Page 21 - MyMomHadAQuiltLikeThat

The Susan Rae Sampson Collection of American Quilts

A Forward by the Collector

One is a memento. Two are decorations. Three or more is a collection.
I don’t remember when I began collecting quilts, but I have enjoyed
them for a long, long time. My collection is first based on aesthetic
appeal. I also wanted to save quilts from becoming painter’s drop
cloths or a dog’s bed. Ultimately, I realized that I could accumulate a
teaching collection, an example of a cross-section of American quilt
styles over time.
In the 1970s I sent my maternal grandmother Edith Goers some
of my sewing scraps and she returned “Sunbonnet Sue” (Fig. 176,
Page 206). It had lavender colored trim that was popular in the
1950s, so she probably reached into her own stash of old scraps to
make the quilt. It became the first quilt in my collection. In 1971 I
moved to Seattle and didn’t get much quilt shopping done for some
years thereafter because every cent I had was devoted to school
and the ordinary cost of living. After I graduated from law school
and starting working, I frequently prowled the antique stores in the
Greenwood district. At that time, a conventional pattern such as
“Monkey Wrench,” (e.g., Fig. 334, Page 379) in excellent condition,
cost between $125 to $200 – which was beyond what I could splurge
for.
I did find a huge quilt with an intricate symmetrical appliqué,
like a cut-out of a folded paper Christmas snowflake. It was dark
green on white and quilted in stitches that echoed the shape of
the appliqué from the center all the way to the edges. The fabric
was worn, but the pattern was so dramatic that I decided to spend Figure 1: Patch from Sunbonnet Sue,
somewhere between $5.00 and $15.00 for it, and used it as a curtain Fig. 176, Page 206.
in my bedroom. The light coming through it showed off the stitching
and appliqué. I later learned that it was a Hawaiian quilt, and have
since added several others to the collection (see Chapter "Hawaiian",
Page 269). Missionaries taught quilting to Hawaiian natives, who
made the art their own. They cut the elaborate symmetrical designs
and appliquéd them to background fabric with tiny stitches. After