Collections Search Results
Your search found 10 records from all Smithsonian Institution collections.
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- Description
- 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.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1859-1870
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- TE.T17603
- accession number
- 318024
- catalog number
- T17603
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- Description
- This framed-center quilt was among several quilts, quilt blocks, and other household textile items that were donated in 1932. It is the work of Rachel Burr Corwin. At the time of the donation it was considered by the curator “. . . a valued addition to the Museum’s collection of old cotton prints.”
- A variation of the “Nine-patch” pattern is used for the central panel. This is framed by borders pieced in the “Flying Geese,” “Lemoyne Star,” “Chained Square,” and “Nine-patch” patterns. The fabrics are mainly roller-printed fabrics with a few block-printed cottons. The quilting employs various geometric patterns, 5 stitches per inch.
- Rachel Burr, daughter of Samuel Burr and Sibyl Scudder Burr of Massachusetts, was born March 3, 1788. She married Samuel Corwin of Orange County, New York, October 14, 1809. They had four children. Needlework examples by one of their daughters, Celia, are also in the Collection. Rachel Burr Corwin died March 14, 1849, in Orange County, New York.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1825-1850
- maker
- Corwin, Rachel Burr
- ID Number
- TE.T07117
- accession number
- 121578
- catalog number
- T07117
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- Description
- This example of the “Goose Tracks” pattern was pieced by Mrs. Ellen Parsons of Shelbyville, Tenn. Seven-inch blocks are set diagonally with triple sashing and a miniature “Nine-patch” block at the sashing intersections. The blocks are framed by three 7/8-inch bands, one printed and two plain cottons. The filling is cotton and the lining is plain-woven, open-weave white cotton.
- According to a hand-written note with the quilt “Mrs. Parsons planted and grew the cotton in her garden. She picked the cotton and spun it into thread. She wove the threads into cloth to make the lining for the quilt. She pieced and quilted it by hand.” Of course information such as this is difficult to verify. The pieced blocks are outlined, the sashing and borders are zigzag quilted, 6 stitches per inch.
- The donor, Mrs. M. B. Holleman, wrote about the quilt when it became part of the collection in 1965. “I am 71 years old and I have no one to leave the quilt to that would take care of it. . . . I will tell you the things my mother [about 1857-1938] told me. My Great Grand Mother made this quilt. She was drown in the river. She was on a horse & the saddle broke. It was slave time and one of her slave women was on a horse also and lived to tell how it happened. She had only one child a girl and the quilt went to her. She never used it and when my Grandmother passed away, my mother got the quilt and when my mother passed on I got it. No one ever used it. (?) We would put it out in the sun real often. I wish I could tell you more about it. I am the only one living now.”
- Mrs. Parsons's quilt is a testimony to the importance to the family to hand down to future generations treasured objects and the stories that go with them. When there are no longer heirs to take care of an object, such as this quilt, they are often donated to a museum collection so that others can admire and appreciate them.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1850-1875
- maker
- Parsons, Ellen
- ID Number
- TE.T13774
- accession number
- 263336
- catalog number
- T13774
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- Description
- “Shoo-fly” blocks, composed of roller-printed floral and geometric patterned cottons, provide the design for this quilt. The same large floral print cotton was used for both the bands separating the blocks and the ruffled flounce on three sides. The lining is pieced with three lengths of roller-printed cotton in a bold design, depicting a running mare and foal that appear to be in a field or partial wreath of flowers. The quilting is a diagonal grid pattern, 6 stitches per inch. The quilt was donated by a collector of early American domestic furnishings.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1850-1875
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- TE.E388878
- accession number
- 182022
- catalog number
- E388878
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- Description
- According to donor information, Ruth Ann Stottlemyer crafted this quilt while staying with her brothers on a farm in Goose Creek, Piatt County, Illinois. Five 24 ½-inch blocks, with triangular blocks filling in the edges, are appliqued with roses, leaves, buds, and stems in a pattern known as “Whig Rose” or “Democrat Rose.” These are framed by a 9-inch border appliqued with scalloped swags held by roses and ribbons. Outline quilting delineates all the appliqued motifs; the spaces between are closely filled with quilted sprays of flowers, feathered scrolls, leaves, and buds. It is finely quilted at 14 stitches per inch.
- Ruth Ann Stottlemyer (Stottlemeyer) was born on September 2, 1843 to Jonathan Recher Stottlemyer (1820-1896) and Susannah Blickenstaff Stottlemyer (1823-1893) in Maryland. According to census information in 1880, she is listed as “keeping house” on the farm of her brother in Illinois. She died in Washington County, Maryland on August 9, 1903. Ruth Ann is buried in Beaver Creek, Maryland.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1860-1870
- maker
- Stottlemyer, Ruth Ann
- ID Number
- TE.T08953
- accession number
- 167647
- catalog number
- T08953
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- Description
- In the early 1940s Welthea B. Thoday sent squares of white cotton fabric to friends, family members, and coworkers and asked that each make a block for a World War II quilt. Many of the blocks she collected contain significant dates and slogans that were popular during the period, such as “Keep em Flying” or “AMERICA IN THE AIR ON LAND ON SEA” or “Save Paper – Tin – Grease.” Other quilt blocks depict the Four Freedoms, flags, and other iconic symbols.
- In a small booklet, “Record of World War II Historical Quilt,” Welthea Thoday identified and sketched each of the quilt square contributions and noted the significance and symbolism of the designs. The World War II Friendship Quilt was exhibited at several 1976 Bicentennial events.
- The colors red, white, and blue dominate on this patriotic commemorative quilt. First planned in the early 1940s, the quilt was completed in the 1970s. Welthea made the central panel, copying the design from a three-cent postage stamp that was introduced on July 4, 1942. It depicts an American eagle with its wings outstretched to form a large “V” (for Victory). The eagle is surrounded by thirteen stars and a “Win the War” banner is unfurled across its breast. Around this central panel, Welthea arranged thirty-two of the pieced, appliquéd, and embroidered blocks that she had received from friends and family. Placement of the four red-and-white symbolic squares in the corners (the cross, feather, “V” and star) gives a sense of order to the other twenty-eight individually designed blocks.
- Born in 1896 in Scituate, Massachusetts, Welthea B. Thoday began her career as a stenographer for a Boston automobile insurance company in 1914. In 1928 she entered the field of advertising and was one of the first women to do announcing and writing for a radio sales program. She retired at the age of 74, after twenty years as a textile editor for a Boston textile publishing company.
- When Welthea was 100 years old, she was interviewed by her niece, Susan McKanna. In the taped interview, she discussed the original idea for the quilt, recalling the many government programs that were being promoted during World War II and the idea that it would be “nice to make a record of them.” In 1998, at the age of 102, Welthea Thoday died. Preserved in needle and thread, pen and ink, her World War II Friendship Quilt and the booklet “Record of World War II Historical Quilt,” together provide a vivid commentary on the period.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1965-1975
- quilter
- Thoday, Welthea B.
- ID Number
- 1996.0148.01
- accession number
- 1996.0148
- catalog number
- 1996.0148.01
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- Description
- 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.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1890-1910
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- TE.T17333.000
- catalog number
- T17333.000
- accession number
- 321804
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- Description
- “Commenced Jan 12th 1887. San Rafael . . . Finished March 12th 1887. . . M. M. Ware” is embroidered on this parlor throw composed of nine 21 ½-inch crazy-patch blocks. Many satin and velvet ribbons with California references are found among typical motifs such as a horseshoe, a fan, flowers, owls, bicycles, etc. A variety of embroidery stitches in many colors of silk thread decorate the throw. A red velvet 7-inch border and a red cotton lining complete it.
- Mehitable (Mettie) Babcock was born in Vermont in 1816. She taught school from the age of 14 until she married Preserved Ware (1811-1885) in 1836. They had eight children and from 1868 they lived in California, where Mehitable Ware died in 1897.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1887
- maker
- Ware, Mettie Mehitable Babcock
- ID Number
- TE.T16134
- accession number
- 298792
- catalog number
- T16134
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- 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
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- Description (Brief)
- Pieced and appliqued quilt. Border contains twenty-six 8” square blocks. Each block has a 5 ½” white square appliqued with a motif and letter of the alphabet and framed by a 1 ½” blue strip. A (apple), B (bluebird), C (cat), D (doll), E (elephant), F (flower), G (goose), H (house), I (ice cream cone), J (Jack-in-the-box), K (king), L (lamp), M (music notes), N (numbers “3” & “7”), O (orange), P (pail), Q (queen), R (rabbit), S (sailboat), T (tree), U (umbrella), V (violet), W (windmill), X (xylophone), Y (yacht), Z (zebra). The center consists of six 17” blocks set in sashing, and a center strip 6 ½” x 59” with the numbers 1 – 10 embroidered down the strip. The blocks and strip are of the same fabric. Blocks are quilted (outlined) 4 stitches/inch. Binding: Front turned to back and stitched.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1920 - 1940
- 1900 - 1999
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- 2014.0244.205
- accession number
- 2014.0244
- catalog number
- 2014.0244.205
