A Quilt Mystery: Searching for the Cherry Tree and Birds Quilt by LENNA DEMARCO
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Issue 144 Summer 2020 News Publication of the American Quilt Study Group v IN THIS ISSUE A Quilt Mystery: Searching for the Cherry Tree and Birds Quilt BY LENNA DEMARCO 7 A LONG AND WINDING ROAD 10 WEATHEriNG THE STORM 14 HIDDEN TREASURES, PT. 3 Figure 1: Cherry Tree Medallion Quilt from the estate of Queenie Smith (1898-1978), a film dancer and actress in the 1930s, and was found in Redlands, California. Collection of the author. Photo by Lynn Miller. number of years ago while pieced and applique patterns but one quilt Arummaging through an estate resale in particular caught my eye (Fig. 1). It was shop in Redlands, CA I came upon a in a medallion format and consisted of a 17 stack of quilts listed as from the estate of single cherry or apple tree in the center, STUDY GROUP Queenie Smith, a 1930s stage and film bearing oversized fruit and flanked by two actress and dancer. Having been a oversized birds at the base. Above and professional dancer all my life, I was below were two pots of whimsical immediately intrigued. Nothing indicated flowers while two stalks of unidentifiable Smith as the maker but dancers typically buds were placed along the right and left do some sort of hand work to fill up the sides of the quilt. A border of appliqued CALENDAR long hours of waiting at rehearsals, classes grape leaves, grape pods, and fat yellow ON PAGE 23 and performance so perhaps she did make birds encircled the entire quilt. The Nile them. Most of the quilts were typical 1930s Continued on page 4 Call for Papers The American Quilt Study Group (AQSG) seeks original, previously unpublished research pertaining to the history of quilts, quiltmakers, quiltmaking, associated textiles, and related subjects for inclusion in the annual volume of Uncoverings, a peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal. Submissions are welcomed on an annual basis, with a firm deadline of June 1 each year. Complete submission and manuscript guidelines are available on the AQSG website: americanquiltstudygroup.org/manuscript-guidelines/ SUPPORT FOR AQSG Our sincere thanks to these 2021 Seminar Sponsors: Anonymous in memory of Rose Elisabeth Seminar 2021 Paper Presenters and Publication of Gloria and Richard Comstock Uncoverings 2020 Kanawha Valley Quilters Guild, South Charleston, WV Karen Alexander Mary Kerr Lone Star Quilt Study Group James McHone Jewelry, Harrisonburg, VA Robert and Ardis James Foundation Patchwork Plus, Dayton, VA Mary Kerr Nick Powers Maryland Seminar Committee in memory of Jill Wilson Lucinda Cawley Special thanks to the following individuals and Midwest Fabric Study Group in honor of Janet White organizations for their “over-and-above” gifts of Ebie Morris support to AQSG between February 1, 2020 and May 1, 2020. Washington Quilt Study Group Jill Wilson Unrestricted Donations and Pledges including Dime A Day Donations Keynote Speaker Nancy Bavor Marianne Fons Virginia Berger Saturday Special Presentation Lorie Chase Jeffrey S. Evans Deb Dahab Sunday Special Presentation Jodi Evans Northern Virginia Fabric Dating Club Taryn Faulkner Jill Wilson Sherri Flynn Susan Jerome Welcome Events and Seminar Hosts Barbara Menasian in memory of Barbara Gonce Virginia Quilt Museum Ebie Morris in memory of Gwen Marstons Seminar 2021 Committee R. H. and Betty Roberts Thursday Welcome Reception Jane Steffens Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates Sharon Waddell Thank you to these sponsors for their additional Restricted: Cuesta Benberry Keynote Fund Seminar support Kim Baird Karen Alexander 2 AQSG BLANKET STATEMENTS Summer 2020 Board Nominations (05/01/2020) By Deb Dahab American Quilt ach year, AQSG members are asked to approve a slate of candidates to Study Group Eserve on the AQSG Board of Directors. This year the Board is pleased to present two outstanding individuals for consideration by the membership. They are Ebie Morris and Sharon Pinka. Both candidates are The American Quilt Study Group long-time members of AQSG and have demonstrated exemplary establishes and promotes the highest service to the organization. standards for interdisciplinary quilt-related studies, providing Your Board of Directors is the governing body and voice for the opportunities for study, research and organization and represents you, the membership. Please feel free to publication of works that advance the reach out to any Board member if you have questions or suggestions, knowledge of quilts and related subjects. particularly as we navigate through 2020 and beyond. For a current list of Board members see https://americanquiltstudygroup.org/governance/. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Jayne Steffens ................................President Karen Dever ..........................Vice President Ebie Morris Jodi Evans .............................Vice President Ebie is from Villa Park, Illinois and is also Dana Balsamo ............................... Secretary completing her first term on the Board of Nancy Bavor .................................Treasurer Directors. Ebie has a background in the Kim Baird not-for-profit sector that includes planning Nancy Bavor and scheduling programs and staff Lorie Chase resources, fundraising, marketing, and Deb Dahab public relations. Ebie has been Taryn Faulkner instrumental in securing sponsorships and Sherri Flynn support for all aspects of AQSG’s annual Susan Jerome Seminar. Ebie enjoys studying, Ebie Morris acquiring, and restoring or completing Sharon Waddell antique quilts. She collects and sell antique and vintage textiles and quilts. Ebie was a AQSG OFFICE STAFF founding member of the Northern Illinois Judy J. Brott Buss Quilt Study Group and is a member of the Executive Director Midwest Fiber Study Group. Anne Schuff Member Services Coordinator BLANKET STATEMENTS Sharon Pinka IS PUBLISHED FOUR TIMES ANNUALLY Sharon lives in Bellville, Ohio and served Deadlines are February 1, May 1, August 1 and on the AQSG Board of Directors from November 1. Blanket Statements Seminar Edition 2013-2018. She is a retired is published annually following Seminar. AQSG English/journalism teacher and librarian. welcomes submissions to Blanket Statements. She was board secretary for three years Information on editorial guidelines and policies and currently chairs the Research and may be found at www.americanquiltstudygroup. Publications Mentoring Committee. She org/publications.asp or from the editor at enjoys quilt research and her work related [email protected]. to the Rainbow Quilt Block Company from Cleveland, Ohio, and a group of antique PUBLICATION STAFF chintz quilts connected to a Hallie Bond .........................................Editor specific Charleston, South Carolina Kevin Gaskins ..................... Graphic Design family has been published in Uncoverings. Sharon is active in numerous quilt study CONTRIBUTING WRITERS groups, the Quilter’s Hall of Fame, and the Judy Brott Buss, Deb Dahab, Lenna DeMarco, Richland County (Ohio) Museum. She Laurel Horton, Sandra Staebell, Sandra Starley, collects antique quilts and tops and enjoys speaking to quilt groups around Jayne Steffens, Lue Turner the country. v Summer 2020 AQSG BLANKET STATEMENTS 3 A Quilt Mystery: Searching for the Cherry Tree and Birds Quilt (continued from page 1) green and pastel shades identified the quilt as most likely having been made in the second quarter of the twentieth century. Although I was not familiar with the pattern, my initial reaction was that it was probably one of many commercially produced kit quilts of the period. Once I began researching, I discovered something quite different. Two nineteenth-century quilts of this pattern are currently housed in museum collections. Although a maker has not been identified for either quilt, they are so startlingly alike that it begs the question as to whether they were made by the same person or members of the same family or community. The Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) owns the first identified example (Fig. 2);1 the second quilt resides at the International Quilt Museum (IQM) in Lincoln, Nebraska (Fig. 3).2 A date of 1850-60 is applied to both and the IQM suggests a possible Lancaster, PA, origin for their textile. Deeply faded, both quilts are done in the four-block, red-and-green applique tradition of the mid-nineteenth century so popular with many German-American quilt makers. The motif choices of a large tree of life flanked by oversized birds and Figure 2: “Cherry Tree and Robins Bride’s Quilt,” unknown maker, 1820/50. 76 fanciful flora immediately call to mind the colorful 1/8 “ X 75 7/8”. The Art Institute of Chicago 1919.546. fraktur images found throughout German-American décor, especially those identified as Pennsylvania Dutch. A second influence may have come from the late- eighteenth to early-nineteenth century Indian palampores. These large cotton textiles generally feature a central image of a heavily rooted, mythical tree surrounded by oversized and bizarre flowers and birds. A lush blossoming vine containing fruits, flowers, and animals often encompasses the central motif. The earliest documented quilt of this pattern was procured by the AIC in 1919. Donated by Emma B. Hodge, it was identified as “Cherry Tree and Robins Bride’s Quilt.” Initially dated ca. 1820 it has since been revised to 1820/50. No other information accompanied it. Emma and her sister, Jene Bell, were collectors of decorative arts and had amassed a large collection of textiles including 28 quilts assumed to have been made between 1820 and the 1860s.3 The entire collection was donated to the AIC in 1919. The green has faded to a dun color and the purple of the grapes has turned to brown, while the Turkey red and cheddar remain strong (Fig 4). Considering these changes in the dye, a more accurate date may be closer to the last quarter of the nineteenth century as the green has faded in a manner and to a color consistent with aniline dyes produced post-1870s. Unlike many makers of four-block, red-and-green appliqué quilts of the mid-nineteenth century which feature an open ground to allow for dense and skillful quilting, the maker of this example chose to fill nearly the entire space with her applique figures and used primarily outline and simple straight line quilting.