QUILT INDEX RECORD

33-29-76

Description of quilt:

A Green Merit Ribbon winner improvised with a quilt kit design.

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. It is not known how many green merit ribbons were presented, but if the ribbon is with the quilt, it is strong evidence that the quilt was entered and judged at a local level.

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:

192

Person filling out this form is:

Relative of quiltmaker

Choose the best description of the source to the quilt:

Quilt owner

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

Inherited

Who helped you fill out the form?

Waldvogel

This is a:

Finished quilt

Quilt's title:

Formal Garden

How wide is the quilt?

91 inches

How long is the quilt?

99 inches

What color is the quilt?

Blue or Navy; Cream; Green; Pink; Yellow

Overall color scheme:

Light or pastel colors

What is inscribed on the quilt?

Green merit ribbon is attached: "SEARS CENTURY OF PROGRESS NATIONAL QUILT CONTEST MERIT AWARD 1933

When was the quilt started?

1932

When was the quilt finished?

1933

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

Applique techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Applique

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Clamshell

Quilting designs used, decorative motifs:

Other

Quilting designs used, background fills:

Grid/crosshatch

Describe the quilting designs used:

Floral quilting motifs added in wide floral border; spider web designs above the floral border; concentric clamshell quilting in wide outer border.

Quilt top made by:

Ball, Mildred

Where the quilt was made, city:

Libertyville

Where the quilt was made, state:

Illinois (IL)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

How was this quilt acquired?

Inheritance

Why was the quilt made?

Challenge or Contest entry

Quilt is presently used as:

Keepsake/memento

Where did the maker get their materials?

Purchased new

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Commercial/Published source: Kit

Commercial name of the pattern for the top:

Wurzburg No. 3555 "Formal Garden" made in Grand Rapids, MI

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

Kit

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

Although the center panel is the same as the quilt kit, the quilt maker designed the scroll border that frames the panel and she created the wide floral applique border made with flowers that are not exactly like the quilt kit's floral appliques.

Contests entered:

Sears Quilt Contest, 1933 Chicago World's Fair

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Chris Ball

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Malcolm

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?

Rural

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

Ball, Arthur Llewellyn

Quiltmaker's city:

Libertyville

Quiltmaker's state:

Illinois (IL)

Quiltmaker's country:

United States

Any other notes or stories about the quiltmaker:

According to her grandson, the quilt owner, "My grandmother did the needlepoint and applique. She told me the actual quilting was done by some woman in the Ozarks, I think. My memory may not be reliable, but it seems to me she paid something like $25 for the quilting labor. We have no record of the person who did the quilting." "Mildred was a resident of Libertyville, IL until retired, then Phelps, WI and then Clearwater FL. Mildred was married to Arthur Llewellyn Ball and everyone called him "Mike." Her friends called her "Kate" and her husband called her "Cherie." He was a WWI vet, came home with dysentery and spent a lot of time in France. Mildred grew up in South Dakota. She told me that as a child she went fishing for catfish in the creek using a shot gun. She remodeled a farm in Libertyville and ran the family business (farm drainage) when my Grandfather was overseas. She said she cleared big rocks from the field with a team of horses pulling a 'stoneboat.'"

Access and copyright information:

Restricted