QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-7620

Who documented this quilt?

Michigan Quilt Project

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Michigan State University Museum

Michigan Quilt Project Number:

85.1987

Object label:

Title: Redwork Quilt
Artist(s): Metta V. Rybolt with secondary embroidery by Betty MacDowell
Dimensions: 57 1/2" x 67 1/2"
Date Made: 1950
Place Created: Lapeer, Michigan
Collection: C. Kurt Dewhurst and Marsha MacDowell Private Collection
Photo Credit: Pearl Yee Wong

Essay:

Metta, an avid quiltmaker, made this quilt for her new great-granddaughter Marsha MacDowell who slept under the quilt when she was a young girl. The quilt thus became quite worn and much of the embroidered was worn off. As a gift to Marsha for her twenty-fifth birthday, Marsha's mother Betty re-embroidered all of the squares except one which she left partially finished with a threaded needle. She thought this would help Marsha appreciate the work involved and she would complete the restoration.

Owner's name for the quilt:

Redwork

Biography of the quiltmaker?

Her daughter-in-law's mother (Alice Lane)was influenced by her on trips to Detroit. Metta Schroll Rybolt became very interested in quilting when she spent time in Detroit with her son's family. According to her daughter-in-law, Vivian Rybolt, when my mother-in-law stayed with use she spent time with my mother who was very active in quilting...when she went back up to Lapeer she kept quilting...She liked more simple patchwork designs. Most of her quilts are made in simple block patterns set with alternating plain blocks squares. Marsha MacDowell, who received several quilts from her great-grandmother Rybolt, saw her quiltimaking relative only a few times because Rybolt died when MacDowell was young. However, MacDowell vividly recalls one of her first visits at the age of four to Rybolts's second floor apartment in Lapeer: I remember only two things about that trip...going up a very steep set of stairs and seeing the quilt frame set up in her living room...the frame seemed to take up a lot of space. Another quilt, made by Rybolt for MacDowell's birth, holds a special place in the family's collection of quilts. Over the years, the red and white quilt with embroidered pictures was used constantly, and as a result, much of the red embroidery thread was worn away. As a surprise present for MacDowell's 25th birthday, her mother Betty MacDowell, reembroidered all but one of the squares. The last one was left unrepaired, but with a needle and thread stuck in it so that it could be finished by the owner who "would then appreciate how much work went into it." Many other members of the Rybolt family received quilts from Metta Rybolt as gifts for special occasions. It is estimated that she made more than 50 quilts. (See no. 123 and 138 for quilts by related family members.)

Quilt top made by:

Rybolt, Metta Celeste

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

Quiltmaker's city:

Detroit

Quiltmaker's county:

Wayne

Quiltmaker's state:

Michigan (MI)

Quiltmaker's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's birth date:

1/21/1876

Quiltmaker's birthplace, city:

Nevada

Quiltmaker's birthplace, state:

Ohio

Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:

United States

In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?

Urban

Quiltmaker's date and place of death:

2/14/1955 in Detroit

Quiltmaker's father's name:

Schroll, Charles

Quiltmaker's father's birthplace:

Sands, Sarah

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

Rybolt, Harry Omar

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

Bricklayer

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:

more than 50

This is a:

Finished quilt

Shape of edge:

Straight

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Number of quilt blocks:

42

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Person filling out this form is:

Quilt owner

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Marsha MacDowell

Quilt owner's city:

East Lansing

Quilt owner's county:

Ingham

Quilt owner's state:

Michigan (MI)

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Michigan State University Museum