Lengths of fabric, printed to imitate patchwork, were used to make this mid-19th century quilt. Cotton was roller-printed in blue, brown, red-brown, and olive drab to make up the pattern for the simulated patchwork also referred to as “cheater cloth.” The quilt is lined with white cotton fabric and is quilted.
This patriotic quilt in red and green was the inspiration for Edith Magnette’s watercolor (Plate 227) that was part of the Index of American Design project (1935-1942). Edith Magnette rendered over 50 items for the Index , many of them textile-related.
The quilt was originally owned by Mrs. Charles Gramm and made by her grandmother. It was lent to the project by Louise Zotti, and donated by her to the National Museum of American History.
The central eagle motif, surrounded by 8-pointed stars, is typical of patriotic symbols of the mid-19th century. The blocks on the border are in the “Oak Leaf and Reel” pattern, also typical of the period.
Matilda Whisler appliquéd this variation of the “Whig Rose” pattern in the mid-19th century. She accentuated the pattern with outline quilting on all of the appliquéd motifs. Quilted feathered plumes (“Princess Feather”), diagonal lines ¼-inch apart, and clamshells on the outer edges further enhance the design. Finely quilted at 7-10 stitches per inch, hers is a typical example of the red and green quilts popular in that period.
Matilda Kramer was born in Frederick County, Va., on 18 March 1817. She married Henry Whisler, a native of Rockingham County, Va., in 1818. According to census information, they lived in Rockingham County and had three daughters and a son. Henry was a shoemaker. His son, Cambias (1846-1909) followed his father in the shoemaking trade. Henry died in 1885, and Matilda on 15 September 1898. Both are buried in Trissell’s Mennonite Church Cemetery in Rockingham County.
In 1942, the donor, one of Matilda’s daughters, wrote: “In 1861 my mother made a very beautiful quilt which is still in excellent condition. . . . I shall be glad to donate it.” Matilda’s carefully crafted quilt in the “Whig Rose” pattern was considered a “desirable specimen” by the Museum.
A poppy motif dominates this pieced, appliqued and embroidered quilt, probably assembled by Cynthia Hobby (1770-1863) and quilted by her granddaughter Mary Elizabeth Hitchcock Seamans (1839-1881). Twenty-five 15½-inch blocks are framed by a 9-inch border that has appliqued clusters of cherries with leafy stems and is edged with pieced sawtooth bands. Fine quilting, 12 stitches per inch, outlines all the appliqued motifs. Diagonal grid and diagonal line quilting further enhance the blocks and border on this well designed quilt.
This is one of three quilts donated by the same family.
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.
Fifty-six squares were embroidered, painted, crazy-patched, assembled, and surrounded by a 9-inch plush border. The blocks represent the states and territories of the United States at the time the bedcover was made; some are dated 1883 and 1884. The bedcovering was made for William Wilson Corcoran (1798-1888), whose initials, WWC, are embroidered in the center of the gold silk lining. It hung for many years in the Louise Home, a charitable institution for elderly women in need, which he established in 1870. Among his many other accomplishments is the founding of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
One side of this reversible crib or child’s quilt is pieced in the “Flying Geese” pattern. Rows of 4 ¾-inch triangles alternate with 3-inch strips of printed cotton. The other side is composed of 2 ½-inch strips of 3 different printed cottons. It is machine pieced and machine quilted (18 stitches per inch). A diamond quilting pattern was formed by a 1 ½-inch diagonal grid. The binding is a 5/8-inch bias strip of roller-printed cotton folded over the edge and machine-stitched through all layers.
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.
Margaret Langford pieced this version of “Star of Bethlehem” also known as “Harvest Sun” or “Prairie Star” in the later part of the 19th century. The nine pieced blocks are set off by 14-inch and 7¼-inch plain white squares to create a dramatic overall design. It is quilted, 10 stitches per inch, with outline and diagonal grid patterns. Three sides have a 2½-inch printed cotton border.
Margaret O’Sullivan was born in 1852, to Jeremiah (1814-1884) and Elizabeth “Betty” Osburn (1824-1876) O’Sullivan in Spencer County, Kentucky. She married Larkin R. Langford on October 8, 1867. They lived in Anderson County, Kentucky. She died on April 13, 1894, in Spencer County, Kentucky. Another of her quilts, in the “Spider’s Web” pattern, is in the collection of the Kentucky Historical Society.
This album quilt top, belonged to Adaline Wharton Street, the donor’s grandmother. The quilt top is composed of twenty-four 7¾-inch blocks pieced in the “Flying Geese” or “Goose in the Pond” pattern. Except for four blocks in the center made of green and white cottons, the rest of the top utilizes roller-printed cottons. This unfinished quilt top has a 4-inch border along one side.
Adaline was born in Pennsylvania in 1820. She married Jonathan Street (1843) and in 1855 they settled in Wenona, Illinois. The dates on this quilt top are 1859 and 1869. There are several signatures, most with the surname of “MCarty” or “McCarty”. It is not possible to determine whether these are blocks from Pennsylvania or Adaline’s new home in Illinois. Album quilts were popular items during the mid-19th century, often given to friends or family moving to new locations.
This counterpane, with a version of the “Tree of Life” motif, portrays a vignette of family life in the mid-nineteenth century. It was said to have been made for the Hasbrouck family by an Englishwoman. In the 1870 and 1880 censuses, Mary Ward, who was born in Ireland, lived with them and worked as a domestic servant. Perhaps the counterpane was made by her or Elisabeth Tompson, who is listed as part of the Hasbrouck household on the 1860 census. In 1975, the Smithsonian acquired the counterpane from Josiah and Ellen Hasbrouck’s grand-daughter, Margaret Blauvelt Hasbrouck Elliot.
Block- and roller-printed dress and furnishing cottons from 1800 to 1845 are used for the design. The ground is white cotton stamped or printed “Fine Sheeting” with the number “31” in a wreath of leaves, and a vase of flowers on a platform. Embroidered details on the counterpane are worked in both silk and cotton. The border is appliquéd with a flowering vine, and the counterpane is edged with appliquéd scallops.
Josiah Hasbrouck was born in 1830. He married Ellen Jane Blauvelt in 1856, and had five sons, the first of whom died in infancy. They lived in Esopus, Port Ewen, Ulster County, New York, where Josiah Hasbrouck was a physician. The idyllic scene may have represented Josiah and Ellen Hasbrouck and their four sons Walter, John, Gilbert, and Josiah enjoying the banks of the nearby Hudson River.
Augusta Elizabeth Duvall was a botanist and appropriately enhanced her crazy-patch parlor throw with embroidered floral motifs. This is an example of contained crazy-patch; nine 22-inch squares are divided by black velvet ribbon within an outer border of pink-dotted blue velvet ribbon. Each of the blocks contains a silk square, set diagonally, with a large floral design and the corners have smaller floral motifs—all different.
Augusta Duvall was born about 1843 in Maryland. She married Dr. Thomas C. Bussey about 1900, but they divorced a few years later. She died in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1932.
Also known as the “Seamstresses’ Quilt,” this red and green example of mid-19th century quilting was in the George Slothower family of Baltimore County, Maryland. He was a wholesale dry goods merchant and the owner of two cotton mills: the Powhatan and Pocahontas Mills. Apparently at the time this quilt was crafted, resident seamstresses, usually of German or Dutch origin, made the family clothing and most likely this quilt.
The center basket of flowers is framed by floral-and-leaf panels and borders, each accented with red saw-tooth bands. Echo quilting highlights each of the motifs on this appliquéd quilt.
Mary Maphis Copp pieced this cotton quilt in the mid-19th century. The center panel consists of alternating “Nine-patch” and plain white 6" blocks. It is framed by a border of 24 blocks in the“Sunflower” or “Blazing Star” pattern.
The sunflowers are unusual in that they have nineteen petals. The quilting patterns of outline, double-line diagonal grid, and parallel lines enhance the design. There is no separate binding; instead the back was brought to the front and whipstitched. The quilt is a distinctive combination of a simple pattern in the center panel with a more complicated pattern in the border blocks.
Mary C. [Catherine] Maphis was born September 8, 1831, to John H. and Fannie V. Headley Maphis in Woodstock, Va. She married George W. Copp (1825-1899), a farmer, on November 7, 1850. They settled at Fisher’s Hill, a small village near Strasburg, Va. George and Mary had eight children: Frances (1851-1943), John W. (1852-1917), William H. (b. 1854), David E. (1855-1926), Silas A. ( 1856-1926), Barbara R. (b. 1859), George V. (b. 1862), and Benjamin (b. 1872). According to family information, their home was the site of a Civil War battle. It was burned and all their belongings lost.
Fisher’s Hill was part of Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign September 21-22, 1864. The Confederate Army retreated (casualty estimates of 1,235 to the Union’s 528) and left the Valley open to a “scorched earth” invasion in which dwellings and other buildings were burnt from Staunton to Strasburg, Virginia.
The Copp family eventually relocated to Strasburg. Mary died on February 11, 1886. She is buried in the Strasburg Presbyterian Church Cemetery. The quilt was donated to the National Museum by her granddaughter Mrs. Irene Copp Pifer, the daughter of Mary’s son, John W. Copp.
Booklet: "CRAZY PATCHWORK. ALL THE NEW FANCY STITCHES ILLUSTRATED AND PLAIN INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAKING THE PATCHWORK. Price, - 25 Cents. PUBLISHED BY STRAWBRIDGE & CLOTHIER, Eighth & Market Sts., Philadelphia; COPYRIGHT 1884 BY STARWBRIDGE & CLOTHIER." It contains a page of general instructions and six pages of transfer patterns to be dampened and pressed with a hot iron. These are motifs for embroidery and designs for edging the patches.
This cotton quilt top was found at a fair in Montgomery County, Maryland. The appliquéd designs of the blocks are similar to many found on Maryland album quilts of the mid-19th century. One block is signed in ink, “Rebecca Diggs.”
A log cabin with a barrel marked “Hard Cider” and a raccoon on the roof appears on another block. Variations of this motif were popular at the time and commemorated William Henry Harrison’s “log cabin and cider” presidential campaign of 1840. The symbols were originated by the opposition party, but Harrison turned the tables and utilized them to identify himself with the common man. He won the election only to die of pneumonia a month after his inauguration.
A quilt pieced in a variation of the “Four-patch” pattern, was cut down to make this crib or child size quilt (41 inches x 40 inches). A hand-sewn seam down the center joins the two sections cut from another quilt. Roller printed cottons, the earliest dating to about 1840, along with woven and printed plaids were used for the 7 ½-inch pieced blocks. These were set diagonally, alternating with 7 ½-inch plain blocks. Filling and lining are cotton. It is quilted (8 stitches per inch) with parallel lines 1 inch apart; vertical lines on the pieced blocks, horizontal lines on the plain blocks. No separate binding, the front is turned to the back (¼-inch) and whip stitched. The small quilt is an example of recycling in the mid-nineteenth century.
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.
Olive Bender made this quilt for her son and daughter-in-law as a Christmas gift in the 1940s. Her grandson, David Bender, later donated the quilt. He recalled that his grandmother would work on quilt patches during the warm months, and then, in the winter, quilt on frames she would set up in the dining room of her Ohio farmhouse.
Nine 16”-inch blocks, appliquéd and embroidered in the “Water Lily” pattern, are set in pink and white sashing. The lily buds, leaves, water, lily pad, and flower details are embroidered. Various patterns quilted at 7 stitches per inch and scalloped edges complete the overall quilt design.
Popular in the 1920s to 1940s, the “Water Lily” motif was available in kit form or as a paper pattern. Quilt historian, Cuesta Benberry, traced this pattern to the Rainbow Quilt Block Company owned by William Pinch. His company perfected a printing process that stamped colors on muslin squares indicating the color of embroidery threads needed to complete the motif and gave the company its name, Rainbow. William Pinch (1880-1972), a professional photographer, created as many as 1,000 designs for his company. Advertised in flyers, newsletters and catalogs, the kits and patterns could be purchased by mail or in retail stores making them available to small towns and rural areas.
Olive Mae (nee Fairall) Bender was born February 13, 1892, in Frazeysburg, Ohio. She died April 18, 1971, in East Sparta, Ohio. Her quilt is an example of mid-20th-century quilting and of a design available from the Rainbow Quilt Block Company, one of many companies that promoted quilting from the 1920s on by publishing patterns and providing quilting kits.