Comforter

Object Name:

Comforter

Object ID:

1980.002

Creator:

Runnells, Mary Jane Edwina (1865-1943)Quilter

Place of Origin:

Concord, NH/Penacook, NH

Date:

1875-1940

Description:

Quilt. Album/ Friendship type; cotton tied with red pearl cotton. Sashing black and green floral strip. Comforter constructed with pieced signature blocks in the Album Patch pattern. The blocks, which are made in an X design within a square, with a white patch in the center for the inscribed name, are made of dress calicoes typical of the last quarter of the nineteenth century, with browns, deep red, black, and creamy white predominating. The blocks are sashed with a striped calico with a turquoise green, black, and white floral pattern; this sashing is machine-stitched. The blocks, which are all hand-pieced, are signed in the center with names of members of the Runnells family, along with friends and probably family members named Carter, Webber, Abbott, Thompson, Hayward, Dimond, Morrell, and Sturtevant. The blocks, which are 11 to 11 1/2 inches square, are tied with red silk yarn a the corners of the pieced pattern. The batting of the comforter extends only to the edges of the blocks; the sashing that acts as a border around the quilt is not wadded. Machine top stitching around the edge of the blocks helps to keep the batting in place. The maker chopped off the outer blocks on all four sides to achieve the desired size of her comforter. The backing is a later calico print, probably dating c. 1920-1940, so it appears that the comforter was finished about 30 years after it was started.

Material:

Textile
Cotton

Dimensions:

H-98 W-83.5 inches

Provenance:

Quilt inherited by Mary Jane Runnell's daughter, Ruth Drew Wilson (1902-1980), mother of the donor, Quentin J. Wilson, who gave it in memory of his mother.

Credit Line:

Gift of Quentin J. Wilson, in memory of Ruth Drew Wilson

People:

Runnells, Mary, Wilson, Quentin, Runnells, Mary Jane (1865-1943)

Subjects:

Needlework, Quilting, Quilts