Swag Borders

Cut-out chintz quilt by Elizabeth Severson Emich

Photo copyright by the Maryland Historical Society.

I found this little-seen quilt in a Japanese catalog from the historical society.

The Baltimore Album Quilt Tradition: Maryland Historical Society

Used copies are still available at a fairly reasonable price.

We've been discussing borders of simple shapes like the triangles along the edge in the above quilt but there was also a fashion for more complex swag borders as in the inner border.

Here's a sampler of a few from about 1810.

The swag borders are among the earliest applique designs that are not cut from chintz images---conventional applique.

This chintz quilt from the Smithsonian's collection includes everything: swags with bowknot ties of conventional applique and a few cut-out chintz flowers.

Our critical eyes prefer more perfection in the swag shapes.

 It seems that many of these quilters hadn't much of a template to go by.

The sources for the design idea are obvious.

Sheraton's suggestions for cornices

Swags and bowknots were everywhere in

classical imagery and federal architecture.

1781 Fashion Plate.

See the Martha Washington/Eliza Custis quilt in the last post for a swag fabric.

Border in an American quilt thought to be from the 1770s

 in the American Museum in Bath, England, signed R. Porter

Vintage Rose

Judy Severson's updated interpretation of a swag border, 

graceful arcs tacked down by roses.

Here's a sketch of a basic swag I did for a quilt a few years ago.

Print it so the dotted line is 6" long.

Ann's Legacy: A Tribute to Ann Daggs by Di Ford

If you'd like a "real" pattern for a period swag here's Di Ford's interpretation of the Ann Daggs (Dagge) quilt in the Smithsonian. Buy the pattern here:

http://www.threadbear.com.au/online-store/category/view/29 

See some antique quilts with swag borders:

Margaret Nichols's Tree of Life in the Winterthur Museum collection:

http://content.winterthur.org:2011/cdm/singleitem/collection/quilts/id/340/rec/1 

A faded example with an inner swag border in Michigan State University's museum from the Quilt Index:

http://www.quiltindex.org/fulldisplay.php?kid=1E-3D-24 

And one dated 1809 by Eliza Thompson from the International Quilt Study Center & Museum (#1997.007.0257)

http://cdn.firespring.com/images/5d76f7b8-3e7f-4b75-8f75-b4089957f066.jpg

A Border of Circles

We've looked at basic borders of chained squares and zig-zag lines, both simple, both popular with early medallion makers.

Detail of a medallion by Sophia Coltrane.

North Carolina quilt project

Here's another basic design---dots or appliqued circles.

Not very popular. And in fact kind of quirky.

I've only kept track of  them because I noticed them on two Washington family quilts.

Quilt top begun by Martha Dandridge Custis Washington

and finished by her granddaughter Eliza Parke Custis,

about 1780 to 1815.

Collection of the Smithsonian Institution

I don't think the dots are going to start a craze but just in case I'll post an outline for a medallion like Martha's and Eliza's above in the next post.

Quilt top attributed to Martha Washington

 in the collection of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association

For more dots:

See Sophia Coltrane's quilt, attributed to Randolph County, North Carolina on the Quilt Index by clicking here:

http://www.quiltindex.org/fulldisplay.php?kid=4B-82-458

And see the quilt in the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (#53.1070) by clicking here:

http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/pieced-quilt-112601

Chain of Squares Borders

Medallion dated 1804 by Mary Stites in Pennsylvania,

pictured in Nancy and Donald Roan's Lest I Shall Be Forgotten.

Mary's full-size quilt is elegant in its simplicty and proportions. The chain of squares in the final pieced border is a pattern often seen in early medallions. It's simple and bold without the detail seen in later medallions.

Cynthia Collier made a wall-size reproduction using a pattern in my book

America's Printed Fabrics 1770-1890

This medallion by Mary Eby dated 1803 is the earliest quilt documented by the Maryland project. See it in their book A Maryland Album by Gloria Seaman Allen and Nancy Gibson Tuckhorn.

Here's a vintage top from Penny McMorris's collection with the same kind of final pieced border pulling the compositon together. See Diane's interpretation of this quilt at Persnickety Quilts

http://persnicketyquilts.blogspot.com/search/label/medallion%20quilt

A reproduction by Georgann Eglinski framing an antique Japanese textile with the final border of chained squares dark on one side, light on the other- a little more sophisticated variation.

Bobbi Finley & Carol Gilham Jones, a collaborative reproduction, 2006.

 Bobbi framed the panel with stars and did the zigzag. Carol did the border of squares and the outer stars. Notice that some of Carol's squares are plain squares and others are four-patches in that random way quilters used to compose.

Sylvia Jennings Galbraith

Medallion Doll Quilt, 2001

Click here to see more about this border in Martha Washington's Penn's Treaty Quilt:

http://quilt1812warandpiecing.blogspot.com/2011/10/five-popular-blocks-for-marthas-quilt.html

Here are some links to antique quilts with chained square borders.

From the collection of Michigan State University:
http://www.quiltindex.org/fulldisplay.php?kid=1E-3D-11

A stuffed-work quilt from the DAR Museum
http://www.quiltindex.org/fulldisplay.php?kid=46-7A-136

A chintz quilt from the International Quilt Study Center and Museum # 2008.040.0182
http://cdn.firespring.com/images/236e86da-966e-4d13-9693-ea7cd6f768d9.jpg

From the D.A.R. Museum a Hewson quilt with a border that is actually a strip
http://www.quiltindex.org/fulldisplay.php?kid=46-7A-2C

Of course, the border makes a great strip quilt too

Reproduction by Georgann Eglinski

Zig-Zag Borders

Medallion dated 1804 from an online auction

In January the topic is various patchwork borders, beginning with what we'd call a zig-zag or streak-of-lightning border

Crib quilt from an online auction

Medallion by Jane Gatewood from the Quilt Index

This quilt dated 1796 has two zig-zag variations framing the center applique.

http://www.quiltindex.org/fulldisplay.php?kid=50-8A-106F

"Maryland, Math and a Magnifying Glass"

Reproduction wall-size quilt by Sylvia Jennings Galbraith made for an American Quilt Study Group challenge a few years ago---Bedcovers Before 1840.

Sylvia writes that she interpreted a quilt from Stella Rubin's book : (Miller's)Treasure or Not? How to Compare & Value American Quilts, pg. 41, listed as "Stipple Quilt, Maryland c.1820". The original was from the collection of Eve Wilson/photographs Stella Rubin.

"Since it is a small photo, I had to use a magnifying glass to see the fabrics. Coincidentally, the day I was basting it, my copy of The Quilted Planet by Celia Eddy arrived, with a full page photo of the same quilt ....

My quilt is a version of the center section-there are several more irregular borders or frames outward from this."

Below are some ways to get the effect of that zig-zag border...

I found four free patterns online with zig-zag variations. Here's one using the stacked flying geese idea.

From the Blooming Workshop

A while ago Anita posted an online "quilt along" patterning an English quilt belonging to Cindy Vermillion Hamilton. Click here:

http://bloominworkshop.wordpress.com/medallion-quilt-along/

And see a Flickr group with more pictures

http://www.flickr.com/groups/742566@N20/pool/10303685@N06/

The Virginia Quilt Museum Medallion by Mariann Simmons

Mariann Simmons, in cooperation with the Virginia Quilt Museum, has drafted a free pattern for their medallion. Download the PDF for the pattern here

http://www.quiltingtreasures.com/stuff/contentmgr/files/92cd7749c996d8093df08d4a93027a06/download/old_virginia_calicos.pdf

And see more pictures of the model here

http://collectorwithaneedle.blogspot.com/2011/05/virginia-medallion-c-1840-medallion.html  

They do the border with strips and triangles.

Hartfield Medallion by me and Moda

Moda still has the pattern for this quilt up there although this Jane-Austen-era fabric is long gone.

Click here for the PDF.

http://www.unitednotions.com/fp_hartfield.pdf

We used the stacked flying geese method.

Faith by Howard Marcus for Moda

And the pattern for the medallion Faith for Collections for a Cause uses strips and triangles. http://www.unitednotions.com/fp_cfac-faith.pdf

5 Mary Telfair: I Only Wish I Was a Man

We Americans who learned our history in the U.S. are surprised to find how quickly the States set their sights on Canadian conquest in 1812.  “ Free Trade and Sailors' Rights” may have been the motto on the flags and china pitchers but Congressional “War Hawks” saw an opportunity for northern expansion. British minister Augustus John Foster compared the land grab by the young U.S. to the necessity of  “a duel to a young officer.”

Henry Clay in 1811, an up-and-coming

34-year-old Congressman from Kentucky

Many War Hawks, headed by Henry Clay, agreed with former President Jefferson that taking the Canadian Protectorate from the British would be “a mere matter of marching” because England, busy with Napoleon, would not actually protect it and the Canadians, many former U.S. Colonials, would welcome annexation. State militia and the small regular Army marched north to the Great Lakes with ambitious plans to take Montreal, the Niagara region and western outposts in today’s Ontario.

General William Hull crossed the Detroit River southeast into Canada but was bluffed into believing the British and Native troops outnumbered the Americans. Do note that the U.S. is north.

The western front was the first strategy to fail as the British drove U.S. troops back over the border into the Michigan Territory and captured Fort Detroit and the adjacent town.

Newspapers second guessed the Army

Unable to believe their arrogant plan had flaws, Congress and the press blamed Detroit’s surrender on Detroit's defender, General of the Army of the Northwest William Hull. 

The generation gap between William Hull born in 1753 and Henry Clay

 born in 1777 is quite apparent in their hair fashions.

 Powdered wigs were old-fashioned in 1812 (but still worn.)

Hull was court-martialed  for cowardice and sentenced to a firing squad.  Only President Madison's intervention saved his life---if not his reputation.

Fort Detroit, a 4-pointed star

Detroit’s shocking loss created War Hawks in unlikely places. Mary Telfair in Georgia wrote a friend she was distracted by war news. “My mind has been wholly engrossed with needle work and inventing little trifles by way of amusement.” She read nothing but newspapers. “My heart throbs with joy whenever I discover a successful action of the Americans…[to contrast] with the inglorious surrender in Canada which has cast such a stigma on the American character which nothing but a conquest of that country can retrieve….I only wish I was a man…”

Mary Telfair (1791-1875)

This beautiful miniature portrait by Enrichetta Narducci 

was painted on a piece of ivory less than 3"

with gouache (a tempera) in 1842

when Mary was 51 years old.

Collection of Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah.

Mary Telfair, 21 years old when the War began, left legacies to Savannah for body and soul. At her death she donated the family mansion built in 1819 as a museum .





The Telfair Museum of Art remains the cultural heart of the city.

The Telfair Hospital for Females was another gift to Savannah.

In the Telfair Museum collection is the oldest documented Georgia quilt yet found, a post-war tree-of-life chintz quilt dated 1824 by Mary Elizabeth Taylor. We know from her writing that Mary Telfair did much needlework herself, but find no quilts by her in the record.

Medallion quilters favored several pieced border designs, which we shall consider in January, the first being that zig-zag or fence rail border that Mary Taylor repeated---one we also see in Zebiah Hewson's Philadelpia quilt.

This border seems to echo the fashion for appliqued Vandyke triangles.

 

Above and below the zig-zag border in a pieced medallion from an online auction.

The quilt probably dates to the 1820-40 period.

There are several ways to piece this border.

It can have sharp points as in the quilt above.

Or blunt points as in this detail from a quilt in the

collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. See the whole quilt by clicking here:

http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/pieced-quilt-112601

You can make the zig-zags light or dark---early quiltmakers were fond of white lines in a calico background.

Above and below, British quilts from the 1830s and '40s

 showing the persistence of the design with medallion makers

on the other side of the Atlantic.

The border seems to have evolved into a strip quilt design---

this one probably first quarter of the 19th century.

You can read Mary Telfair's letters to her friend:
Mary Telfair to Mary Few: Selected Letters, 1802-1844,(Betty Wood, ed., (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2007)

Read more about Mary Elizabeth Taylor's Georgia quilt in Georgia Quilts: Piecing together a history, Edited by Anita Zaleski Weinraub. You can buy it on sale from the University of Georgia Press. 

http://www.ugapress.org/index.php/books/georgia_quilts