QUILT INDEX RECORD

33-29-59

Description of quilt:

World's Fair Quilt Kit

Essay:

The 1933 Sears National Quilt Contest was announced in January 1933 with a deadline of May 15, 1933. Over 24,000 quilts were entered at local Sears stores or sent to one of 10 regional mail order houses. Quilts were judged at each site with the top three winners moving onto the next round. Finally just 30 quilts reached the final judging held at the Sears Pavilion on the 1933 Chicago World's Fair site.

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Merikay Waldvogel Legacy Project

Who documented this quilt?

Merikay Waldvogel Legacy Project; Sears Quilt Contest 1933 Chicago World's Fair

Merikay Waldvogel Legacy Project Number:

134

This is a:

Finished quilt

Quilt's title:

World's Fair Quilt Kit

Names for quilt's pattern in common use:

Century of Progress Quilt

How wide is the quilt?

74 inches

How long is the quilt?

88 inches

What color is the quilt?

Blue or Navy; Brown; Gold; White; Yellow

Overall color scheme:

Bright or primary colors

Type of inscription:

Date; Message

What is inscribed on the quilt?

1833 to 1933

What is the date inscribed on the quilt?

1933

Time period:

1930-1949

When was the quilt finished?

After 1933

Further information concerning dates:

This quilt kit was offered for sale on the World's Fair site in 1933 and maybe in 1934. (Oral interview pertaining to #066 World's Fair kit quilt.)

Describe the quilt's layout:

Pictorial

Subject of the quilt:

Century of Progress

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Solid/plain

Applique techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Applique

Embellishment techniques used to make the quilt top:

Embroidery

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Outline; Single parallel lines

Quilting designs used, background fills:

Parallel lines

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

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

Quilt was donated by Shelly Zegart in 1995.

Why was the quilt made?

Commemorative

Quilt is presently used as:

Museum collection

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Commercial/Published source: Kit

Commercial name of the pattern for the top:

Kit manufacturer is not known.

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

Kit

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

Compare this quilt to #066 made with the same kit. The only differences are in the embroidery designs.

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

See: Elizabeth Warren and Sharon Eisenstat Glorious Amrican Quilts: The Quilt Collection of the Museum of American Folk Art (New York: Dutton, 1996), 107.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Public Museum, Library or Institution

Quilt owner's name:

American Museum of Folk Art

Quilt owner's city:

New York

Quilt owner's state:

New York (NY)

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's country:

United States

Who photographed this quilt?

Gary Heatherly

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Merikay Waldvogel