Log Cabin quilt, Straight Furrow variation. Made of pieced cotton prints; over 30 different prints are used in the 30 blocks. The design creates diagonal "stripes" of alternating dark and light colors. Center square of all blocks is the same pink floral print. A 6" outer red print forms border and also binds edges, turned and stitched to back. Back is a dark brown print of circles on flecked ground.
Lancaster County or region.
Quilting is inexpertly hand stitched in white, running in straight lines down the center of each "log".
An "X" in the center square of each block.
Provenance
Unknown provenance. Donors were dealers and acquired this quilt as part of their personal collection.
Crazy quilt made by Veretta (Ettie) Lucinda Neel. Crazy quilt blocks are on point and made of pieced and appliqued silks, satins and velvets.Decorated with a variety of cotton, silk and chenille embroidery stitches; tied, not quilted. Contains portions of neckties, hatbands, wedding gowns and other family fabrics."V.L.Neel" is embroidered on center block. Finished with a 4"-wide border. Cotton batting. Back is a silk print of silver bells.
Embroidered initials on quilt are SC (or LC), RM, EK, JMP, L(or S)and R. The date 1885 appears twice as well as a music staff, $, pierced heart, five hand-held fans, two painted swallows, owls, boots, hummingbird, stag's head, butterfly, flowers, anchor, etc.
Provenance
Maker to nephew Thomas Ross Neel to daughter and donor, Marianna Neel Akerman.
Maker was an unmarried woman of Scots-Irish descent and Presbyterian. She made this quilt for her hope chest at age 31, but never married. Donor recalls her great-aunt saying she was "unlucky in love" and pointing out the appliqued heart pierced with a downward-pointing arrow as representative of her broken heart. Ettie's sweetheart chose another for his wife (see label from 1990 exhibit). Ettie lived with her parents, Thomas Ross Neel and Verlinda Stubbs Neel (Fulton Twp.), and after their deaths she lived with the family of her sister, Belvidera Neel Carter (Mrs. Samuel Carter) in Christiana.
Maker kept in storage, in unused condition. Two pieces of the same fabric in the center block are shredded and another light colored fabric, used several times, has some staining.
Object ID
G.03.14.01
Place of Origin
Lancaster County
Role
Quiltmaker
Credit
Gift of Marianna N. Akerman, Heritage Center Collection
All-white quilt made with unusual arrangement of pieced cotton panels, both machine and hand stitched.
Quilt top and quilt back are essentially identical; all plain-weave cotton except for two 8" wide side panels of ribbed weave and bottom 4.5" wide panel of ribbed basket weave. Centerfield has variously joined panels: at center is 13.5" wide panel flanked by two 9" wide panels and all surrounded by a 9" wide border. Very unusual piecing throughout: overlapping seams, hemmed seams and corners that do not align in conventional manner.
Quilting designs: center panel has 3 feather wreaths on a grid field, and the remaining plain-weave panels each have an undulating feather design on a field of diagonal lines. Cotton batting is deteriorated into clumps from laundering and cotton seeds scattered throughout.
Provenance
Inherited by donor from unknown Mueller family member.
Moderate wear; minor scattered stains, esp. at periphery. Most notable are two tiny blood stains, now faded. Minor separation at several seams, esp. middle panel.
Object ID
G.03.26.01
Place of Origin
Lancaster County
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Paul A. Mueller, Jr., Heritage Center Collection
Strip quilt, composed of alternating printed and all-white strips, 6 printed and 5 white. Print is an ombre blue ground with tan medallions edged with a scrolling foliate design and red roses within. Back is three joined pieces of white cotton. Back corner is stamped "KH06".
Quilting is done with an undulating feather on the white strips and a diamond pattern on the printed strips. Back wraps around to front to form the binding.
Stamped on the back of one corner is "KH06." Unknown meaning.
Inscription Type
Stamp
Object Name
Quilt
Material
Cotton
Height (in)
89
Width (in)
90
Condition
Good
Condition Date
2015-06-16
Condition Notes
Generally good with little wear. Most pronounced are about 30 dark stain spots sprinkled across front. Two liquid stains on back as well as a small 1/4" hole.
Object ID
G.03.26.02
Place of Origin
Lancaster County
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Paul A. Mueller, Jr., Heritage Center Collection
Rectangular velvet postage stamp quilt with emerald green silk border.
Center field filled with multicolored squares (postage stamps) with a subtle design in center of 2 large diamonds and a smaller diamond overlapping them at center of quilt. Edges of border decorated with lime green zig zag embroidery stitch; corner blocks of border have an embroidered 4-petal floral motif in lime green.
Backing is maroon silk blend with stitching showing through from front along border.
Provenance
Provenance: Passed down in family; believed to have been made by one of donor's great aunts, Elizabeth Miller Thomas or Ida Miller. Ida worked for Judge Appel and lived in Intercourse (see family info in file of sampler G05.11.1). Both these ladies were sisters of donor's paternal grandfather Ray Bair Miller (born circa 1876).
Generally good overall; border is problematic. Border at one end is completely missing except for some loose threads and white linen fabric exposed beneath.
Object ID
G.06.11.01
Place of Origin
Lancaster County
Credit
Gift of Annette W. Miller, Heritage Center Collection
Quilt, Joseph's Coat pattern, made by donor's great grandmother Susannah Lefever Eshleman.
Center field is thin bars using seven colors repeating in the same sequence five times across the width. Colors are purple, black, blue, green, yellow, cheddar, red. Border all four sides is diagonal stripes of the same sequence of colors. Unknown batting. Back is a print of many naturalistic & geometric motifs of teal, pink and cream, all on a ground of navy blue.
Hand-quilted using four motifs: every other bar/stripe has cable which alternates with chevron, zig zag and diaper.
Provenance
Donor's great grandmother Susan L. Eshleman lived on a farm in what is now School Lane Hills. As a girl, she had been raised east of Lancaster (perhaps Fertility) and the Lefevers attended Mellinger Mennonite Church. She then married Hiram/Henry Eshleman and joined his church, Longenecker Reformed Mennonite.
Lancaster Amish Bars quilt of twill and plain weave wools, machine pieced, hand quilted. Seven bars, 3 dark red and 4 green, all vary in width 4.25" - 5.25". Surrounded by inner border, 3.25" - 3.5" in width, of dark green with corner squares of light green. Outer border is 10.5" wide of the same dark red as the bars. One-inch binding is a tan twill, machine-sewn in black.
Unknown Amish maker
Wool batting. Original red backing is covered over with cotton red check, machine-sewn in black around perimeter and tacked haphazardly throughout quilt with very noticeable heavy black thread extending from top to back. It has some puckering and fabric failure.
Hand quilted in black thread, diagonal grid throughout bars; inner border has pumpkin seed florets within a triple diamond pattern; corner blocks have a 15-petal flower; outer border has two undulating feathers gracefully criss-crossing each other with a horseshoe curve at corners.
Fragile with fading. Heavy fading within red border at head and foot; light streak through center bar. Binding is very thin and has multiple holes, tears and weakened areas. Obvious holes in red fields. Replaced backing with puckering and fabric failure.
Object ID
G.08.17.05
Place of Origin
Lancaster County
Credit
Gift of Joanna S. Rose, Heritage Center Collection
Lancaster Amish quilt, Center Square with Ninepatch, 5"-square blocks set on point. Top and back are all crepe or knitted wools except for outer border and binding which are plain weave.
9-blocks on point are red and green alternating with dark green blocks. Four 9-blocks have remnants of cursive lettering printed in yellow. Inner border is a grayish lavender with purple corner blocks. Outer border is blue with Kelly green corner blocks. Dark purple binding is 1.25" wide. Crepe wool backing is an unusual printed pattern of diagonal striping in mostly browns and greens.
Hand quilted in dark thread. 9-Patch blocks have a grid; alternating blocks of inner field have a multi-petal flower and half-blocks have triple chevrons. Inner border has pumpkin seed florets within triple diamond pattern; corner blocks filled with an 8-point star. Outer borders have an asymmetrical pattern of undulating feather motifs with empty spaces filled with multi-petal flowers.
Maker needed to piece various parts of quilt apparently due to insufficient yardage. Strips are added to ends of all 4 sides of blue outer border, two of the outer corner blocks, two of the inner border, and two half-blocks of inner field. Various components have been done in two different fabrics.
Center Diamond pattern Amish quilt. Three borders, all with corner blocks.Top has pieced, plain-weave wools in red, purple, and blue. Back of quilt is blue polished plain-weave cotton. Batting is cotton. Blue binding.
Fine quilting in black cotton includes a central feather wreath in the diamond, 6-pointed flowers in corner blocks of inner border, both inner borders have pumpkin seed flowers within a running diamond design. Scrolling feather segments in outer border.
Provenance
Tenuous attribution to a member of the Benuel King family (reportedly the mother of Benuel King) of southern Lancaster County.
Published in Trish Herr, "Amish Arts", 1998, p. 86 and Rachel Pellman, Amish Wall Quilts, 2001.
Dark stains in one corner block. Whitish stains sprinkled on a corner block and adjacent binding. Several smaller spots elsewhere. Hanging sleeve attached by Phyllis Thompson 2015.
Object ID
P.81.04
Place of Origin
Lancaster County
Credit
Generosity of James Hale Steinman Foundation, Heritage Center Collection
Quilt of hand pieced cottons in a pattern of nine blocks with a star variant, finely quilted. Nine large blocks in centerfield, each with a large radiating 8-point star composed of diamonds, done with a calico of white polka dots on blue ground. Sashing made with narrow diamonds. Sawtooth border. Cotton batting, now in clumps. Calico binding of white stars on blue, hand sewn to front, wrapped and hand stitched to back.
Hand quilted in white. Stars have concentric circles and white corner patches have feather wreath with a pinwheel center. Smaller white triangles around stars have diamond pattern.
Several brown stains on front. Back shows areas of stains and one brownish yellow acid-burned section (when folded). At least three areas of pieced back have 1-1.5" holes or deterioration. Binding is detaching, fraying and tearing at front, 20" from corner. A seam of binding at back is separating. Cotton batting is separated and clumped from laundering.
Object ID
G.84.05.1
Place of Origin
Lancaster County
Credit
Gift of Henry J. Kauffman, Heritage Center Collection
Amish quilt, Sunshine and Shadow pattern. Centerfield is pieced 1.625" squares of rayon, wool crepe and cotton sateen. It has a 12" wide border of blue rayon, except for wool corners.
Hand quilted in dark thread. A grid pattern runs through centerfield squares and scrolling feathers in the outer border. Batting is cotton. Binding is 7/8" wide in an eggplant colored rayon. Quilt backing is a solid gray cotton.
A small "L" is cross-stitched in corner of back.
Attributed to a member of the King family.
Provenance
Donor purchased quilt from dealer Jackie Rothfus, who stated quilt was "made by a member of the King family of Lancaster County."
Published in Quilting Traditions by Trish Herr, p. 56. Documented in Quilt Harvest as #406A.
Crazy quilt with nine blocks of crazy quilt patches of silks, satins, etc.. Of significance is a ribbon in upper middle block reading: "1854. / Chestnut Hill / ACADEMY / Reunion / 1876." Extensive decorative embroidery on seams as well as some extending into center of patches. Some ribbons are appliqued with decorative embroidery stitches only. Two blue ribbon bows also applied. Eight-inch-wide border of red velvet with mitered corners is a replacement as well as red satin floral weave back. This same red satin is used as a very thin edging around crazy quilt blocks. Binding also formed by backing brought forward.
Quilt made by donor's grandmother Harriet E. L. Alexander who was born in Cecil County, MD. and lived in Rock Spring, MD. Her parents were Robert Levis and Amanda Mullin; father operated a paper mill at Walnut Hill, Md. She apparently attended Chestnut Hill Academy in Colerain Twp, in early 1860s(?). She then met her future husband, Vincent King Alexander, while both were attending Millersville Normal School.
Maker's daughter May Jackson reportedly replaced the border and back. Thus, only the 9 blocks are original. See NOTES
Trish Herr believes the quilt has a Quaker look to it, especially due to its wide borders.
Southern Lancaster Co.
Provenance
Maker to daughter May C.A. Jackson (1875-1903) who "refurbished" quilt before giving to her daughter Helen Jackson (1912- ? , married 3 times) according to Anna S. Alexander (donor's sister-in-law). Helen gave quilt to her cousin John S. Alexander (donor).
Note in file indicates backing was replaced c. 1960.
Scattered deteriorating patches. Most have shredding or splitting. One in middle block of top row is brittle and broken with extensive losses. See condition report in file. Border and back have been replaced.
Object ID
G.96.22.1
Notes
Ribbon pertains most likely to the Chestnut Hill Seminary of Andrews Bridge, Colerain Twp., 1854-1877, run by Thomas Baker. The 1854 initial year of operation matches the date on the ribbon. Biographical Annals has a bio of Baker pp. 497-97, noting his teaching and surveying professions. A Bio of Hon. Marriott Brosius (1843-1901), p. 17, states his early education was in the "Octoraro and Chestnut Hill Academies under the tutorage of the veteran teacher, Thomas Baker..."
Place of Origin
Lancaster County
Role
Quiltmaker
Credit
Gift of John S. Alexander, Heritage Center Collection
Paint and herringbone, chain, buttonhole, stem, and running stitches on commercial cotton fabric, with commercial synthetic fringe. Machine-pieced top in Diamond in a Square type pattern on white background. Sashing to make diamond and square forms are pieced with blue and white cotton. Blue pieces are outlined in blue running stitch on their short sides. Points of square and diamond are white fabric, with blue running stitch in square form.
Painted floral wreath in center diamond, with an embroidered bow in blue buttonhole. Wreath includes five roses in pink and red; greenery; blue, pink, yellow, purple, and orange flowers; and red berried sprigs.
Triangular areas, outside of diamond, each contain 4 painted flowers. One blue flower in each outside corner, with orange center. Three flowers along diamond edge. One five-lobed yellow flower, with orange center. One large pink and red rose, with greenery. One purple five-lobed flower, with orange center. Floral vine and leaf outer border. Five-lobed pink flowers worked in blanket stitch, with stem stitch highlights. Vine worked in green herringbone stitch. Leaves in green blanket stitch, with chain and stem highlights. Machine-applied commercial synthetic twisted fringe on four sides.
Back is machine-pieced white cotton. Shows evidence of embroidered green leaves, blue running stitch and ribbon, and pink highlights.
Original inventory number--630.
Provenance
Collected by George Lyster in Lancaster Co. Intended as a gift, entire collection remains on loan.
Pieced block quilt uses plain white and various printed cottons. Interpreted as either blocks set on point or set straight. Made by a Quaker family.
Top can be viewed as 12 columns of 12 blocks, set straight, yielding 144 blocks. Within each block is a large (7 - 7 1/4") square of either printed fabric or white, set on point. Small triangles in corners match the fabric of the square. A variety of cotton prints are used.
Alternately, top can be viewed as smaller blocks set on point containing either white only or pieced triangles of 2 different prints.
White cotton back; narrow binding of printed cotton with anchors; cotton batting.
Quilting designs are concentric circles, tulip or other flower, asterisk, parallel lines, scallops, hearts, etc. Double-line stitching on the flowers.
Provenance
Donor believes quilt descended from her Quaker ancestors, the Stubbs. Donor's great-grandmother was Verlinda Lily Stubbs(1831-1912) born in the Stubbs Mansion in Fulton Twp. She came from a Quaker family but in 1851 she married Thomas Ross Neel of Drumore Twp., who was Presbyterian Scots-Irish. She was then reportedly disowned by Little Brittain Monthly Meeting for marrying a non-member. Verlinda was the mother of Charles Neel who was in turn the father of Thomas Ross Neel who was the father of donor.
Multiple brown stains scattered over surface; surface soil is pronounced over much of surface and especially evident on white fabric. Back also stained.
Extensive fabric and batting losses due to deterioration.
Object ID
S.20.1
Place of Origin
Lancaster County
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
All cotton quilt of pieced blocks in pinwheel pattern, using early 19th c. dress fabrics. Within a wide border of yellow print -- three sides only -- is a field of blocks set on point. Pieced blocks have a pinwheel pattern composed of four solid white triangles and four red floral print triangles. Alternate blocks are a print of blue stripes alternating with stripes of brown & blue flowers with white ground. Half-blocks in large triangle form use the same striped print to surround the center field on three sides. The triangles at top are a plaid print of blue, tan and brown.
Quilting patterns are feathers in wide yellow border, waffle in striped blocks and clam shell in triangles. The bordering large triangles have repeating chevrons. An inscription in running stitch in upper right corner block is "Catharine/ Myers the rose/ is read (sic) the leaves/ green here is my/ name when I/ am dead in/ the year/ 1816."
Backing is a red foliate print on white ground. It is brought forward to create binding.
Provenance
Descent through family to Mary E. Walter Ziegler who believed it came from her mother's maternal line (Brubakers and Kempers). Mary Ziegler brought quilt to a Quilt Harvest for documentation in 1992 and considered donating to Heritage Center. In need of funds, she instead sold the family quilt in 1996 to dealer Frances Woods who then sold to Heritage Center.
Extensive research indicates descent from the Walter ancestors of Mary Ziegler's father, one of whom, Peter Walter, was married to a Kathryn Myers (although she was certainly born after the 1816 quilt date). Likely made by another Catherine Myers from the preceeding generation. (See file)
Very good for its age. Some minor wear at edges of binding. Soil visible especially on solid white fabric.
Object ID
P.96.05.1
Notes
Trish Herr notes in Quilting Traditions of Lancaster County, 2000, p. 27, that Catharine was the daughter of Henry (b. 1830) and Barbara Brenner Myers of East Donegal Twp. Catharine later married Peter Walter, also a farmer from the same neighborhood. This CANNOT BY CORRECT since this Catharine was born after the quilt was made. This Catharine Myers Walter is buried in the Cross Roads Church Cemetery.
Place of Origin
Lancaster County
Role
Quiltmaker
Credit
Acquired through the generosity of the James Hale Steinman Foundation, Heritage Center Collection
