QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-6971

Who documented this quilt?

Michigan Quilt Project

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Michigan State University Museum

Michigan Quilt Project Number:

85.0836

Owner's name for the quilt:

Signature quilt

When was the form filled out?

3/5/1985

Name of the group that made the quilt:

Members of the Womens Association the First Presbyterian Church

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:

Birmingham

Where the quilt was made, county:

Oakland

Where the quilt was made, state:

Michigan (MI)

Time period:

1901-1929

When was the quilt started?

1900

When was the quilt finished?

1902

Why was the quilt made?

Fundraising

Details about why the quilt was made:

We think this was a fundraising quilt. Notations in Women's Association records indicate $1 paid for each square.

Quiltmaker's city:

Birmingham

Quiltmaker's county:

Oakland

Quiltmaker's state:

Michigan (MI)

This is a:

Quilt top with unfinished edge

How wide is the quilt?

72"

How long is the quilt?

88"

Shape of edge:

Straight

Quilt's condition:

Very good/almost new

What is inscribed on the quilt?

Names of parishoners of First Presbyterian Church and residents of Birmingham, MI embroidered in each square.

What is the date inscribed on the quilt?

1902

Location of inscription:

on block

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Number of quilt blocks:

20

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Separated by plain sashing

Sashing width:

5"

Number of borders:

1

Describe the borders:

5"

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Machine Piecing

Embellishment techniques used to make the quilt top:

Embroidery

What kind of filling is used in the quilt?

No filling

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

First Presbyterian Church, 150th Anniversary Celebration, Birmingham, Michigan, May 13, 1984

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

Michigan Quilts (1987) book, figure 96, page 71.

Publications (including web sites) where this quilt or maker was featured:

Clippings or photocopies

Person filling out this form is:

Quilt owner

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Members of the Womens Association of the First Presbyterian Church

Quilt owner's city:

Birmingham

Quilt owner's county:

Oakland

Quilt owner's state:

Michigan (MI)

How was this quilt acquired?

Gift

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

his top and pillow cover were returned to the Women's Association on their 100th Anniversary, 1973. The heirs on Marion Clizbe Allen (Mrs. Harry) in whose home it had been stored.

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

OUR QUILT During the preparations for the 150th Anniversary Celebration of our church, a red and white signature quilt top was given to the Archives by the Women's Association. It had been given to them on their 100th Anniversary, October 24, 1973, by the heirs of Marian Clizbe Allen (Mrs. Harry). The quilt is dated 1902. Mrs. Allen's parents, Warren and Nellie Clizbe, were prominent members of the congregation in the early 1900s. Apparently, the quilt top had been stored many years in the Clizbe home (later to be the Allen's house) at the intersection of Maple and Southfield roads. As many of the signatures on the quilt were unfamiliar to us, we asked one of Birmingham's unofficial historians, Merritt Olsen, to assist us in establishing who these people were. We recorded his comments as he recalled the relationships of the Presbyterian names with those relatives, neighbors and friends who shared their squares. He told us signature quilts were popular fund-raisers in Birmingham during this era but we have been unable to determine from our sources if there was a special reason or occasion for this quilt. Fortunately, for our research, the one quilt squares was dated, so a few weeks later when the early cash ledges of the Ladies Church Society were given to the Archives Room we could turn to the 1902 entries where we discovered frequent notations from 1900 on, "Quilt---$1.00", opposite the names of the Presbyterian ladies whose names appeared on the squares. Apparently, plain squares of cotton fabric were purchased, then the names of family members and friends were added in embroidery. Twenty five squares were accounted for by these entries. However, there are only twenty squares in the quilt top, plus one square finished as a pillow sham, so we presume some squares were not completed and returned by their purchasers. Interestingly, the twentieth and corner square reads F.I.N.I.S. and recently, when some ladies of our church asked if they might quilt this unfinished top, the adopted the name F.I.N.I.S.H. Our thanks to co-chairmen Carol Davis (Mrs. Calvin) and Marian Gregory (Mrs. J.F.), Mary Holmberg (Mrs. Ralph L.), Beth Jenkins (Mrs. Ronald J.), Ellie Shuster (Mrs. Stuart), Virginia Turner (Mrs. Stanley) and non-member Marilyn Finn, of the Needlework and Textile Guild for completing this worthy project, 83 years later! The signature quilt contains over 200 names of the citizens of the village of Birmingham in the early 1900's---a historical "document"! We have registered it with the Michigan Quilt Project sponsored by the Folk Art Museum of Michigan State University as part of the State's Sesquicentennial celebration in 1987. During Christmas Hand*In*Hand our members, and guests, will be able to view the newly completed quilt displayed in the vestibule between the Narthex and the Chapel. Look for this symbol of "Going Home To Christmas" and try to imagine how that might have been in Birmingham in 1900-1902.

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

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

Made entire quilt top

Copyright holder:

Michigan State University Museum