QUILT INDEX RECORD

11-37-7354

Essay:

Evergreen Quilters of Alfred Maine, a subgroup of Pine Tree Quilters of Maine, decided the do a special group workshop for  National Quilt Day in March of 1982 to be held at The Atlantic Hall in Cape Porpoise a village in Kennebunkport, Me., and hosted by The Ladies On The Edge (Of The Ocean)  AKA the LOTEs.  Evergreen also was hoping to make the quilt their next raffle quilt.
 
I designed the quilt in mind to be able to include all skill level quilters of our group.  Each compass was designed by me, Paula Mason Libby, as was the surrounding applique center medallion borders.  Sharon Thompson Soule and I visited several quilt shops looking for a palette of 100% cotton fabrics that included a wide printed stripe border that we could base the rest of the palette on and could be used for fussy cutting, for example, to increase the possibilities for learning how to enhance the designs and to give the quilt color cohesiveness. Again, the workshop aimed to teach  more complicated piecing to all skill levels, how to enhance a design through fussy cutting, use of stripes and how to choose fabrics with the impact of shading, contrast, etc.
 
On the day of the workshop, about 30+ women showed up armed for the challenge.  They were then broken up into groups of piecers and assigned one or two blocks and a group leader who was an advanced experienced piecer.  An additional group of expert appliquers was assigned to work on the appliqued border of the center medallion.  I’d hand sewed the center compass in advance.
 
The groups then started by tracing and cutting mylar templates, minus seam allowances, discussed and chose where stripes, dark, mediums, etc. fabrics should be placed for greatest impact of each of the designs.  Ironers, tracers and cutters were busy working at their assigned tasks per each group leader and then they sewed and pressed and sewed some more until each compass was finished.  The appliquers threw in a bit of dimensional applique in the Thistle flowers of the applique border and did not finish on the day of the workshop, but they passed around the borders after the workshop to finish them up by the next monthly Evergreen monthly meeting.
 
After the quilt was assembled by the LOTEs in Cape Porpoise, who also sewing the Garden Maze sashing, the quilt was passed around to many of the best hand quilters of Evergreen until it was quilted and bound, taking about 800  hours of quilting..  All the groups involved were quite pleased with the result and by that time were of one mind that it was too good for a raffle quilt.  Priscilla Sharp, at that time the president of Evergreen got word of a quilt contest, The Unlimited Showcase and sale, held in Kansas City , MO. On June 16-19.  There were approximately 250 entries in 6 categories.  Evergreen’s North By Northeast won in the Group, large, pieced category.  A whooping $3000.00 dollars.  There was the choice to either accept the prize money or to put the quilt up for sale, but Evergreen decided to keep the cash and retain the quilt.  Evergreen raised by far more money than they ever would have realized if it had been raffled off by the group.
 
Of course then the question arose of what to do with the quilt.  Should it be raffled off within the group, but thoughts were that it might cause resentment, envy etc.  The LOTEs did a lot of talking about this issue and between us we decided that so many of our group had worked hard to help raise money for NEQG’s dream of a physical NEQG Museum, but hanging quilt shows in places like Topsfield Fair Grounds and doing whatever we could to work toward an actual museum, that someone finally asked the question…Who wouldn’t like to be able to say, “I have a quilt in a museum?”  That was a sentiment that everyone was thrilled about and it was voted to donate North By Northeast to the NEQM in Lowell.

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Massachusetts Quilt Documentation Project - MassQuilts

Who documented this quilt?

Massachusetts Quilt Documentation Project, MassQuilts; New England Quilt Museum Collection

MASS-Quilts ID Number:

5964

Alternate inventory control number:

NEQM# 1995.18

Ownership of this quilt is:

Public Museum, Library or Institution

Quilt owner:

New England Quilt Museum

Quilt owner's city:

Lowell

Quilt owner's state:

Massachusetts (MA)

Quilt owner's county:

Middlesex

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Width:

77"

Length:

98"

Quilt's title:

North by Northeast

Quilt top made by:

A partial list of people who worked on this quilt:; Libby, Paula Mason; Soule, Sharon Thompson; Allen, Janet; Porter, Gloria; Wakefield, Patricia; Sharp, Priscilla; Hutchins, Marion; Bradbury, Virginia; Grace, Parks; Barton, B. J.; Danckert, Joan; Chick, Nat; Foster, Debra; Rigby, Elaine; Stone, Joyce; Mansfield, Myrtle; Kitchen, Cleta; Demurs, Bea; Aaskov, Linda; Lovejoy, Jane

Name of the group that made the quilt:

Pine Tree Quilters' Guild, Evergreen Chapter; The Ladies on the Edge (Of The Ocean)

Quiltmaker's state:

Maine (ME)

Quiltmaker's city:

Alfred, Sanford, Kennebunk, Cape Porpoise, Saco, Kennebunkport, Wells

Quiltmaker's country:

United States

How did owner acquire quilt?

Gift

Where the quilt was made, city:

The Atlantic Hall, Cape Porpoise

Where the quilt was made, state:

Maine (ME)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

Describe the source of the pattern:

Designed by Paula Mason Libby

Time period:

1976-1999

When was the quilt started?

1982, March

When was the quilt finished?

1982, June

Format:

Finished quilt

Layout:

Medallion or framed center

Technique, piecing:

Hand Piecing

Technique, applique:

Hand Applique

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Separated by garden maze sashing

Shape of edge:

Straight

Vertical rows, horizontal rows and number of blocks:

4 vertical rows, 4 horizontal rows, 12 plus center medallion blocks

Block shape:

Squares

Block size:

15.75"

Medallion size:

34.5" x 35"

Fabric fibers:

Cotton

Predominant colors:

Beige or Tan

Overall color scheme:

Multicolor

Quilting:

Hand quilting

Motif design, overall:

Single parallel lines

Motif design, decorative:

Cables

Describe the quilting designs used:

Radiating lines, circles

Number of borders:

1

Border; technique, fiber, weave, pattern:

Cotton, print, plain weave

Binding and edging:

Separate binding applied

Binding; fiber:

Cotton

Binding; weave:

Plain weave

Binding; pattern:

Patterned fabric

Batting:

Polyester

Batting thickness:

Medium

Backing, number of pieces:

3

Backing, fiber:

Cotton

Backing, predominant color:

Beige or Tan

Condition:

Excellent/like new

Condition, structurally sound?

This quilt is structurally sound.

Pattern name, no. and source:

3463

Pattern name, variations and comments:

Mariner's Compass variation

Contests entered:

The Unlimited Showcase and sale, held in Kansas City , MO. On June 16-19. There were approximately 250 entries in 6 categories. Evergreen’s North By Northeast won in the Group, large, pieced category, $3000.

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

1993

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

New England Quilt Museum