Appliqued and pieced cottons, cotton stem and French knot embroidery, cotton quilting thread. Nine-block of appliqued back view of boys in a 3 x 3 arrangement on white background. Each boy's hat, shirt, and pants worked in applique. Pants are solid fabric, including the following colors: lavender, blue, pink, green, yellow, red, and tan. Shirts are various floral fabrics. Crown of hat, crossed suspenders, buttons, hands, feet, bucket, and shovel worked in black stem. Rivets on shovel worked in French knots in black. Outline of buttocks worked in yellow or black stem. Blocks separated by 2 1/2" grid of blue sashing. Four, nine patch blocks measuring 2 1/2", in white and blue at center block corners. Blue border encasing appliqued blocks is 2". White border is 5" wide at top and sides. 8 5/8"wide at bottom. Outer blue border and binding is 1 1/4". Backing is unknown because it is mounted on muslin. Front, back, and cotton gauzelike filling quilted with white cotton thread. Appliqued blocks with grid-like quilting diagonally across corners. Quilting on blue sashing is diagonal. Shell and rope quilting in white border, with grid-like quilting across the corners.
Herr noted this quilt is not traditional for the Amish. At the time, applique was not the norm. Printed fabric was not used in boys' shirts. Human images rarely appear on items found in the Amish home.
York Co. Doc. Project book notes "During the 1930s, applique patterns w/ sentimental depictions of animals, objects, and people became popular. These include standard patterns such as "Sunbonnet Sue", "Overall Bill," butterflies, flowers and dogs." The pattern name "Overall Bill" is obviously the one used in this Amish-made quilt. (See p. 34 for pattern example)
Original inventory number--623.
On exhibit in new Amish installation, 2nd floor City Hall, 2009-2011.
White fabric on top is discolored with slight overall soiling. Dark spotting on center block. Dark spots and holes in lower right block. Stains in lower center block. Applique stitching is failing in multiple places. Back condition is unknown, since it is backed with muslin.
Baskets pattern quilt made by Amish woman Sarah Stoltzfus (b. 6/17/1923), circa 1939 when she would have been about 16 years old. This pattern is very unusual among the Lancaster Amish.
Pieced wool top blocks on point. Pink baskets of crepe rayon(?) on a field of green alternate with turquoise-blue blocks. Wide border of green and a binding of turquoise blue, turned front to back. Back is a blue cotton print with white dots. Cotton batting.
Hand quilted in black running stitch. Border has vining flowers, tied with a bow in corners. Turquoise blocks have an unusual circle fringed with triangle points and a triple-line cross within dividing it into quadrants. Basket blocks have cable, shell and parallel lines as well as a basket "handle."
Made by Sarah Stoltzfus for herself to go to housekeeping. Her mother chose the pattern from her sister and neighbor Katie Smoker Glick (wife of "Red John" Glick) and also purchased the fabric in stores in Intercourse and New Holland. Sarah's parents were John P. Stoltzfus and Amanda L. Smoker Stoltzfus. Sarah did all the piecing and most of the quilting w/ perhaps some help from her sister.
Note: This quilt is very similar to two other quilts (owned by Trish Herr and Jay & Susan Leary).
RD#1 Millwood Rd., Gap, PA 17527, Salisbury Twp.
Provenance
Sold by maker in 1988 to Tom Wentzel of Lititz, a dealer, who sold to M. Finkel & Daughter, dealers on Pine St. in Phila. (all transactions occurred in the same year). See 2004 fieldwork notes of Rachel Pellman.
Marriage applications completed by the bride and groom contain the names, ages, places of birth, current residences, occupation of groom, if either party had been married before and the results of that union, signatures of applicants, if African-American, and degree of kinship, if any. Parental consent forms, filed with marriage applications, were completed by parent or guardian of under-age applicants and contain the name of parent or guardian, place of current residence, residence of child or ward, and signature of parent or guardian. Files may contain both an application and consent form or forms, an application, or a consent form or forms.
System of Arrangement
Arranged chronologically by year and then by application number within that year. Box 2 has additional files for 1895 that were not able to be included in Box 1.
