QUILT INDEX RECORD

18-14-44

ESSAY:

This might be a 1930s top that was finished in the 1940s during WWII. Gasperik probably picked up a Detroit News pattern called Diamond-Hexagon Quilt ID32 at the very first Detroit News Quilt Show she attended, in October 1935. Perhaps it gave her ideas for arranging the hexagons in a diamond shape, as well as providing her basic pattern unit. Notice the "V" for Victory appliquéd in the four corners. The two appliqué wreaths which combine oak and olive branches are symbols which can be found on historic flags of Hungary, Gasperik's home country.

This quilt is Mary's personal expression of her hope for future peace in the world and for the survival of her native Hungary. To a traditional pattern, she added symbols to honor her two countries: V for Victory of the Allied Cause and the Oak and Olive Branch Wreath, a symbol found surrounding the coat of arms on historical flags of Hungary.

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Mary Gasperik Legacy Project

Who documented this quilt?

Mary Gasperik Private Collection

CONTRIBUTING INSTITUTIONAL INVENTORY CONTROL NUMBERS: Enter the main control number for this item you are entering.

023

TYPE OF QUILT OBJECT: Choose the best description for the quilt being documented.

Finished quilt

QUILT'S TITLE, IF IT HAS ONE: Many quilts have no title, but contemporary quilters often give a name to their quilts.

Victory Garden

OWNER'S NAME FOR QUILT'S PATTERN: Enter the name given to the quilt by the owner. This can be the name the family used to refer to the quilt as it passed through different generations, e.g. "Aunt Susie's quilt" or a pattern name that the owner used.

Victory Garden

ALTERNATE NAME(S) FOR QUILT'S PATTERN IN COMMON USE: This is the name of the quilt pattern that it is commonly used among quilt makers and historians. It may be different in different regions of the country.

Grandmother's Victory Garden

OVERALL WIDTH: Enter how wide the quilt is.

84 inches

OVERALL LENGTH: Enter how long the quilt is.

98 inches

SHAPE OF EDGE: Choose the best description for the edges of the quilt.

Straight

SHAPE OF CORNERS: Choose the best description for the corners of the quilt.

Straight

PREDOMINANT COLOR(S): Enter all colors that are found in the quilt.

Blue or Navy; Gold; Green; Pink; Purple; Turquoise or Teal; White

OVERALL COLOR SCHEME: Choose the best color scheme description for the quilt being documented.

Bright or primary colors

OVERALL CONDITION: Choose the best description for the quilt being documented.

Excellent/like new

TIME PERIOD: Choose the time frame that best describes when the quilt was made. The date does not have to appear on the quilt to enter it in this field. This can be your best guess based on family stories or your own knowledge of quilts.

1930-1949

DATE FINISHED: Enter the date the quilt was finished.

1940s

OTHER EXTERNAL OR PROFESSIONAL DATE ESTIMATION: If the date was estimated by an antique dealer, quilt historian or appraiser, enter that date.

Mid 1940s

OTHER DATE ESTIMATION BY WHOM: Enter the name and/or title of the person who estimated the quilt's date for field 23d.

Merikay Waldvogel

FURTHER INFORMATION CONCERNING DATE(S): If you know anything else about the date the quilt was made, please tell the story.

This might be a 1930s top that was finished in the 1940s during WWII. Note the V for Victory.

LAYOUT FORMAT: Choose the best description for the layout (or set) of the quilt.

One patch or allover

OTHER SPACING: If none of the options in Field 29 describe the quilt, explain the quilt setting here. May relate to Fields 26 & 27, if the blocks sizes are not the same throughout the quilt.

Traditional Grandmother's Flower Garden is reworked as diamonds, stars, and chevrons.

BLOCK STYLE: Some patterns use the same shape template throughout the quilt (i.e. Charm quilts, Grandmother Flower Garden, Brick wall, Lone Star). If this applies to your quilt, choose the best description.

Hexagons

NUMBER OF BORDERS: Borders are the strips of fabric that are added after the blocks (and sashings) are put together. They appear on the outside edges of the quilt. Quilts often have multiple borders. Enter the number of borders on the quilt.

2

BORDER DESCRIPTION: Describe the style of the borders (i.e. pieced, appliqued, stenciled) and the width of each border, from the inside to the outside.

Two narrow bands in brown and green on all four sides.

FABRIC FIBER TYPES USED IN QUILT TOP: Choose all the types of fiber that are used to make the quilt top.

Cotton

FABRIC PATTERNS, STYLES, MOTIFS, OR PRINT CATEGORIES USED IN QUILT TOP: Choose all the types of prints that are used to make the quilt top.

Solid/plain

CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES USED IN QUILT TOP: PIECING TECHNIQUES: Choose the piecing method used to make the quilt.

Hand Piecing

CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES USED IN QUILT TOP: APPLIQUE TECHNIQUES: Choose the applique method used to construct the quilt.

Hand Applique

UNIQUE EMBELLISHMENTS: Enter any embellishment materials that don't appear in a previous field.

Applique wreaths combining laurel (or olive) branch on one side and oak branch on the other.

FABRIC FIBER TYPES USED IN QUILT BACK: Choose the fiber type used to make the quilt back.

Cotton

MATERIALS USED IN QUILT BINDING: Choose the fiber type used to make the quilt binding.

Cotton

MATERIAL USED FOR QUILT BATTING OR FILLING: Choose the fiber content that best describes the material used to fill the quilt.

Cotton

QUILTING TECHNIQUES USED: Choose the technique that best describes the way the quilt layers are held together.

Hand quilting

QUILTING DESIGNS USED: MOTIFS/OVERALL PATTERNS: Choose the overall quilt design found on the quilt top.

Outline

QUILTING DESIGNS USED: BACKGROUND FILL PATTERNS: Choose the background quilt design found on the quilt top.

Grid/crosshatch

ANY OTHER FEATURES OR NOTES ABOUT THE QUILT'S APPEARANCE, MATERIALS, OR CONSTRUCTION: Describe anything about the physical appearance of the quilt that wasn't already recorded in a previous field.

Susan Salser believes that the addition of the V's at the four corners and the wreaths combining laurel and oak branches is Gasperik's Hungarian statement on World War II. A similar combination wreath was a Hungarian national symbol when it was independent.

QUILT TOP MADE BY: Enter the name of the person(s) who made the quilt top.

Gasperik, Mary

QUILTED BY: Enter the name of the person(s) who quilted the top.

Gasperik, Mary

CITY: Enter the name of the city where the quilt was made.

Chicago

COUNTY: Enter the name of the county where the quilt was made.

Cook County

STATE: Enter the name of the state where the quilt was made.

Illinois (IL)

COUNTRY: Enter the name of the country where the quilt was made.

United States

HOW WAS QUILT ACQUIRED BY OWNER: Choose the best description for how the owner acquired the quilt.

Inheritance

DETAILS ON HOW THE QUILT WAS ACQUIRED:

Shortly before she died, Mary Gasperik asked her daughter Elsie to select 3 quilts as gifts for her granddaughters Joanne, Charlene and Louise Gasperik. This is one of the three quilts Elsie selected and gave to the girls' mother, Erika Gasperik. It was chosen by Charlene.

QUILTMAKER'S REASONS FOR MAKING THE QUILT: If the quilt was made for a specific purpose, choose the reason from the list.

Art or personal expression

QUILT WAS ORIGINALLY DESIGNED TO BE USED AS: Choose how the quilt was originally used.

Unknown

QUILT IS PRESENTLY USED AS: Choose how the quilt is being used by the present owner.

Keepsake/memento

OTHER PRESENT USE(S) OF QUILT: If you chose Other, please explain the quilt's present use.

Mary's grandchildren regard her quilts as a unique collection to be preserved and appreciated.

SOURCE OF QUILT'S MATERIALS: Choose how the quilt maker acquired the fabric for this quilt.

Purchased new

QUILT TOP PATTERN SOURCE: Choose where the quilt maker found the pattern for this quilt.

Traditional pattern variation

QUILTING DESIGN PATTERN SOURCE: Choose where the quilt maker found the pattern for the quilting design used in this quilt.

Original to maker

ANY ADDITIONAL NOTES OR STORIES ABOUT THE QUILT'S DESIGN OR MATERIALS SOURCE: Describe anything about the design of the quilt that wasn't already recorded in a previous field.

It may be that Gasperik pieced this quilt some years before she completed it as a wartime quilt. The flower garden pattern was very popular with The Detroit News Quilt Club and its quilt shows, as Gasperik no doubt learned when she encountered them in 1935, her first visit to that huge quilt show. In her quilt column of December 31, 1935 (p 18) Detroit Quilt Club Director Edith Crumb described the popularity of the Flower Garden quilt as follows: "A hundred years from now if quilts we have made are brought together - think what the result would be! There would be hundreds and hundreds of Dresden Plates, Nosegays, Flower Gardens , etc." In a quilt column "Club Members Rush Work on Entry for Quilt Show" The Detroit News, March 9, 1937, page 32) the Club's Director, Edith B. Crumb recalled: "Do you remember the first Detroit News Quilt Show which was held in 1933? If you do, surely you must recall the large section of Flower Garden quilts - that glorious spot of color. And the Detroit News Flower Garden quilt pattern was responsible for that. The third year we had the Nosegays and they were gorgeous too, and this year there will be a mixture of Flower Gardens, Nosegays and Bridal Bouquets, so you may expect a feast of color..." Gasperik experimented with all three of these quilt types.

EXHIBITIONS: List all known exhibits where this quilt has been displayed.

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

CONTESTS ENTERED: List contest(s) entered.

Illinois State Fair, 1960

OTHER RELATED ITEMS: List other materials that exist about this quilt like oral histories, wills, diaries, or patterns.

Photograph of Mary Gasperik circa 1947, in the private collection of granddaughter Karen Finn shows Gasperik wearing a "USA" pin with Sargents insignia hanging from it. Gasperik's eldest son Stephen served as a Staff Sargent 253 Engineers during WWII. Her younger son, Elmer Gasperik was enlisted Feb. 1942-June 1942 but discharged due to a medical disability.

See pages 167-8 in World War II Quilts, by Sue Reich, for a discussion of this quilt, a biographical sketch of Mary Gasperik, a photograph of Mary Gasperik an overall picture of this quilt and a closeup of the center of the quilt (Schiffer Publishing, Arglen PA, 2010).

AVAILABLE SOURCES FOR QUILTMAKER: List other source materials about this quiltmaker such as photos, oral histories, book or newspaper publications, fame for some other reason or event.

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.

Reich, Sue. World War II Quilts. Schiffer Publishing, Atglen, PA 2010: pp. 167-8. Has discussion of Gasperik's Victory Garden Quilt and its maker, a photograph of Mary Gasperik and two color images of the quilt.

OWNERSHIP OF THIS QUILT IS:

Private

NAME OF QUILT OWNER:

Charlene Gasperik Shipp

QUILT OWNER'S COUNTRY:

United States

AUTHOR/INTERVIEWEE'S RELATION TO THE QUILT:

Author/researcher; Blood relative of quiltmaker

OTHER RELATIONSHIP TO SOURCE: If you chose Other, for the relationship to the source, describe the relationship here.

Grand-daughter

OTHER INFORMATION ON SOURCE PERSON TO QUILT:

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

DEATH DATE OF THE QUILTMAKER, IF APPLICABLE:

05/25/1969

QUILTMAKER'S ETHNIC BACKGROUND:

Hungarian

QUILTMAKER'S EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND:

Elementary School

QUILTMAKER'S COUNTRY OF BIRTH:

Hungary

IN WHICH KIND OF ENVIRONMENT DID THE QUILTMAKER GROW UP?

Rural

CITY WHERE THE QUILTMAKER LIVES/LIVED:

Chicago

COUNTY WHERE THE QUILTMAKER LIVES/LIVED:

Cook

STATE WHERE THE QUILTMAKER LIVES/LIVED:

Illinois (IL)

COUNTRY WHERE THE QUILTMAKER LIVES/LIVED:

United States

QUILTMAKER'S FATHER'S NAME:

Mihalovits, Istvan

FATHER'S BIRTHPLACE:

Hungary

FATHER'S ETHNIC BACKGROUND:

Hungarian

QUILTMAKER'S MOTHER'S NAME:

Mihalovits, Vidoszava

MOTHER'S BIRTHPLACE:

Hungary

MOTHER'S ETHNIC BACKGROUND:

Hungarian

SPOUSE'S ETHNIC BACKGROUND:

Hungarian

SPOUSE'S OCCUPATION:

Milk Dealer/Grocery Store Owner/Butcher

NUMBER OF CHILDREN:

3

NUMBER OF FEMALE CHILDREN:

1 (Elsie 1909-1988)

NUMBER OF MALE CHILDREN:

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/DID THE QUILTMAKER QUILT:

Pleasure; Other

OTHER, WHY THE QUILTMAKER QUILTS:

To exhibit in shows held by her Tuley Park quilt club in Chicago, the Detroit News quilt show in Detroit, many Illinois State Fairs, at least one Indiana State Fair. She entered quilts in at least 2 Chicago department store contests. She made at least one quilt and one quilt top specifically for the 1939 New York Worlds Fair quilt contest. She also made children's quilts specifically for grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and wedding and wedding anniversary quilts for her son Elmer and grand-daughter Karen. Primarily, she wanted to make quilts because it was her life passion and her greatest talent. The occasions and venues to show them presented themselves. It should be noted that prior to Mary's emigration to America in late 1904, at age 16, she was an apprenticed needleworker in her native Hungary. The intricate and colorful floral embroideries traditional to Hungary lend themselves especially well to applique, the quilt style Mary preferred.

NAME OF QUILTING GROUP: If the quilt maker belonged to a group, enter the name of the group.

Tuley Park Quilt Club and Detroit News Quilt Club

LOCATION OF GROUP:

Southside Chicago and Detroit MI

SPECIALIZED ACTIVITIES/EVENTS OF QUILTING GROUP: Enter activities the group participated in.

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

ESTIMATED NUMBER OF QUILTS MADE BY THIS QUILTER:

more than 50

DID THE QUILTMAKER SELL QUILTS?

no

DOES/DID QUILTMAKER TEACH QUILTING: Is the quilt maker also a quilt teacher?

no

PHOTO CREDIT:

Don Gonzalez

ACCESS AND COPYRIGHT IS:

Restricted

HOLDER OF COPYRIGHT:

Hank Finn

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