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.

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
Embroidered in the lower left corner of this Brooklyn, New York, quilt is the quilter's name, "Susan Rogers," with the date "1867." Each of the twenty-five blocks has a different design and most of them contain an embroidered name or initials of a family member.
Description
Embroidered in the lower left corner of this Brooklyn, New York, quilt is the quilter's name, "Susan Rogers," with the date "1867." Each of the twenty-five blocks has a different design and most of them contain an embroidered name or initials of a family member. The quilt was donated to the Museum by the wife of Susan Rogers's great-great-grandson.
A tree filled with birds is the detailed design of the block containing Susan Rogers's name. On one of the branches there is a robin holding a worm in its beak, and a nest with three open-mouthed baby birds begging to be fed, while a seated cat waits patiently below. Other blocks contain appliquéd symbols of military service or membership in benevolent and fraternal organizations. Seven of the blocks contain tiny appliquéd United States flags as part of their patriotic designs. The majority of the blocks have floral motifs. The name "Nellie," Susan's thirteen-year-old granddaughter is embroidered under a basket of flowers. Another floral motif block has the initials "E L," probably for Emma Louise, Susan's ten-year-old granddaughter. A vase decorated with the image of a young boy, cut from printed cotton, and filled with flowers, has "Mother" embroidered underneath it.
The focus of the album quilt, the center block, is a decorated tree. The presents or decorations include baskets of fruit and flowers, oranges, stockings, a cane, a candy cane, a ladder, parasols, an umbrella, a bottle of bitters, a fish, a bird, a mitten, a slipper, a picture of a dog in an oval frame, a cat on a mat, a pipe, a watch, a bird in a cage, and other gifts. A few are marked with names or initials. Under the fenced-in base of the tree, Susan embroidered "Merry Christmas." Susan Rogers's quilt is a charming example of the mid-nineteenth-century album quilt, each block unique and personalized.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1867
quilter
Rogers, Susan
ID Number
TE.T15474
catalog number
T15474
accession number
293922
Lizzie Lisle appliquéd this red and white quilt in about 1870, probably in Cadiz, Iowa before her marriage. Sixteen 14¾ -inch blocks are appliquéd with red conventionalized flowers and four spade-shaped leaves.
Description
Lizzie Lisle appliquéd this red and white quilt in about 1870, probably in Cadiz, Iowa before her marriage. Sixteen 14¾ -inch blocks are appliquéd with red conventionalized flowers and four spade-shaped leaves. Each flower has cut-outs forming a cross, revealing the white ground beneath. The center is framed by a 2-inch red band. An 11-inch white border is embellished with a traditional appliqué pattern of swags, bows, and tassels.
This quilt was referred to in a 1949 Woman’s Day magazine as a “Lincoln Drape” quilt. In the period from 1865 to 1875, a popular swag pattern known as “Lincoln Drape” was used to commemorate the death of Abraham Lincoln and can be found on other decorative items such as glassware. The whole piece is quilted 11 to 12 stitches per inch, with diagonal grid and triple diagonal line patterns.
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Lisle, born in Ohio in 1836, was the daughter of John Lisle (1803-1890s) and Elizabeth Johnston (1811-1889). Members of the extended Lisle family were early settlers in Jefferson and Harrison Counties in Ohio, but many also moved westward and settled in Iowa. It was in Jasper County, Iowa, on February 11, 1886, that Lizzie married Eden Randall. Eden was born in Delaware County, Ohio, about 1840 and served in the Civil War (Co. G, 3rd Iowa Volunteer Infantry).
Mustered in June 8, 1861, Eden was taken prisoner on April 6, 1862, in Shiloh, Tennessee. In January 1863 he was part of a prisoner exchange and rejoined his company, only to be severely wounded in the face and mouth on June 12, 1863, at Vicksburg, Tennessee. He recovered in a hospital in Keokuk, Iowa. Elizabeth and Eden had no children. Lizzie is buried in Fairview Township, Jasper County, Iowa. Her grandniece generously donated two of Lizzie Lisle's quilts to the Smithsonian in 1949.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1865-1875
maker
Lisle, Lizzie
ID Number
TE.T10101
accession number
144535
catalog number
T10101
Lizzie Lisle utilized a unique floral design for this quilt. The center panel consists of four 28½-inch square blocks each appliquéd with large red, green and yellow flowers, leaves, and berries. The large red flowers have reverse-appliquéd details made of printed yellow cotton.
Description
Lizzie Lisle utilized a unique floral design for this quilt. The center panel consists of four 28½-inch square blocks each appliquéd with large red, green and yellow flowers, leaves, and berries. The large red flowers have reverse-appliquéd details made of printed yellow cotton. Many of the leaves have cut-out details revealing the white ground beneath them. Green cotton gathered over a solid foundation and attached to the quilt gives a three-dimensional effect to the berries. The center is framed by a red saw-tooth band. The 12½-inch border is appliquéd on three sides with an undulating leaf-and-floral vine. A second saw-tooth band follows the outer edge of the quilt. Fine quilting, 12 to 13 stitches per inch, in a variety of patterns, covers both the background and the appliquéd motifs.
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Lisle, born in Ohio in 1836, was the daughter of John Lisle (1803-1890s) and Elizabeth Johnston (1811-1889). Members of the extended Lisle family were early settlers in Jefferson and Harrison Counties in Ohio, but many also moved westward and settled in Iowa. In Jasper County, Iowa, on February 11, 1886, Elizabeth married Eden Randall. Eden was born in Delaware County, Ohio, about 1840 and served in the Civil War (Co. G, 3rd Iowa Volunteer Infantry).
Mustered in June 8, 1861, Eden was taken prisoner on April 6, 1862, in Shiloh, Tennessee. In January 1863 he was part of a prisoner exchange and rejoined his company, only to be severely wounded in the face and mouth on June 12, 1863, at Vicksburg, Tennessee. He recovered in a hospital in Keokuk, Iowa. Elizabeth and Eden had no children. Elizabeth is buried in Fairview Township, Jasper County, Iowa. Her grandniece generously donated two of her quilts to the Smithsonian in 1949.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1865-1870
maker
Lisle, Lizzie
ID Number
TE.T10102
accession number
144535
catalog number
T10102
A “First Premium” blue ribbon is attached to Amelia Johnson’s silk parlor throw. It was awarded in 1878 at the St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Association Fair in Missouri. Fairs were particularly popular events in the nineteenth century.
Description
A “First Premium” blue ribbon is attached to Amelia Johnson’s silk parlor throw. It was awarded in 1878 at the St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Association Fair in Missouri. Fairs were particularly popular events in the nineteenth century. They provided amusements, celebrated achievements, and promoted new ideas. After the Civil War, much money was spent to expand the St. Louis fairgrounds and add buildings. By the late 1870s, its annual agricultural, industrial, and metropolitan displays were worthy of international attention. This parlor throw won a prize at one of the decorative arts exhibitions.
Approximately 500 three-inch “Log Cabin” blocks made of silk were stitched on a muslin foundation to complete the top of this parlor throw. Plain-weave and ribbed solid-colored silks were used to create a mosaic of color. The lining is constructed of red silk fabric quilted 10 stitches per inch to a piece of white cotton fabric. Pink silk thread is used for the quilted trapezoid pattern on the lining. The “Log Cabin” top and quilted lining are joined together and edged with a heavy twisted cord composed of white, pink, green, and black silk cords. This parlor throw is a prize-winning example of the fancy needlework that was so fashionable in the Victorian period. The donor, J. A. Goodall, provided little information about his Aunt Amelia when the parlor throw was added to the Collection in 1940.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1875-1878
maker
Johnson, Amelia
ID Number
TE.T08430
accession number
157598
catalog number
T08430
This “Ocean Wave” quilt was begun by Mary Ann Bishop of Wilkesville, Vinton County, Ohio, in 1875 and quilted in 1888. Roller-printed cottons with a few woven checks and plaids were pieced for the patterns that set off the quilted plain, cream-colored cotton centers.
Description
This “Ocean Wave” quilt was begun by Mary Ann Bishop of Wilkesville, Vinton County, Ohio, in 1875 and quilted in 1888. Roller-printed cottons with a few woven checks and plaids were pieced for the patterns that set off the quilted plain, cream-colored cotton centers. A saw-tooth strip of red cotton appliquéd to the 6-inch border frames the “Ocean Wave” pattern. Quilted, at 9 stitches per inch, with straight lines on the pieced sections, the feathered circles and feathered leaves provide a surface texture to the quilt. Two gradually curved S-shaped wooden templates, also donated to the Collection, were used for pencil marking the quilting pattern.
Mary Ann Gotschall was born July 7, 1819. She married Hiram H. Bishop (1818-1897) on January 31, 1842 in Harrison County, Ohio. He received his medical training at Starling Medical College in Columbus, Ohio in the late 1840s. Lyne Starling (1784-1848) was the founder of the hospital and medical school, a new concept at that time of providing medical education and patient care in one facility. During the Civil War, from June 1864 to March 1865, Hiram was contracted as an Acting Assistant Surgeon at the Totten General Hospital, Louisville, Kentucky. In March of 1865, when he left, the hospital had over 6,500 patients and fewer than 100 surgeons.
Mary and Hiram reared four children; John (b. 1843), Naomi (b. 1845), Mary (b. 1848), and Luie (b. 1860). Mary Ann died March 9, 1915, and is buried in the Wilkesville Cemetery. Mary Ann Bishop’s quilt in the “Ocean Wave” pattern is one of three quilts in the Collection that were donated by her granddaughter, Maude M. Fierce, in 1936 and 1937.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1875-1888
maker
Bishop, Mary Ann Gotschall
ID Number
TE.T07851
accession number
141189
catalog number
T07851
“We hope that restful comfort lingers / Under this work of loving fingers” is the sentiment inked on this parlor throw by Mary “Delia” Lynch.
Description
“We hope that restful comfort lingers / Under this work of loving fingers” is the sentiment inked on this parlor throw by Mary “Delia” Lynch. As Mary grew up in Virginia, married and lived in Illinois and in 1886 moved to California, it is not known precisely where this parlor throw was made. When the donor, Mary’s granddaughter, discovered it in an old trunk in the 1950s, she noted, “It was as new as the day it had been finished years ago for it had not only never been used, it had not even been lined.”
Twenty 13 ¾-inch crazy-patched blocks are framed with a 2 ¾-inch maroon velvet border on this parlor throw. As is characteristic of many silk crazy-patched quilts (parlor throws) of this period, the pieces came from a variety of sources. The donor described the fabrics her grandmother used: “Most of the pieces are from materials of her [Mary Lynch] dresses and the dresses of my mother [Norma Clark] as a child and as a young girl. Among them are several pieces on which my mother painted a musical score [notes for ‘Auld Lang Syne’], a verse, and a spray of flowers.” Although the pieces were collected over a long period of time, it is not known whether Mary brought along the pieces, squares, or finished throw when she moved to California in 1886. The lining of the throw was done in 1968 by the donor a few years after she discovered it in an old trunk after her mother died.
The patches contain initials, and other painted and embroidered motifs often found on patch-work parlor throws. Among these are two 1880 campaign ribbons; one for Republicans James Garfield and Chester Arthur, another for Democrats Winfield Hancock and William English. Commemorative ribbons are another item often found included on crazy patch needlework.
One embossed maroon velvet patch, has the inscription “J.H. WHITEHURST GALLERIES / NEW-YORK / WASHINGTON D.C. / BALTIMORE / RICHMOND / NORFOLK / PETERSBURG / LYNCHBURG.” Most likely this is a case pad that would have been opposite a daguerreotype. It is an unusual example of the source of fabrics gathered to make a throw. Jesse Harrison Whitehurst (about 1820-1875) was one of the earliest and most successful photographers in Virginia. As noted above, he had several commercial studios and the quality of his work is among the best of that era.
All of the patches are enhanced with cross, buttonhole, feather, straight, detached chain, herringbone, star, stem, and French knot stitches--a feature of crazy-patchwork.
Mary Adelia, known as Delia, was born about 1845 to Maria and Grover Young in Richmond, Va. She was a descendent of an early English pioneer, William Claiborne (about 1600-1677), surveyor and settler in Virginia and Maryland. She married Jacob G. Lynch (ca 1842-1886) in Illinois, on January 30, 1867. On the 1870 census, they were living in Cairo, Ill., with their infant daughter, Norma. In 1886, after Jacob’s death, Mary moved to California. From at least 1900, she lived with her daughter Norma and Norma’s husband, Joseph H. Clark, in Oakland, Alameda Co., Calif. Mary died February 9, 1917, and is buried in the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland.
The donor in a letter expressed this often-noted sentiment: “Because I am the last of my line with no blood relatives, I am eager that this beautiful heirloom piece of American hand-craft should find a home where it can be appreciated, preserved, and cherished.” At the news that the parlor throw had been accepted, the donor “went out to dinner in celebration of the fact that at long last ‘Grandma’s Quilt’ had found a proper home.” Mary Lynch’s parlor throw is a noteworthy addition to the Collection.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1875-1890
maker
Lynch, Mary Adelia Young
ID Number
TE.T14831
catalog number
T14831
accession number
282325
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
This intriguing quilt, “Solar System,” was made by Ellen Harding Baker (1847-1886), an intellectually ambitious Iowa wife and mother.
Description
This intriguing quilt, “Solar System,” was made by Ellen Harding Baker (1847-1886), an intellectually ambitious Iowa wife and mother. It came to the National Museum of American History in 1983, a gift from her granddaughters.
The maker, Sarah Ellen Harding, was born in Ohio or Indiana, in 1847, and married Marion Baker of Cedar County, Iowa, on October 10, 1867. In the 1870s they moved to Johnson County, where Marion had a general merchandise business in Lone Tree. Ellen had seven children before she died of tuberculosis on March 30, 1886.
The wool top of this applique quilt is embellished with wool-fabric applique, wool braid, and wool and silk embroidery. The lining is a red cotton-and-wool fabric and the filling is of cotton fiber. The design of this striking and unusual quilt resembles illustrations in astronomy books of the period. Included in the design is the appliqued inscription, “Solar System,” and the embroidered inscription, “E.H. Baker.” Mrs. Baker probably began this project in 1876, as per the “A.D.1876” in the lower right corner.
The “Solar System” quilt was probably completed in 1883 when an Iowa newspaper reported that “Mrs. M. Baker, of Lone Tree, has just finished a silk quilt which she has been seven years in making.” The article went on to say that the quilt “has the solar system worked in completely and accurately. The lady went to Chicago to view the comet and sun spots through the telescope that she might be very accurate. Then she devised a lecture in astronomy from it.” This information was picked up the by the New York Times (September 22, 1883).
The large object in the center of the quilt is clearly the Sun, and the fixed Stars are at the outer edges. Around the Sun are the orbits of Mercury, Venus, Earth and Moon, and Mars. Not shown are the two moons of Mars that were first seen, at the U.S. Naval Observatory in 1877. The four curious clumps beyond Mars represent the asteroids. The first asteroid (Ceres) had been found in 1801, and with the proliferation of ever more powerful telescopes, ever more objects came into view. Then there is Jupiter with its four moons first seen by Galileo, and Saturn with its rings. The six moons orbiting Uranus are somewhat confusing, as astronomers did not agree on the actual number. Neptune has the one moon discovered by an English astronomer in 1846, shortly after the planet itself was seen.
The large item in the upper left of the quilt is surely the naked-eye comet that blazed into view in the spring of 1874, and that was named for Jerome Eugene Coggia, an astronomer at the Observatory in Marseilles. Americans too took note. Indeed, an amateur astronomer in Chicago put a powerful telescope on the balcony of the Interstate Industrial Exposition Building (1872-1892), a large glass structure recently erected along the shore of Lake Michigan, and offered to show Coggia’s Comet to citizens of and visitors to the Windy City.
The New York Times described Mrs. Baker’s intention to use her quilt for pedagogical purposes as “somewhat comical”---but it was clearly behind the times. Most Americans knew that women were teaching astronomy and other sciences in grammar schools, high schools and colleges, in communities across the country. Mrs. Baker, for her part, may have been inspired by the fact that the famed Maria Mitchell, professor at Vassar College, had brought four students and piles of apparatus, to Burlington, Iowa, to observe a solar eclipse in August 1869.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1876
user
Baker, Ellen Harding
quilter
Baker, Ellen Harding
ID Number
1983.0618.01
catalog number
1983.0618.01
accession number
1983.0618
“Mary W. Stow,” embroidered in red, is prominent on this patriotic quilt made of fabrics commemorating the 1876 Centennial in Philadelphia. The motifs were cut from bandannas that were printed as souvenirs of the event, and then appliquéd on white cotton.
Description
“Mary W. Stow,” embroidered in red, is prominent on this patriotic quilt made of fabrics commemorating the 1876 Centennial in Philadelphia. The motifs were cut from bandannas that were printed as souvenirs of the event, and then appliquéd on white cotton. Most of the motifs are edged with a button-hole stitch using red cotton. Printed fabrics with patriotic motifs were popular in America before the 1876 Centennial, but the major exhibition in Philadelphia provided textile companies with an incentive to produce many new fabrics for the event. Several of these can be found on the quilt.
The central motif depicts the Memorial Hall Art Gallery at the Centennial International Exhibition at Fairmont Park, Philadelphia. The Main Exhibition Building, Machinery Hall, Agricultural Hall, and the Horticultural Hall are circular motifs. These all originally appeared on one bandanna. There are flags of many nations, most likely cut from a printed textile. Cut-out portraits on printed fabric of George and Martha Washington, William Penn, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Ulysses Grant are among the motifs. Democratic candidates for president and vice-president, Samuel J. Tilden and Thomas A. Hendricks, and their Republican counterparts, Rutherford Hayes and William A. Wheeler, appear in separate motifs.
Mary W. Stow lived in Wisconsin, and included on her quilt printed pictures of the capitol building at Madison, Wisconsin and Harrison Ludington (1812-1891), governor of Wisconsin from 1876 to 1878.
Motifs also include inked drawings of the Hingham, Massachusetts, First Meeting House, the Bunker Hill Monument, the Liberty Bell, the Charter Oak, Trinity Church, and Independence Hall. Several motifs have the printed or inked date “1876.”
The border makes use of patriotic colors. A 1½-inch inner band of blue striped cotton with white stars is framed by an outer 1¾-inch band of red cotton. Quilting, 9 stitches per inch, outlines the appliquéd motifs. The border is quilted with a feathered vine and 1-inch diamond quilting fills the background.
The patriotic theme is carried to the lining of the quilt. In the center of the back is a bandanna with the printed text of the Declaration of Independence and facsimiles of the signatures of the signers. These are framed by the Liberty Bell and seals of the thirteen colonies, linked by names of the Revolutionary patriots.
Mary Williams Loomis was born on April 8, 1820, in Brownville, Jefferson County, New York. The daughter of General Thomas Loomis, she married Marcellus Kent Stow (1806-1871) on October 5, 1837, in Buffalo, New York. They moved to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, in 1852 where Marcellus was a business man, practiced law, and was a county judge.
Marcellus had followed his brother, Alexander, to Wisconsin from New York and together they had platted subdivisions that provided a plan for the city’s growth. Their father, Silas Stow, was a congressman from New York during the War of 1812. Mary and Marcellus reared five children, two girls and three boys.
Mary was also active in the Fond du Lac community. She was a foundering member of the Fond du Lac Relief Society, established in 1873 following the great forest fires of 1872 that destroyed several areas in Wisconsin. The establishment and management of a “Home for the Friendless” or “The Home” was a result of the fund-raising labors of this organization. Operating well into the twentieth century “The Home” provided a refuge for those in need, particularly the elderly, who did not have other resources. Although widowed, Mary still lived in Fond du Lac at the time of the Philadelphia 1876 Centennial. She may have visited the Exhibition and made this quilt as a reminder of the event. Her son, James W. Stow (1853-1913), lived in Washington, D.C., and Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. It was in Washington, D.C., on June 13, 1898, that Mary died.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1876
maker
Stow, Mary W.
ID Number
TE.T15703
accession number
297870
catalog number
T15703
Harriet Bradbury Rich wrote in 1948 that she was "pleased and proud" to donate this "memento of the First Centennial Exhibition of the United States of America." Her father, John Henry Bradbury, had been a merchant in the dry goods wholesale trade in New York and his firm receive
Description
Harriet Bradbury Rich wrote in 1948 that she was "pleased and proud" to donate this "memento of the First Centennial Exhibition of the United States of America." Her father, John Henry Bradbury, had been a merchant in the dry goods wholesale trade in New York and his firm received samples from the manufacturers commemorating the first one hundred years of nationhood that was celebrated at the 1876 Centennial in Philadelphia. At the age of twelve Harriet Bradbury along with her mother, Emily Bradbury, and her grandmother, Maria Silsby, assembled the commemorative fabric samples to make this patriotic quilt. The quilt was made at the Bradbury home in Charleston, New Hampshire, the fourth settlement on the Connecticut River, dating back to the French and Indian Wars.
Printed fabrics with patriotic motifs were popular in America before the 1876 Centennial but the major exposition in Philadelphia provided the textile companies with an incentive to produce many new fabrics. The utilization in this quilt of the small sample pieces that Mr. Bradbury brought back to his family provides an index of fabrics for that period. There are twenty-six roller-printed cottons and five plate or roller-printed bandannas or banners in the quilt. Many of these are printed with the dates 1876 or 1776-1876 or the word centennial. Patriotic motifs of eagles, flags, liberty caps, muskets, stars, cannonballs, liberty bells as well as portraits of George and Martha Washington and Lafayette are found in the various fabric designs. One particular striped design honors Martha Washington as it was copied from the fabric of a favorite gown of hers, the bodice of which is still at Mount Vernon, Virginia. The center of the back of the quilt contains a cotton kerchief that contains the text of the Declaration of Independence surrounded by the Liberty Bell and the seals of thirteen colonies linked by the names of the patriots of the Revolutionary cause.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1876
depicted
Washington, George
Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier Marquis de Lafayette
quilters
Bradbury family
quilter
Bradbury, Emily
Silsby, Maria
Rich, Harriet Bradbury
ID Number
TE.T10090
accession number
180031
catalog number
T10090
Esther Rose Cooley fashioned this pieced quilt from printed cotton souvenirs that she collected when she visited the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia.
Description
Esther Rose Cooley fashioned this pieced quilt from printed cotton souvenirs that she collected when she visited the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Printed fabrics with patriotic motifs were popular in America before the 1876 Centennial, but the major exhibition in Philadelphia provided textile companies with an incentive to produce many new fabrics for the event.
The center printed square depicts the Memorial Hall Art Gallery as well as the Main Exhibition Building, Machinery Hall, Agricultural Hall, and Horticultural Hall. “CENTENNIAL INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION FAIRMOUNT PARK PHILADELPHIA 1776 1876” is prominently printed on the square. A banner in the eagle’s beak carries the legend “E PLURIBUS UNUM.”
Four flag banners contribute to the overall design. Each has a large U.S. flag with 42 stars surrounded by foreign flags in their national colors. They represent countries that participated in the 1876 Centennial Exposition: “ITALY, SPAIN, PORTUGAL, TURKEY, SIAM, TUNIS, PERSIA, EGYPT, PERU, VENEZUELA, HONDURAS, GUATEMALA, ECUADOR, BOLIVIA, NICARAGUA, CHILI, ARGENTINE, IRELAND, CHINA, JAPAN, MOROCCO, SANDWICH, HAYTI, LIBERIA, MEXICO, FRANCE, GERMANY, BELGIUM, HOLLAND, SWITZERLAND, RUSSIA, AUSTRIA, DENMARK, [and] SWEDEN.”
The flag banner design was patented Dec. 28, 1875. The center is probably plate-printed, the flag banners, roller-printed cotton. Two flag segments (36 stars and 7 stripes) are used to balance the quilt design. A strip of foreign flags, probably cut from a similar flag banner, border the quilt.
Esther Rose was born in Granville, Massachusetts, in 1824. She married Simon Foster Cooley. The Cooley family was long established in Massachusetts, an early ancestor having received a grant of land in Amherst from King George III. Esther Cooley lived in North Hadley, Massachusetts, and according to family information, “She was a great traveler for those days. She went annually to Chautauqua in N.Y.” Esther died in 1918, but the quilt she crafted from souvenirs of her visit to the 1876 Centennial in Philadelphia serves as a reminder of the importance of that event.
In 1977 one of Esther’s great-granddaughters, Cloyce C. Reed, wrote about the donation of the “1876 Centennial” quilt to the Smithsonian. “My Quilt Goes to Washington,” Yankee Magazine, April 1977. “In a 1972 issue [ Yankee Magazine ] there was an article on quilts which prompted me to write to you about the quilt fashioned by my great-grandmother out of souvenir squares she bought at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia . . . you published my letter in . . . February 1973. . . . Then one day I received a telephone call from the Smithsonian! They had heard of the famous quilt . . . ask[ed] if I would loan it for their upcoming . . . exhibit.” It was on exhibit for the 1976 Bicentennial Exhibit and became part of the permanent collection through the generosity of the Cooley family. “It was truly wonderful to see this old quilt which has been in the family so long, in its final home, well cared for and enjoyed by so many fellow countrymen. We felt we had personally participated in the Bicentennial celebration.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1876-1878
maker
Cooley, Esther Elizabeth Rose
ID Number
TE.T17186
accession number
314088
catalog number
T17186
Agricultural fairs flourished in the mid-nineteenth century and exhibitions of women's needlework skills drew large audiences as they competed for prizes and recognition. A bronze medal, designed by William Barber, was inscribed, “Awarded to Mrs.
Description
Agricultural fairs flourished in the mid-nineteenth century and exhibitions of women's needlework skills drew large audiences as they competed for prizes and recognition. A bronze medal, designed by William Barber, was inscribed, “Awarded to Mrs. Joseph Granger for the best Crib Quilt – Worcester, Mass. 1878” by the New England Agricultural Society. A certificate from the office of the New England Agricultural Society states that: “Mrs. Joseph Granger Worcester, Mass. received a Bronze medal awarded at the New England and Worcester Agricultural Fairs, held in the City of Worcester, Mass. September, 1878, for the best Crib Quilt.” Mrs. Joseph (Caroline) Granger’s granddaughter, Claire L. Meyer, donated the quilt, medal, and certificate to the Smithsonian in 1972.
A note with the quilt, written by one of Caroline Granger’s children, states: “Mother’s quilt all hand quilted she made her own designs with a pin. She got first prize at the Sturbridge fair and every time she showed it at the New England fair – there was even questioning that it was machine made so every body had to examine it closely.” Another note, in different hand, that was with the quilt states: “Couverture de berceau piquee a la main por Mmes Joseph Granger qui importa le primier prix – (Medaille d’or) ‘New England Fair’ de 1878.”
The all-white child’s quilt, according to the note referred to in French as a “cradle cover,” is made of cotton. The stylized floral center medallion on a diagonal grid background is finely quilted, 12 stitches per inch. The 9-inch border is quilted with an undulating vine and flowers on a background of parallel diagonal lines. Caroline Granger’s design and precise hand quilting are definitely of prize-winning quality.
Marie Caroline Lamoureux was born on March 3, 1850 in St-Ours, Richelieu, Quebec, Canada. She was the daughter of Antoine Lamoureux and Marie Elizabeth Moge. On January 30, 1873, she married Joseph H. Granger in N. Grosvenordale, Connecticut. They lived in Worcester, Massachusetts, and had twelve children. Two children, born in 1873 and 1875, died before their first birthdays. A daughter, Marie Ida, was about two when Caroline’s quilt won a prize in 1878 and another daughter, Alam Victoria, was born in late 1878. Caroline died on June 9, 1936.
Claire L. Meyer, the Granger’s granddaughter, wrote; “Many thanks for your letter of July 7, 1972 regarding a crib quilt made by my grandmother a hundred years ago. I am also enclosing for your consideration a quilt machine stitched by my grandfather! . . . I hope it will be worthy of the national collection.” The two quilts are worthy, and provide an interesting contrast between the precise handwork of Mrs. Caroline Granger and the equally precise machine stitching of Mr. Joseph Granger.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1877-1878
maker
Granger, Caroline
ID Number
TE.T16317.00A
accession number
302043
catalog number
T16317A
Joseph Granger’s granddaughter donated both her grandmother’s (Caroline Granger’s) prize-winning child’s quilt and the quilt that her grandfather made.
Description
Joseph Granger’s granddaughter donated both her grandmother’s (Caroline Granger’s) prize-winning child’s quilt and the quilt that her grandfather made. According to a family note with the quilt, “Pa quilted the other all himself by machine.”
Joseph Granger chose to machine-quilt in a triple diagonal grid pattern, similar to the background of his wife’s hand-quilted child’s quilt that won a medal at the New England Agricultural Fair in 1878. It is not known whether Joseph made the quilt as a personal challenge to equal his wife’s accomplishment, or if it was made to prove the point that what could be done by hand could also be done with a machine. After several decades of improvements, sewing machines, by the 1870s, had become popular consumer products to have in the home. Possibly the idea of mechanical sewing was intriguing to Joseph and he wished to try his proficiency with it.
Joseph H. Granger was born on October 21, 1842, in L’Acadie, Quebec, Canada. He married Marie Caroline Lamoureux (1850-1936) in N. Grosvenordale, Connecticut, on January 30, 1873. They had twelve children and lived in Worcester, Masssachusetts. Joseph died on June 16, 1934.
Claire L. Meyer, the Granger’s granddaughter wrote: “Many thanks for your letter of July 7, 1972, regarding a crib quilt made by my grandmother a hundred years ago. I am also enclosing for your consideration a quilt machine stitched by my grandfather! . . . I hope it will be worthy of the national collection.” The two quilts are worthy, and provide an interesting contrast between the precise handwork of Mrs. Caroline Granger and the equally precise machine stitching of Mr. Joseph Granger.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1877-1878
maker
Granger, Joseph H.
ID Number
TE.T16318
accession number
302043
catalog number
T16318
Aimee Elkington was twelve when she first embroidered a ribbon for this decorative parlor throw in 1877.
Description
Aimee Elkington was twelve when she first embroidered a ribbon for this decorative parlor throw in 1877. It was the beginning of the popularity of “crazy quilts,” decorative tops that were pieced of irregularly shaped bits of silk fabrics, elaborately embroidered, and lined with a silk or cotton fabric. While some may have been used as bedcovers, more often they were displayed in the parlor.
Merchants sold packages of fabric samples, instructions for assembling them, and embroidery patterns to add an endless variety of designs and ornamental stitches. Often the throws were individualized by incorporating mementoes such as campaign ribbons, embroidered or printed poems, and significant phrases, dates or initials. Aimee employed many of the popular motifs and techniques on her throw.
The parlor throw is composed of twenty-five crazy-patched and embroidered blocks. In 1946, almost seventy years after she first started, Aimee joined the blocks together. She died shortly after, before she could add a planned border and lining. Among the motifs are fans, cattails, sunflowers, spider webs, and hearts, all frequently found on other parlor throws. Flowers were not only embroidered but also made of puckered and tacked velvet, padded silk pile, or silk floss that was tacked down and sheared. Applique, crazy patchwork, hand-painting, and fancy embroidery stitches were used to create the elaborate top.
The embroidered initials “AE” in the center signify Aimee Elkington. Some of the blocks may have memorialized friends, such as the crane motif, said to be included for a friend named Crane. A poem, “Easter” by William Croswell, printed on one silk patch, may have had special significance for Aimee. The silk, satin, and velvet fabrics are typical of the period, as are the many colors of silk embroidery thread, chenille, and metallic cord used to embellish them. Created over a lifetime, it is in the rendition that Aimee created a unique and very personal object.
Aimee Elkington was born in Toledo, Ohio, in 1865. She married a Mr. Shepherd, and the couple's daughter, Glaydes, was born in Florida about 1890. On the 1900 census, Aimee was widowed, she and young daughter were living with her mother, Elizabeth Elkington Power, and stepfather, Samuel Power, in Eustis, Lake County, Fla. By 1910 Aimee had remarried, to John L. Hodge, and was living in Lucas, Ohio. As a young child in 1868, John had moved from Canada to the United States. Aimee died in 1946. Glaydes, Aimee’s daughter, donated the quilt (parlor throw) in 1970 and was “delighted to have [my mother’s quilt] in an interesting and wonderful place.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1877-1946
maker
Hodge, Aimee Elkington
ID Number
TE.T15200A
catalog number
T15200A
accession number
291108
The New England Agricultural Society medal was awarded to Mrs. Joseph (Caroline) Granger at the 1878 New England and Worcester Agricultural Fairs. One side of the bronze medal has animals with "New England Agricultural Society" around the edge.
Description
The New England Agricultural Society medal was awarded to Mrs. Joseph (Caroline) Granger at the 1878 New England and Worcester Agricultural Fairs. One side of the bronze medal has animals with "New England Agricultural Society" around the edge. The other side has; "AWARDED TO [inscribed] Mrs. Joseph Granger for the best Crib Quilt" also "WORCESTER MASS 1878". A certificate with the medal from the office of New England Agricultural Society, dated "Boston, November 1st, 1878" states: "This is to Certify, That Mrs. Joseph Granger Worcester Mass received a Bronze medal awarded at the New England and Worcester Agricultural Fairs, held in the City of Worcester, Mass. September, 1878, for the best Crib Quilt." Signed Daniel Needham, Secretary.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1878
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T16317.00B
catalog number
T16317.00B
accession number
302043
Pieced in the “Basket” pattern, this quilt was made in the fourth quarter of the nineteenth century. “Keate P. McHenry 1878” is written in ink on one corner.
Description
Pieced in the “Basket” pattern, this quilt was made in the fourth quarter of the nineteenth century. “Keate P. McHenry 1878” is written in ink on one corner. Catherine (Kate) Price McHenry was the daughter of Jane Price Winter, whose “Carpenter’s Wheel” quilt is also in the collection, and Josiah W. McHenry. Kate (Keate) was born in 1850 and lived in La Pile, Union County, Arkansas.
The quilt top consists of forty-two 9¼-inch blocks made of a variety of roller-printed cottons. The blocks are set in a triple sashing of green print and plain white cottons. A miniature “Nine-patch” design is set in the intersections of the sashing. Stripes, checks, small geometrics, plaids, and scallop-shell motifs are represented in the fabrics. This quilt top is among several items that G. Ruth McHenry (Kate’s niece) donated to the Smithsonian.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1878
maker
McHenry, Kate P.
ID Number
TE.T12698
accession number
238478
catalog number
T12698
Sophia M. Tilton decorated her patches on this parlor throw with a wide range of painted flowers. According to donor Helen T.
Description
Sophia M. Tilton decorated her patches on this parlor throw with a wide range of painted flowers. According to donor Helen T. Batchelder, her grandmother Sophia was inspired by wildflowers such as morning glories, violets, and clover on her farm, and the roses, pansies, and lilies in her garden. Sophia was also remembered as a china painter and she used similar motifs to decorate ceramics.
China painting became a popular pastime in the United States in the 1870s. Pottery kilns developed by ceramicists such as Susan Frackelton who patented a “China-firing Apparatus” in 1886 and 1888, helped spur a large growth in both amateur and professional china painters. It is estimated that there were 20,000 professional china painters by 1900, many listed in city business directories. On this parlor throw, Sophia combined her needlework and painting skills to create her unique version of the crazy patchwork throw that was also very fashionable in the late 19th century.
The silk fabrics and ribbons that comprise this throw were said to have been bought in Boston, possibly at Thresher Bros., as Sophia’s eldest son, Alfred, owned a drugstore nearby. The throw was made for Alfred and later given to his son, the donor’s father.
A 5-inch border in the “Flying Geese” pattern frames the crazy-patchwork. The russet satin lining is decorated with bands of white silk feather-stitching framing a center rectangle outlined in herringbone-stitching. Within the rectangle is embroidered a spray of flowers and leaves in white silk. According to family tradition, it may have been designed by Sophia. The throw is edged with an orange silk cord.
Sophia Moore Leavitt, the daughter of Thomas Moore Leavitt and Sally Dearborn, was born about 1820 in Stratham, Rockingham County, N. H. Sophia’s first name was given as “Survial,” possibly a nickname, in the letter of donation. She married Nathaniel D. Tilton January 4, 1846, in Newburyport, Massachusetts. They had four sons, Alfred, Charles, Edward, and Nathaniel and were living in Watertown, Middlesex, Mass., in 1870. By 1880 Sophia was widowed and living with her youngest son (17), Nathaniel D., in Auburn, Rockingham Co., N. H.. It would have been about this time that she made her crazy-patch throw.
According to the donor at the time of donation in 1951, “Needless to say, her four sons considered it a masterpiece and I suppose it was, of the period . . . . It will be very pleasant to think of it in your department where many people can enjoy it instead of having it laid away in a trunk . . . . I give it to the museum in return for the inspiration and stimulation it has given me.” A granddaughter’s generous donation allows others to see and be inspired by her grandmother Sophia’s “masterpiece.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1880-1890
maker
Tilton, Survial Leavitt
ID Number
TE.T11009
accession number
192928
catalog number
T11009
Fans, butterflies, flowers, and many other motifs typical of the crazy-patch quilt era adorn this parlor throw. A wide array of fabrics available in the late 19th century for crazy-patch needlework is represented.
Description
Fans, butterflies, flowers, and many other motifs typical of the crazy-patch quilt era adorn this parlor throw. A wide array of fabrics available in the late 19th century for crazy-patch needlework is represented. Silks that are plain, printed, ribbed, pattern-woven, striped, brocaded, and plaid, as well as satins, velvet, taffeta, and ribbon are all combined to create this vivid example. Fancy stitches (herringbone, feather, detached chain, satin, French knot, stem) secure the patches. Originally an unfinished top, it was backed over a half century later with a machine-quilted gold satin, and a silk border was added to complete it.
Elizabeth Fenton was born in 1830 in Pennsylvania. She later moved to Washington D.C., and in 1851 married Benjamin Franklin Darley (1826-1884). They had four children. Elizabeth Darley died in 1890 and is buried in Congressional Cemetery, Washington D.C.
The donor of the parlor throw finished it in the 1960s as a favor to her friend, Mrs. Mae Glover of Norwalk, Conn. Mrs. Glover, born about 1890, noted that the quilt top was made by her grandmother, Mrs. Benjamin Franklin Darley, and “regretted that the quilt had never been finished.” As it remained unfinished and unused for so many years the crazy-patch fabrics are in excellent condition.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1880-1890
maker
Darley, Mrs. Benjamin Franklin
ID Number
TE.T12913
accession number
246196
catalog number
T12913
The fan motif, often found on crazy-patchwork, is the dominant pattern for the twenty-five, 10-inch blocks composed of a variety of silk, satin, velvet, and taffeta fabrics. Both machine and hand-stitched blocks are joined with a chain stitch by machine.
Description
The fan motif, often found on crazy-patchwork, is the dominant pattern for the twenty-five, 10-inch blocks composed of a variety of silk, satin, velvet, and taffeta fabrics. Both machine and hand-stitched blocks are joined with a chain stitch by machine. The original binding or border was removed before it was donated to the Museum in 1963, by the Sewing Group, Emmanuel Episcopal Church.
Martha Ada Mumma was born July 7, 1859. She married Jacob Emmanuel Thomas (1852-1908) in 1879. They were both born and married in Washington County, Md., and later lived in Baltimore, where their two sons were born. Martha died in Maryland in 1943. Her parlor throw is an example of late 19th-century needlework, exhibiting both hand and machine stitching.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1880-1890
maker
Thomas, Martha Ada
ID Number
TE.T12914
accession number
245859
catalog number
T12914
Kaziah North Bathurst made this cotton quilt as a gift to her stepson, Samuel Harvey Bathurst. The carefully pieced baskets with their appliquéd handles contain scraps from the dresses of Samuel’s mother, Emily Susan Bathurst (1833-1869).
Description
Kaziah North Bathurst made this cotton quilt as a gift to her stepson, Samuel Harvey Bathurst. The carefully pieced baskets with their appliquéd handles contain scraps from the dresses of Samuel’s mother, Emily Susan Bathurst (1833-1869). Samuel was born in Washington County, Iowa, in 1853. He farmed and was a lifelong resident of Adair County, Iowa, until his death in 1937.
Thirty pieced and appliquéd 7 ½-inch blocks in the “Basket” pattern alternate with plain white blocks. These are framed by a 5 ½-inch white border. The quilting patterns include feathered circles and undulating ivy vines, with pairs of birds between the baskets in the outer row. Each bird is in profile with its head turned to the back, revealing an eye embroidered in black cotton thread.
Born in Pennsylvania in 1841, Kaziah (Keziah) North was living in Iowa with her family by 1860. At age 30, Kaziah married Roland Curtin Bathurst, a widower with eight children of which Samuel was the eldest. Kaziah and Roland had three more children. According to family history, Kaziah made a quilt for each of her eight stepchildren using fabrics from their mother’s dresses. She also made quilts for the three youngest children, Roland, Pearl, and Iva Gay, with fabrics from her own dresses. Kaziah’s husband, Roland, died in 1900, and she died in 1922. Both are buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Atchison County, Kansas.
Samuel’s daughter, Effie, donated his quilt to the Museum in memory of her father, and as a tribute to Kaziah who used her quilting expertise to keep memories alive for both her children and stepchildren.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1880-1890
maker
Bathurst, Kaziah North
ID Number
TE.T15107
catalog number
T15107
accession number
288155
Although this crazy-patched parlor throw is characteristic of the many made in the last part of the 19th century, its many souvenir ribbons, extravagant embroidery, painted patches, typical period motifs, and a multitude of silk and velvet fabric samples combine to make it unique
Description
Although this crazy-patched parlor throw is characteristic of the many made in the last part of the 19th century, its many souvenir ribbons, extravagant embroidery, painted patches, typical period motifs, and a multitude of silk and velvet fabric samples combine to make it unique. Thirteen printed campaign and club ribbons dating from 1884 to1890 support Grover Cleveland as president and commemorate organizations such as the Iroquois or Americus Clubs. A “Kate Greenaway” ribbon also adorns the throw. Kate Greenway (1846-1901) was a famous English children’s book illustrator whose images appear on other quilts in the Collection.
Twelve large crazy-patched blocks, varying in size, were assembled to make this throw. It has a light blue cotton lining, which is machine-seamed, with a cotton filling. The black satin border is machine stitched with black silk. The embroidery on the throw includes the following stitches: French knot, feather, chain, straight, stem, detached chain, herringbone, and buttonhole. Embroidery stitches cover all the seams and decorate some of the patchwork pieces. There is no binding. Instead the top and lining are machine-seamed face to face on three sides, turned right side out, and the fourth side is whipped by hand. It is tied every 12 1/2 inches with light blue silk.
The quilt was donated by Arthur Wallace Dunn Jr. in memory of his father. Arthur Wallace Dunn Sr. (1859-1926) was a newspaper political correspondent and author who often toured the country with presidential candidates. One of the printed ribbons “Reporter National Democratic Convention 1888” may have held particular significance for him. Another patch is embroidered with the name, “Lillian.” Arthur Wallace Dunn Sr. married Lillian J. Nash in 1890. Perhaps his wife made this throw, incorporating ribbons her husband had collected as souvenirs.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1880-1895
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T12899
accession number
245700
catalog number
T12899
This carefully thought-out example of the pieced “Log Cabin” or “Courthouse Steps” pattern was given as a gift of friendship from the Copland Family of Johnson Creek, Wis., to Clara Foy.
Description
This carefully thought-out example of the pieced “Log Cabin” or “Courthouse Steps” pattern was given as a gift of friendship from the Copland Family of Johnson Creek, Wis., to Clara Foy. She in turn gave it to her stepgrand daughter, the donor, in 1942 as a gift before she was married. The quilt was exhibited at a county fair where it won a blue ribbon and possibly was exhibited at the Wisconsin State Fair and other fairs.
The bedcover is composed of 7 ½-inch blocks made of many different late-19th-century roller-printed cottons. The blocks are framed by four rows of short printed cotton strips, with a 1 ¾-inch cotton border print on the inner edge and a different 1 ¾-inch cotton border print on the outer edge. The blocks and strips are constructed on muslin squares and rectangles. In each of the four corners of the border is a 7-inch block pieced in the “White House Steps” version of the “Log Cabin” pattern. Although the donor referred to it as a quilt, it has neither a lining nor a filling and is not quilted.
Clara Falcy, the recipient of this bedcover from the Copland Family, was born in Wisconsin in 1887. She married a Mr. Radditz and moved to Indiana. After his death, she married George L. Foy (about 1870-1933) in 1931 and they lived in Wisconsin.
The numerous fabrics in this version of the “Log Cabin” quilt make it an interesting contribution to the Collection.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1880-1899
maker
unknown
ID Number
1983.0731.01
catalog number
1983.0731.01
accession number
1983.0731
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

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