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Floral Bouquet; Unfinished Century of Progress Bouquet; Formal Garden, Bouquet

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QUILT INDEX RECORD

18-14-41

Description:

This unfinished quilt begun in 1933 combines a Wurzburg quilt kit Formal Garden #3555 and the border of The Tulip Quilt offered by H. Ver Mehren/Home Art Studios of Des Moines, IA. Formal Garden kit #3555 was the most popular kit produced by Wurzburg, which was itself the largest producer of art needlework kits during the period 1920-1940. The two double-rose motifs at the top of the quilt were not included in the original kit.

Essay:

In this early quilt, it is evident that Gasperik had available to her many popular quilt patterns and kits. Colonial Quilts, published by Home Art Studios in 1932, was a popular source for patterns and quilting designs. This booklet and Wurzburg kits were on the market just prior to the Sears Quilt Contest. Several quilters won prizes for quilts made from these sources.  A version of 'Formal Garden' was made by noted Kansas quilter Josephine Craig and later donated by her grandson to the Kansas Historical Society. According to Gay Bomers, the owner of Sentimental Stitches which is the successor to her grandfather's Wurzburg Company, Formal Garden was the company's most popular quilt kit.

Gasperik used several patterns offered in this this catalog to make the quilt we call the unfinished Century Of Progress Bouquet. In fact this very early quilt is something of an album of the kind of quilt-making experimentation Gasperik engaged in from the very beginning of her interest in making quilts. Examples from Colonial Quilts which can be seen on this quilt include: Image/Page 22 of the 36 images from Colonial Quilts offered on The Quilt Index, the 'patchwork tulip border'; Image/Page 30 of 36 pattern 533-Q, the quilted tulip basket; Image 30 of 36 pattern 532-Q, which is offered in the Colonial Quilts catalog as a quiltING pattern was transformed into an applique pattern by Gasperik to make the two appliqued pink and yellow rose units at the top of this quilt [it should be noted that this same pattern transformation can be seen on the 1935 Gasperik quilt called Laurel Wreath; Image 34 of 36, feather border pattern 508-QB is quilted into the corners of the unfinished Century of Progress Bouquet; and finally Image 34 or 36, floral corner quilting pattern Q517B is seen in this same quilt (as well as in 4 other Gasperik quilts: Colonial Quilting Bee, Double Feather Star - Susan, Double Feather Star - Doris and Wholecloth Baby quilt - Joanne). The Colonial Quilts catalog pages are something of a visual feast for viewers interested in learning the sources of Mary Gasperik's wonderful quiltING designs. It should be noted that many of these patterns could also be found in other commercial quilting pattern catalogs. I single out this source - the Colonial Quilts catalog reproduced by The Quilt Index Ephemera collection - because Needleart Guild's patterns (which might in fact have been the source of many of the quilting patterns found in Ver Mehren's Colonial Quilts catalogs) cannot be seen on The Quilt Index and are more difficult for the quilt researcher to find and look at. It is clear that Gasperik used both of these pattern sources - both Home Art Studios AND Needleart Guild. A third Gasperik source for many of the patterns found on this quilt, is a quilting manual written by the director of Chicago's park district quilting clubs, named Alice Beyer. Many of the patterns in Beyer's book also are found in Colonial Quilts, and in Needleart Guild catalogs. Gasperik was a member of Chicago's Tuley Park quilting club, and as such she would have used Alice Beyer's book and the mimeographed patterns Beyer prepared for use by Chicago park quilting clubs. Alice Beyer's book, entitled Quilting, was published by the Leisure Hobby Series in 1934. This series of how-to hobby instruction manuals was created for use nation-wide by urban park recreation programs eager to serve and acculturate America's burgeoning immigrant population. Quilting was one of the many hobbies selected for inclusion, and Chicago's Alice Beyer created the manual for it. The original book is a very inclusive and basic explication of how to make quilts. It includes many quilt and quiltING patterns also offered by Home Art Studios and Needleart Guild. It also included an interesting two-page bibliography at the end. A California group called the East Bay Heritage Quilters reprinted Beyer's book in 1978, but unfortunately they failed to include that bibliography. Many pages in Quilting relate to the Mary Gasperik quilt collection. I cite the following examples: Image 2 of 82 specifically connects the Tuley Park Quilting Club to the Beyer Quilting manual, Image 3 of 82 discusses how this book was specifically written, by simplicity of its English and its emphasis on illustrations and diagrams, to be accessible to non-English-speakers, Image 17 of 82 includes a Hosanna quilt block pattern (Gasperik made such a quilt, #020), Image 27 of 82 includes the Water Lily pattern (from Nancy Cabot) which Gasperik used (partially) in her Laurel Wreath applique dated 1935, Image 29 of 82 include Cabot's Tulip Basket block, a quilt Gasperik made 1933-34 (#060), Image 29 of 82 also includes Rose Beauty, a Nancy Cabot design quilted by Gasperik around Laurel Wreath's border, Image 46 of 82 center row left star block links to the quilts Gasperik specifically tied to "The Century of Progress" Chicago Fair, including the unfinished Century of Progress Bouquet, the 1933-34 Tulip Basket and Star Arcturus (#048)  dated 1934, Image 48 of 82 lower left block has the double rose seen on the unfinished Century of Progress Bouquet, Laurel Wreath and Bridal Bouquet - Karen (#064), and, finally, Images 60 and 61 of 82 drawings of snow crystals probably link to Gasperik's undated quilt called Snowflakes (#053). Although this quilt (and five other Gasperik quilts) are embroidered "Century of Progress," it is not suggested that they were included in any contest or exhibit associated with the 1933 Chicago World's Fair known as "The Century of Progress Exposition." However, it is obvious she was inspired and motivated to embark on a quilting adventure as a result of the Century of Progress.

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Mary Gasperik Legacy Project

Who documented this quilt?

Mary Gasperik Private Collection

Gasperik Legacy Project Number:

004

This is a:

Quilt top with unfinished edge

Quilt's title:

Floral Bouquet

Owner's name for quilt:

Unfinished Century of Progress Bouquet

Names for quilt's pattern in common use:

Formal Garden, Bouquet

Brackman # or other source & #:

82.25

How wide is the quilt?

78 inches

How long is the quilt?

88 inches

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Rounded

What color is the quilt?

Blue or Navy; Cream; Gold

Overall color scheme:

Multicolor; Bright or primary colors

Quilt's condition:

Very good/almost new

Notes on condition, damage, or repairs:

Gasperik ran out of the binding. When she attached a border made for a square scalloped-edged quilt to a panel for a straight-sided rectangular kit quilt, the kit-supplied binding was too short to accommodate the arrangement.

Type of inscription:

Message

Describe the type of inscription:

Commemoration or Remembrance

What is inscribed on the quilt?

M. G. A Century-of-Progress -1933 -

What is the date inscribed on the quilt?

1933

Method used to make the inscription:

Embroidery

Location of inscription:

on back

Time period:

1930-1949

When was the quilt started?

1933

When was the quilt finished?

1933

Family/owner's date for quilt:

1933

Date estimated by an antique dealer, quilt historian or appraiser:

1933 based on date of kit.

Who estimated the quilt's date?

Merikay Waldvogel

Further information concerning dates:

This is a kit quilt known as Wurzburg's No. 3555 Formal Garden manufactured in Grand Rapids, MI, but the kit was offered in mail order catalogs such as Herrschner #4197 Fall-Winter 1932-33 Catalog.

Describe the quilt's layout:

Medallion or framed center

Subject of the quilt:

Bouquet of Flowers

Number of borders:

One

Describe the borders:

Curvilinear border selected by the quiltmaker is not from the original kit border for Formal Bouquet. She incorporated a border advertised in the 1932 Colonial Quilts booklet of Home Art Studios, designed by company owner Hubert Ver Mehren, Des Moines, Iowa. Name of border-Tulip Quilt.

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Solid/plain

Applique techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Applique

Embellishment techniques used to make the quilt top:

Embroidery

Describe embellishment materials or techniques:

It is interesting that Gasperik added applique wheat to this very early quilt. On subsequent quilts she embroidered the wheat sprigs, which are something of a favored Gasperik quilt motif. Wheat is not an easy choice for applique construction.

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton

What color is the back of the quilt?

Cream

Describe the back:

Solid/plain

Materials used in the quilt binding:

Cotton

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 are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Grid square; Patches outlined/in the ditch; Single parallel lines

Quilting designs used, decorative motifs:

Feathering; Floral; Other

Quilting designs used, background fills:

Grid/crosshatch; Parallel lines

Describe the quilting designs used:

Tulip border, feather plumes, tulip bouquet. A floral unit is quilted inside each border scallop.

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

Gasperik turned Ver Mehren/Colonial Quilts quiltING block pattern #532-Q into an applique pattern to make the two pink and yellow rose sprigs on this quilt. A picture of this block pattern is also found in Alice Beyer's 1934 book Quilting, the manual used by Gasperik's Tuley Park quilting group). Although this book is copyright 1934, Beyer supervised the Chicago Park District's quilting clubs and she wrote and distributed the clubs' instructional materials. Although quilting became more popular after the Chicago Fair and the Sears national quilt contest, the clubs in fact existed before that.

The Wurzburg kit used a palette of 6 different pastel fabrics. Gasperik's added flowers and use of bright colors indicate she contributed patterns and fabrics from her personal collection. Where the kit supplied a single color, Gasperik employed several different shades of that same color, greatly increasing the number of different fabrics (from six to about 2 dozen). Comparing the Gasperik quilt with an old (undated but probably from the 1930s) Wurzburg Formal Garden #3555 kit, it is not clear if Gasperik used ANY of the kit's fabrics. She did not used its proposed quiltING designs either. Her addition of an applique sprig of wheat, is a very personal and Hungarian added touch. The kit includes fabric for making an inter rectangular border of flowers, which Gasperik did not use, choosing instead to substitute/add the previously mentioned elaborate Ver Mehren Tulip Quilt border. The Wurzburg kit does not have a separate border, the white ground simply extends to the edge of the quilt and no binding is supplied.

Quilt top made by:

Gasperik, Mary

Quilted by:

Gasperik, Mary

Where the quilt was made, city:

Chicago

Where the quilt was made, county:

Cook County

Where the quilt was made, state:

Illinois (IL)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

How was this quilt acquired?

Inheritance

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

Doris Gasperik selected this quilt in a division of quilts with Gasperik's daughter Elsie after Mary Gasperik's death. Upon Elmer and Doris Gasperik's death the quilt was inherited by their children.

Why was the quilt made?

Other

Details about why the quilt was made:

Although this quilt IS a work of art and personal expression, the occasion for its making was surely the Sears Quilt Contest and Chicago Century of Progress Worlds Fair of 1933.

The quilt was made to be used for:

Unknown

Quilt is presently used as:

Exhibit; Keepsake/memento

Describe present uses of the quilt:

Mary's grandchildren regard her quilts as a unique collection to be preserved and appreciated.

Where did the maker get their materials?

Purchased new

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Commercial/Published source: Pattern; Commercial/Published source: Kit

Describe the source of the pattern:

The pink and yellow double rose at the top of the quilt is an applique translation of a portion of block pattern 532Q from Colonial Quilts /Hubert Ver Mehren

Commercial name of the pattern for the top:

Wurzburg kit #3555 Formal Garden Applique.

Border pattern is "Tulip Border" from Hope Winslow (p22) or Colonial Quilts (p 20).

Applique pansies added to Wurzburg bouquet are probably taken from Nancy Cabot pattern called "Pansy Block"

Where did the quiltmaker find the pattern for the quilting design on the quilt?

Kit; Published material

What is the commercial name of the quilting design used for this quilt?

Five quilting designs from Ver Mehren's booklet Colonial Quilts: 533-Q (the tulip bouquet), 508-QB (feather border), QB546 (the quilted chain of tulips), Q517B (corner floral unit), and 401 (8-pointed star).

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

This Wurzburg kit Formal Garden No. 3555 was advertised: "This pattern has taken first prize in several National Contests." Perhaps that is why Mary Gasperik wanted to try her hand at this particular quilt pattern. It was also Wurzburg's most popular kit [see Michigan State University Museum Newsletter Winter 2001, pp 3-4 "Quilter's Profile Garrett Raterink and Gay Bomers].

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

Quilts from Chicago World Fairs 1893 and 1933, curated by Merikay Waldvogel, International Quilt Festival, Rosemont, IL, Spring 2004.

Note: This quilt was NOT exhibited in Quilts of Mary Gasperik at the Ravenswood Historic Site, Livermore, California March 14-15, 1992.

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

Merikay Waldvogel and Barbara Brackman. Patchwork Souvenirs of the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, (Nashville, TN: Rutledge Hill Press, 1993)102-103.

Merikay Waldvogel "One American Dream Comes True", Quilters Newsletter Magazine, March 2008, 46-49.

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

Quilt Kit Booklet Heirloom Quilts from Needleart Guild, 826 E. Fulton St. Grand Rapids, MI.

Wurzburg kit Formal Garden Number 3555, collection of Susan Salser

Pair of Formal Garden quilts made by unknown quilter, collection of Kathy Jacob. These quilts shows many elaborations of the kit design, perhaps even more than does the Gasperik quilt.

Booklets Hope Winslow's Quilt Book, Colonial Quilts and Aunt Mary Jacob's Album of Favorite Quilting Designs from Home Art Studios, Des Moines, Iowa.

Quilting, Alice Beyer, Leisure Hobby Series, South Park Commissioners, Chicago, 1934.

A color family photograph (circa 1965) shows three generations looking at this quilt in Gasperik's East Hazelcrest front yard: the quilter, Mary Gasperik, her daughter Elsie Krueger, and her great-granddaughter, Lorna MacLachlan.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Elmer Gasperik heirs (contact Kathy Jacob)

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Person filling out this form is:

Relative of quiltmaker; Author/researcher

If you are a relative of the quiltmaker, how are you related? The quiltmaker is my:

Grandmother

Describe the relationship to the quilt's maker:

Grand-daughter Susan Salser began this research effort in 1991, after she and her two sisters divided up the quilts which belonged to their mother (Elsie Gasperik Krueger) who died in 1988. Her ongoing research has been fruitful and interesting.

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Mihalovits, Mariska

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's birth date:

01/25/1888

Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:

Hungary

Quiltmaker's date of death:

05/25/1969

Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:

Hungarian

Quiltmaker's educational background:

Elementary School

In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?

Rural

Quiltmaker's city:

Chicago

Quiltmaker's county:

Cook

Quiltmaker's state:

Illinois (IL)

Quiltmaker's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's father's name:

Mihalovits, Istvan

Quiltmaker's father's birthplace:

Hungary

Quiltmaker's father's ethnic/tribal background:

Hungarian

Quiltmaker's mother's name:

Mihalovits, Vidoszava

Quiltmaker's mother's birthplace:

Hungary

Quiltmaker's mother's ethnic/tribal background:

Hungarian

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

Hungarian

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

Milk Dealer/Grocery Store Owner/Butcher

Number of children:

3

How many of the quiltmaker's children were girls?

1 (Elsie 1909-1988)

How many of the quiltmaker's children were boys?

2 (Elmer and Stephen)

How did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

From guild or club member; Self-Taught

When did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

Age 40-49

Why does the quiltmaker quilt?

Pleasure; Other

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

She made quilts to exhibit in shows and contests. Later in life, she made quilts especially for her children and grandchildren. In short, she made quilts because it was her life passion and her greatest talent.

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

Tuley Park Quilt Club and Detroit News Quilt Club

Does/did the quiltmaker belong to a group?

Chicago, IL and Detroit, MI

What are the main activities of the group?

Chicago group met to quilt and held periodic quilt shows; Detroit group held national exhibits and contests,

Estimated number of quilts made by this quiltmaker:

more than 50

Does/did the quiltmaker sell quilts?

no

Does/did the quiltmaker teach quilting?

no

Who photographed this quilt?

Don Gonzalez

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Hank Finn

Details

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Cite this Quilt

Gasperik, Mar. Floral Bouquet. 1933. From Mary Gasperik Legacy Project, Mary Gasperik Private Collection. Published in The Quilt Index, https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=fullrec&kid=18-14-41. Accessed: 03/29/24

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