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The Kimball House Bicentennial Quilt

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QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-143

Who documented this quilt?

Michigan Quilt Project

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Michigan State University Museum

Michigan Quilt Project Number:

93.0024

Quilt's title:

The Kimball House Bicentennial Quilt

Name of the group that made the quilt:

Kimball Quilters

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

Quilt owner

If you are the quilt owner, how did you acquire this quilt?

Received as a gift

Where the quilt was made, city:

Battle Creek

Where the quilt was made, county:

Calhoun

Where the quilt was made, state:

Michigan (MI)

Time period:

1976-1999

When was the quilt started?

1976

When was the quilt finished?

1976

Why was the quilt made?

Commemorative

Details about why the quilt was made:

Historical Society of Battle Creek, 200th birthday of America

Quilt is presently used as:

Museum collection

Quiltmaker's gender:

Group

Quiltmaker's city:

Battle Creek

Quiltmaker's county:

Calhoun

Quiltmaker's state:

Michigan (MI)

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

1. Post Cereal, Marjorie Jones

This is a:

Finished quilt

How wide is the quilt?

6' 10"

How long is the quilt?

8' 1"

Quilt's condition:

Excellent/like new

What is inscribed on the quilt?

1. Post Cereal, Marjorie Jones. 2. Barn Building, Elva Burrill. 3. Willard Library, Adele Minges. 4. McCamly Park, Miriam W. Conley. 5. The Oak Openings, Bernice White. 6. Kingman Museum, Marguerite Angood. 7. Fireplugs, Janet Lee Detweiler and Amy Clark. 8. The First Schoolhouse, Dorothy Haskell. 9. Kimball House, Alice Dean. 10. Music, Patricia Payson. 11. Transportation, Roberta Bailey. 12. Merritt Homestead, Pearl Dyer and Maude Higden. 13. Dr. Kellogg and The Towers, Janet Detweiler. 14. Attic Archeologist, Stella Dickerman. 15. The John W. Bailey Park, Ava Edwards. 16. The Trolley Car, Alice Davis. 17. Irving Park Lagoon, Marilyn Lapham. 18. The Kellogg Company, Betty Hopper. 19. Kellogg Community College, Millie Payne. 20. The Mall, Julia Purring. 21. The Verona Mill, Effa Hoyt. 22. Gaguae Lake, Martha Stocker. 23. Barney's Tavern, Shirley Hoeksema. 24. The Civic Theater, Lou Dyckman. 25. Sojourner Truth, Mattye Vest. 26.The Churches of Battle Creek, Delzella Townsend. 27. Old Downtown, Helen Jean Haynes. 28. The Battle Creek Civic Art Center, Sadie Bauer. 29. The City Hall of 1882, Rene Clark. 30. The Undergound Railway, Patty Sykes.

What is the date inscribed on the quilt?

1976

Describe where the inscription was found:

top

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Number of quilt blocks:

30

Sashing width:

6" 4, 1/2"W

Describe the borders:

2"

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

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

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton

Number of pieces of fabric in the quilt back:

1

What kind of filling is used in the quilt?

Polyester

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

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

Sketch and book explaning each block and its meaning.

Person filling out this form is:

Quilt owner

Ownership of this quilt is:

Public-Other

Quilt owner's name:

Battle Creek Historical Society

Quilt owner's city:

Battle Creek

Quilt owner's county:

Calhoun

Quilt owner's state:

Michigan (MI)

How was this quilt acquired?

Gift

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

The Kimball House Museum Bicentennial Quilt has been an experience involving the challenges of design, applique, embroidery and quilting. It started an idea and a hope. The first meeting of interested people was held on February 12, 1976. General plans were made and subjects for the blocks were suggested. At the next meeting the blocks were chosen and at a third one, materials were available and help offered. From then on each person worked independently, though help and extra materials were available at Kimball House on Tuesdays. By summer the blocks, or "patches," were ready and Millie Payne put them together in the red framework. The old quilting frames were taken from Kimball House to Alice Dean's home. There the filling and backing were basted to the pieced top, then the quilt was rolled on the frames. Thereafter, once a week, the designers met to quilt their blocks. This proved to be a more tedious task than expected but nine new people came in to help. Our number ranged from three to nine people. One day we had both an eighty-year old and a great grandmother quilting. All workers have signed the quilt, the designers in their own blocks. Now the quilt hangs proudly on the frame made by Don Hanna. We who have worked happily together hope that you will enjoy our effort.

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

How did the quiltmaker participate in the creation of the quilt?

Made entire quilt

Copyright holder:

Michigan State University Museum

Cite this Quilt

;. The Kimball House Bicentennial Quilt. 1976. From Michigan State University Museum, Michigan Quilt Project. Published in The Quilt Index, https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=fullrec&kid=12-8-143. Accessed: 11/02/24