QUILT INDEX RECORD
33-29-4
Description of quilt:
Floral applique quilt using a pattern named Magpie Rose designed and sold by Marie Webster of Marion, Indiana.
Essay:
The 1933 Sears National Quilt Contest was announced in January 1933 with a deadline of May 15, 1933. Over 24,000 quilts were entered at local Sears stores or sent to one of 10 regional mail order houses. Quilts were judged at each site with the top three winners moving onto the next round. Finally just 30 quilts reached the final judging held at the Sears Pavilion on the 1933 Chicago World's Fair site. This quilt made by "Effie Mounts, Mrs. W. L. Mounts of Carlinville, IL was sold out of the family in 1989. Today it is part of the collection of the International Quilt Study Center. The story that it was a "prize" quilt may be true, but there is no evidence that the quilt was entered in the 1933 contest. In any case, it represents the kind of quilts the judges awarded prizes to.
Where are the records for this quilt housed?
Merikay Waldvogel Legacy Project
Who documented this quilt?
Merikay Waldvogel Legacy Project; Sears Quilt Contest 1933 Chicago World's Fair
Merikay Waldvogel Legacy Project Number:
040
Alternate inventory control number:
1997.007.0407
Person filling out this form is:
Relative of quiltmaker
When was the form filled out?
Feb 1994
Choose the best description of the source to the quilt:
Other
If you are the quilt owner, how did you acquire this quilt?
Inherited
Who helped you fill out the form?
Brackman (1994))
Location of data collection:
International Quilt Study Center Collection Files
This is a:
Finished quilt
Quilt's title:
Magpie Rose
How wide is the quilt?
76 inches
How long is the quilt?
87 inches
What color is the quilt?
Beige or Tan; Pink; White
Overall color scheme:
Light or pastel colors
What is inscribed on the quilt?
.
Time period:
1930-1949
Date estimated by an antique dealer, quilt historian or appraiser:
This quilt could have been made several years before the 1933 contest.
Who estimated the quilt's date?
Merikay Waldvogel
Further information concerning dates:
Webster published the Magpie Rose pattern from 1914-1920.
Describe the quilt's layout:
Medallion or framed center
Fiber types used to make the quilt top:
Cotton
Fabric styles used in the quilt top:
Solid/plain; Striped
Applique techniques used to make the quilt top:
Hand Applique
How are the layers held together?
Hand quilting
Quilting designs used, decorative motifs:
Floral
Quilt top made by:
Mounts, Euphemia
Quilted by:
Mounts, Euphemia
Where the quilt was made, city:
Carlinville
Where the quilt was made, state:
Illinois (IL)
Where the quilt was made, country:
United States
How was this quilt acquired?
Purchase
Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:
Quilt was handed down from quiltmaker to her daughter to the quilter's grand daughter.
Describe anything about the history of the quilt that wasn't already recorded in a previous field:
According to Ardis James, this quilt was sold in Feb 1989 by granddaughter of quilter because her mother, just deceased, had never allowed her to touch it during her lifetime. Jameses bought quilt in 1989 from Mary and Joe Koval. The quilt was part of the James Collection transferred to the International Quilt Study Center at University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1997.
Why was the quilt made?
Unknown
The quilt was made to be used for:
Bedding, special occasion
Quilt is presently used as:
Museum collection
Where did the maker get their materials?
Purchased new
Where did the maker find their pattern?
Commercial/Published source: Pattern
Commercial name of the pattern for the top:
Marie Webster Design (Marion, IN)
Where did the quiltmaker find the pattern for the quilting design on the quilt?
Commercial pattern
Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:
This quilt travelled with the exhibition of 30 quilts entitled “Patchwork Souvenirs of the 1933 World’s Fair” curated by Merikay Waldvogel and Barbara Brackman. The Knoxville Museum of Art and Smith-Kramer, Inc. coordinated the travelling exhibition to the following sites: Jan 7-Feb 7, 1994 Palm Beach, FL (The Society of the Four Arts); Mar 20-July 17, 1994 Lexington, MA (Museum of Our National Heritage); Aug 7–Sep 25, 1994 Midland, MI (Midland Center for the Arts); Oct 16–Dec 4, 1994 Logan, KS (Dane G. Hansen Memorial Museum; Dec 18, 1994–Apr 23, 1995 Chicago, IL (Chicago Cultural Center); May 10-Jul 2, 1995 Grosse Pointe Shores, MI (Edsel and Eleanor Ford House); Jul 23-Sep 10, 1995 Los Angeles, CA (Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum); Oct 1-Nov 19, 1995 Janesville, WI (Rock County Historical Society); Dec 10, 1995-Jan 28, 1996 Neenah, WI (Bergstrom-Mahler Museum); Feb 18-Apr 8, 1996 Lexington, KY (University of Kentucky Art Museum); May 3-July 24, 1996 Knoxville, TN (Knoxville Museum of Art). As part of the International Quilt Study Center and Museum collection, the quilt may also have travelled.
Contests entered:
Supposed to have been entered in the Sears National Quilt Contest, 1933 Chicago World's Fair
Publications (including web sites) where this quilt or maker was featured:
Merikay Waldvogel and Barbara Brackman. Patchwork Souvenirs of the 1933 World's Fair (Nashville, TN: Rutledge Hill Press, 1993), pg 24. Also check www.quiltstudy.org (website for IQSC collections).
Related items such as diaries, obituaries, wills, household inventories, or pictures of the quiltmaker:
There is no official reference to the quilt being entered in the 1933 contest. According to the daughter's answers to a 1994 questionnaire--"She must have won something on this quilt for my mother mentioned several times to me that it was a "prize" quilt, so I presume she must have shown it elsewhere."
Ownership of this quilt is:
Public Museum, Library or Institution
Quilt owner's name:
International Quilt Study Center and Museum
Quilt owner's city:
Lincoln
Quilt owner's state:
Nebraska (NE)
Quilt owner's country:
United States
Quiltmaker's maiden name:
Anderson
Quiltmaker's gender:
Female
Quiltmaker's birth date:
1864
Quiltmaker's date and place of death:
1953
In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?
Rural
Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and/or partner's/partners' occupation:
Lawyer. Also Mayor of Carlinville and Democratic State Senator. He was instrumental in starting the local high school--probably at my grandmother's insistence. (Source: Questionnair filled out by Nan M. Thomas, her grand daughter.
Quiltmaker's city:
Carlinville
Quiltmaker's state:
Illinois (IL)
Quiltmaker's country:
United States
Any other notes or stories about the quiltmaker:
According to her grand-daughter, "My grandmother who was called "Effie" was born and reared in Carlinville. Her mother, Mary Jane Anderson, was also a very fine quilter and taught my grandmother. The family were bankers and owned extensive farm lands in and around Carlinville. My grandmother was sent off to private school in Nashville, TN. The school was named Ward's -- later known as Ward-Belmont. She was taught to sew at an early age and was excellent at it. She knitted, crocheted, cross-stitched, tatted and did much fine embroidery. I seldom remember her without having something in her hands to work on. She also played the piano and sang and painted china." Source: Questioinnaire filled out in 1994 by Nan M. Thomas, Sewanne, TN.
Who photographed this quilt?
Gary Heatherly
Access and copyright information:
Restricted
Copyright holder:
Merikay Waldvogel
Cite this Quilt
Mounts, Euphemi. Magpie Rose. 1930-1949. From Merikay Waldvogel Legacy Project, Merikay Waldvogel Legacy Project; Sears Quilt Contest 1933 Chicago World's Fair. Published in The Quilt Index, https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=fullrec&kid=33-29-4. Accessed: 03/29/24