Essay
During the period between the quilting revivals
of the 1940s and the 1970s, Mary Schafer of Flushing, Michigan
emerged as an important quiltmaker, historian, and collector
in American quilt studies. Mary was born on April 27, 1910
in Austria-Hungary. In 1911, her father, Josef Vida, immigrated
to Brazil and then the United States where he settled in
Kansas City, Kansas. In 1915 he brought his family to join
him but within a year, his wife, Mary’s mother, became
ill and passed away. Searching for a better life, he moved
his family to Flint, Michigan during the early 1920s. There
Mary’s interest in needlework was nurtured when women
in her neighborhood taught her sewing, tatting, and other
needlework forms.
In 1929, Mary married Fred Schafer. By 1940, following
the difficult years of the Depression, Mary was established
in her own home and was able to find time for herself
to sew and knit. Deciding she would like to make a quilt,
Mary purchased a kit in 1949. After reading the instructions,
however, the project seemed overwhelming and the kit was
returned to the store. After her son left home in 1952,
Mary found that she had even more free time available
and decided to again try a kit quilt. She purchased “Rhododendron”
by Progress Company and, despite her earlier fears, finished
the quilt in six months. She then bought and completed
a second appliquéd kit quilt and was, by this time,
hooked on quilting.
Inspiration appears in many forms; in 1956 Mary Schafer
found hers while cleaning out the trunk of her car. Her
son had recently returned from military service, and the
homecoming was celebrated with a beach party. Picking
up after the event, Mary discovered a wet and dirty unclaimed
quilt that had been used as a beach blanket. Wanting to
honor the quiltmaker, Mary washed and repaired the quilt
in attempt to restore the piece to its glory days. She
then created a classic red and white reproduction featuring
an original border and quilting designs—elements
that became Mary’s trademarks. This was Mary’s
first pieced quilt. As Mary researched to find the name
of the pattern, she became a subscriber to Aunt Kate’s
Quilting Bee and began to amass every reference to
quilting she could find. Unable to find the pattern’s
name and because the design reminded her of a mill wheel,
Mary named it “Linden Mill” after the only
nationally registered historical site in her home of Genesee
County at the time.
Mary was growing increasingly more interested in quilt
history. In order to learn more she began to collect quilts,
quilt tops, and vintage fabric which she often incorporated
into a new top. For instance, in 1976 she made a Dutchman’s
Puzzle quilt in fabrics dating to the early 1900s; the
quilt won the blue ribbon for best pieced quilt from old
fabrics at the 1978 Festival of Quilts Contest in Santa
Rosa, California. Mary transformed many, many old tops
into finished quilts and would often add an original border,
create a unique quilting design, and have the top finished
by someone else.
Mary discovered round robins, the practice of swapping
patterns with others through the mail, and subsequently
participated in numerous round robins. Through these exchanges
of packages and letters, important friendships were formed
and Mary became a part of an active network of quilters.
Among Mary’s correspondents were Joy Craddock of
Denison, Texas, publisher of the 4 J’s;
Glenna Boyd, publisher of Aunt Kate’s Quilting
Bee; Delores Hinson, one of the founders of the National
Quilt Association; and historian Cuesta Benberry.
One of Mary’s strongest friendships to grow out
of the round robin exchanges was with Betty Harriman of
Bunceton, Missouri who was introduced to Mary through
Barbara Bannister, a mutual friend. Mary and Betty shared
many of the same tastes in quilt patterns as well as an
interest in history. They never met in person but their
friendship flourished first through an exchange of letters
and later through regular telephone conversations. The
pair frequently would work on the same design, each creating
their own interpretation of a pattern. Following Betty’s
death in 1971, Mary purchased Betty’s unfinished
quilts from the family. Bringing Betty’s projects
to completion continues Mary’s tie to her friend.
“To raise in popular esteem” the appreciation
of quilts became her goal as Mary entered an era she labeled
her “challenge” period. Inspired by Marie
Webster’s Quilts: Their Story and How to Make
Them, she not only increased her commitment to the
study of quilts but also began to educate the public about
quilts and their history. In 1966, after reading in Ruth
E. Finley’s Old Patchwork Quilts of the
difficulty of making the Clamshell pattern, she pieced
a quilt in that pattern. The National Quilt Association
awarded the quilt two blue ribbons at their first show
in 1970. Throughout her so-called challenge period, Schafer
not only created work which was of an advanced skill level,
but also continually paid tribute to important quilting
figures she admired.
By the time the quilting revival of the 1970s emerged,
Mary Schafer had become a well-known figure in the quilting
world. Within the Great Lakes region she spoke to many
groups on both historical and technical aspects of quilting.
She participated in contests and quilt shows and had numerous
exhibits of her collection. As Mary’s renown grew,
she began collaborating with Flint, Michigan quilters
Gwen Marston and Joe Cunningham; the three worked closely
on exhibits, public programming, and the book Mary
Schafer and Her Quilts. In 1986 Mary was honored
with Michigan Senate Resolution No. 605 honoring her for
“many contributions to the art of quiltmaking.”
In the mid-1990s, the Michigan State University Museum
began to work with Mary to order to keep her wonderful
collection of ephemera, quilts, books, study fabric, patterns,
correspondence, and other materials together for use by
future generations of quilt historians. With the generous
support of the Ruth Mott Fund, Kitty Clark Cole and Jeffrey
Cole, and numerous individuals and quilt groups, the core
of Mary Schafer’s collection was purchased for the
Michigan State University Museum.
-- by Mary Worrall
Excerpted from Great Lakes, Great Quilts
Resources
Great Lakes Quilt Center
Michigan State University Museum
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1045
Great Lakes, Great Quilts, Marsha MacDowell,
ed. Lafayette, California: C&T Publishing, 2001.
American Quilts from Michigan State University Museum,
Marsha MacDowell, ed. , Tokyo, Japan: Kokusai Art, 2003.
Mary Schafer and Her Quilts, Gwen Marston and
Joe Cunningham, East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State
University Press, 1990.
Quilt Treasures
Quilt Treasures interviewed Mary Schafer in her home in
Flushing, Michigan
on October 23, 2002. Click
here for Quilt Treasures Video Clips - Interview
Q&A |
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Alice Blue Wreath
Betty Harned Harriman
Boxes
Unknown
Flowering Almond
Betty Harned Harriman
Democratic Rose
Betty Harned Harriman
Oak Leaf and Cherries
Mary Vida Schafer
Clamshell
Mary Vida Schafer
October Foliage
Mary Vida Schafer
Pineapple
Mary Vida Schafer
Whig Rose
Unknown
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