QUILT INDEX RECORD

33-29-8

Description of quilt:

County Map of the State of Illinois in cotton prints

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.

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:

062

Person filling out this form is:

Niece of quiltmaker

When was the form filled out?

1991 (Waldvogel)

Who helped you fill out the form?

Waldvogel

Location of data collection:

Waldvogel Collection

This is a:

Finished quilt

Quilt's title:

State of Illinois (Commemorative Contest Category)

How wide is the quilt?

66 inches

How long is the quilt?

82 inches

What color is the quilt?

Blue or Navy; Pink; White

Overall color scheme:

Light or pastel colors

Type of inscription:

Date; Message

What is inscribed on the quilt?

1833 1933 CENTURY OF PROGRESS WORLD'S FAIR CHICAGO

What is the date inscribed on the quilt?

1933

Method used to make the inscription:

Other

Describe the method used to inscribe the quilt:

Applique

Location of inscription:

multiple locations

Time period:

1930-1949

When was the quilt started?

1933

When was the quilt finished?

1933

Subject of the quilt:

Illinois as Host of the 1933 Chicago World's Fair

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Floral; Geometric; Multiple scrap

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Piecing; Strip/string Piecing

Applique techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Applique

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

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

The Illinois map is divided into counties which the quiltmaker has covered with different cotton prints. Notice the orange star at the site of the World's Fair in the Northeast corner and the blue outlines depicting the rivers bordering the state.

Quilt top made by:

Wetzel, Olive Thomas

Quilted by:

Wetzel, Olive Thomas

Where the quilt was made, city:

Nashville

Where the quilt was made, state:

Illinois (IL)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

Why was the quilt made?

Challenge or Contest entry

Where did the maker get their materials?

Sewing scraps

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Original to maker

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

The quilt was chosen to travel in 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).

Contests entered:

Sears National Quilt Contest, 1933 Chicago World's Fair. It did not win a prize.

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), pp 4-5. 200 Years of American Quilts in Illinois Private Collections (1980s publication).

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

Photo of quiltmaker is on pg 4 of Patchwork Souvenirs.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Wait

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's birth date:

12/23/1877

Quiltmaker's date and place of death:

08/14/1964

In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?

Rural

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

Wetzel, William

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

Farmer

Quiltmaker's county:

St. Clair

Quiltmaker's state:

Illinois (IL)

Quiltmaker's country:

United States

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

In a biography Ann Fellner Spencer, niece of the quiltmaker, reported that Olive Wetzel's nieces do not remember making quilts except for her own use. But they remember the printed and flowered house dresses [with cloth similar to the sewing scraps in her quilt.]

Any other notes or stories about the quiltmaker:

Olive Wait Thomas was born on Dec 23, 1877 in Belleville, Illiois across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. For high school, she was sent to Mary Institute in St. Louis. She later went to study at Vassar college, but her college career was cut short when she came home to nurse her mother through terminal illness. She remained with her father tending to him and her siblings. She surprised her family by eloping wih William Wetzel just days short of her 46th birthday. They moved to his farm in Beaucoup, Illinois. She lived there happily without indoor plumbing. She tended a garden and chickens on her small property. Her husband died in 1949, but she remained on the farm until her death in 1964 at the age of 86.

Who photographed this quilt?

Gary Heatherly

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Merikay Waldvogel