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Star Arcturus-Century of Progress; Star Arcturus-Century of Progress

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QUILT INDEX RECORD

18-14-4

Essay:

This quilt probably made early in her career in 1934, incorporates a Nancy Cabot (Chicago Tribune) pattern that honors the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition.

This quilt, which is dated 1934, shows how quickly Mary developed her quilting skills, when compared with quilt #041 (Double Trellis) made in 1933. Once she discovered quilts in 1933, making quilts became her life's passion. The Chicago Tribune published this block in the Nancy Cabot quilt column after the Fair ended. The Moon Face embroidery pattern was published by another Chicago company.

We know Mary Gasperik was inspired by quilts at the Century of Progress Exposition (the Chicago World's Fair), and that she did not enter the 1933 Sears National Quilt Contest held in conjunction with the Fair. The family thinks she probably saw the final round quilts on display and was inspired to make quilts. Sears offered a bonus prize of $200 if the grand prize quilt was made in the theme "A Century of Progress," and some quilters simply embroidered or quilted those words on their quilts to be eligible for the extra prize winnings. Mary Gasperik, not fully understanding the significance of the words, may have thought her quilts should carry her name and the words "Century of Progress." Five of her quilts made in 1933-34 are embroidered with these words, but it is not suggested that any of them were exhibited either with the Sears Contest quilts or in the Tuley Park Quilt Club booth at the Fair.

Made after the World's Fair, this quilt honors the Century of Progress Exposition held in her hometown in 1933-34. The rocket and star pattern named Star Arcturus refers to the distant star 40 light years away. Fair officials reminded Chicagoans that the light coming from the star began its journey in 1893 when Chicago's first world's fair was held. Light transmitted from the Star Arcturus was not only used to illuminate the opening of the fair, it was used to turn on the exposition's myriad lights each night. The star became a World's Fair logo adorning many souvenirs. Mary Gasperik chose an especially potent symbol of the fair to use in this early and creative quilt-making project. Although the Cabot pattern provides the basis for her design, it is Gasperik's own individual choices (the colors) and additions (the corner moons) which make this an especially artful and expressive quilt. For her masterpiece quilt Colonial Quilting Bee (#034) made 16 years later, she resurrected this pattern when she used the rocket-stars on the miniature quilt at the center of the quilt frame and on a miniature quilt placed on the lap of one of the quilters. In doing so, she was not only referencing her own earlier quilt, but also the occasion which ignited her passion for making quilts - the Chicago World's Fair of 1933.

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Mary Gasperik Legacy Project

Who documented this quilt?

Mary Gasperik Private Collection

Gasperik Legacy Project Number:

048

This is a:

Finished quilt

Quilt's title:

Star Arcturus-Century of Progress

Owner's name for quilt:

Star Arcturus-Century of Progress

Brackman # or other source & #:

3713

How wide is the quilt?

77 inches

How long is the quilt?

91 inches

Shape of edge:

Scalloped

Shape of corners:

Rounded

What color is the quilt?

Blue or Navy; Orange; Yellow

Overall color scheme:

Bright or primary colors

Quilt's condition:

Very good/almost new

Type of inscription:

Message

What is inscribed on the quilt?

"Star Arcturus/A CENTURY OF PROGPESS 1934 M.G."

What is the date inscribed on the quilt?

1934

Method used to make the inscription:

Embroidery; Other

Describe the method used to inscribe the quilt:

English was not Mary's native tongue. She embroidered "PROGPESS" instead of "PROGRESS"

Location of inscription:

on back

Time period:

1930-1949

When was the quilt started?

1933-1934

When was the quilt finished?

1934

Date estimated by an antique dealer, quilt historian or appraiser:

1934

Who estimated the quilt's date?

Merikay Waldvogel

Further information concerning dates:

Date based on Nancy Cabot quilt pattern by the same name published on Oct 22, 1933 in the Chicago Tribune.

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Subject of the quilt:

Star Arcturus, Chicago World's Fair

Number of quilt blocks:

30

Size of quilt blocks:

13 x 13

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Other

Describe the quilt setting:

Star Block alternates with a blue block with five small stars appliqued to it.

Number of different block patterns used in the quilt:

2

What is the shape of the quilt blocks?

Squares

Number of borders:

One scalloped border.

Describe the borders:

Scallops with appliqued 3-color fans alternate with plain, pointy, scallops. Orange moons with embroidered faces are appliqued into the four corners of the quilt.

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Solid/plain

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Machine Piecing

Applique techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Applique

Embellishment techniques used to make the quilt top:

Embroidery

Can you feel or see paper on the quilt that was used as a construction aid?

no

Embellishments used:

Cotton thread

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton

What color is the back of the quilt?

Blue or Navy

Number of pieces of fabric in the quilt back:

3

Width of pieces on the back:

33 inches, 33 inches, 11 inches

Describe the back:

Solid/plain

Materials used in the quilt binding:

Cotton

Fabric structure of the binding:

Plain weave

How is the binding made?

Bias grain; Machine sewn

What is the width of the binding (measure on the top only)?

less than a half inch

What kind of filling is used in the quilt?

Cotton

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

Thread type used for the quilting:

cotton

Color of thread used in the quilting:

off-white

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 1:

11

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 2:

11

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Echo; In-the-ditch; Outline

Quilting designs used, decorative motifs:

Wreaths

Quilting designs used, background fills:

None

Features or notes about the quilt's appearance, materials, or construction:

In this quilt, the backing fabric is the same color as the front. It is an unusual choice for Mary Gasperik. Since it is one of her earliest quilts, one wonders if it was personal choice or advice from the Tuley Park Quilt Club.

Quilt top made by:

Gasperik, Mary

Quilted by:

Gasperik, Mary

Where the quilt was made, city:

Chicago

Where the quilt was made, county:

Cook County

Where the quilt was made, state:

Illinois (IL)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

How was this quilt acquired?

Inheritance

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

Selected by daughter Elsie during a division of quilts after Gasperik died in 1969. In 1988, Elsie Krueger's three daughters divided up the quilts left to them after Elsie's death. Susan Salser selected Star Arcturus in the fourth round. At the time, the quilt was under-appreciated by all three of them!

Why was the quilt made?

Commemorative

The quilt was made to be used for:

Unknown

Quilt is presently used as:

Exhibit; Keepsake/memento

Describe present uses of the quilt:

Mary's grandchildren regard her quilts as a unique collection to be preserved and appreciated.

Where did the maker get their materials?

Purchased new

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Commercial/Published source: Newspaper; Other

Describe the source of the pattern:

Source of embroidered moon faces in the four corners is Modern Hand Embroidery Patterns: The Wonder Package offered by Donald F. Duncan Inc., a Chicago company, in 1933.

Commercial name of the pattern for the top:

Nancy Cabot/Chicago Tribune: Star Arcturus Century of Progress

Where did the quiltmaker find the pattern for the quilting design on the quilt?

Commercial pattern; Original to maker

Describe where the quilting design pattern was found:

What is the commercial name of the quilting design used for this quilt?

QuiltING patterns Q403 and Q504 (Hubert Ver Mehren Home Art Studio) were used in the blocks. Q403 (side portion only) used in border. Q504 (transformed for use as an applique two-color pieced star).

Describe anything about the design of the quilt that wasn't already recorded in a previous field:

A clipping of the original October 22, 1933 Nancy Cabot newspaper column which presented the Century of Progress rocket-star pattern is pasted into Mary Gasperik's album of quilt patterns. This Nancy Cabot pattern was published in The Chicago Sunday Tribune, Part 6, page 2. It was later reproduced by The Quilters Journal No. 27 pp 10-11 in 1985. Mary transformed the plain spacer blocks proposed by the October 22 pattern into blocks containing smaller appliqued 6-star versions of the comet block's 6-pointed star. The central star in her 'spacer' block nests inside a quilted wreath and is smaller than the Comet star, but larger than the tiny stars appliqued into the corners of the 'spacer' block. This is probably Gasperik's own invention but may have been inspired by the Nancy Cabot block pattern called 'Evening Star' which was published in The Chicago Tribune on October 23, 1933, the day after the comet block quarter-quilt-section was published. The Cabot 'Evening Star' shows a center 8-point star executed in two different solid colors (unlike the Arcturus comet 6-point star) with four small diamond appliques in each corner. Instead of copying the diamonds, Gasperik made miniature stars, each composed of 6 miniature diamonds, a much more challenging job. The corner moons (not a Nancy Cabot pattern) were perhaps inspired by the moon cutout at Chicago's Riverview Park. The family has a circa 1945 photo of Gasperik's granddaughters Karen, Linda and Susan Kruger, wearing matching Gasperik red, white and blue pinafores (one of these survives), seated on the amusement park's photo booth cutout. There is also a photograph of Mary and Stephen Gasperik seated on the moon. Gasperik sent 3 pattern tracings of her quilt border and two sample blocks (with attached fabrics) to a fellow Detroit News Quilt Club Corner member in Sturgis, Michigan named Emma Zawatski. In 2007 granddaughter Susan miraculously happened to find the Zawaski materials for sale on e-Bay and purchased them. The fabrics and patterns exactly match the Gasperik quilt. Re-reading a list of names and addresses shakily hand-written by Mary Gasperik (probably a list of potential invitees to Gasperik's 50th wedding anniversary celebration in 1956) Susan saw the name Emma Zawatski with a Sturgis, Michigan address on that 3-page list, confirming that Mary Gasperik and Emma Zawatski knew each other, probably having met at the first Detroit News quilt show Mary Gasperik attended, in October 1935. The Gasperik Star Arcturus quilt is probably among the quilts Gasperik sent to be exhibited at this (3rd) Detroit News quilt show, her first appearance in Detroit. She attended and sent quilts to every subsequent Detroit News quilt show. The Detroit News quilt club and show editor, Edith Crumb wrote about Gasperik for the first time in the October 22, 1935 newspaper. In the February 11, 1936 Detroit News Crumb devoted a whole column to Gasperik and the Gasperik quilt (one of Gasperik's Double Feather Star quilts) which arrived too late to be exhibited at the October 1935 show. Although Star Arcturus IS based on a published pattern it should be stressed that Gasperik made major creative revisions with her star-studded spacer blocks and corner moons. Also, the Cabot pattern ignores the subject of quiltING and Gasperik's fine quiltING is a major design element in ALL of her quilts. Arcturus is no exception, even though it is a very early Gasperik quilt and is so clearly associated with a commercial pattern.

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

Probably exhibited at the third Detroit News Quilt Show October 18-20, 1935, the first Detroit show Mary Gasperik sent quilts to and attended.

Probably exhibited in at least one of the annual Tuley Park quilt shows between 1936 and 1949. We have an undated exhibit tag reading "Arcturus Star Quilt by Mrs. M. Gasperik".

--The Quilts of Mary Gasperik, Ravenswood Historic Site, Livermore, CA, March 14-15, 1992.

-- Patchwork Souvenirs of the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, nationally traveling exhibit in 1993-94 curated by Merikay Waldvogel and Barbara Brackman.

-- 1933 Chicago World's Fair Quilts at the Spring International Quilt Festival in Chicago (Rosemont), April 11-13, 2003, curated by Merikay Waldvogel.

This is one of the 23 Mary Gasperik quilts exhibited in the Carnegie Room of the Marion Indiana Public Library July 16-17, 2021 in connection with the ceremony honoring the induction of Mary Gasperik into The Quilters Hall of Fame as their 2021 Legacy Quilter honoree. Mary Gasperik Quilters Hall of Fame Induction Exhibit.

Publications (including web sites) where this quilt or maker was featured:

Merikay Waldvogel and Barbara Brackman. Patchwork Souvenirs of the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, (Nashville, TN: Rutledge Hill Press, 1993)102-103.

Merikay Waldvogel "One American Dream Comes True", Quilters Newsletter Magazine, March 2008, 46-49.

Related items such as diaries, obituaries, wills, household inventories, or pictures of the quiltmaker:

Barbara Brackman, Making History Quilts & Fabric From 1890-1970, C & T Publishing, 2008, page 78 photograph of Gasperik Star Arcturus.

Merikay Waldvogel and Barbara Brackman, Patchwork Souvenirs of the 1933 World’s Fair, Rutledge Hill Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 1993, pp 102-103, photographs and text discussion.

"Patchwork Souvenirs of the 1933 Chicago World's Fair" by Barbara Brackman and Merikay Waldvogel, published in Quilter's Newsletter Magazine (July/August 1994), offered readers a pattern for making the moon Mary Gasperik put in the four corners of her Star Arcturus quilt.

"The 1933 World's Fair Quilt Contest and its Aftermath" in Piecework magazine (July/August 1995), pp. 71-77, presented a color photograph of the quilt and a pattern for making a bib using the star and rocket motif.

Family photos show this quilt, and other Gasperik quilts, airing on a clothesline.

Yellow paper exhibit tag (Tuley Park show) reading: "Arcturus Star Quilt by Mrs. M. Gasperik"

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Susan Krueger Salser

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Person filling out this form is:

Quilt owner; Relative of quiltmaker; Author/researcher

If you are a relative of the quiltmaker, how are you related? The quiltmaker is my:

Grandmother

Describe the relationship to the quilt's maker:

Grand-daughter Susan Salser began this research effort in 1991, after she and her two sisters divided up the quilts which belonged to their mother (Elsie Gasperik Krueger) who died in 1988. Her ongoing research has been fruitful and interesting.

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Mihalovits, Maria

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's birth date:

01/25/1888

Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:

Hungary

Quiltmaker's date of death:

05/25/1969

Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:

Hungarian

Quiltmaker's educational background:

Elementary School

In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?

Rural

Quiltmaker's city:

Chicago

Quiltmaker's county:

Cook

Quiltmaker's state:

Illinois (IL)

Quiltmaker's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's father's name:

Mihalovits, Istvan

Quiltmaker's father's birthplace:

Hungary

Quiltmaker's father's ethnic/tribal background:

Hungarian

Quiltmaker's mother's name:

Mihalovits, Vidoszava

Quiltmaker's mother's birthplace:

Hungary

Quiltmaker's mother's ethnic/tribal background:

Hungarian

Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and/or partner's/partners' ethnic/tribal background:

Hungarian

Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and/or partner's/partners' occupation:

Milk Dealer/Grocery Store Owner/Butcher

Number of children:

3

How many of the quiltmaker's children were girls?

1 (Elsie 1909-1988)

How many of the quiltmaker's children were boys?

2 (Elmer and Stephen)

How did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

From guild or club member; Self-Taught

When did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

Age 40-49

Why does the quiltmaker quilt?

Pleasure; Other

Other notes on how the quiltmaker learned, and how and why they quilt:

This particular quilt was made at a time when Gasperik was just beginning what turned out to be her life's career. It was a time when she seems to have believed that all quilts should salute The Century of Progress Chicago World's Fair of 1933-34. She may have made it specfically to exhibit in a show held by her Tuley Park quilt club in Chicago. Later she made quilts to exhibit in the Detroit News quilt show in Detroit. After the Detroit shows ceased (following the 1940 show) she exhibited her quilts in many Illinois State Fairs, and at least one Indiana State Fair. She entered quilts in at least 2 Chicago department store contests. She made at least one quilt and one quilt top specifically for the 1939 New York Worlds Fair quilt contest. She also made children's quilts specifically for grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and wedding and wedding anniversary quilts for her son Elmer and grand-daughter Karen. Primarily, she wanted to make quilts because it was her life passion and her greatest talent. The occasions and venues to show them presented themselves. It should be noted that prior to Mary's emigration to America in late 1904, at age 16, she was an apprenticed needleworker in her native Hungary. The intricate and colorful floral embroideries traditional to Hungary lend themselves especially well to applique, the quilt style Mary preferred.

Does/did the quiltmaker belong to a group? Name of the group?

Tuley Park Quilt Club, Detroit News Quilt Club Conducted by Edith Crumb, editor of the Home Page.

Does/did the quiltmaker belong to a group?

Tuley Park is the Chicago public park closest to Mary's residence on Cottage Grove. Readers of The Detroit News quilt column were from far corners of the United States. They "met" through the quilt column in the Detroit News.

What are the main activities of the group?

Readers of the column sent in patterns and pattern requests. The club actually met together at the time of the annual quilt show. IN October 1936 they began gathering every Friday afternoon AT The Detroit News.

Estimated number of quilts made by this quiltmaker:

more than 50

Does/did the quiltmaker sell quilts?

no

Does/did the quiltmaker teach quilting?

no

Artist statement or biography of quiltmaker or quilt group:

Mary Gasperik sent three pattern tracings of this quilt's border and two blocks (the Star and the five-star block) with attached fabrics to Emma Zawatski in Sturgis, Michigan, another quilter she met through the Detroit News column. Susan Salser purchased the tracings at an online auction site in November 1997. She found Zawatski's name on an invitation list Mary Gasperik had compiled for her 50th wedding anniversary. These tracings show that Gasperik shared her own designs with others at an early stage of her quilting career.

Who photographed this quilt?

Don Gonzalez

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Susan Salser

Details

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Cite this Quilt

Gasperik, Mar. Star Arcturus-Century of Progress. 1934. From Mary Gasperik Legacy Project, Mary Gasperik Private Collection. Published in The Quilt Index, https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=fullrec&kid=18-14-4. Accessed: 03/28/24

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