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Jumping Jack; Jack in the Box

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QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-7091

Who documented this quilt?

Michigan Quilt Project

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Michigan State University Museum

Michigan Quilt Project Number:

85.1223

Owner's name for the quilt:

Jumping Jack

Names for quilt's pattern in common use:

Jack in the Box

Biography of the quiltmaker?

Each of her pieces is signed on the back lower right hand corner. An embroidered 5-point star, relating to the professional name she uses of U.S. Quiltworks, follows her signature.

When was the form filled out?

6/20/1985

Quilt top made by:

Southwell, Unis

Name of the group that made the quilt:

Community Quilters of Suttons Bay

Where the quilt was made, city:

Suttons Bay

Where the quilt was made, county:

Leelanau

Where the quilt was made, state:

Michigan (MI)

Time period:

1976-1999

When was the quilt finished?

1985

Why was the quilt made?

Fundraising

Details about why the quilt was made:

Project directed by and most of the stitching done by Unis Southwell. Only two of the 10 women who worked on this fundraising project in 1985 are quilters.

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's city:

Suttons Bay

Quiltmaker's county:

Leelanau

Quiltmaker's state:

Michigan (MI)

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Engle

Quiltmaker's birth date:

3/29/1925

Quiltmaker's date and place of death:

2/24/2016

Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:

Scotch, Irish, English, German

Quiltmaker's educational background:

3 years college MSU 1943-1946 Home Economics Textile and related Arts Major

Quiltmaker's religious affiliation:

Congregational Protestant

Quiltmaker's occupation:

homemaker

Quiltmaker's father's name:

Engle, Robert Bruce

Quiltmaker's father's ethnic/tribal background:

Pennsylvania/German

Quiltmaker's mother's name:

Engle, Eva Naomi Towers

Quiltmaker's mother's ethnic/tribal background:

English/Scotch-Irish

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

Mich. Dept. of Corrections Area Manager, Muskegon, MI

Number of children:

3

How many of the quiltmaker's children were girls?

2

How many of the quiltmaker's children were boys?

1

When did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

Age 11-19

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

I feel that we who quilt today are fulfilling a need to express ourselves with fabric.

Estimated number of quilts made by this quiltmaker:

more than 50

Does/did the quiltmaker sell quilts?

yes

Does/did the quiltmaker teach quilting?

yes

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

Christ Community Church quilters, Spring Lake, MI; Little Finger Quilters started 1989, meets in Omena, MI community room which is part of the Fire Dept. This groups name comes from Leelanau County being referred to as the little finger of Michigan. Pine

What are the main activities of the group?

About 12 women meet each Tuesday at the church to quilt tops for others, as a fund raising function for their church. I was not a member of the church but merely quilted with the group.

This is a:

Finished quilt

How wide is the quilt?

78"

How long is the quilt?

95"

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Straight

Quilt's condition:

Excellent/like new

What is inscribed on the quilt?

Community Quilters of Sutton's Bay, Also an embroidered five pointed star to designate the work of the project leader was Unis Southwell of Suttons Bay, MI

What is the date inscribed on the quilt?

1985

Method used to make the inscription:

Embroidery

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Number of quilt blocks:

42

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Alternating with plain squares

Number of borders:

3

Describe the borders:

5", 5", 2 1/2"

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Print

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Piecing

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton

What color is the back of the quilt?

White

Number of pieces of fabric in the quilt back:

1

How is the binding made?

Bias grain

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

less than a half inch

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:

11

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 2:

12

Describe the quilting designs used:

Zig Zag, Square in a Square

Where did the maker get their materials?

Purchased new

Describe the sources of the quilt's materials:

Fabrics purchased at Bahle's Department Store, Suttons Bay, MI

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Commercial/Published source: Magazine

Commercial name of the pattern for the top:

The Best of Quilt, 1984

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

As of June 1985 it is on display in Bahle's department store of Suttons Bay, MI. It will be on display to sell tickets on it at the Art Fair, 8/3-4/1985 held at the Sutton's Bay, MI park at the Marina

Person filling out this form is:

Quiltmaker

Quilt owner's country:

United States

How was this quilt acquired?

Raffle or contest prize

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

The quilt will be drawn as a raffle 9/1985 to benefit Civic betterment in Suttons Bay, MI,

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

They are Lila Bahle and Helen Bahle, both of Suttons Bay, MI. All others made 1 0r 2 blocks, and 4 or 5 learned to quilt and did so for 2 or 3 hours on this particular quilt. I, the project director, took a workshop in Sept. 1984 from Carla Hassel of DesMoines, IA where I learned to cut all the pieces for a quilt from the same side of a given piece of fabric and with all grain in every piece running in the same direction. Thus, a triangle cut for the upper left quadrant of a given block could not be turned to fit into another quadrant in that block. All pieces were marked with an arrow pointing up to keep track of their position. This is the method used in piecing this quilt. The dot effect of the blue print used needed special attention paid to cutting each piece so when they were joined, the dots would line up. I was the only one to work on the cutting, which took over 25 hours. Of the 10 women who took blocks to piece, only 4 pieced 7 blocks in the order as marked. All the others were redone by the project director to maintain the consistant lines of dots. Of all those who worked on this quilt, just one wants to go on to learn more about quilting for herself. Several of the women in the club said they'd gladly redesign a bedroom to go with this quilt if they were lucky enough to win it!

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

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

Always hand applique, especially after learning the blind stitch from Joe Cunningham at a class on Beaver Island in 1987. Chalk marker for making free-hand quilting designs. A Hoffman challenge Wall quilt that took 1st in hand applique and was one of 50 chosen to travel the country for a year in 1992 in shows and shops. The quilt flew alone to Houston, TX to see it displayed at quilt show at the Geo. Brown Convention Center

Copyright holder:

Michigan State University Museum

Cite this Quilt

Southwell, Uni. Jumping Jack. 1985. From Michigan State University Museum, Michigan Quilt Project. Published in The Quilt Index, https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=fullrec&kid=12-8-7091. Accessed: 03/29/24