QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-5381

Who documented this quilt?

Michigan Quilt Project

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Michigan State University Museum

Michigan Quilt Project Number:

09.0082

Quilt's title:

Old Maid's Puzzle

Brackman # or other source & #:

1313

Biography of the quiltmaker?

What follows represents a collection of quilts made by Elizabeth (Hyslop) Kellogg. Also known as Bessie, during the later years of her life. The number of quilts she made over her lifetime, and the existence of others of her quilt is not known. Bessie Kellogg died in November of 1962 in Detroit. She and her husband, James Edward Kellogg, had made their home on the north branch of the AuSable River in Crawford County, Michigan. She was married to James in 1899. For a number of years prior to her marriage, she was a housekeeper for a Roscommon hotel owner and his family. As such she most certainly would have learned the art of constructing and repairing quilts. At the time she would have been as young as twelve or fourteen. Quilt making in her time was not hobby or an artistic expression, but a required skill for a homemaker in a pioneer community. As the mother of 14 of her own kids as well as two sons of James's from his first marriage, keeping children warm was a major consideration. Their home in Lovells, which still stands, was without central heat of any kind. We can well imagine the numbers of quilts made over the years to cover the beds in the nine bedrooms of their home. Our best estimates as to the numbers of years that Bessie quilted was probably from 1892 to late in to the 1940s. Diabetes took Bessie's sight in 1949 which effectively ended her quilting days. Even as blindness stopped her full participation in quilt making, there are family memories of her, aided by a very young granddaughter, preparing needles with quilt thread for her daughters and neighbor women to use in quilting a top laid out on the large kitchen table of the Kellogg homestead. (As that young granddaughter, my job as a 7-8 year old was to take the length of thread she had pulled out, thread it into the eye of the quilting needle and give it back to her. Her nimble fingers would tie a very small knot on the end and pull the length through a ball of bees wax. She would then place the threaded needle into a small pin cushion. All without missing a beat or a word of the conversation!) As you can well imagine, with 16 original children, the next generation numbers over 50, and is spread over the whole country. One of the quilts in this collection was given to this writer as a gift upon when I was a young child. (It was made more special by the fact that although the top was made by my paternal grandmother, Bessie Kellogg, my maternal grandmother, Letha A. Leng, applied the border and backing and hand tied the quilt. It is truly a 'Grandma's Quilt.') I can only think that there might be other's of Grandma Bessie's quilts scattered throughout the family. Perhaps this is only the first of a more extensive catalogue of her quilts. All of the quilts represented in this collection, with the exception of the Nine Patch scrap quilt mentioned above are housed at the old Kellogg Homestead in Lovells (Grayling, Michigan). They are preserved in unbleached muslin and in archival textile boxes and are turned and re-folded with acid free tissue paper 2-3 times per year. Each year the historical societies from Eaton Rapids and of Lovells visits the house and at that time the quilts are exhibited. They are not ever used for their original intended purpose, as they have become very frail over the years. It has been my pleasure to document what is known about these quilts and to share a part of my family history. My grandmother was a fined and strong woman who cared for a large family, a family farm and was an important member of her community. It is an honor to be counted among her descendents.

When was the form filled out?

7/24/2009

Quilt top made by:

Kellogg, Elizabeth

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

Grandmother

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

Inherited

Describe the relationship to the quilt's maker:

Paternal granddaughter of quiltmaker

Where the quilt was made, city:

Lovells

Where the quilt was made, county:

Crawford

Where the quilt was made, state:

Michigan (MI)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

Time period:

1901-1929

Quilt is presently used as:

Other collection

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's city:

Lovells

Quiltmaker's county:

Crawford

Quiltmaker's state:

Michigan (MI)

Quiltmaker's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Hyslop

Quiltmaker's birth date:

8/4/1879

Quiltmaker's birthplace, city:

Mt. Clemens, Macomb County

Quiltmaker's birthplace, state:

Michigan

Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:

United States

Quiltmaker's date and place of death:

11/30/1962

Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:

Scots, English

Quiltmaker's educational background:

3rd grade, self taught. Could read, write nad keep business books.

Quiltmaker's religious affiliation:

Christian

Quiltmaker's occupation:

Homemaker

Quiltmaker's father's name:

Hyslop, Thomas

Quiltmaker's mother's name:

Mother, unknown

Quiltmaker's mother's ethnic/tribal background:

Scots, English

Quiltmaker's marriage date(s):

9/26/1899

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

Kellogg, James Edward

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

Farmer, lumber mill owner and operator, builder.

Number of children:

16

How did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

Self-Taught

When did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

Age 11-19

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

To keep her family warm.

Estimated number of quilts made by this quiltmaker:

5-20 quilts

Does/did the quiltmaker sell quilts?

no

Does/did the quiltmaker teach quilting?

yes

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

The Cheerful Giver Club

Where does/did the group meet?

Lovells, MI

What are the main activities of the group?

Helping those in need in the community. Acted as an early 1900s network of women.

This is a:

Finished quilt

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Straight

What color is the quilt?

Blue; Cream; Pink; White

Quilt's condition:

Fair/worn

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Number of quilt blocks:

25

Size of quilt blocks:

8 3/4" x 8 3/4"

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

On point or rotated on 45 degrees

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Alternating with plain squares

What is the shape of the quilt blocks?

Squares

Number of different block patterns used in the quilt:

1

Number of borders:

1

Describe the borders:

3" same color as setting blocks

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Piecing

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton

Number of pieces of fabric in the quilt back:

3

Materials used in the quilt binding:

Cotton

How is the binding made?

Bias grain

What is the width of the binding (measure on the top only)?

greater than one inch

What kind of filling is used in the quilt?

Cannot tell

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

Kellogg Homestead to local historical groups

Person filling out this form is:

Quilt owner

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Grandchildren of Elizabeth Kellogg

Quilt owner's state:

Michigan (MI)

Quilt owner's country:

United States

How was this quilt acquired?

Inheritance

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

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

Made entire quilt

The quilt was made to be used for:

Bedding, daily use

Describe any unique traditions, quilting related customs, beliefs, songs or rhymes used by the quiltmaker:

To daughters, who in turn taught their daughters, who in turn have taught their daughters.

Copyright holder:

MSU Board of Trustees