QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-7720

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:

85.2118

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

6119.12

Object label:

Boy's Quilt
Emilie Ann Clarke
Detroit, Michigan
1924-35
Detroit, Michigan
Deborah Harding Redwork Collection, Michigan State University Museum, acc.#6119.12

Essay:

The Clarke Family quilt collection, given to Michigan State University Museum in 1986 by Dr. Harriet A. Clarke and her brother, George M. Clarke, includes forty-five quilts and quilt tops completed between 1926 and 1946 by Bozena Vilhemina Clarke, her daughter Laura May Clarke, and daughter-in-law Emilie Ann Clarke. The collection also includes numerous hand-made templates and patterns, unique hand-colored graphs of planned quilts, newspaper and magazine clippings, and personal inventory notes written by the quilters. Because the Clarke quilt collection represents virtually the entire output of quilts made by one family over a 20-year period and the supplemental materials reflect the entire quiltmaking process from inception to completion, it offers a unique glimpse into the quilting lives of one family. The collection also provides an excellent study example for understanding quilting activity in Detroit during this period and the relationship of the Clarke family quilters to the regional and national rejuvenation of interest in quiltmaking and home arts of the 1920s to the 1940s.

For a pair of children's quilts, Emilie Clarke pieced together squares featuring outline embroidered pictorial images. This quilt, known by the family as the "Boy's Quilt," features designs rendered mostly in blue embroidery floss. After World War I, colorfast cotton embroidery threads became available in a variety of colors. As other dye colors became more stable, outline in other colors became increasingly popular. Post-1910, bluework, or all blue embroidery designs, became more common. Emilie completed a companion quilt, known as "Girl's Quilt" whose designs include florals, "kewpies," and sunbonnet figures.

Quilt's title:

Embroidered Squares #1

Owner's name for the quilt:

Children's Quilt Boys

Quilt top made by:

Clarke, Emilie Ann

Quilted by:

Clarke, Emilie Ann

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

Received as a gift

Where the quilt was made, city:

Detroit

Where the quilt was made, county:

Wayne

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:

Detroit

Quiltmaker's county:

Wayne

Quiltmaker's state:

Michigan (MI)

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Arnold

Quiltmaker's birth date:

5/14/1897

Quiltmaker's date and place of death:

1/19/1976

Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:

German, French

Quiltmaker's educational background:

M.D. from University of Michigan in 1922, PhD in Public Health from Wayne State University in 1937

Quiltmaker's religious affiliation:

Congregational

Quiltmaker's occupation:

Public Health Department for the State of Michigan, the Red Cross.

Quiltmaker's father's name:

Arnold, Francis Christian

Quiltmaker's father's ethnic/tribal background:

French, German

Quiltmaker's mother's name:

Arnold, Emma L. (nee Vogelsang)

Quiltmaker's mother's ethnic/tribal background:

German

Quiltmaker's marriage date(s):

8/31/1923

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

Clarke, George Robert

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

Bohemian, English

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

Electrical Engineer

Number of children:

3

How many of the quiltmaker's children were girls?

1

How many of the quiltmaker's children were boys?

2

How did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

From Relative

When did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

Age 20-29

Other notes on how the quiltmaker learned, and how and why they quilt:

Emilie made quilts in the 1920s for her children. Her career took over in the 1930s.

Estimated number of quilts made by this quiltmaker:

5-20 quilts

Does/did the quiltmaker sell quilts?

no

Does/did the quiltmaker teach quilting?

no

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

For awhile she quilted at the Boulevard Congregational Church.

Where does/did the group meet?

At the corner of Warren and West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan.

What are the main activities of the group?

This group sewed together to make items for church bazaars. They sold

This is a:

Finished quilt

How wide is the quilt?

74

How long is the quilt?

86

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Straight

What color is the quilt?

White

Overall color scheme:

Two color

Quilt's condition:

Fair/worn

Damage:

Stains; Tears or holes

Type of inscription:

Date

What is inscribed on the quilt?

1924-1935

Method used to make the inscription:

Attached label; Embroidery

Describe the method used to inscribe the quilt:

Cross stitch

Location of inscription:

on back

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Number of quilt blocks:

30

Size of quilt blocks:

8 x 8

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Separated by plain sashing

Sashing width:

4 1/4

Number of borders:

1

Describe the borders:

8"

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Solid/plain

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Piecing

Can you feel or see paper on the quilt that was used as a construction aid?

no

Embellishment techniques used to make the quilt top:

Embroidery

Embellishments used:

Cotton thread

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton

Number of pieces of fabric in the quilt back:

3

Describe the back:

Same fabric used throughout

Materials used in the quilt binding:

Cotton

How is the binding made?

Straight 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?

Cotton

How thick is the quilt?

Thin (Less than 3/16?)

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 1:

9

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 2:

9

Can you see any knots on the front or back of the quilt?

no

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Grid diamond; Single parallel lines

Quilting designs used, decorative motifs:

Cables

Quilting designs used, background fills:

Parallel lines

Where did the maker get their materials?

Purchased new

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Commercial/Published source: Pattern

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

Pattern pieces, oral interviews with quilt makers daughter. See 6119.62, pattern pieces for Children's Quilt Boys and Bloomer Girls.

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:

This quilt was inherited by Harriet and George Clarke,from their mother Emilie Clarke, the quiltmaker. Harriet and George then donated it to the MSU Museum in December of 1985.

Details

• 

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

The quilt was made to be used for:

Bedding, daily use

Describe any favorite patterns, tools, etc. used by the quiltmaker:

She shared patterns with her family members.

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

Emilie made quilts by herself and occassionally quilted with her mother. Her mother-in-law was a prolific quilter and her sister-in-law also quilted. Her daughter Harriet remembers her mother had her mother-in-laws old quilting frame set up in the attic and quilted during the spring and fall when the whether allowed her to work in the unheated, un air conditioned space. One summer her Grandma Arnold quilted with her mother in the dining room.

Who photographed this quilt?

Fumio Ichikawa

Copyright holder:

MSU Board of Trustees