QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-7299

Who documented this quilt?

Michigan Quilt Project; Michigan State University Museum Collection

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Michigan State University Museum

Michigan Quilt Project Number:

85.1633

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

1998:53.60

Object label:

Molly Pitcher Quilt
Mary Schafer, piecer; Ida Pullum, quilter
Flushing, Genesee County, Michigan
1975
Collection of Michigan State University Museum acc.#1998:53.60

Essay:

The center square contains an embroidered image of Molly Pitcher, the Revolutionary heroine. The pieced blocks are based on an unnamed pattern from Connecticut. Mary found this old, unnamed design among the Nancy Page patterns. To Mary, the selection of this block allowed the quilt to not only pay tribute to Molly Pitcher, but to the anonymous female heroines of the past. The original quilting design is of a laurel wreath with a center star.

Owner's name for the quilt:

Molly Pitcher

Names for quilt's pattern in common use:

Kaleidoscope variation

When was the form filled out?

9/9/1985

Quilt top made by:

Schafer, Mary

Quilted by:

Schafer, Mary

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

Purchased the quilt

Where the quilt was made, city:

Flushing

Where the quilt was made, county:

Genesee

Where the quilt was made, state:

Michigan (MI)

Time period:

1950-1975

When was the quilt started?

1975

When was the quilt finished?

1975

Why was the quilt made?

Commemorative

Details about why the quilt was made:

Made as a Bicentennial quilt to honor the Revolutionary heroine.

Quilt is presently used as:

Museum collection

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's city:

Flushing

Quiltmaker's county:

Genessee

Quiltmaker's state:

Michigan (MI)

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Vida

Quiltmaker's birth date:

4-27-1910

Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:

Born Austria-Hungary 1910; emigrated to USA 1914

Quiltmaker's educational background:

9th grade

Quiltmaker's occupation:

Creamery worker; switchboard operator; book keeper; housewife

Quiltmaker's father's name:

Vida, Josef

Quiltmaker's father's ethnic/tribal background:

Austrian

Quiltmaker's mother's name:

Zelka, Julianna

Quiltmaker's mother's ethnic/tribal background:

Austrian

Quiltmaker's marriage date(s):

6/22/1934

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

Schafer, Fred

Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and/or partner's/partners' ethnic/tribal background:

German, Lutheran immigrant

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

Welder for Buick Motors

Number of children:

1

How many of the quiltmaker's children were boys?

1

How did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

Self-Taught

When did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

Age 40-49

Estimated number of quilts made by this quiltmaker:

more than 50

Does/did the quiltmaker sell quilts?

no

Does/did the quiltmaker teach quilting?

yes

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

Genessee Star Quilters

Where does/did the group meet?

Flint, Michigan.

What are the main activities of the group?

Raffle quilts, hospital quilts, many shows.

This is a:

Finished quilt

How wide is the quilt?

78 1/2"

How long is the quilt?

106"

Shape of edge:

Straight

Quilt's condition:

Excellent/like new

What is inscribed on the quilt?

Mary Schafer

What is the date inscribed on the quilt?

1975

Method used to make the inscription:

Embroidery

Describe where the inscription was found:

top

Number of quilt blocks:

35 pieced, 24 plain, 20 half, 4 quarter

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Alternating with plain squares

Number of borders:

3

Describe the borders:

2" plain; 2.25" pieced; 2 7/8" plain

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Piecing

Embellishment techniques used to make the quilt top:

Embroidery

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton

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:

6

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 2:

7

Quilting designs used, background fills:

Parallel lines

Describe the quilting designs used:

Outline/Ditch, Olive Branches, Stars, Lyre

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Another quilt

Describe the source of the pattern:

Unnamed New England quilt

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

Whaley House, Flint, MI, 1979; The Mary Schafer Collection: A Legacy of Quilt History, exhibit, July 29-December 31, 2001

Contests entered:

Bicentennial Quilt Show, Warren, MI, 1976, Third Prize, pieced.

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

Flushing Observer. Quilter's Newsletter Magazine. Published in Mary Schafer and Her Quilts, figure 40, page 34.

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

Book, Mary Schafer and Her Quilts by Marston and Cunningham; Michigan State University Museum, 1990. Photos of quilter; Interview with quilter; Audiotape; Videotape

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)

How was this quilt acquired?

Purchase

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

This is one of 7-9 (depending on defintion) of Mary's Bicentennial quilts.

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

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

Made entire quilt

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

Embroidery depicts Molly Pitcher. Theme is a tribute to the role of women in the American Revolution. The block is an unnamed block from New England. Mary named it Molly Pitcher and embroidered with the picture in the middle with a chain stitch. Molly Pitcher is pushing a ramrod into a cannon. The pink dress is not accurate for the time period. The quilting in the border is an original design of Mary's.

Who photographed this quilt?

KEVA

Copyright holder:

Michigan State University Museum