QUILT INDEX RECORD
23-19-475
Where are the records for this quilt housed?
University of Rhode Island
Who documented this quilt?
Rhode Island Quilt Documentation Project
Rhode Island Quilt Documentation Project Number:
685
Person filling out this form is:
Other
Source of the information on this quilt:
Friend of Quilt owner
When was the form filled out?
11/16/1993
Choose the best description of the source to the quilt:
Other
If you are the quilt owner, how did you acquire this quilt?
Inherited
This is a:
Finished quilt
Quilt's title:
Flying Geese
How wide is the quilt?
88 inches
How long is the quilt?
99 1/2 inches
Shape of edge:
Straight
Shape of corners:
Straight
What color is the quilt?
Red; Brown; Blue or Navy
Overall color scheme:
Multicolor
Quilt's condition:
Very good/almost new
Damage:
Stains
Time period:
1800-1849
Date estimated by an antique dealer, quilt historian or appraiser:
1835-1845
Who estimated the quilt's date?
Margaret Ordonez
Describe the quilt's layout:
Vertical strip
Number of quilt blocks:
12 strips
Size of quilt blocks:
3 1/4 x 6 inch block
Arrangement of quilt blocks:
Straight
Spacing of quilt blocks:
Strippy or vertical bands (in vertical rows separated by plain vertical bars)
What is the shape of the quilt blocks?
Triangles
Fiber types used to make the quilt top:
Cotton
Fabric styles used in the quilt top:
Print; Plaid; Floral
Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:
Hand Piecing
Can you feel or see paper on the quilt that was used as a construction aid?
no
Materials used to make the back:
Cotton
What color is the back of the quilt?
White
Describe the back:
Hand sewn
Materials used in the quilt binding:
Cotton
How is the binding made?
Home cut; Straight grain; Hand sewn
What is the width of the binding (measure on the top only)?
half inch - one inch
What kind of filling is used in the quilt?
Cannot tell
How thick is the quilt?
Thin (Less than 3/16?)
How are the layers held together?
Hand quilting
Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 1:
6 per inch
Quilting designs used, overall motifs:
Other
Describe the quilting designs used:
Chevron
Where the quilt was made, state:
Rhode Island (RI)
Where the quilt was made, country:
United States
How was this quilt acquired?
Inheritance
Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:
Owner at time of documentation had inherited the quilt from her great aunt's estate.
Describe anything about the history of the quilt that wasn't already recorded in a previous field:
Quiltmaker is unknown, great aunt of owner probably inherited it from the Saunders family. As of 2007 the quilt is at the Babcock Smith house in Westerly, RI. Probably donated upon the death of the owner.
Why was the quilt made?
Unknown
The quilt was made to be used for:
Unknown
Quilt is presently used as:
Museum collection
Where did the maker get their materials?
Unknown
Where did the maker find their pattern?
Public domain/traditional pattern
Where did the quiltmaker find the pattern for the quilting design on the quilt?
Public domain
Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:
"Nineteenth-Century Patchwork in Rhode Island," Vermont Quilt Festival, Northfield, Vermont, July 8-10, 1994.
Related items such as diaries, obituaries, wills, household inventories, or pictures of the quiltmaker:
Fig. 111 Welters, Linda and Margaret Ordonez (eds.), Down by the Old Mill Stream, Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2000.
Ownership of this quilt is:
Public Museum, Library or Institution
Quilt owner's name:
Babcock-Smith House Museum
Quilt owner's city:
Westerly
Quilt owner's state:
Rhode Island (RI)
Quilt owner's country:
United States
Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:
United States
Who photographed this quilt?
RIQDP
Access and copyright information:
Restricted
Copyright holder:
Linda Welters
Cite this Quilt
Flying Geese. 1800-1849. From University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island Quilt Documentation Project. Published in The Quilt Index, https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=fullrec&kid=23-19-475. Accessed: 07/18/24
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Essay
Rhode Island’s Early Quilts
Welters, Linda