The Quilt Index

Sears Quilt Contest Project: 003. First Place Winners in 10 Regional Rounds

Waldvogel, Merikay

First Place Winners in 10 Regional Rounds

Sears Roebuck & Co. organized the national quilt contest to include their local stores as well as their regional mail order centers. Quilters who were unable to get to a store could send in their quilt entry to one of the ten regional distribution centers. After local rounds and mail order judging, three quilts from each region were sent to Chicago for judging. Only the 30 finalists were exhibited that summer of 1933 at the Sears Pavilion on the World’s Fair site.

In the summer of 1934, the World’s Fair organizers decided to reopen with some new attractions. In the Sears Pavilion, Sue Roberts, the contest organizer invited back the top ten winning quilts. Sears photographed them on display. Is the Caden quilt there? Look at the very last quilt—it just might be the Star of the Bluegrass. The only first place quilt not found is the Boston winner: Mrs. M. A. Harvey, Springfield, MA.

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Quilts

097 Bowl of Flowers	235 Star of the Bluegrass	028 Colonial Rose
022 Autumn Leaves	008 Rising Sun	061 Lincoln's Favorite Quilt
012 Star of France	215 Tea Rose	035 The Spectrum
063 The Chicago Fair Quilt

097 Bowl of Flowers

Harvey, Mrs. M. A.

Mrs. M. A. Harvey of Springfield, MA won first place in the Boston region. Where is her quilt?

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235 Star of the Bluegrass

Rohrer, Ida

Margaret Caden of Lexington, Kentucky won the $1000 grand prize with a green traditional star quilt. The judges had so many other colorful, well-made quilts in traditional and original designs, it makes one wonder what they had in mind.

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028 Colonial Rose

Langley, Mabel

Winner of the second place national prize by Mabel Langley of Dallas, Texas. She used a pattern published by the St.Louis Fancy Work Company of St. Louis Missouri.

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022 Autumn Leaves

Hilliker, Mary

Appliqué Quilt in Anne Orr design that won Fourth Prize in National Round.

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008 Rising Sun 1933

Carpenter, Lillie Belle Shaffer

This quilt made by Lillie Belle Shaffer Carpenter of Hyndman, Pennsylvania won first place at the Philadelphia Regional round of judging and therefore was exhibited at the Sears Pavilion at the Chicago World's Fair in the Summer of 1933. It did not win one of the three top national awards. In 1934, when the organizers re-opened the Fair for a second season, Sears invited back the top 10 regional winners for a special exhibit. Mrs. Carpenter saved her ribbons, the correspondence with Sears, the listing of winners in the Philadelphia round, a newspaper account with photos of the top three winning quilts, and letters from people who attended the 1933 exhibit asking her for the pattern. The pattern named "Rising Sun" is a commercial pattern she bought from Hubert Ver Mehren. The family called it "Sunburst."

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