QUILT INDEX RECORD

18-14-59

Essay:

This is Gasperik's refashioning of a kit. The printed kit number (No 7145 CRIB QUILT) is partially visible at a point where Gasperik chose to quilt a design where an appliqué and embroidered image was originally placed. The kit is from Homeneedlecraft Creations, a source Gasperik used to make at least 5 other quilts. See Gasperik quilts #013, #024 and #061 - made from Homeneedlecraft Creations kit No. 7182, Gasperik quilt #025 - made from Homeneedlecraft Creations kit No. 7122, and Gasperik quilt #040 - made from Homeneedlecraft Creations kit No. 7069.

A photograph of a quilt of this same pattern (made by Mrs. Frances Dale of Detroit, Michigan for her new granddaughter) appears in the October 11, 1941 Detroit News page 12). Salser purchased a nearly completed applique top of this kit, along with its original envelope, in October 2013. The envelope is printed Colonial Art Needlework... "Nursery Catalogue" Crib Quilt No. 7145." There is no mention of Home Needlecraft Creations. It bears no date or place of origin; just the hand-penciled price of "1.39".

If Gasperik worked from an identical kit, as it appears she did, she added some embroidered and appliqued details, and substituted her own choices for some kit specifications (for example using the rich brown thread rather than blue thread to embroider the wording). Amusingly, the applique area showing "Contrary Mary" seems to display the greatest number of personal additions and changes. Gasperik completely altered the overall quilting pattern stamped on the quilt-top, stitching a denser grid, adding an embedded elaborately quilted feathered wreath as well as quilted hearts. She finished off the kit's edge with a quilted border of feathering and attached two additional, wide fabric borders, one in a delicate yellow flowered print and the other in solid gold with scalloped outer edge and interior overlapping arches of quilting. She often made multiple borders a prominent design feature of her quilts, creating large expanses of especially fine quilting. She transformed a fairly plain kit into a distinctively Gasperik quilt.

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Mary Gasperik Legacy Project

Who documented this quilt?

Mary Gasperik Private Collection

Gasperik Legacy Project Number:

010

This is a:

Finished quilt

Quilt's title:

Nursery Rhymes

Owner's name for quilt:

Nursery Rhymes

How wide is the quilt?

74 inches

How long is the quilt?

91 inches

Shape of edge:

Scalloped

Shape of corners:

Rounded

What color is the quilt?

Blue or Navy; Green; Pink; Rust; White; Yellow

Overall color scheme:

Multicolor; Light or pastel colors; Bright or primary colors

Quilt's condition:

Good/moderate use

Damage:

Stains

Notes on condition, damage, or repairs:

There are several blotchy gray stains of unknown origin in the center of this quilt.

Type of inscription:

Multiple Names

What is inscribed on the quilt?

Each block is embroidered with a nursery rhyme. phrase--"Market to Market", for example. Address label reads: "MARY GASPERIK 1411 W 174 STREET EAST HAZELCREST ILLINOIS"

Method used to make the inscription:

Embroidery

Location of inscription:

multiple locations

Time period:

1930-1949

When was the quilt finished?

1935-1945

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

Late 1930s-1940s

Who estimated the quilt's date?

Merikay Waldvogel

Further information concerning dates:

Estimated date is based on the date of similar kits.

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Subject of the quilt:

Nursery Rhymes

Number of quilt blocks:

14

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Separated by plain sashing

Describe the quilt setting:

In fact, these are not individual blocks. The appliques were stamped on the white foundation cloth.

Number of different block patterns used in the quilt:

9

What is the shape of the quilt blocks?

Sampler

Number of borders:

two borders surround the kit

Describe the borders:

A wide white border of lightly printed cloth added to kit. This is surrounded by a second border of solid yellow which is cut with triangular protrusions on the inside and ends with a bound scalloped edge.

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Print; Solid/plain

Applique techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Applique

Embellishment techniques used to make the quilt top:

Embroidery

Describe any unusual techniques used to make the quilt top:

Border with triangular cutouts on inside edge and scallops on the outside edge.

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton

What color is the back of the quilt?

Yellow

Describe the back:

Solid/plain

Materials used in the quilt binding:

Cotton

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?

Cotton

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

Color of thread used in the quilting:

white

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Grid/crosshatch; Single parallel lines

Quilting designs used, decorative motifs:

Feathering; Wreaths; Other

Quilting designs used, background fills:

Grid/crosshatch; Parallel lines

Describe the quilting designs used:

There are six quilted feathered hearts filled with cross-hatching. The solid yellow outer border is filled with concentric arch-shaped quilting. An impression of four separate borders is created by Gasperik's quiltING designs, although only two borders using different fabrics have been attached to the kit's center. Gasperik's quiltING greatly adds to the complexity of a commercial kit. A comparison of the Gasperik quilt to a Nursery Rhyme children's kit quilt purchased by Salser on eBay makes Gasperik's quiltING (and quilt applique) changes, as well as the added border, immediately apparent to the viewer.

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

Printed quilt kit number #7145 is partially visible on quilt surface.

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:

This quilt was selected by Gasperik's daughter-in-law Doris in the division of quilts arranged by Elsie after her mother's death.

Why was the quilt made?

Baby or crib

The quilt was made to be used for:

Bedding, special occasion

Quilt is presently used as:

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 find their pattern?

Commercial/Published source: Kit

Commercial name of the pattern for the top:

Homeneedlecraft Creations #7145 Crib Quilt.

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

Original to maker

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

Gasperik did not applique one of the blocks in the center. She left an open space into which she quilted an oval feathered wreath which was probably not part of the original kit. The block which she omitted is one of the kit's seven repetitions of the pink/yellow/blue triple flower block.

It should be noted that The Detroit News offered a nursery rhymes block quilt pattern, called Mother Goose Quilt Series 1643-ID80. It is not known if Gasperik ever used this pattern, but Elsie Krueger's typed list of "Quilts and tops which are still in East Hazelcrest" includes an item she described as "nursery rime unfinished top". None of the items in this section of Elsie's accounting survived and it isn't known what they looked like.

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

The Quilts of Mary Gasperik, Ravenswood Historic Site, Livermore, CA, March 14-15, 1992.

This is one of the 23 Mary Gasperik quilts exhibited in the Carnegie Room of the Marion Indiana Public Library July 16-17, 2021 in connection with the ceremony honoring the induction of Mary Gasperik into The Quilters Hall of Fame as their 2021 Legacy Quilter honoree. Mary Gasperik Quilters Hall of Fame Induction Exhibit.

Contests entered:

East Hazelcrest address label may indicate it was sent to Springfield Illinois State Fair

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:

Detroit News October 11, 1941 page 12 "Cornerites Gather for Reunion" by Edith B. Crumb. "Mrs. Frances Dale, 6187 Toledo avenue, brought a quilt she has just finished for her new granddaughter, Linda Ruth, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H.C. Dale, 980 Berkeley Road, Columbus, Ohio." A photograph of Frances Dale standing by her quilt, a quilt which is made from the same pattern as Gasperik quilt #010, appears at the bottom of the page.

Grand-daughter Karen Finn was given some spare fabric from her grandmother's collection. She has a piece of the figured print used to make one of the borders of this quilt. Kathy Jacob has a piece of the yellow border fabric. A third piece of fabric from Gasperik which was saved by Karen is a piece of the red print for making "Road to Recovery" (Gasperik quilt #066). That piece has a maple leaf shape cut out.

A Nursery Rhyme applique quilt, made by an unknown person, was purchased by Susan Salser on ebay in 2003. This quilt, in Salser's private collection, measures 40" by 58" and appears to be a faithful execution of Homeneedlecraft Creations kit #7145.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Elmer Gasperik heirs - Kathy Jacob contact

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, Maria

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:

Mary Gasperik made quilts because it was her life passion and greatest talent. As opportunities arose, she entered contests and exhibited them publicly. She also made special quilts for her family.

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:

Susan Salser

Details

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