QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-7379

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:

85.1028

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

5127.13

Object label:

Crosses
Erminda Nowlin
Mayville, Tuscola County, Michigan
c1900
Collection of Michigan State University Museum acc.#5127.13

Quilt's title:

Crosses

Owner's name for the quilt:

Nine Patch Variation

Quilt top made by:

Nowlin, Erminda

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

Received as a gift

Where the quilt was made, city:

Mayville

Where the quilt was made, county:

Lapeer

Where the quilt was made, state:

Michigan (MI)

Time period:

1901-1929

Quilt is presently used as:

Museum collection

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's city:

Mayville

Quiltmaker's county:

Lapeer

Quiltmaker's state:

Michigan (MI)

Quiltmaker's occupation:

Farmwife

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

Nowlin, Charles

Number of children:

4

How many of the quiltmaker's children were girls?

2

How many of the quiltmaker's children were boys?

2

Estimated number of quilts made by this quiltmaker:

5-20 quilts

This is a:

Finished quilt

How wide is the quilt?

67

How long is the quilt?

94

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Straight

What color is the quilt?

Beige or Tan; Burgundy; Red

Quilt's condition:

Good/moderate use

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Number of quilt blocks:

48

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Separated by plain sashing

Sashing width:

2 3/4

Number of borders:

1 pieced, on a long side

Describe the borders:

3 1/4

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Piecing; Machine Piecing

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton

Number of pieces of fabric in the quilt back:

at least 40, sut from home dyed feedsacks

Materials used in the quilt binding:

Cotton

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

less than a half inch

How wide is the binding (measure on the top only)?

1/2

What kind of filling is used in the quilt?

Cannot tell

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 1:

5

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 2:

6

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Outline; Single parallel lines

Features or notes about the quilt's appearance, materials, or construction:

Back includes recycled sacking fabric w/ marks "Diamond Crystal Salt Co," "Odorless Feathers," and "Redwing Flour"

Person filling out this form is:

Quilt owner

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)

Quilt owner's country:

United States

How was this quilt acquired?

Gift

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

The Nowlin family came to this country from Ireland in 1745. The Nowlin family moved to Michigan in 1837, settling first near Romeo and in 1882 moving to an 80 acre farm near Mayville, Lapeer County, Michigan. They had four children, two sons and two daughters. Oscar was the family geneologist and was interviewed about his family after Homer died. Son Oscar remembers that before television, movies, and telephones came to the farms, story telling was the entertainment. Old Civil War veterans used to sit around telling war stories when the work on the farm was done. Before the party line came to town - when "one person would call someone else and everyone else listened in" -the women would get together to gossip and make quilts'," recalls Oscar. The quilt was donated to the Michigan State University Museum when the quiltmakers son, Homer Nowlin passed away and left his estate to the University in 1980.

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

The quilt was made to be used for:

Bedding, daily use

Describe any unique traditions, quilting related customs, beliefs, songs or rhymes used by the quiltmaker:

The Nowlin family came to this country from Ireland in 1745. The Nowlin family moved to Michigan in 1837, settling first near Romeo and in 1882 moving to an 80 acre farm near Mayville, Lapeer County, Michigan. They had four children, two sons and two daughters. Oscar was the family geneologist and was interviewed about his family after Homer died. Son Oscar remembers that before television, movies, and telephones came to the farms, story telling was the entertainment. Old Civil War veterans used to sit around telling war stories when the work on the farm was done. Before the party line came to town - when "one person would call someone else and everyone else listened in" -the women would get together to gossip and make quilts'," recalls Oscar. The family farm passed down to son Homer, who did not have children of his own and left his entire estate, including his mother's quilts, to Michigan State University in 1979. Homer had an eighth grade education. His will was one paragraph long.

Who photographed this quilt?

Keva

Copyright holder:

MSU Board of Trustees