Quilt
PeriodCirca 1920-1930
Place MadeKeyport, New Jersey, U.S.A.
MediumVarious cotton prints
Dimensions82.5 × 82 in. (209.6 × 208.3 cm)
ClassificationsQuilts and Coverlets
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert C. Burrowes, 1974
Object numberT1974.108.3
DescriptionA quilt using a variation of the "Windmill Blades" pattern, in a variety of printed cotton calico fabrics, in tones of brown, tan, off white, red, pale yellow, and gray with red block centers. A plain cotton backing is brought to the front and folded to create a narrow binding edge. The panel is quilted by hand in an allover fan design.Curatorial RemarksThis attractive "Windmill Blades" quilt was created in or around the early 1920s. Many scrap quilts include a wide range of fabrics, sometimes spanning fifty or more years. The "newest" fabric in this quilt is a 1920s pale yellow cotton print. Other cotton prints range from the late 1880s through the 1890s and the turn of the century. The Windmill Blades pattern, also sometimes known as the PIneapple, is a derivation of the Log Cabin pattern which rose in popularity in the 1870s. Using similar or even identical pieces, quilts of these styles show an astonishing variety simply by alternating or swapping the dark/light placement of fabrics. Very often, both Log Cabin and Windmill Blades quilts included a bright red plain cotton center, indicating the hearth fire as the center of the home. The Historical Association has a number of quilts from the late 19th into the 20th century from many talented quiltmakers in the Keyport area. The town, developed into a bustling, thriving area during the mid 19th century due to its central location as a steamboat building industry as well as a lively fishing, clamming, and oyster harvesting area.NotesThis quilt is one of two attributed to Middletown resident Elizabeth Curtis Walling. Born in 1853 in Holmdel, Elizabeth married New Monmouth farmer FitzRoy Walling (1849-1920) in 1873. The couple had nine children, including daughters Clara (1874-1952), Mary Etta (1875-1957), Eva Lena (1879-1963), Georgianna (1881-1973), Agnes E. (1883-1970), Annie H. (1885-1962), Edith Roy (1887-1892), Geraldine (1889-1968), and son Curtis John (1892-1981). Somehow, Elizabeth found time to make quilts. Elizabeth Curtis Walling died in 1939 at the age of 86. She was buried in Fair View Cemetery in Middletown.
Collections
ProvenanceElizabeth Curtis Walling (1853-1939) to her daughter Mary Etta Walling Burrowes (1875-1957)
