QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-911

Who documented this quilt?

Michigan Quilt Project

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Michigan State University Museum

Michigan Quilt Project Number:

84.0036

Quilt's title:

Detroit Buildings Quilt

Names for quilt's pattern in common use:

Redwork

When was the form filled out?

10/6/1984

Quilt top made by:

Welling, Mary

If you are a relative of the quiltmaker, how are you related? The quiltmaker is my:

Quilt owner

If you are the quilt owner, how did you acquire this quilt?

Inherited

Where the quilt was made, city:

Detroit

Where the quilt was made, county:

Wayne

Where the quilt was made, state:

Michigan (MI)

Time period:

1901-1929

When was the quilt started?

1906

When was the quilt finished?

1908

Family/owner's date for quilt:

Family history records that Mary Welling began this top in 1906 and completed it two years later.

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's city:

Detroit

Quiltmaker's county:

Wayne

Quiltmaker's state:

Michigan (MI)

Quiltmaker's birth date:

around 1870

In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?

Rural

Quiltmaker's date and place of death:

1950

Quiltmaker's religious affiliation:

Roman Catholic

Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and /or partner's/partners' name(s):

Welling, Matthew

Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and/or partner's/partners' ethnic/tribal background:

German

Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and/or partner's/partners' occupation:

farmer

How did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

From Relative

When did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

Age 30-39

This is a:

Quilt top with unfinished edge

How wide is the quilt?

87"

How long is the quilt?

96"

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Straight

Quilt's condition:

Very good/almost new

Type of inscription:

Date

What is the date inscribed on the quilt?

1908

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Number of quilt blocks:

120

Size of quilt blocks:

8"

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Side by side

Number of borders:

1

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Machine Piecing

Embellishment techniques used to make the quilt top:

Embroidery

Features or notes about the quilt's appearance, materials, or construction:

This quilt top provides a glimpse of the buildings of Detroit and also illustrates the quilter's interest in birds and flowers. Designs of buildings of Detroit: Detroit Museum of Art, Union Station, Masonic Temple, Detroit Opera House, Detroit Club, Central High School, Main Building Detroit Water Works. Little girl: washing on Monday, ironing on Tuesday, mending on Wednesday, Baking on Thursday, Cleaning on Friday, Market on Saturday, no Sunday. Little bear: Ironing on Tuesday, Mending on Wednesday, Market on Saturday. All are randomly placed with many flowers, birds, and animals, plus nice designs such as baby shoes, cameo type portrait, boy blowing horn. All squares are different - no 2 are alike.

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Commercial/Published source: Pattern

Commercial name of the pattern for the top:

The designs appear to have been traced or purchased already stamped on.

Related items such as diaries, obituaries, wills, household inventories, or pictures of the quiltmaker:

Michigan Quilts (1987) book, figure 106, page 77.

Person filling out this form is:

Quilt owner

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Karen Tetzlaff

Quilt owner's city:

Alpena

Quilt owner's county:

Alpena

Quilt owner's state:

Michigan (MI)

How was this quilt acquired?

Inheritance

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

Mary Welling to daughter Bernadine Jacks to daughter Edna Kroetsch to daughter Karen Tetzlaff

Describe anything about the history of the quilt that wasn't already recorded in a previous field:

Three successive generations of the Welling family have treasured the top, and it is now owned by her great-granddaughter Karen Tetzlaff.

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

How did the quiltmaker participate in the creation of the quilt?

Made entire quilt top

Who photographed this quilt?

Peter Glendinning

Copyright holder:

Michigan State University Museum