QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-2301

Who documented this quilt?

Michigan Quilt Project

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Michigan State University Museum

Michigan Quilt Project Number:

00.0277

Owner's name for the quilt:

Candlenut (of KuKui in Hawaiian)

Biography of the quiltmaker?

Each of her pieces is signed on the back lower right hand corner. An embroidered 5-point star, relating to the professional name she uses of U.S. Quiltworks, follows her signature.

When was the form filled out?

11/12/1985

Quilt top made by:

Southwell, Unis

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

Made the quilt

Where the quilt was made, city:

Muskegon

Where the quilt was made, county:

Muskegon

Where the quilt was made, state:

Michigan (MI)

Time period:

1976-1999

When was the quilt started?

1979

When was the quilt finished?

unfinished

Why was the quilt made?

Personal enjoyment

Details about why the quilt was made:

This block, made for my own collection.

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's city:

Suttons Bay

Quiltmaker's county:

Leelanau

Quiltmaker's state:

Michigan (MI)

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Engle

Quiltmaker's birth date:

3/29/1925

Quiltmaker's date and place of death:

2/24/2016

Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:

Scotch, Irish, English, German

Quiltmaker's educational background:

3 years college MSU 1943-1946 Home Economics Textile and related Arts Major

Quiltmaker's religious affiliation:

Congregational Protestant

Quiltmaker's occupation:

homemaker

Quiltmaker's father's name:

Engle, Robert Bruce

Quiltmaker's father's ethnic/tribal background:

Pennsylvania/German

Quiltmaker's mother's name:

Engle, Eva Naomi Towers

Quiltmaker's mother's ethnic/tribal background:

English/Scotch-Irish

Quiltmaker's marriage date(s):

9/14/1947

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

Southwell, Langdon Gaylord

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

Mich. Dept. of Corrections Area Manager, Muskegon, MI

Number of children:

3

How many of the quiltmaker's children were girls?

2

How many of the quiltmaker's children were boys?

1

When did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

Age 11-19

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

I feel that we who quilt today are fulfilling a need to express ourselves with fabric.

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?

Christ Community Church quilters, Spring Lake, MI; Little Finger Quilters started 1989, meets in Omena, MI community room which is part of the Fire Dept. This groups name comes from Leelanau County being referred to as the little finger of Michigan. Pine

What are the main activities of the group?

About 12 women meet each Tuesday at the church to quilt tops for others, as a fund raising function for their church. I was not a member of the church but merely quilted with the group.

This is a:

Quilt top with unfinished edge

How wide is the quilt?

19 7/8"

How long is the quilt?

20 1/8"

Shape of edge:

Straight

Quilt's condition:

Excellent/like new

Describe the quilt's layout:

Wholecloth

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

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

How is the binding made?

Unfinished/raw edge

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:

11

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 2:

7

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Echo

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Commercial/Published source: Magazine

Commercial name of the pattern for the top:

Quilter's Newsletter Magazine, March 1978 pg. 21

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

Con Foster Museum, Traverse City, MI, Oct. 1985

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Unis Engle Southwell

Quilt owner's city:

Suttons Bay

Quilt owner's county:

Leelanau

Quilt owner's state:

Michigan (MI)

How was this quilt acquired?

Made by owner

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

It is a duplicate of one I made for a member of the Piecemakers Quilters to which I belonged for 1 year. We met each month at the Quiet Quilter shop on Washington Street, Grand Haven, MI, 1979-1980. There were 12 women from outlying towns. Each member chose a pattern for a quilt, bought the fabric and passed out a block to each member to complete and return to the owner to assemble and quilt. In 1 year each of us had blocks for a quilt made by our friends.

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

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

This Candlenut block is 1 of 12 different designs in a quilt by Helen Squire shown in Feb 1978 "Quilter's Newsletter Magazine.

Describe any favorite patterns, tools, etc. used by the quiltmaker:

Always hand applique, especially after learning the blind stitch from Joe Cunningham at a class on Beaver Island in 1987. Chalk marker for making free-hand quilting designs. A Hoffman challenge Wall quilt that took 1st in hand applique and was one of 50 chosen to travel the country for a year in 1992 in shows and shops. The quilt flew alone to Houston, TX to see it displayed at quilt show at the Geo. Brown Convention Center

Copyright holder:

Michigan State University Museum