QUILT INDEX RECORD

18-14-75

Description:

Gasperik's early quiltmaking projects show her eagerness to try the popular patterns of the day. This unfinished pieced quilt top is missing. A quilt in the same pattern was featured in the Quilt Club Column (Detroit News-September 1, 1936).

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Mary Gasperik Legacy Project

Who documented this quilt?

Mary Gasperik Private Collection

Gasperik Legacy Project Number:

073

This is a:

Quilt top with unfinished edge

Owner's name for quilt:

Irish Chain

Names for quilt's pattern in common use:

Quilt of a Thousand Prints, Steps to the Garden, Steps to the Altar (Mary McElwain pattern)

Brackman # or other source & #:

2288

How wide is the quilt?

Unknown

How long is the quilt?

Unknown

Overall color scheme:

Multicolor

Quilt's condition:

Excellent/like new

Notes on condition, damage, or repairs:

Quilt is missing. Amateur photo is only visual record of the quilt.

Time period:

1930-1949

When was the quilt finished?

1936-1941

Family/owner's date for quilt:

1936-1941

Who estimated the quilt's date?

Merikay Waldvogel

Further information concerning dates:

Estimated date based on pattern. Family photograph showing this quilt top printed Sep 13, 1941 by the Madson company (of Chicago).

Describe the quilt's layout:

One patch or allover

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Side by side

What is the shape of the quilt blocks?

Squares

Number of borders:

None

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Print; Solid/plain

Quilt top made by:

Gasperik, Mary

Quilted by:

Gasperik, Mary

Where the quilt was made, city:

Chicago

Where the quilt was made, county:

Cook County

Where the quilt was made, state:

Illinois (IL)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

Why was the quilt made?

Personal enjoyment

The quilt was made to be used for:

Bedding, daily use

Quilt is presently used as:

Unknown

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Commercial/Published source: Pattern

Commercial name of the pattern for the top:

Mary McElwain Quilt Shop

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

Pattern appeared on Lockport Mills Inc., of Lockport, N.Y. batting inserts. Called Quilt of a Thousand Prints the "pattern [was] furnished through the courtesy of the Mary McElwain Quilt Shop, Walworth, Wisconsin." The wrapper is undated. The McElwain 1936 catalog offered Quilt of a Thousand Prints as a pattern or as a finished quilt, but not as a set of cut fabric pieces (a kit). It is a mystery exactly how and when Gasperik came to make this top. The top appears to be pieced from die-cut pieces of many different prints, but the kit would also have included solid black squares and solid green squares - to form the sides of the criss-crossing 'paths'. It would also have included red squares to mark the centers of the crossed paths. Locating such a kit will help determine when and from what source Gasperik could have constructed this quilt top. After 1930 many different companies offered kits of a similar design, including the die cut pieces.

Alternate names for this quilt design include Steps to the Garden and Steps to the Altar. A Steps to the Flower Garden quilt made by Wisconsin quilter Zoe Johnson Roth looks quite similar to the Gasperik top. Information about Zoe Roth can be found on page 125 of Wisconsin Quilts: Stories in the Stitches.

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

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.

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

This quilt might be the one described on a list of quilts given as gifts. There is an entry "Martina Buckley - Irish Chain" If the woman in the photo holding the quilt is Martina Buckley, she appears to be a contemporary and, perhaps a friend, of Elsie, Mary's daughter. Elsie's writing, on the back of the photo, reads: "Irish Chain gift to Martina Buckley". Printed on the back is "Madson Print Sep 13 1941".

Quilt owner's name:

Unknown

Person filling out this form is:

Relative of quiltmaker; Author/researcher

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

Grandmother

Describe the relationship to the quilt's maker:

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

Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:

Hungary

Quiltmaker's marriage date(s):

11/18/1906

Quiltmaker's date of death:

05/25/1969

Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:

Hungarian

Quiltmaker's educational background:

Elementary School

In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?

Rural

Quiltmaker's city:

Chicago

Quiltmaker's county:

Cook

Quiltmaker's state:

Illinois (IL)

Quiltmaker's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's father's name:

Mihalovits, Istvan

Quiltmaker's father's birthplace:

Hungary

Quiltmaker's father's ethnic/tribal background:

Hungarian

Quiltmaker's mother's name:

Mihalovits, Vidoszava

Quiltmaker's mother's birthplace:

Hungary

Quiltmaker's mother's ethnic/tribal background:

Hungarian

Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and /or partner's/partners' name(s):

Gasperik, Stephen

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

Hungarian

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

Milk Dealer/Grocery Store Owner/Butcher

Number of children:

3

How many of the quiltmaker's children were girls?

1 (Elsie 1909-1988)

How many of the quiltmaker's children were boys?

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 the quiltmaker quilt?

Pleasure; Other

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

Mary Gasperik made quilts because it was her life passion and greatest talent. As opportunities arose, she entered contests and exhibited them publicly. She also made special quilts for her family.

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

Tuley Park Quilt Club and Detroit News Quilt Club

Does/did the quiltmaker belong to a group?

Southside Chicago and Detroit MI

What are the main activities of the group?

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

Estimated number of quilts made by this quiltmaker:

more than 50

Does/did the quiltmaker sell quilts?

no

Does/did the quiltmaker teach quilting?

no

Who photographed this quilt?

unknown, family photo

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Susan Salser

Details

•