QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-9139

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:

86.0482 AIQP

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

6615.1

Object label:

Star of Bethlehem
Anna David
Peshawbestown, Leelanau County, Michigan
c1920
Collection of Michigan State University Museum acc.#6615.1

Essay:

It is probable that Native Americans began quilting in the Great Lakes region after the establishment of Catholic missions in the 19th century; it is known that quilting took place at the Immaculate Conception in Peshawbestown. According to James M. McClurken, co-author with James A. Clifton and George L. Cornell, of People of the Three Fires: The Ottawa, Potawatomi, and Ojibway of Michigan, the star and floral motifs used in this quilt are typical components of Ottawa (Odawa) designs and mimic designs depicted in earlier porcupine quill work and beaded pieces in the region.

From Great Lakes, Great Quilts,/em>.

Owner's name for the quilt:

Lone Star with floral applique

Names for quilt's pattern in common use:

Indian Quilt

When was the form filled out?

10/25/1985

Quilt top made by:

David, Anna

Quilted by:

David, Anna

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

Received as a gift

Where the quilt was made, city:

Peshawbestown

Where the quilt was made, county:

Leelanau

Where the quilt was made, state:

Michigan (MI)

Time period:

1901-1929

When was the quilt finished?

ca 1920

Quilt is presently used as:

Museum collection

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's city:

Peshabestown

Quiltmaker's county:

Leelanau

Quiltmaker's state:

Michigan (MI)

Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:

Native American; Ottawa (Odawa)

Number of children:

1

How many of the quiltmaker's children were girls?

1

This is a:

Finished quilt

How wide is the quilt?

76

How long is the quilt?

91

Shape of edge:

Straight

Overall color scheme:

Multicolor

Quilt's condition:

Very good/almost new

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Describe the borders:

3

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Piecing

Applique techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Applique

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton

How is the binding made?

Back turned to front

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

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 1:

6

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 2:

6

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Elbow/fan

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Another quilt

Describe the source of the pattern:

Floral applique patterns are typical of Michigan Ottawa beadwork and other crafts

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

Michigan Quilts: A Celebration of 150 Years of Textile Tradition, East Lansing, MI, September 13, 1987-January 30, 1988, Michigan State University Museum; Quilts Old & New: Reproductions from the Great Lakes Quilt Center, exhibit, January 12-August 17, 2003. Michigan Quilts exhibit, Chicago Hilton and Towers, International Quilt Market and Festival, May 9-14, 1989.To Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions, SITES; August 1, 1997-December 30, 1997, George Gustav Heye Center in National Museum of the American Indian, New York, NY; April 19-October 18, 1998, MSU Museum, East Lansing, MI; March 13-June 6, 1999, Fuller Museum of Art, Brockton, MA; July 3rd-September 26th, 1999, The Cleveland Museum of Natural History , Cleveland, OH; October 23, 1999-January 16, 2000, Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman, MT; February 12-May 7, 2000, Bishop Museum-The State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, Honolulu, Honolulu, HI; June 3-August 27, 2000, Washington State Historical Society, Tacoma, WA; September 23-December 31, 2000, Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, NM; January 13-April 8, 2001, Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ.

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

Michigan Quilts (1987) book, figure 118, page 83.To Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions (1997) book, page 32. Great Lakes, Great Quilts (2001) book, page 39.

Source of the information on this quilt:

Museum employee

Ownership of this quilt is:

Public Museum, Library, or Institution

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:

11-29-1987, Elizabeth and Vernon Keye, donor

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

Caption from the Michigan Quilts book; These two quilts of the Star of Bethlehem or Lone Star pattern are known to have been made by two Native American women from Leelanau County, Michigan. According to James M. McClurken, co-author with James A. Clifton and George L. Cornell, of People of the Three Fires: The Ottawa, Potawatomi, and Ojibway of Michigan, the star and floral motifs exhibited in these two quilts are typical of components of Ottawa designs. Each square and triangle formed against the white background by the center star is filled with floral designs that embellish the central design and mimic designs depicted in earlier porcupine quill work and beaded pieces of the same region. It is probable that Native Americans began quilting after the Grand Traverse Mission period; the first person who was recorded to have had furniture in his home, and thus have a need for domestic furnishings such as quilts, was Agosa, who lived on Old Mission penninsula during the mid 1840s. Little is known about the maker of quilt no. 118. She sold it to Mrs. Richard Lay, who in turn passed it on to its current owners, Elizabeth and Vernon Keye. The owner of quilt no. 119, Florence Lackie Hanes, writes that her father, Walter Lackie, acquired it "as a trade for some farm goods. Always treasured by the family, and never used [it is] just called the Indian Quilt." The quiltmaker was known to the family as Mrs. Ogahmahgegedo, but further research has revealed that she may also have been known as Catherine or Jenny Steele. She lived in a settlement known as Ahgosatown, located between Omena and Northport, Michigan. From Marsha MacDowell, 8/9/2004 On Saturday in Traverse City, while attending a meeting of some Native artists, I met Margaret (nee David) Boyle, daughter of Anna David, the maker of the Odawa quilt. She confirmed that the her mother's name was Anna--not Margaret.

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Michigan State University Museum

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

Made entire quilt

Who photographed this quilt?

Peter Glendinning