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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
CITE THIS 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