QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-7094

Who documented this quilt?

Michigan Quilt Project

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Michigan State University Museum

Michigan Quilt Project Number:

85.1226

Owner's name for the quilt:

Mariner's Compass

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

Quilted by:

Southwell, Unis

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

Made the quilt

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 started?

1/1982

When was the quilt finished?

12/1983

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 marriage date(s):

9/14/1947

Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and /or partner's/partners' name(s):

Southwell, Langdon Gaylord

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?

71 1/2"

How long is the quilt?

93 1/2"

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Straight

Quilt's condition:

Excellent/like new

What is inscribed on the quilt?

Unis Southwell, Also embroidered 5 point star with which this quilter always marks her quilts

What is the date inscribed on the quilt?

Dec. 1983

Method used to make the inscription:

Embroidery

Describe the quilt's layout:

Medallion or framed center

Number of borders:

1 pieced

Describe the borders:

2"

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

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?

Cream

Number of pieces of fabric in the quilt back:

3

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:

8

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 2:

9

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Clamshell

Quilting designs used, decorative motifs:

Cables

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Commercial/Published source: Pattern

Commercial name of the pattern for the top:

Sterns and Foster

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

The Artsource, juried quilt show, Flint, MI; Also used as backdrop for display of my son's reproduction painted furniture at the York, PA Folk Art Show on the Fairgrounds in May 1983

Contests entered:

Opera House Quilt Show , Traverse City, MI , during Cherry Festival Week, July 1984

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Unis Engle Southwell

Quilt owner's city:

Suttons Bay

Quilt owner's county:

Leelanau

Quilt owner's state:

Michigan (MI)

How was this quilt acquired?

Made by owner

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

The Mariners Compass pattern was chosen by the IL woman who ordered them made because her son is a surgeon in the Navy. He likes antiques and would eventually inherit the quilts. Fabrics were purchased in Champaign, IL. I agreed to make a pair of quilts for this customer (which she wanted to pick out both the pattern and material for) without asking what she had in mind. I was dismayed at the magnitude of the project knowing they would have to be by hand if they were to turn out as I wanted. The quilting alone on one quilt took over 200 hours. When completed I asked $1000 each for them. She said she hadn't expected to pay that much. $350 each was more what she had in mind. So I made her another pair in Trip Around the World pattern, machine pieced and simply quilted, at her price. So now I am owner of the 2 Mariner's Compass Quilts.

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

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

Made entire quilt

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