The crafting of this quilt was made possible by William Grover’s 1851 invention of the double-thread chain stitch. He and William Baker were issued U.S. Patent No. 7,931 for a machine that used this stitch. The Grover and Baker Sewing Machine Co. of Boston, Mass., began manufacturing the machines in 1851, and by 1856 were producing for the home market. “Quilting on a Grover & Baker’s sewing machine, is no trouble at all, and the rapidity with which it is accomplished, enables us to apply it to many things which would cost too much time and labor for hand sewing.” ( The Ladies’ Hand Book of Fancy Ornamental Work Florence Hartley, Philadelphia, 1859.)
The most elaborate quilting of the 19th century was done by hand. It is unusual that the unknown maker of this quilt used a machine to stitch the design of each square through two layers of cotton fabric. The design areas were then stuffed with cotton fibers. The squares were sewn together by hand to make the quilt top, and an overall lining was added. The three layers were quilted by hand along each side of the seams where the squares of the quilt top were joined.
By 1870, the Grover and Baker double-thread, chain-stitch was being replaced by a lockstitch. The lockstitch machines used one-third the amount of thread and made less bulky seams. The lockstitch remains the standard stitch of home sewing machines to this day.
The motifs on this all-white quilt top are similar to those found on many of the colorful appliqué quilts of the mid-19th century. Although more complex than most of the work for which the new machines were used, the quilt’s design and the use of the Grover and Baker stitch suggest that this is an early example of machine quilting.
Susan Ann Camp Coe, great-grandmother of the donor, constructed this mid-19th century white-work quilted counterpane. The center, a six-pointed star is framed by a scalloped circle surrounded by floral motifs and a flowering vine arranged in scallops. Another flowering vine is arranged in reverse scallops. Bunches of grapes and leaves adorn the border. All floral motifs and scallops are quilted, with the background quilted in a diagonal grid pattern. The quilting is 6-7 stitches per inch. A straight strip of white cotton is seamed to the front and whipped to the lining for the binding.
This quilt, composed of 5 ¾” squares of printed cotton set diagonally with 2 ¾” sashing and border, contains interesting cotton fabrics from the early 19th century. The green motif repeated on a dark ground appears to have been mordant-printed from a small wooden stamp, possibly of Indian origin, and dyed. The sashing is cut from yardage of copper-block-printed floral stripes, probably English. The lining is a block-printed resist-dyed fabric. The various fabric printing techniques and the woven effect of the sashing contribute to the appeal of this quilt.
Two different roller-printed cotton fabrics were used to piece this quilt. One fabric for the 8-inch squares set diagonally, and the other for the 3 ½-inch sashing and border (3 ½-inch top, 5-inch side and bottom). The lining is 3 lengths of plain-woven cotton; “MW 6” and “MW 7” are cross-stitched in brown on two of the lengths. Also, “G. W. Singer” is inscribed in blue ink on the lining. The quilt is cotton filled and quilted 6 stitches per inch. No separate binding, the front and lining are turned in and sewn with a running stitch. Unfortunately, little is known about this quilt.
The date “June 3 1836” and initials “W.B.” in the center panel are plainly evident on this quilted and stuffed white counterpane. Unfortunately no further information was given at the time of donation. Does the date signify an engagement or wedding date? Is “W.B.” the maker or a person honored?
The white-work counterpane is an example of stuffed work using a method of spreading apart the threads in the lining and inserting cotton stuffing. In this way the motifs such as the plumes, sunflowers, daisies, and undulating vines are given a dimensionality. Precise quilting, 10 stitches per inch, further enhances the elegance and overall design of this bedcover.
The floral bouquet focal point of this mid-19th century appliqued quilt was probably from a panel printed especially for use as a cushion cover or quilt center. The circular 24½-inch center is surrounded by appliqued sprays of flowers and framed by three 6” cotton borders; two roller-printed borders and one white. There may have been a fourth quilted border, part of which remains stitched to the present outer printed border, but later it was folded to the back and stitched for a binding.
The donor gave this quilt to the Museum in honor of her aunt who “rescued” the quilt. “I think it would be a shame to have it hidden away from those who appreciate our heritage and admire beautiful needlework. It would no doubt have been destroyed . . . .”
Twenty-five blocks, each of a different fabric, are pieced in the “Schoolhouse” pattern for this “Friendship” quilt. The names of 25 women are inscribed in ink by the same hand. Research on the names revealed that they all had connections to Addison County, Vermont. The oldest was born in 1808, the youngest in 1866, with most born in the 1830s and 1840s. Some were teachers. Many are buried in Vermont, mainly at East Shoreham Cemetery.
In 1906, as a token of friendship, the quilt was passed along to the donor’s mother by a neighbor in Dubuque, Iowa. The neighbor’s mother was the maker of the quilt.
The pineapple motif, often associated with hospitality, was pieced-and-appliqued on sixteen 13-inch white blocks for this mid-19th century quilt. The blocks are framed by appliqued swags with small pineapples and buds, also of orange and green cottons. According to family information, it was made by the great-great-great aunt of the donor, unfortunately no name was given.
This quilted counterpane has a cotton top and linen lining. The top is pieced using various sized segments of the same block-printed fabric. The floral fabric is in red, pink, brown, tan, and black with penciled blue and yellow (blue over yellow) for green. The top and lining are stitched with linen thread; cotton thread was used for the Chevron pattern quilting. The fabric is earlier than the quilt and probably was used previously, an example of recycling precious fabrics in the early 19th century.
The focal point, an appliqued basket of flowering branches, is surrounded by an undulating flowering vine and a 2 ½-inch band of printed cotton. These are in turn framed by an 8-inch border appliqued with a leafy undulating vine, another 2 ½-inch band of printed cotton, another 13-inch border with appliqued motifs and a final outer band of printed cotton. Quilted, 9-10 stitches per inch, with a variety of leaf motifs and background of diagonal lines and clamshells. This quilt is a fine example of the frame-within-a-frame overall design.
Plain-weave roller-printed cottons, mainly geometrics, plaids, and stripes were effectively assembled to construct this quilt. Pieced blocks, 8 1/2-inch square, are crossed diagonally by a band of pieced small triangles to create an overall interesting geometric effect.
This late 18th-century medallion style quilt has many examples of block-printed and plate-printed fabrics. The focal center of the quilt, a 12-inch block constructed of four triangles, is surrounded by four pieced borders made of 3-inch and 6-inch triangles. The fabrics in each row are arranged in a mirror image from the ends of the row to the center creating a kaleidoscope effect. The red, copperplate print used in the pieced section of the quilt is the fabric: “Apotheosis of Franklin and Washington” printed in England about 1785. The border fabric is cotton, plate-printed in red, and is similar to English plate prints of 1770-1795. It is quilted 6 stitches per inch in a diagonal grid pattern on the outer border with linear quilting accentuating the pieced triangles of the center.
The many fabrics of this well planned quilt make it a valuable part of the Collection.
This green wool quilt, crafted in the late 18th-early 19th century has a lovely quilted motif of a large tree with flowers and branches stitched in feathered arcs reaching from the bottom edge of the quilt almost to the top. The tree is flanked by two long curving feathered vines and framed by bands of feathered quilting on the edges. Background quilting of parallel lines sets off the motif. Quilting is 6 stitches per inch.
Plain-weave green wool is used for the top, yellow plain-weave wool for the lining. The filling is wool as is both the sewing and quilting threads. This Massachusetts quilt by an unknown maker is a beautiful example of whole cloth wool quilting.
Quilt made, according to the donor, by Amanda Bowers Dement; it won a blue ribbon at the 1907 Georgia State Fair in Atlanta. An unusual example of the stereotyping imagery common at the time, used both to demean African Americans, and to celebrate the mythic world of the antebellum South.
The quilt depicts a black man, holding a knife and a slice of watermelon, standing in the center of a watermelon patch surrounded by a white fence which forms the outer border of the quilt.
The quilt is machine-appliqued and machine-joined in 9 large sections which were then joined before embroidery was added. Gray cotton lining. No filling; the 9 sections of front are appliqued and quilted through a layer of cotton cloth. Embroidery stitches: Stem, Straight. Quilting pattern: background quilting (crossing lines which form uneven diamonds) machine-stitched on each of the 9 sections. Watermelons machine-quilted, 16 stitches/inch. Lining not quilted; held to quilt with tacking stitches in only about 20 places. No binding; front and lining turned in and held by Herringbone stitch.
[Please note: NMAH curators are actively researching this quilt, and are eager to hear from members of the public who have information to share.]
Quilted in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in the early part of the twentieth century, this seemingly simple pattern of bars set in a contrasting color typifies Amish quilting. The center is composed of eleven burgundy and blue strips of wool-and-cotton fabric, which vary in width from 6 inches to 7-inches, set in a frame of blue. The corners of the border are mitered. The blue bars and borders are quilted in a cable pattern, and the burgundy bars in a chevron pattern. The skillful quilting is done with rose and blue cotton thread. It is a classic rendering of a traditional Amish pattern.