QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-7805

Who documented this quilt?

Michigan Quilt Project; Michigan State University Museum Collection

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Michigan State University Museum

Michigan Quilt Project Number:

85.2133

If this quilt is owned by a museum, enter the accession number:

6119.27

Object label:

Flower Garden
Bozena Vilhemina Clarke
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan
Appliquéd 1933, quilted 1934
Collection of Michigan State University Museum acc.#6119.27

Essay:

Eveline Foland, who was a designer for the Kansas City Star newspaper, created the pattern used for this quilt. When the patterns appeared one at a time in the Star, they were part of a twenty part series known as “Memory Bouquet.” The pattern was sold to the Detroit News, where, renamed “Flower Garden Quilt,” it appeared during 1931-1932. Foland’s work apparently appeared only in these two newspapers.

Bozena Clarke appliquéd the quilt in 1933 and then quilted it the following year as a gift for her daughter, Laura May Clarke. Clarke’s “Flower Garden” was entered in the 1937 Detroit News Quilt Show.

The Clarke Family Quilt Collection, given to Michigan State University Museum in 1986 by Dr. Harriet A. Clarke and her brother, George M. Clarke, includes forty-five quilts and quilt tops completed between 1926 and 1946 by Bozena Vilhemina Clarke, her daughter Laura May Clarke, and daughter-in-law Emilie Ann Clarke. The collection also includes numerous handmade templates and patterns, unique hand-colored graphs of planned quilts, newspaper and magazine clippings, and personal inventory notes written by the quilters.

By Mary Worrall, excerpted from American Quilts from Michigan State University Museum.

Quilt's title:

Flower Garden

Owner's name for the quilt:

Memory Bouquet

Brackman # or other source & #:

73.4

Quilt top made by:

Clarke, Bozena Vilhelmina

Quilted by:

Clarke, Bozena Vilhelmina

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

Received as a gift

Where the quilt was made, city:

Detroit

Where the quilt was made, county:

Wayne

Where the quilt was made, state:

Michigan (MI)

Time period:

1930-1949

When was the quilt started?

1933

When was the quilt finished?

1934

Why was the quilt made?

Gift or presentation

Quilt is presently used as:

Museum collection

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's city:

Detroit

Quiltmaker's county:

Wayne

Quiltmaker's state:

Michigan (MI)

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Motl

Quiltmaker's birth date:

2/24/1871

In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?

Urban

Quiltmaker's date and place of death:

3/17/1967

Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:

Bohemian (Czech)

Quiltmaker's educational background:

8th grade.

Quiltmaker's religious affiliation:

Congregational

Quiltmaker's occupation:

Worked for a tailor, then as a home maker.

Quiltmaker's father's name:

Motl, Franc

Quiltmaker's father's birthplace:

Austria

Quiltmaker's father's ethnic/tribal background:

Bohemian (Czech)

Quiltmaker's mother's name:

Motl, Anna Smely

Quiltmaker's mother's birthplace:

Austria

Quiltmaker's mother's ethnic/tribal background:

Bohemian (Czech)

Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and/or partner's/partners' ethnic/tribal background:

English

Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and/or partner's/partners' occupation:

Lighting salesman and insurance salesman

Number of children:

3

How many of the quiltmaker's children were girls?

2

How many of the quiltmaker's children were boys?

1

How did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

From Friend

When did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

Age 50 or over

Why does the quiltmaker quilt?

Pleasure

Other notes on how the quiltmaker learned, and how and why they quilt:

Bozena was an accomplished needleworker when she learned quilt making from members of the Rebecca Jane Circle at her church.

Estimated number of quilts made by this quiltmaker:

20-50 quilts

Does/did the quiltmaker sell quilts?

yes

Does/did the quiltmaker teach quilting?

only informally

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

Rebecca Jane Circle

Where does/did the group meet?

Boulevard Congregational Church, West Grand Boulevard and Warren Avenue, in Detroit, Michigan

What are the main activities of the group?

This group quilted each others tops, quilted tops for friends, and made many items (especially aprons) for the church bazaars.

This is a:

Finished quilt

How wide is the quilt?

68 1/4

How long is the quilt?

93 1/2

Shape of edge:

Scalloped

Shape of corners:

Scalloped

Describe the corners:

Curved

What color is the quilt?

Green; Lavender; White

Overall color scheme:

Multicolor

Quilt's condition:

Excellent/like new

Type of inscription:

Date; Message

What is inscribed on the quilt?

Detroit News Pattern. Made for Laura M. Clarke by her mother. Entry in Detroit News Quilt Show 1937

Method used to make the inscription:

Attached label; Embroidery

Describe the method used to inscribe the quilt:

cross stitch

Location of inscription:

on back

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Number of quilt blocks:

20 floral baskets in center. 42, tulip blocks around the outer edge.

Size of quilt blocks:

8 1/4 x 11

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Separated by plain sashing

Sashing width:

3 1/2

Number of different block patterns used in the quilt:

21

Number of borders:

1

Describe the borders:

The 42, 8 1/2 x 8 1/2, appliqued tulip blocks create the border.

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Solid/plain

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Piecing; Machine Piecing

Can you feel or see paper on the quilt that was used as a construction aid?

no

Applique techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Applique

Embellishment techniques used to make the quilt top:

Embroidery

Embellishments used:

Cotton thread

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton

Number of pieces of fabric in the quilt back:

2

Describe the back:

Same fabric used throughout

Materials used in the quilt binding:

Cotton

How is the binding made?

Bias grain; Commercial

What is the width of the binding (measure on the top only)?

less than a half inch

How wide is the binding (measure on the top only)?

1/4

What kind of filling is used in the quilt?

Cotton

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:

7

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 2:

7

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Grid/crosshatch

Quilting designs used, decorative motifs:

Floral

Quilting designs used, background fills:

Parallel lines

Features or notes about the quilt's appearance, materials, or construction:

This quilt was made by Bozena for her daughter Laura and was entered in the Detroit News Quilt Show, 1937. The entry tag for the quilt is in the MSU Museum collection.

Where did the maker get their materials?

Purchased new

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Commercial/Published source: Newspaper

Commercial name of the pattern for the top:

Eveline Foland, 1930. 20 blocks were published in the Kansas City Star and 25 were published in the Detroit News.

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

Image of quilt maker, story of quiltmaker in Michigan Quilt: 150 Years of a Textile Tradition, patterns cut out from the Detroit News, and 6119.48 for handmade templates.

Publications (including web sites) where this quilt or maker was featured:

Image of quilt maker, story of quiltmaker in Michigan Quilt: 150 Years of a Textile Tradition, patterns cut out from the Detroit News, and templates.

Person filling out this form is:

Quilt owner

Ownership of this quilt is:

Public- Michigan State University Museum

Quilt owner's name:

Michigan State University Museum

Quilt owner's city:

East Lansing

Quilt owner's county:

Ingham

Quilt owner's state:

Michigan (MI)

How was this quilt acquired?

Gift

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

This quilt was made by Bozena Clarke as a gift to her daughter Laura. It was inherited by Laura's niece Harriet Clarke, who donated it to the MSU Museum in 1985.

Details

• 

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

The quilt was made to be used for:

Bedding, special occasion

Describe any favorite patterns, tools, etc. used by the quiltmaker:

Bozena enjoyed the Detroit News quilt column and clipped and collected patterns from it. She also traded among family and friends.

Who photographed this quilt?

Fumio Ichikawa

Copyright holder:

MSU Board of Trustees