DAR Museum Historic Quilts Book

I received this surprise in the mail a few days ago.  My friend, Vicki, from Minnesota had this beautiful quilt book sent to me from Washington, DC for my birthday.  Historic Quilts of the DAR Museum shows some examples of the early American quilts that are housed in the DAR Museum.  There are just a few more than 300 quilts in this collection, and more than half of them were made before 1850.  This is a beautiful book; here are just a few of the quilts.



This is Stuffed Flower Vases made about 1840.  You can see the gorgeous quilting in the photo.  I think this is my favorite quilt from this book.  The maker is unknown.

This log cabin patchwork was made in the late 19th century.  The maker is unknown, but the use of color and shading in this quilt makes it look dimensional.

This is  Mrs. Francis Scott Key's Counterpane made about 1840-45, and it is unquilted.  Mary Lloyd Key was the wife of Francis Scott Key who wrote "The Star Spangled Banner."  

Hannah Wallis Miller's Mosaic Quilt.  About 1840-45.   Hannah's father was a Quaker, but he joined a unit of the Pennsylvania Militia.  In the 20th century someone discovered that he had also been one of Benedict Arnold's spies for the British.  This quilt is arranged in the Martha Washington's Flower Garden pattern.

This is the Fish Family Chintz Album Quilt 1843.   The beautiful chintz used in this quilt was the latest and finest English chintz that would have been readily available during this time period.

This is the center of the Audubon Tree of Life Quilt...1820s.  This quilt was originally owned by Edward Harris who was a close friend of John Audubon who authored, Birds of America, and spent most of his life finding and documenting North American bird species.




Louvica Houchins Princess Feather Quilt made 1839.



Marie Webster Dogwood Quilt 1932.  Marie Webster's designs and writings are said to be credited with the resurgence of quilting in the early 20th century.  She began publishing articles in Ladies' Home Journal in 1911.  Her patterns were available from the magazine for 15 cents.  The pattern for her Dogwood quilt was published in Ladies' Home Journal in January 1912.



For those of you that don't know, DAR stands for Daughters of the American Revolution.  The DAR is a women's service organization devoted to preserving American history and promoting patriotism.  Membership is open to any woman 18 years or older who can prove that she is a descendant of a patriot of the American Revolution.  Vicki proved her lineage and became a DAR member about 2 years ago, and she has done research for me so that I am close to being able to submit my papers and become a member, too.  Thanks Vicki for a beautiful book and for your help.  You can go to www.dar.org to read more about the Daughters of the American Revolution.

I hope you are finding some time to stitch today.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!