Emily Maxwell and her Heavenly Vision Quilt about 1955 I found this charming quilt and its story at the North Carolina Museum of History. Heavenly Vision made by Emily Margaret Eller Maxwell (1867-1957) North Carolina, 1952 85 x 67" Collection North Carolina Museum of History Maxwell "said that she had been sent a vision of heaven and that God told her to make this quilt." Note the "HV." The Museum has a wide-ranging collection and the website gives much detail about the quilts and the makers. It's really an exemplary site. http://ncmuseumofhistory.org/Collections/Search-the-Collections Quilt from the Roach Family Friendship quilt, apparently made in New York, date inscribed 1845-1855 Collection North Carolina Museum of History Medallion with a pillar print center Collection North Carolina Museum of History
The Strong Museum of Play is home to the largest, most comprehensive collection of toys, dolls, games, and video games.
The Sugar Camp Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini Chiaverini writes novels with quilt themes and as she says on a web page that she likes to make a quilt like the one her character has made in the novel. This album quilt is one of her fictional creations. It's a good interpretation of a period album quilt, a style and pattern that might have been made during the Civil War. Jennifer and I have both written books for C&T Publishing so she got my signature at a book signing event a few years ago. Jennifer made the block---I signed it. 1864, Hazel Green, Wisconsin I post occasionally about authentic quilts made during the War and this pattern comes up often. Quilt made about 1865-66 in Saugerties, New York http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-lincoln-signature-quilt.html 1865, Orleans County, New York Private Collection GAR quilt 1867 from the Clara Barton Museum BlockBase # 3266 Several variations of the pattern are indexed in my BlockBase program for PC's. This one was published as Chimney Sweep by Ruth Finley in 1929. The Shelburne Museum has an example they call Christian Cross. The generic name would be Album pattern. Quilters used several different arrangements of the pattern pieces to get the effect. Here's the most common version from the Wisconsin quilt with a free quilt pattern below: Cutting a 12" Block A - Cut 2 white squares 2-3/8". Cut each in half diagonally to make 2 triangles. You need 4. B- Cut three white squares 4-1/4". Cut each into four triangles with 2 cuts. You need 12. C- Cut 2 white and 8 print squares 2-5/8". D -Cut 1 white and 4 print rectangles 2-5/8" x 6-7/8". Sewing I am pleased to be included in Jennifer's author/quiltmaker album quilt. Here's Sue Grafton's signature from that quilt. Read more about the Sugar Camp Quilt here: http://elmcreek.net/gallery/quilts/authors-album-quilt Below, some more mid-century versions of the pattern for color and print ideas. The dates are on the blocks. Some may have been set together later. Many are from on-line auctions. 1848 Connecticut 1848 1849 Wisconsin State Historical Society 1852 Harrison County, Ohio 1855 Collection of the Brooklyn Museum 1856 Gallatin, New York A silk version dated 1867-68 from Mississippi Personally, I think the blocks would look good in my new Civil War Jubilee prints. 97" x 97" Sort of like this EQ7 sketch: 25 blocks finishing to 12", Set on point with 3" sashing and cornerstones, 6" border.
Sarah J. Harden, 1855
