Page 281 - MyMomHadAQuiltLikeThat

Flowers

LEFT: Leaves 1930s. eBay purchase from Nazareth Pennsylvania. 67”x70” Fabric: Cotton prints like those
found on flour, sugar, and feedsacks at the time. Batting: Light weight, lumping within the leaves. Backing:
Cotton muslin. Edge: White cotton fabric matching the fabric of the background. Applied by machine ¾”
on each side. Piecing: By machine; appliques are by machine with embroidery. Quilting: By hand, in zig-
zags in the border and around the edges of leaves at six stitches per inch. Condition: Excellent. Comment:
This quilt was added to the collection because leaves are a common quilt motif, per Phyllis Haders in her
Main Street Pocket Guide to Quilts (1981, 1983) but I had none in the collection. This very quilt is in a book
called "Encyclopedia of Classic Quilt Patterns" (2001), pages 34-35. The text says "The Autumn Leaves pat-
tern was available in the 1930s and ‘40s. Its popularity soared when it was seen at the Chicago World’s Fair
at a quilt contest sponsored by Sears". My mother was an 11-year-old living in Chicago at the time, and
attended the fair. She was let in for free on “freckle day” because she had a face full of them. Her cousin
Muriel got in, too, despite having no freckles, because Milly explained that she had enough for them both.
Figure 240: Leaves