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Northern Lights; Hour Glass, Railroad Crossings, World's Fair, Jacob's Ladder, Double Four Patch, Railroad, Going to Chicago, New Four Patch, Gay Scrap Quilt, Buckeye Beauty

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quilt

QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-5639

Who documented this quilt?

Michigan Quilt Project

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Michigan State University Museum

Michigan Quilt Project Number:

10.0105

Quilt's title:

Northern Lights

Names for quilt's pattern in common use:

Hour Glass, Railroad Crossings, World's Fair, Jacob's Ladder, Double Four Patch, Railroad, Going to Chicago, New Four Patch, Gay Scrap Quilt, Buckeye Beauty

Brackman # or other source & #:

1312

Biography of the quiltmaker?

Esther kept a photo scrapbook from 1988-1998, the first ten years of her quilting period. Many of the photos have completion dates listed on the back. Esther had six living children, 15 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren. They currently live in nine states and two countries. Each one of them owns at least one of Esther's quilts. Her usual method of operation was to stack each quilt, as it was completed, on a bed in the guest room. When we came to visit, we would often be asked to view all the quilts in a bed turning. Then Esther might say, "Please pick one out for your bed...or for your girls....or for your husband." Sometimes should would arrive at a birthday or Christmas party with a wrapped quilt. Perhaps 10% of the time she would design a quilt with a specific person and a specific color scheme in mind. I know that years might go by before a quilt on the bed was actually given to a new owner. In September of 2009, five months before she died and living in an assisted living facility, she asked us to go to her home and choose quilts to give to any of the great-grandchildren who hadn't already received one. She asked us to decide who should receive any other quilts still there.

When was the form filled out?

7/28/2010

Quilt top made by:

Bode, Esther Amanda

Quilted by:

Bode, Esther Amanda

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?

Received as a gift

Where the quilt was made, city:

Saginaw

Where the quilt was made, county:

Saginaw

Where the quilt was made, state:

Michigan (MI)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

Time period:

2000-2025

Why was the quilt made?

Gift or presentation

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's city:

Saginaw

Quiltmaker's county:

Saginaw

Quiltmaker's state:

Michigan (MI)

Quiltmaker's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Gruendemann

Quiltmaker's birth date:

2/4/1919

Quiltmaker's birthplace, city:

Forrestville

Quiltmaker's birthplace, state:

Wisconsin

Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:

United States

Quiltmaker's date and place of death:

2/27/2010

Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:

German

Quiltmaker's educational background:

HS: Powers-Spaulding HS, Upper Penninsula, MI College: Dr. Martin Luther College, New Ulm, MN

Quiltmaker's religious affiliation:

Wisconsin Lutheran Synod

Quiltmaker's occupation:

Elementary school teacher

Quiltmaker's father's name:

Gruedemann, August

Quiltmaker's mother's name:

Gruedemann, Hermine Detjen

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

Lutheran school teacher and principal, local representative for AAL insurance, now Thrivent

Number of children:

7

How many of the quiltmaker's children were girls?

6

How many of the quiltmaker's children were boys?

1

How did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

From TV show; Self-Taught

When did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

Age 50 or over

Why does the quiltmaker quilt?

Gifts; Pleasure

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

Esther was completely self-taught, using the help of quilting shows on TV. She videotaped many of the programs; I have the tapes. Esther stopped quilting at age 88 because of cripple fingers.

Estimated number of quilts made by this quiltmaker:

more than 50

Does/did the quiltmaker sell quilts?

no

Does/did the quiltmaker teach quilting?

no

This is a:

Finished quilt

How wide is the quilt?

59"

How long is the quilt?

72"

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Straight

What color is the quilt?

Cream; Gray; Green; Navy; Red

Quilt's condition:

Excellent/like new

Type of inscription:

Signature

What is inscribed on the quilt?

Esther A. Bode Made for you with love

Method used to make the inscription:

Ink

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Number of quilt blocks:

42

Size of quilt blocks:

8" x 8"

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Separated by sashing with cornerstones or connecting blocks

Sashing width:

7/8"

What is the shape of the quilt blocks?

Squares

Number of different block patterns used in the quilt:

1

Number of borders:

Top and bottom 4” Sides 2”

Describe the borders:

Top and bottom 1 1/2” plain 1 3/4” plain 1 5/8” plain

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Machine Piecing

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton

What color is the back of the quilt?

Cream

Number of pieces of fabric in the quilt back:

1

Describe the back:

Solid/plain

Materials used in the quilt binding:

Cotton

Describe the binding:

She had her own unique style of binding, which I have not seen done anywhere else. Her method was to cut four strips of fabric on the grain, 3" wide. On one long side, she would iron under 1/4". She would attach the other long side to the quilt folding the top and bottom raw edges under at each end. This left a little pocket in the ends of the last two strips sewn on, and many a child loved sitting on a mother's lap, thumb in mouth, with a finger tucked into one of the four tiny pockets in Grandma Bode's quilt.

How is the binding made?

Straight grain

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:

5

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 2:

5

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

In-the-ditch

Where did the maker get their materials?

Purchased new

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Traditional pattern variation

Describe the source of the pattern:

Although she did not create the block designs, she drafted the blocks to the sizes she wanted and designed the way the blocks would be assembled into the quilt. Only a handful of quilting magazines from the early 90s were found in her home. She owned a book called 1,001 Patchwork Designs by Maggie Malone (Sterling Publishing Co., 1982). It was a gift from her daughter Lorna Bode Fryer in the spring of 1991. The names for the blocks that she wrote on the backs of many quilts match the names for blocks in that book. This seems to have been overwhelmingly primary source for block designs.

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

Quilt Retrospective honoring Esther A. Bode, quiltmaker; Saturday, June 6, 2009; St. Paul's Lutheran Church.

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

Self-published Shutterfly book, "Mama's Quilts"

Person filling out this form is:

Daughter of quiltmaker

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Marc and Karen bode

Quilt owner's city:

Saginaw

Quilt owner's county:

Saginaw

Quilt owner's state:

Michigan (MI)

Quilt owner's country:

United States

How was this quilt acquired?

Gift

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

From the maker Esther A. Bode

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

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

Esther had her quilt frame set up in the basement, each of the four boards supported by the rungs of ladder-back chairs. She did not baste the entire body of the quilt. She attached the quilt backing to the frame with large thumbtacks, and then spread out the batting and finally the quilt top, before securing the edges and rolling up the two long sides. The hand quilting was Esther's favorite step of the entire process. Esther normally quilted everything in the ditch. She often quilted diamonds in the sashing.

Copyright holder:

MSU Board of Trustees

Cite this Quilt

Bode, Esther Amand. Northern Lights. 2000-2025. From Michigan State University Museum, Michigan Quilt Project. Published in The Quilt Index, https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=fullrec&kid=12-8-5639. Accessed: 03/29/24