QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-983

Who documented this quilt?

Michigan Quilt Project; Michigan State University Museum Collection

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Michigan State University Museum

Michigan Quilt Project Number:

97.0008 AIQP

If this quilt is owned by a museum, enter the accession number:

1997:71.1

Object label:

Strawberries and Flowers
Alice Olsen Williams
Anishinabe, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
1991
Collection of Michigan State University Museum acc.#1997:71.1

Essay:

In Anishnabe culture, the strawberry is one of the first fruits to be gathered in the spring; thus, the fruit figures prominently in harvest celebrations, burial rituals, dances, and legends. It is no surprise that it is also used in quilts.

From To Honor and Comfort Native Quilting Traditions.

Owner's name for the quilt:

Strawberries and Flowers

Quilt top made by:

Williams, Alice

Quilted by:

Williams, Alice

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

Purchased the quilt

Where the quilt was made, province:

Ontario

Where the quilt was made, country:

Canada

Time period:

1976-1999

When was the quilt started?

Summer 1990

When was the quilt finished?

January 1991

Quilt is presently used as:

Museum collection

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's city:

Curve Lake

Quiltmaker's province:

Ontario

Quiltmaker's country:

Canada

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Einar

Quiltmaker's birth date:

1/9/1945

In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?

Rural

Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:

Anishinaabe; Native American

Quiltmaker's educational background:

B.A. in Native Studies, Sociology

Quiltmaker's religious affiliation:

Anishinaabe, Midewiwin

Quiltmaker's occupation:

teacher

Quiltmaker's father's ethnic/tribal background:

Norway

Quiltmaker's mother's name:

Einar, Sarah

Quiltmaker's mother's ethnic/tribal background:

Anishinaabe Lac Seul First Nation

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

Parole Board Chair

Number of children:

4

How many of the quiltmaker's children were girls?

4

How did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

From Class

When did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

Age 30-39

Other notes on how the quiltmaker learned, and how and why they quilt:

Women's work, comforting, nuturing, give-aways. Wedding, pow-wow celebrations.

Estimated number of quilts made by this quiltmaker:

more than 50

Does/did the quiltmaker sell quilts?

yes

Does/did the quiltmaker teach quilting?

yes

Does/did the quiltmaker belong to a group? Name of the group?

Buckhorn Area Quilter's Guild, Kawartha Quiltmakers Guild

What are the main activities of the group?

Hold quilt shows annually

This is a:

Finished quilt

How wide is the quilt?

60"

How long is the quilt?

60"

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Straight

Quilt's condition:

Excellent/like new

What is inscribed on the quilt?

Alice Williams

Method used to make the inscription:

Embroidery

Describe where the inscription was found:

lower corner

Describe the quilt's layout:

Medallion or framed center

Number of borders:

2

Describe the borders:

Inner, 2 1/2" yellow solid; Outer, 8 1/2" double four patch

Applique techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Applique

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton

Number of pieces of fabric in the quilt back:

1

What kind of filling is used in the quilt?

Polyester

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 1:

15

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 2:

16

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Outline

Quilting designs used, background fills:

Parallel lines

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Original to maker

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

Great Lakes Native Quilting, East Lansing, Flint, MI, September 19, 1999-February 27, 2000; September 14 - November 14, 2001, Michigan State Univeristy Museum; Sloan Museum; Her work is in the public collection of Ontario Public Service Employees Credit Union, Toronto; Anishnawbe Health Toronto; Confederation College, Thunder Bay and more.

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

To Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions (1997), page 36.

Source of the information on this quilt:

Museum employee

Ownership of this quilt is:

Public- Michigan State University Museum

Quilt owner's name:

Michigan State University Museum

Quilt owner's city:

East Lansing

Quilt owner's county:

Ingham

Quilt owner's state:

Michigan (MI)

How was this quilt acquired?

Purchase

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

5/1997, Alice Olsen Williams

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

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

Made entire quilt

If the source helped design the quilt, describe their input:

Designed the pattern

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

This wall hanging honours the beautiful gifts that are given to us by the Great Mother. In our ceremonies, we use strawberries to show our thankfulness for Life and for the gifts of Life. For us, the strawberry is the heart-berry. We believe it is the first berry of spring and it is the first gift of fresh fruit after a long winter.

Copyright holder:

Michigan State University Museum