a double trunk at the bottom of the quilt frames the vignettes, leaving a space at the top. The scalloped edge echoes the curving vine. Plain and roller-printed cottons, and plain and checked silks are used for the appliquéd motifs, some of which are stuffed. Outline-quilting is used for the sun, moon, stars and larger flowers. The background is quilted in parallel diagonal lines, 3/8-inch apart, 8 stitches per inch.
Sylvia S. Queen was born in 1804 in Connecticut and lived for several years in Kankakee Township, LaPorte County, Indiana, where she is listed on the 1870 and 1880 censuses. From 1881 on, she lived in Olathe, Kansas. Sylvia made a will in 1891 while she was living with a granddaughter, Susan M. Sanford. The will mentioned a son, Faber M. Walker of Benton Harbor, Michigan. Born about 1829, he served in the Civil War for a short time. He was to receive “. . . the sum of one dollar . . . having received before this all I intended to give [him] . . .” Sylvia’s will states that most of her belongings were to go to her granddaughter “. . . if she lives with and takes care of me, as she has done ever since she came to live with me in the month of April 1891, as long as I live.” According to Sylvia’s obituary in the Olathe Mirror May 14, 1896, she had “been an invalid for a number of years . . . She was possessed of some ability as a poet and many of her friends have her writings as mementos . . . . She was an ardent Christian and gave liberally to the church.” Sylvia died May 9, 1896, at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Sanford, and is buried in the Olathe Cemetery in Kansas.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1900
maker
Queen, Sylvia S.
ID Number
TE.T15534
accession number
295251
catalog number
T15534
This lively pieced child’s quilt was made in the second half of the nineteenth century and the maker is not known. It was part of a donation to the Smithsonian by G. Ruth McHenry in 1961.
Description
This lively pieced child’s quilt was made in the second half of the nineteenth century and the maker is not known. It was part of a donation to the Smithsonian by G. Ruth McHenry in 1961. It may have been in the family of Jane Winter Price, who made a “Carpenter’s Wheel” quilt that is also in the Collection.
Green and white pinwheels within red circles surrounded by pieced chains of green pointed ovals give a sense of whirling animation to this small quilt. Inside the 1½-inch border are semicircles of printed cotton. White thread is used for the outline and concentric line quilting on the red circles and white ground. Green thread is used for the outline and concentric line quilting on pinwheels and chained ovals, and for the herringbone quilting in the border. All are quilted 9 stitches per inch. The use of color and the complex pieced pattern combine to make this child’s quilt dynamic.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1900
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T12701
accession number
238478
catalog number
T12701
This vividly colored quilt was made sometime after 1860 by the sisters of Joseph Long of Washington County, Md.
Description
This vividly colored quilt was made sometime after 1860 by the sisters of Joseph Long of Washington County, Md. Red, yellow, blue and white 3-3/4-inch hexagons are set in concentric rings.
The pieced hexagons on some of the rings are quilted with hexagons, others with floral motifs. The concentric rings are framed by a 9-inch border consisting of three bands, one white and two red. The red bands are quilted in a chevron pattern and the white band in a feathered vine.
The quilting is 9 stitches per inch. The quilt has a cotton filling and the lining is brought to the front and machine-stitched to form the binding. While family information indicates an 1847 date, the 3x2-ply S-twist cabled cotton thread that is used for the machine piecing and hand quilting suggests a later date.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1860-1900
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T15695
accession number
296914
catalog number
T15695
This quilt top was made in the last third of the nineteenth-century and its maker has not been identified. It was part of a donation to the Smithsonian by G. Ruth McHenry in 1961.
Description
This quilt top was made in the last third of the nineteenth-century and its maker has not been identified. It was part of a donation to the Smithsonian by G. Ruth McHenry in 1961. It may have been in the family of Jane Winter Price who made a “Carpenter’s Wheel” quilt that is also in the Collection.
Five-pointed stars, twenty in number and made of printed and plain colored cottons, are set off by white circles to create this quilt top. The 15½-inch blocks are framed by an 8-inch-wide dark green border. The quilt was never finished.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1866-1900
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T12699
accession number
238478
catalog number
T12699
The maker of this quilt top, who is unknown, used samples of many late nineteenth-century-fabrics. The quilt top was part of a donation to the Smithsonian by G. Ruth McHenry in 1961.
Description
The maker of this quilt top, who is unknown, used samples of many late nineteenth-century-fabrics. The quilt top was part of a donation to the Smithsonian by G. Ruth McHenry in 1961. It may have been in the family of Jane Winter Price, who made a “Carpenter’s Wheel” quilt that is also in the Collection.
The quilt top, pieced in the one-patch “Tumbler” or “Flower Pot” pattern, is made of many printed cottons, over 500 different patterns. Nineteenth-century geometric, floral, and polka-dot roller printed cottons are well represented. Both printed and woven striped, checked, and plaid fabrics also contribute to the design. Novelty roller-prints such as dogs’ heads, scallop shells, horseshoes, and ribbons-and-bows can be found on the quilt top. The variety in fabrics makes the quilt top a useful object for study.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1866-1900
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T12700
accession number
238478
catalog number
T12700
This parlor throw, made in the last quarter of the 19th century, is an example of fancy work using silks, velvets and embroidery that was popular in Victorian America.
Description
This parlor throw, made in the last quarter of the 19th century, is an example of fancy work using silks, velvets and embroidery that was popular in Victorian America. Irregularly shaped pieces in silk and velvet combine with a large variety of stitches to create the crazy patchwork that was found on many items made for the home to display needlework skills. In 1890 a magazine, Sewing Machine Advance wrote this about crazy patchwork "it drives a man nearly crazy when his wife makes one because it keeps her so busily engaged that she has no time for other work."
This parlor throw has thirteen embroidered vignettes probably copied from patterns based on illustrations found in Kate Greenaway's children's books. Outline embroidered motifs of children playing were a popular addition to parlor throws. Other embroidered motifs that were probably copied from pattern books include; owls, flowers, cats, butterflies, plums, acorns, fans, spider webs, wheat, goldenrod, cat-tails, birds, a dog, strawberries, a house, a juggler, blackberries, shamrocks, mice and a chinoiserie tray with tea set. "Should old acquaintance be forgot" and "Welcome my friends all" as well as initials "JK" and "KUP" are also embroidered on the throw. The silks used for piecing are plain, checked, striped, brocaded, twilled, printed, pattern-woven, and plaid. Fur-textured fabric, satin ribbons and velvets are used as well. The lining is a pale green satin. The throw is not quilted but tied with pink and green silk thread every five inches. While there is no information on the maker or where it is made, it is an example of needlework typical of the Victorian period.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1875-1900
quilter
unknown
ID Number
TE.T11233
accession number
209502
catalog number
T11233
Thirty 10-inch blocks were carefully crafted of velvet and plush fabrics to create this crazy-patchwork parlor throw. All types of velvets are represented; plain, cut, embossed, striped, silk with velvet stripes, and velvet ribbon. The effect is of a three-dimensional surface.
Description
Thirty 10-inch blocks were carefully crafted of velvet and plush fabrics to create this crazy-patchwork parlor throw. All types of velvets are represented; plain, cut, embossed, striped, silk with velvet stripes, and velvet ribbon. The effect is of a three-dimensional surface. Each block is constructed on a cotton foundation and enhanced with various embroidery stitches. The throw has a cotton fiber filling. The lining or backing fabric is a challis or delaine, roller-printed with a floral motif. The throw is bound on all sides with a straight strip of black silk satin fabric. The fabrics used in this piece represent the range of velvets and plushes (silk pile fabrics) available to the upper middle classes in America.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1880-1900
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T12601
accession number
220211
catalog number
T12601
Anna (Mrs. Henry C. Slaymaker) and her two sisters, Mary (Mrs. William Boothe) and Lucy (Mrs. Thomas Speiden) worked on this slumber throw top that was never completed.
Description
Anna (Mrs. Henry C. Slaymaker) and her two sisters, Mary (Mrs. William Boothe) and Lucy (Mrs. Thomas Speiden) worked on this slumber throw top that was never completed. Anna’s needlework is also represented by two samplers, embroidered when she was 9 and 10, that are in the Textile Collection.
Twenty blocks, 12 or 13 inches each, are pieced using silks, satins and velvets. Except for two blocks with simple embroidery, they are undecorated. The combination of geometric and crazy-patch piecing gives interest to this unfinished top.
Anna was born on October 2, 1842, to John and Mary P. Stabler Leadbeater in Alexandria, Virginia. John, her father, was the owner of the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary in Alexandria. Anna married Henry C. Slaymaker, a Confederate Civil War veteran, on November 6, 1866, and they had three children (Isabel, Henry C. Jr., and Frank).
The donor, Mrs. Clarence Milton Yohn, included a note about Anna's grandfather, Lt. Henry C. Slaymaker. “[He] was only 16 when he served as a civilian informer in 1861 and 1862, carrying messages from Alexandria and Washington, D.C., quilted in his waistcoat and pretending hunting excursions in the woods in order to get to his cousin, Gen. Robert E. Lee. He was about to be hanged in 1862, when he escaped to join the Confederate Army under age.” After the Civil War, Henry Sr. established a dry goods business, but died at 36 of consumption on February 28, 1880. Anna died on February 15, 1906.
Anna’s sister Mary was born in 1839 and married Capt. William Boothe (1818-1894). She died in 1914. Lucy, the third sister, was born about 1838 and married Thomas Speiden. The three sisters were from the family who founded the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Shop, which was operated by family members from 1796 to 1933, when it became a pharmacy museum. The buildings, which date to the early 1800s, have withstood four wars and a major city fire, and currently house the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum in Alexandria, Virginia.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1885-1900
maker
Leadbeater, Mary Grace
Leadbeater, Lucy
Leadbeater, Anna
ID Number
TE.T12613
accession number
235642
catalog number
T12613
Composed of eighty-one blocks, this parlor throw is an example of contained crazy-patchwork popular in the late 19th century. Each block has a cross-shape center outfined by black silk piecing.
Description
Composed of eighty-one blocks, this parlor throw is an example of contained crazy-patchwork popular in the late 19th century. Each block has a cross-shape center outfined by black silk piecing. The cross shapes are pieced from an assortment of multicolored silks.
The piecing is secured with a variety of fancy stitches; buttonhole, detached chain, herringbone, feather, straight, and couching. A machine-quilted (commercially available) silk lining, in a scrolling vine pattern, provides weight and depth to the parlor throw. The precisely stitched parlor throw is completed by a 5 ¼-inch green velvet border edged with a heavy green braid.
The quilt was in the Bates family of New Haven, Conn., and was donated by a family member.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890-1900
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T16117
accession number
297492
catalog number
T16117
Hulda Larson and her daughter Ellen made this quilt to commemorate the 1901 Pan-American Exposition held in Buffalo, N. Y. Souvenir stamped muslin squares were sold at the Exposition and later in stores to be embroidered and assembled for a quilt.
Description
Hulda Larson and her daughter Ellen made this quilt to commemorate the 1901 Pan-American Exposition held in Buffalo, N. Y. Souvenir stamped muslin squares were sold at the Exposition and later in stores to be embroidered and assembled for a quilt. Referred to as “penny squares” because they were often sold in packets of 50 for 50 cents, they became popular reminders of events and sights at the Exposition. Dated “May 1, 1905” this quilt incorporates many of those souvenir blocks.
Fifty-six 7 ½-inch white blocks were outline-embroidered in red, many depicting buildings of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition. Hulda and Ellen used over 30 of these motifs for their quilt. A block labeled, “Wm McKinley Our Martyred President,” was added to the original design after his assassination at the Exposition on September 6, 1901.
The blocks also included embroidered portraits of Mrs. McKinley, , President Theodore Roosevelt, his daughter, Alice, and Mrs. Roosevelt, Edith Caro, who married the widowed president in 1886.
In the center is the official logo of the Exposition. Blocks with an American eagle, flag, and shield add a patriotic element. Two blocks with buffalo motifs, “Put Me Off at Buffalo” and “I Am A,” and other animal and floral motif blocks were used to complete the quilt. When the fair ended its buildings were demolished, except for the New York State building that later became the Buffalo and Erie Canal Historical Society.
Using a grid system of the numbers 1 to 7 across the top and A thru G along the left side the following blocks were connected to the Pan-American Exposition. The inscriptions on each block are embroidered in red.
A2 – “Indian Congress and Village”; A5 – “Stadium”; A6 – “Ohio Building”
B1 – “Trained Wild Animals”; B2 – “Ethnology Building”; B6 – “Service Building”; B7 – “Infant Incubator”
C1 – “Fair Japan”; C3 – “Johnstown Flood”; C5 – “Darkness & Dawn - Fall of Babylon”; C7 – “Government Building”
D1 – “Agriculture Building”; D2 – “Mrs. McKinley”; D3 – “President Roosevelt”; D4 (seal) “Pan-American Exposition. 1901. Buffalo. N.Y. U.S.A.” D5 – “Mrs. Roosevelt”; D6 – “Wm. McKinley-Our Martyred President” D7 – “Alaskan Building”
E2 – “Electric Tower”; E3 – “New England Building”; E5 – “Old Plantation”; E6 – “Temple of Music Where President McKinley was shot”; E7 – “Cleopatra's Temple”
F1 – “Horticulture Building”; F2 – “Aerio Cycle”; F3 – “Machinery and Transportation Building”; F4 – “Panopticon”; F5 - “Phillipine Village”; F6 – “Triumphal Bridge”; F7 – “Beautiful Orient”
G2 – “Louisiana Purchase Building”; G3 – “House Upside Down”; G4 – “Hawaiian Village & Kileaua Volcano”; G5 – “A Trip to the Moon”; G6 – “Wisconsin Building”; G7 – “Darkest Africa”
This machine-quilted example of redwork has a 3-inch white ruffle, edged with red embroidery. It has a white cotton lining and cotton filling. The blocks are machine-joined, and the lining is machine-stitched. Stem and feather stitches were used for the embroidery.
Hulda Fredricka ParsDotter was born April 21, 1858, in Vimmerby, Sweden, and married Anders James Larson on June 23, 1877. In 1882 they came to Jamestown, N. Y. Their daughter Ellen Sophia Cecilia was born in Vimmerby, Sweden, on August 11, 1879. Other daughters born in the United States were Dora (about 1889), Della (about 1891) and Arlene (about 1896). Ellen married C. Emil Swanson in 1903 in Jamestown. Ellen died on January 1, 1925. Hulda died October 4, 1949, at the age of 91. Daughter Dora married Arthur Anderson and their daughter, Alberta,married Russell Weise. It was their daughter, Judith Anderson Weise, who donated her great-grandmother and great-aunt’s Pan-American Exposition Commemorative quilt to the Museum in 1985.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1905
maker
Larson, Hulda Fredricka
Larson, Ellen Sophia Cecilia
ID Number
1986.0032.01
catalog number
1986.0032.01
accession number
1986.0032
A town, “Bristol, Tennessee,” and a date, “Jan. 4, 1905,” were prominently embroidered on the parlor throw that Bonnie Blevins made for her family.
Description
A town, “Bristol, Tennessee,” and a date, “Jan. 4, 1905,” were prominently embroidered on the parlor throw that Bonnie Blevins made for her family. Donated by her daughter, Blanche Blevins, in 1956, it is an example of the fancy needlework popular in the late 19th century.
Twelve 19-inch crazy-patch and embroidered blocks were assembled for this parlor throw. It has no lining, just a rayon seam binding added at a later date, basted to the front edges. The embroidery motifs (butterflies, birds, animals, etc.) are typical of crazy patchwork, but would appear to be freely drawn rather than from a pattern. The embellishments were done with silk thread utilizing feather, stem, detached chain, French knot, coral knot, satin and buttonhole stitches. Several embroidered inscriptions are present: “I slept and dreamed / that life was beauty / I awoke and found / that life was duty.” It is from a poem by Ellen Sturgis Hooper (1812-1848), a transcendentalist poet who published in The Dial and whose poems appeared in anthologies. Lines from poetry, probably of special personal significance, were frequently added to needlework.
Four blocks of this parlor throw may have been specifically designed by Bonnie to acknowledge her family. The block containing the date and place also contained an embroidered name “Robt.” and the inscription “Think of me.” Robert was Bonnie’s husband, whom she married in 1892. A second block has the name “Fred” and “In God we trust” embroidered on the crazy-patches. Fred Foster was Bonnie’s eldest son, born in 1892. A third block has the embroidered inscription, “God bless our home,” and the name “Worth.” Omar Worth was Bonnie’s second son born in 1896. The fourth block contains an owl with the inscription “Whoo whoo.” It also has a small embroidered name, “Bonnie.” Another patch in the same block has a swan, a child’s head, heart, and the name “Blanche” embroidered on it. Blanche was Bonnie’s third child, born in 1898. The motifs that were used on each of the blocks may have held meaning for that person. Bonnie’s parlor throw was a personal record of her family.
Geneva Bonville Foster was born June 21, 1865, in North Carolina. Known as Bonnie, she married Robert Houston Blevins June 10, 1892. They had three children as noted above, and for a time lived in Tazewell County, Va., as well as Bristol, Tenn. It was in Bristol, Virginia, (Bristol lies on the border of Tennessee and Virginia) that Bonnie died at age 43 February, 17 1909. She and her family are memorialized on the parlor throw that is now part of the Collection as an example of crazy-patchwork.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1905
maker
Blevins, Geneva Bonville Foster
ID Number
TE.T11456
accession number
211582
catalog number
T11456
The central inscription on this variaton of a “Log Cabin”quilt states that it was “Presented by Mrs. Sarah Butler, February the fourteenth One Thousand nine hundred and six,” followed by the names of four ministers.
Description
The central inscription on this variaton of a “Log Cabin”quilt states that it was “Presented by Mrs. Sarah Butler, February the fourteenth One Thousand nine hundred and six,” followed by the names of four ministers. No occasion, church, or place was indicated in the inscription, but the “Log Cabin” quilt included nearly 400 names written on the “logs”.
Research indicates that three of the ministers, Rev. L.D. Bragg, Rev. F.D. Tyler, and Rev. R. J. Honeywell were at various times pastors of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Hudson, N. H. The fourth, Rev. Van Buskirk, was the pastor of a nearby Methodist church in Antrim, N. H. In 1931 the Methodist Episcopal Church (Hudson) merged with the Congregational Church and is now called the Hudson Community Church.
The Methodist Episcopal Church in Hudson organized in 1840. On August 3, 1879, a fire destroyed the church, parsonage, and a connecting stable. A new meeting house was built in 1880. In December 1905 ceremonies were held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of this church building. In January 1906, the auditorium and vestry were furnished with electric lights. It is assumed that the quilt was a fund raiser and the names on the quilt were donors. The February 1906 date might indicate either the beginning or ending of the fund raising effort, as some of the signatures are names of individuals born after 1906. One of the pastors, Rev. Roy John Honeywell, did not come to the church until 1916; although he did not marry until 1922, his wife’s name is on the quilt. The majority of the names are of people who resided in either Hudson or nearby Nashua, which was connected by trolley to Hudson.
The quilt consists of 18-inch blocks pieced in the “Log Cabin” (also known as “Pineapple,” “Chestnut Burr,” or “Church Steps”) pattern. Printed and plain cottons were used with a red triangle at each corner of the block and a red square in the center. Three hundred eighty-three names are inscribed in ink on the plain tan “logs” as well the inscriptions, “Church built in 1888” and “Alta Theresa House.” The inscriptions and names appear to have been done by the same person. Mainly plain-and twill-weave, roller-printed cottons are used for the pieced blocks, each print repeated on each block. It is lined with a roller-printed cotton.
Names on a quilt are always of interest to a researcher. This particular quilt has many. Often the names are of couples or in some instances whole families. I.e., “Lyman Bragg, Sarah Bragg, Laura Bragg, Earnest Bragg, and Barbara Bragg” are inscribed on adjacent “logs.” Reverend L. D. Bragg was one of the people mentioned in the central inscription. He and Sarah were married in 1880, and their three children were born in 1881, 1885, and 1886 (the last in Medford, Mass.). One daughter, Laura, went to South Carolina, and was the first woman to be named the director of a major American museum (Charleston Museum) in 1920. She was instrumental in advocating education in the museum setting, and also helped to establish other museums in the South. Laura’s career was long and illustrious. She died in 1978, and she is known for her innovative educational ideas and strength of character.
Though of a later date, this “Log Cabin” quilt was part of a larger collection, more than 2,000 objects, donated by Edna Greenwood in the 1950s. The late 18th- and early 19th-century textiles, furniture, ceramics, glass, tools, and implements in the collection are mainly from rural New England farms and villages and provide insight into the lives and environment of ordinary Americans. This quilt, with its many names, had no information about when or where it was collected. Through research, the many inscriptions penned on it were clues to the origins of this quilt, perhaps a community project to provide moneys to either upgrade an existing church or purchase an organ.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1906
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.E388877
accession number
182022
catalog number
E388877
This unfinished parlor throw or quilt was made in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, by Mary Dickson Watson (born about 1840). The raised or “biscuit” patchwork was done by basting 3 ½” silk squares to 2 ½” cotton squares with a pleat at the center of each side.
Description
This unfinished parlor throw or quilt was made in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, by Mary Dickson Watson (born about 1840). The raised or “biscuit” patchwork was done by basting 3 ½” silk squares to 2 ½” cotton squares with a pleat at the center of each side. Cotton batting was put under the center of each square. The covered squares were then machine-stitched together to make this colorful top.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890-1900
maker
Watson, Mary Way Dickson
ID Number
1989.0268.01
catalog number
1989.0268.01
accession number
1989.0268
Mary Dickson Watson, quilted and corded the pink silk crepe baby carriage cover to match a pillow cover (1989.0268.03) that she made for her granddaughter, Mary Dickson Wilson, born in 1900. The quilting in the center quatrefoil depicts two rabbits with a butterfly and flowers.
Description
Mary Dickson Watson, quilted and corded the pink silk crepe baby carriage cover to match a pillow cover (1989.0268.03) that she made for her granddaughter, Mary Dickson Wilson, born in 1900. The quilting in the center quatrefoil depicts two rabbits with a butterfly and flowers. Surrounding the center are squares outlined by corded quilting, some containing a flower, some empty. Additionally, a narrow pink silk ribbon is used as a tie in eight places.
Mary Way Dickson was born about 1840. She married Alexander Watson in 1859. Their daughter, Mary Dickson Watson, was born about 1865 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She married Adam Wilson in 1897 and it was for their daughter, Mary Dickson Wilson, that the pillow and baby carriage cover were made. On the 1900 census, Mary Dickson Watson, was living with them in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The recipient of the silk carriage and pillow cover later married Joseph Phipps. The items remained in the family until they were donated to the Collection in 1989.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1900
maker
Watson, Mary Way Dickson
ID Number
1989.0268.02
catalog number
1989.0268.02
accession number
1989.0268
Mary Dickson Watson, quilted and corded the pink silk crepe pillow cover to match a baby carriage cover (1989.0268.02) that she made for her granddaughter, Mary Dickson Wilson, born in 1900. The quilting in the center quatrefoil depicts two rabbits with a butterfly and flowers.
Description
Mary Dickson Watson, quilted and corded the pink silk crepe pillow cover to match a baby carriage cover (1989.0268.02) that she made for her granddaughter, Mary Dickson Wilson, born in 1900. The quilting in the center quatrefoil depicts two rabbits with a butterfly and flowers. Each corner has a square outlined by corded quilting containing a flower.
Mary Way Dickson was born about 1840. She married Alexander Watson in 1859. Their daughter, Mary Dickson Watson, was born about 1865 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She married Adam Wilson in 1897 and it was for their daughter, Mary Dickson Wilson, that the pillow and carriage cover were made. In the 1900 census, Mary Dickson Watson, was living with them in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The recipient of the silk carriage and pillow cover later married Joseph Phipps. The items remained in the family until they were donated to the Collection in 1989.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1900
maker
Watson, Mary Way Dickson
ID Number
1989.0268.03
catalog number
1989.0268.03
accession number
1989.0268
The distinctive eagle in each corner and the bold colors relate this cotton quilt to a similar quilt group of late 19th and early 20th century Pennsylvania origin.
Description
The distinctive eagle in each corner and the bold colors relate this cotton quilt to a similar quilt group of late 19th and early 20th century Pennsylvania origin. In 1929 quilt historian Ruth Finley called this patriotic pattern “Union” in her classic book, Old Patchwork Quilts and the Women Who Made Them. The center is quilted, 6 stitches per inch, with a diamond grid pattern. A cable pattern is used for the border.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1900
maker
unknown
ID Number
1991.0288.01
accession number
1991.0288
catalog number
1991.0288.01
This miniature quilt may have been a doll’s quilt, a “first” quilt, or a display on a model quilting frame. Possibly made in Pennsylvania, it consists of twelve 1 to 1-and-1/2-inch blocks in the "Four-patch" pattern.
Description
This miniature quilt may have been a doll’s quilt, a “first” quilt, or a display on a model quilting frame. Possibly made in Pennsylvania, it consists of twelve 1 to 1-and-1/2-inch blocks in the "Four-patch" pattern. Quilted in a chevron pattern, 3-4 stitches per inch.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890-1900
maker
unknown
ID Number
1995.0011.08
accession number
1995.0011
catalog number
1995.0011.08
Named the “The Pocahontas Quilt” by the family of the maker, Pocahontas Virginia Gay, it is a wool counterpane that displays both her design and needlework skills. The thirty-six 11-inch blocks are appliquéd with motifs cut mainly from wool fabrics.
Description
Named the “The Pocahontas Quilt” by the family of the maker, Pocahontas Virginia Gay, it is a wool counterpane that displays both her design and needlework skills. The thirty-six 11-inch blocks are appliquéd with motifs cut mainly from wool fabrics. These are further embellished with embroidery, silk fabrics, ribbon, and details in pencil or ink.
Pocahontas based her motifs on popular illustrations of sentimental vignettes and Southern heroes, as well as the Victor dog trademark adopted in 1901 by the Victor Talking Machine Company. Proud to be a seventh-generation descendant of Pocahontas and John Rolfe, she included a likeness of the Indian princess as she appears in a 17th-century engraving frequently reproduced in genealogies.
Pocahontas Gay, or “Aunt Poca” as she was known to family, was born in Virginia on September 5, 1831. She was the daughter of Neil Buchanan Gay and his wife Martha Talley. She never married and remained connected to the family home, Mill Farm in Fluvanna County, Va. She died on October 14,1922.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1900-1905
maker
Gay, Pocahontas Virginia
ID Number
TE.T11694
accession number
225103
catalog number
T11694
The unknown maker of this quilt chose a traditional pieced pattern, but the fabrics make it memorable. The stars are all pieced of plain and patterned silk diamonds, with the center of the large star composed of black velvet alternating with gold-embroidered ivory satin.
Description
The unknown maker of this quilt chose a traditional pieced pattern, but the fabrics make it memorable. The stars are all pieced of plain and patterned silk diamonds, with the center of the large star composed of black velvet alternating with gold-embroidered ivory satin. The combination of plain and patterned silks in the black background adds to the overall dramatic effect.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1880-1900
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T12091
accession number
54020
catalog number
T12091
An unknown maker crafted this example of contained crazy-patchwork. Twenty 12 ¼-inch blocks are elaborately embroidered and surrounded by a 2-inch black ruffled border. The center of each block has a larger design, either floral or other motif such as a fan or a horseshoe.
Description
An unknown maker crafted this example of contained crazy-patchwork. Twenty 12 ¼-inch blocks are elaborately embroidered and surrounded by a 2-inch black ruffled border. The center of each block has a larger design, either floral or other motif such as a fan or a horseshoe. Birds, ceramics, and Kate Greenaway motifs typical of the era also adorn the throw. Silk, satin, velvet, and ribbon were used for the patchwork, which was lined with black pattern-woven silk. Chenille and silk embroidery threads were used for the many fancy stitches that embellish the throw.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1880-1900
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T13108
accession number
250072
catalog number
T13108
Ninety 8-inch blocks were machine sewn to make this colorful wool quilt or comforter. It is tied at the centers and corners and has a satin-weave blue cotton lining.
Description
Ninety 8-inch blocks were machine sewn to make this colorful wool quilt or comforter. It is tied at the centers and corners and has a satin-weave blue cotton lining. A variety of striped, plaid, and solid-colored wool fabrics, both plain- and twill-woven, provide the kaleidoscopic effect on this late 19th century example of a utilitarian quilt.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1880-1900
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T15237
catalog number
T15237
accession number
291105

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