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:
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