QUILT INDEX RECORD
12-8-9147
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:
86.0489 AIQP
If this quilt is owned by a museum, enter the accession number:
6814.1
Object label:
Star of Bethlehem
Margaret Ogahmahgegedo
Odawa, Agosatown, Leelanau County, Michigan
1912
Collection of Michigan State University Museum acc.#6814.1
Essay:
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 this quilt 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.
The donor, 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 Michigan Quilts: 150 Years of a Textile Tradition.
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:
Ogahmahgegedo, Margaret
Quilted by:
Ogahmahgegedo, Margaret
If you are the quilt owner, how did you acquire this quilt?
Received as a gift
Where the quilt was made, city:
Agosa Town
Where the quilt was made, county:
Leelanau
Where the quilt was made, state:
Michigan (MI)
Time period:
1901-1929
When was the quilt started?
1912
When was the quilt finished?
ca 1912
Quilt is presently used as:
Museum collection
Quiltmaker's gender:
Female
Quiltmaker's city:
Omena
Quiltmaker's county:
Leelanau
Quiltmaker's state:
Michigan (MI)
Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:
Native American; Ottawa (Odawa)
This is a:
Finished quilt
How wide is the quilt?
66
How long is the quilt?
75
Shape of edge:
Straight
Shape of corners:
Straight
Quilt's condition:
Excellent/like new
Damage:
Stains
Describe the quilt's layout:
Medallion or framed center
Arrangement of quilt blocks:
Straight
Describe the borders:
2.5
Fiber types used to make the quilt top:
Cotton
Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:
Hand Piecing
Materials used to make the back:
Cotton
How is the binding made?
Back turned to front
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:
4
Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 2:
5
Quilting designs used, background fills:
Parallel lines
Describe the quilting designs used:
Outline/Ditch
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 from the Michigan State University Museum Collection, traveling exhibit: Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, MI, October, 1992 - January, 1993: Southwestern Michigan College Museum, Dowagiac, MI, June - September, 1995; Midland County Historical Society, Midland, MI, December 1, 1997 - January 25, 1998. Michigan Quilts exhibit, Chicago Hilton and Towers, International Quilt Market and Festival, May 9-14, 1989. Great Lakes Native Quilting, exhibit, September 19, 1999-February 27, 2000, MSUM Sloan Museum, Flint, Michigan, September 14 - November 14, 2001.
Related items such as diaries, obituaries, wills, household inventories, or pictures of the quiltmaker:
Ingham County Sesquicentennial News, vol 1, no. 3, September 1987. Michigan Quilts (1987) book, figure 119, page 83.
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:
11-18-1988, Florence L. Hanes, 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.
Access and copyright information:
Restricted
How did the quiltmaker participate in the creation of the quilt?
Made entire quilt
Who photographed this quilt?
Doug Elbinger
Copyright holder:
Michigan State University Museum
Cite this Quilt
Ogahmahgegedo, Margare. Lone Star with floral applique. ca 1912. From Michigan State University Museum, Michigan Quilt Project; Michigan State University Museum Collection. Published in The Quilt Index, https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=fullrec&kid=12-8-9147. Accessed: 11/12/24
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