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I Pay Tribute to My Flag

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QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-6350

Who documented this quilt?

Michigan Quilt Project; Michigan State University Museum Collection; Sears Quilt Contest 1933 Chicago World's Fair

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Michigan State University Museum

Michigan Quilt Project Number:

13.0045

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

2013:70.1

Object label:

I Pay Tribute to My Flag
Regina Hengesbach
Westphalia, Clinton County, Michigan
1933
Collection of Michigan State University Museum acc.#2013:70.1

Essay:

This quilt was made for the 1933 Sears Century of Progress National Quilt Competition. The original design is a flag flying on a flag pole. The pole fabric has faded and is hard to see. Below the flag in the quilting is this inscription: "I pay tribute to my flag and the country for which it stands"

Donor Gene Hengesbach recalls:
When the Sears and Roebuck Company sponsored its “Century of Progress National Quilt Competition” in early 1933, our mother created a flag quilt and stitched in it, “I pay tribute to my flag and the country for which it stands.” It received a merit award green ribbon. My brother and I were very aware of the quilt as we grew up. We saw the pride she took in it and the care she gave it; washing it every year, air drying it out of doors, and carefully preserving its ribbon. She stored it in an oak blanket chest.

Our mother quilted all her life until health and age intervened. As was common in her day, her mother taught her to quilt at a very early age. The oldest example I saw and handled was a small, seriously worn white and yellow, pieced quilt that I believe she kept because it was one of her earliest efforts. Her last goal was to make a quilt as a wedding gift for each of her grandchildren as they married. She succeeded in making quilts for the three older grandchildren but lamented that she was unable to do so for the younger three.

Our mother always had a wooden floor quilt frame which we helped erect and take down. At times it remained set up for days or even weeks until a project was completed. Enclosed is a photograph take in the early 1980s in the dining area of her kitchen in her home in Westphalia, Michigan. It shows her, seated third from the left, together with relatives and friends and a quilt they prepared as a prize at the local annual 4th of July Festival. Several groups in Westphalia made similar prizes every year.

Also enclosed is a photograph of our mother, the quilter, taken in the middle of the Sear’s quilt competition’s four month time frame-late February 1933. It also seems to fit the theme of the flag quilt as she was married on Washington’s Birthday of that year.

Her sons Gene and Fred Hengesbach hereby proudly offer the quilt and its ribbon to the Michigan Quilt Project for preservation as an integral part of Michigan history.

Quilt's title:

I Pay Tribute to My Flag

When was the form filled out?

10/15/2013

Quilt top made by:

Hengesbach, Regina

Quilted by:

Hengesbach, Regina

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

Received as a gift

Where the quilt was made, city:

Westphalia

Where the quilt was made, county:

Clinton

Where the quilt was made, state:

Michigan (MI)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

Time period:

1930-1949

When was the quilt started?

1933

When was the quilt finished?

1933

Why was the quilt made?

Challenge or Contest entry

Quilt is presently used as:

Museum collection

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's city:

Westphalia

Quiltmaker's county:

Clinton

Quiltmaker's state:

Michigan (MI)

Quiltmaker's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Martin

Quiltmaker's birth date:

10/28/1902

Quiltmaker's birthplace, city:

Westphalia

Quiltmaker's birthplace, state:

Michigan

Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:

United States

Quiltmaker's date and place of death:

9/25/1993

Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:

German American

Quiltmaker's educational background:

8th grade

Quiltmaker's religious affiliation:

Roman Catholic

Quiltmaker's occupation:

Homemaker

Quiltmaker's father's name:

Martin, Ferdinand

Quiltmaker's father's birthplace:

Martin, Catherine Schaefer

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

Farmer

Number of children:

2

How many of the quiltmaker's children were boys?

2

How did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

From Relative

When did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

Age 11-19

Estimated number of quilts made by this quiltmaker:

20-50 quilts

Does/did the quiltmaker sell quilts?

no

Does/did the quiltmaker teach quilting?

no

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

local ladies

What are the main activities of the group?

personal projects, and created prizes for the local for 4th of July Festivals

This is a:

Finished quilt

How wide is the quilt?

74"

How long is the quilt?

80"

Shape of edge:

T-cutout

Shape of corners:

Rounded

What color is the quilt?

Blue; Red; White

Quilt's condition:

Good/moderate use

Describe the damage:

The flag pole has faded. Some wear, the quilter washed and ironed it each year.

What is inscribed on the quilt?

I pat tribute to my flag and the country for which it stands

Method used to make the inscription:

In the quilting

Location of inscription:

on block

Number of quilt blocks:

1 American flag on a flag pole

Size of quilt blocks:

38 1/2” x 26 3/4”

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Number of borders:

4

Describe the borders:

From outer to inner: the first border, 9”, is made of red triangles on a white background with larger blue triangles in each corner; the second border is 1 3/4” red; the third border is 2” white; and the fourth border is 1 3/4” blue.

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Piecing

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:

2

Materials used in the quilt binding:

Cotton

How is the binding made?

Separate binding applied; Bias grain

How wide is the binding (measure on the top only)?

Bias Curved Machine stitched bias tape.

What kind of filling is used in the quilt?

Cotton

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:

8

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)

Quilt owner's country:

United States

How was this quilt acquired?

Gift

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

Gene received the quilt from his mother in 1990. She knew he and his wife would take good care of it. She told them to wash and iron it annually as she had.

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

This quilt was made for the Sears Quilt Contest 1933 Chicago World's Fair. Regina Hengesbach’s Flag Quilt and Ribbon from the Sear’s Quilt Competition of 1933 When the Sears and Roebuck Company sponsored its “Century of Progress National Quilt Competition” in early 1933, our mother created a flag quilt and stitched in it, “I pay tribute to my flag and the country for which it stands.” It received a merit award green ribbon. My brother and I were very aware of the quilt as we grew up. We saw the pride she took in it and the care she gave it; washing it every year, air drying it out of doors, and carefully preserving its ribbon. She stored it in an oak blanket chest. Our mother quilted all her life until health and age intervened. As was common in her day, her mother taught her to quilt at a very early age. The oldest example I saw and handled was a small, seriously worn white and yellow, pieced quilt that I believe she kept because it was one of her earliest efforts. Her last goal was to make a quilt as a wedding gift for each of her grandchildren as they married. She succeeded in making quilts for the three older grandchildren but lamented that she was unable to do so for the younger three. Our mother always had a wooden floor quilt frame which we helped erect and take down. At times it remained set up for days or even weeks until a project was completed. Enclosed is a photograph take in the early 1980s in the dining area of her kitchen in her home in Westphalia, Michigan. It shows her, seated third from the left, together with relatives and friends and a quilt they prepared as a prize at the local annual 4th of July Festival. Several groups in Westphalia made similar prizes every year. Also enclosed is a photograph of our mother, the quilter, taken in the middle of the Sear’s quilt competition’s four month time frame-late February 1933. It also seems to fit the theme of the flag quilt as she was married on Washington’s Birthday of that year. Her sons Gene and Fred Hengesbach hereby proudly offer the quilt and its ribbon to the Michigan Quilt Project for preservation as an integral part of Michigan history.

Details

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Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Who photographed this quilt?

Pearl Yee Wong

Copyright holder:

MSU Board of Trustees

Cite this Quilt

Hengesbach, Regin. I Pay Tribute to My Flag. 1933. From Michigan State University Museum, Michigan Quilt Project; Michigan State University Museum Collection; Sears Quilt Contest 1933 Chicago World's Fair. Published in The Quilt Index, https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=fullrec&kid=12-8-6350. Accessed: 03/28/24

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