QUILT INDEX RECORD

33-29-16

Description of quilt:

Applique quilt with clipper ship, airplanes, and birds.

Essay:

Little is known about this quilt, but the Sears building evident at the bottom of the quilt and the log cabins at the top are strong clues to its being a contest entry. 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:

080

Person filling out this form is:

Quilt owner

When was the form filled out?

1994

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

Purchased the quilt

This is a:

Finished quilt

Quilt's title:

Clipper Ship

How wide is the quilt?

76 inches

How long is the quilt?

81 inches

What color is the quilt?

Blue or Navy; White; Yellow

Overall color scheme:

Bright or primary colors

Type of inscription:

Date

What is inscribed on the quilt?

1833 1933

Describe the method used to inscribe the quilt:

Applique

Time period:

1930-1949

When was the quilt started?

1933

When was the quilt finished?

1933

Describe the quilt's layout:

Medallion or framed center

Subject of the quilt:

Century of Progress

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; Ink drawing

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

Quilt top made by:

Unknown

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

How was this quilt acquired?

Purchase

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

The owner bought it at a garage sale for $5.00. She exhibited it at a South Haven (MI) show. When Carter Houk was looking for Michigan quilts for an issue of Lady's Circle Patchwork Quilts, someone referred her to the owner and Carter had it photographed in black-and-white. It appeared on pg 32. (Lady's Circle Patchwork Quilts ed. Carter Houck, #21 (1981), 32.

Why was the quilt made?

Challenge or Contest entry

Where did the maker get their materials?

Purchased new

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Original to maker

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:

When Sears offered a bonus prize for an original design, many quiltmakers made non-traditional quilts which years later in the 1980s would be called "art quilts." This one is an especially sophisticated design. Unfortunately, because the judges did not generally appreciate these quilts, the onset of original designed art quilts was delayed.

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

This quilt was chosen for the traveling 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

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 xv.

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

See Ladies Circle Patchwork Quilts for the original b/w photo of this quilt. [need to add magazine info]

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's country:

United States

Who photographed this quilt?

Gary Heatherly

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Merikay Waldvogel