QUILT INDEX RECORD

18-14-53

Description:

This early quilt project was displayed at the October 1936 Tuley Park Quilt show. It was probably one of four quilts she sent to the 1937 Detroit News Quilt Show. According to a Detroit News quilt column about the 1938 show, Gasperik submitted 4 quilts and won 4 Honorable Mention ribbons at the previous year's show.

At the 6th Detroit News Quilt Show, held in May 1940, Gasperik won runner-up in the “Finished Appliqué” category, most likely for her Hungarian Girls quilt. At this show the judges awarded ten prizes in a new entry category: “Childrens’ Quilts (Juvenile patterns on quilts not more than 54 x 90 inches in size)”. The May 28, 1940 Detroit News lists Gasperik as one of those ten. Gasperik’s Four Little Pigs probably won this prize. At this show quilters were encouraged to resubmit quilts which had already been exhibited at earlier Detroit News quilt shows. I believe this is because the earliest shows could not award cash prizes to quilts which were NOT made from Detroit News’ patterns; and many of the most admired quilts shown at what had become the nation’s largest annual quilt show, were not made from News’ patterns.

Essay:

Information on a typed 1937 exhibit tag records that her daughter Elsie designed the quilt and she (Mary) quilted it for her grand-daughter. Susan Salser writes, "The addition of the fourth pig--a girl pig--was almost certainly dictated or contributed by Elsie to acknowledge or celebrate the possibility that this first grandchild might be a girl. Karen was born in late 1936, after the appearance of this quilt in the Tuley Park quilt show picture dated October 31, 1936."

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Mary Gasperik Legacy Project

Who documented this quilt?

Mary Gasperik Private Collection

Gasperik Legacy Project Number:

057

This is a:

Finished quilt

Quilt's title:

Four Little Pigs

Owner's name for quilt:

Four Pigs

How wide is the quilt?

38 inches

How long is the quilt?

42 inches

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Straight

What color is the quilt?

Blue or Navy; Gold; Green; Pink; Red; White

Overall color scheme:

Bright or primary colors

Quilt's condition:

Fair/worn

Time period:

1930-1949

When was the quilt finished?

1936

Family/owner's date for quilt:

1936

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

1936

Who estimated the quilt's date?

Merikay Waldvogel

Further information concerning dates:

Estimated date is based on a Chicago Park District photo (dated Oct 10, 1936) of a Tuley Park Quilt Club quilt exhibition.

Describe the quilt's layout:

Medallion or framed center

Subject of the quilt:

A fourth (girl) pig is added to the traditional Three (boy) Little Pigs

Describe the borders:

Wide quilted gold border with inside scalloping and outside straight edge, very much like the border frame of 'The Farm' quilts (#029 and 059), made from a Paragon kit.

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

Describe embellishment materials or techniques:

The very idea of Four rather than Three little pigs IS an 'embellishment'

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton

Materials used in the quilt binding:

Cotton

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

Color of thread used in the quilting:

White

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Grid diamond; Patches outlined/in the ditch

Quilting designs used, decorative motifs:

Feathering; Other

Quilting designs used, background fills:

Grid/crosshatch

Describe the quilting designs used:

Feathered hearts quilted in four corners of center panel. A split undulating feather pattern forms a quilted border along the edge where the gold border meets the white ground.

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?

Gift

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

This quilt was given to Karen by Elsie because Gasperik made it FOR her first grand-child and Elsie helped design it.

Why was the quilt made?

Baby or crib

The quilt was made to be used for:

Bedding, special occasion

Quilt is presently used as:

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?

Unknown

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

Commercial pattern

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

Feathered heart (#37 on page 4) and feather border design (#34 on page 8) from Original Master Quilting Patterns published by Needleart Guild (Grand Rapids, MI, undated).

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

The source of the dressed pigs is uncertain. Ruby McKim and Aunt Martha had popular patterns for Three Little Pigs quilts. A typed tag once sewn on the Gasperik quilt (for the Detroit News Quilt Show) says it was "designed by her daughter .. and quilted by Mary Gasperik" It is possible the source of these particular pigs was a children's book illustration traced by Elsie. It is interesting that the attire of the three (boy) pigs in McKim, Aunt Martha and Gasperik is somewhat similar, as if there was a Little Pigs dress code, a tradition preceding McKim, Aunt Martha AND Gasperik.

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

Tuley Park Quilt Club Show, Tuley Park, Chicago, Illinois, October 1936.

Detroit News (4th) Quilt Show, May 1937.

The Detroit News (6th) Quilt Show, May 1940.

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

This quilt was represented by a poster along with 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.

Contests entered:

Probably was one of the four Gasperik quilts (which won Honorable Mention ribbons) sent to the May 1937 (4th annual) Detroit News Quilt Show.

Probably won a small cash prize at the May 1940 (6th annual, but last) Detroit News Quilt Show, where it was one of ten Juvenile quilts singled out for special mention by the judges.

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:

In a family Chicago Park District photograph dated 10-30-36, taken at a Tuley Park quilt show 4 Gasperik quilts can be spotted: the 1935 Double Feather Star (#045), Four Little Pigs (#057), Laurel Wreath (#067) and Wedding Bouquet (#074).

An early 1937 b&w family photo shows baby Karen Krueger propped against the back of this quilt, which is drying in front of a radiator. Typed exhibit tag reading "'The Four Little Pigs' Designed by her daughter, for her granddaughter and quilted by: - Mary Gasperik 9314 Cottage Grove Av., Chicago, Ill." (in family private collection).

Detroit News, May 28, 1940 "Complete List Given of Quilt Show Winners"

Color photograph of this quilt featured in “One American Dream Comes True” by Merikay Waldvogel, Quilters Newsletter, March 2008, p.49.

In an e-mail to Susan Salser (January 11, 2009) Elmer and Doris Gasperik’s daughter Kathy Jacob described to Susan her parents’ support of Mary Gasperik’s quilting and the appreciation for the quilts which they instilled in her. She wrote: “I know that my Mother took great care of our quilts. Dedicated to them as if her own mother had made them. It is from my mother that I learned to lovingly care for the quilts and appreciate the work that grandma had done. And I was told that my father made her the very quilting frame that she used to create these wonderful quilts. I was also told he would buy her batting and once a children’s book for the pictures perhaps for reference.” A children’s book illustration is possibly the genesis of this Gasperik quilt design.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Karen Krueger Finn

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Person filling out this form is:

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' name(s):

Gasperik, Stephen

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:

Mary Gasperik made quilts because it was her life passion and greatest talent. As opportunities arose, she entered contests and exhibited them publicly. She also made special quilts for her family.

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

Tuley Park Quilt Club and Detroit News Quilt Club

Does/did the quiltmaker belong to a group?

Southside Chicago and Detroit MI

What are the main activities of the group?

Chicago group met to quilt and held periodic quilt shows; Detroit group held national exhibits and contests.

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

Who photographed this quilt?

Don Gonzalez

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Susan Salser

Details

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