QUILT INDEX RECORD

18-14-78

Description:

This quilt, dated 1939, was destroyed in a 1980 fire. All that remains are a few photos. The quilt is based on a Nancy Page Club Series entitled French Bouquet which was offered as Old-Time Nosegay through The Detroit News.

Essay:

Gasperik followed closely a quilt design named French Bouquet made of a series of blocks and a border design that appeared in newspapers nationally (in 1933) through the syndicated Nancy Page Quilt Club. Mary Gasperik probably got her set of blocks as leaflets from the Detroit News since she was an active member, but she also might have seen the same pattern running in a Chicago newspaper. The Detroit News called the series quilt Old-Time Nosegay. It is important that the pattern was offered by The Detroit News. In October 1935, the time Mary Gasperik first discovered The Detroit News Quilt Club Corner and their not-quite-annual Quilt Show and Contest, it was a requirement (in order to qualify for some of the $500 in prize money) that qualifying quilts be made from patterns offered by The Detroit News. This had been a rule since the contest’s inception in 1933. It continued to be a requirement until the October 1938 show, which offered lesser cash prizes in the category “Best Quilt (Not News Pattern)”. By the time of the next (and what turned out to be the last) Detroit News Quilt Contest – May 1940 – the situation had reversed. Although a total of $500 was still being awarded, the lesser prize money - 10 prizes of $5 each – was awarded in the category “best finished quilts made with Detroit News patterns”. If Gasperik’s ‘Nosegay’ went to Detroit and won a prize there, it would have been at this final contest, where it is known that Mary Gasperik was awarded one of those 10 prizes.

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Mary Gasperik Legacy Project

Who documented this quilt?

Mary Gasperik Private Collection

Gasperik Legacy Project Number:

071

This is a:

Finished quilt

Quilt's title:

Old-Time Nosegay

Owner's name for quilt:

Nosegay

Names for quilt's pattern in common use:

French Bouquet - Nancy Page series

Brackman # or other source & #:

#72.4

How wide is the quilt?

Unknown

How long is the quilt?

Unknown

Shape of edge:

Scalloped

Shape of corners:

Scalloped

What color is the quilt?

Cream; Green; Pink

Overall color scheme:

Multicolor; Light or pastel colors; Bright or primary colors

Quilt's condition:

Unknown/Not Rated

Notes on condition, damage, or repairs:

Destroyed in a house fire in 1980.

Type of inscription:

Date

What is inscribed on the quilt?

1939

Method used to make the inscription:

In the quilting

Describe where the inscription was found:

Year 1939 was quilted above the quilted basket of fruit and flowers in the center of the pillow-top area of the quilt.

Time period:

1930-1949

When was the quilt finished?

1939

Family/owner's date for quilt:

1939

Date estimated by an antique dealer, quilt historian or appraiser:

1933-34

Who estimated the quilt's date?

Merikay Waldvogel

Further information concerning dates:

Estimated date is based on date when the quilt pattern series ran in 1933-34. Actual quilt was dated 1939.

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Describe the quilt setting:

Gasperik 'blocks' are appliqued onto wholecloth.

Number of different block patterns used in the quilt:

12 different bouquet blocks, 15 dfferent flower blocks

Number of borders:

2

Describe the borders:

Outer border of applique flower blooms; narrower inner border frames the applique blocks.

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Print; Solid/plain

Embellishment techniques used to make the quilt top:

Embroidery

Describe any unusual techniques used to make the quilt top:

Gasperik rearranged the placement of the 12 different Nancy Page bouquets and she angled the placement of her border flowers so that they 'dance' left and right rather than march in the straight up and down order proposed by Nancy Page/Detroit News pattern.

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton

Materials used in the quilt binding:

Cotton

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Echo; Grid diamond; Patches outlined/in the ditch

Quilting designs used, decorative motifs:

Wreaths; Other

Quilting designs used, background fills:

Grid/crosshatch; Parallel lines

Describe the quilting designs used:

The two doves of peace quilted on either side of the vase are more complicated than the commercial 'Dove of Peace' quiltING pattern and closely resemble the "Dove of Peace" pictured in Plate XII (facing page 75) of "Reproductions of Quilt Patches" by Carrie A. Hall in The Romance of the Patchwork Quilt in America by Carrie A. Hall and Rose G. Kretsinger (1935). Gasperik quilted this same dove into quilts #013, #020 and #021. In between the two doves Gasperik quilted the outline of one of the quilt's bouquets (the center nosegay in the second row from the top).

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

Description of border, quilting designs, etc. is based on the b/w photo of Mary Gasperik sitting at a quilt frame on which this quilt is stretched, and also on a family b/w photograph (undated) of the completed quilt.

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

How was this quilt acquired?

Gift

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

Shortly before her death, Mary Gasperik asked daughter Elsie to select 3 quilts for granddaughters Joanne, Charlene and Louise Gasperik. This quilt was one of Elsie's 3 selections. The quilts were given to the girls' mother, Erika Gasperik. This one was subsequently chosen by Joanne.

Why was the quilt made?

Art or personal expression

Details about why the quilt was made:

The grandprize-winning quilt at the April 1937 Detroit News Quilt Show (which Gasperik attended) was an Old-Time Nosegay quilt made from the Detroit News pattern. Gasperik probably wanted make her own (better) version to compete in Detroit.

The quilt was made to be used for:

Bedding, special occasion

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Commercial/Published source: Newspaper

Commercial name of the pattern for the top:

Detroit News Pattern Leaflets for Old-Time Nosegay - Series of 30 patterns.

Where did the quiltmaker find the pattern for the quilting design on the quilt?

Other

Describe where the quilting design pattern was found:

"Dove of Peace" probably copied from Carrie Hall Plate XII in The Romance of the Patchwork Quilt (1935).

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

It should be noted that the Gasperik quilt is made by appliquéing the bouquet and individual flower commercial blocks onto a whole piece of fabric rather than by assembling the quilt block by block, which is the way newspapers marketed block quilt patterns. She could not have begun this quilt before she had collected the entire set of patterns. The Detroit News/Page pattern included 12 different bouquet blocks (comprising the center panel of the quilt) and 15 different individual flower blocks (comprising the two side borders of the quilt). Making this quilt required more than two dozen appliqué patterns (each of which is complex). The Detroit News offered them, block by block, between December 1933 and July 1934. Salser believes Gasperik probably picked up her set of patterns at the April 1937 Detroit News Quilt Show where she saw the grandprize-winning Old-Time Nosegay quilt made by Elizabeth Aellig of Detroit. In today's quilt language, Gasperik regarded the quilts she saw in Detroit as "challenge" quilts.

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

A yellow paper exhibit tag reading "Nosegay Quilt" by Mrs. M. Gasperik indicates this quilt was included in a Tuley Park quilt show.

If it was sent to Detroit, that must have occured in May 1940 (there was no 1939 Detroit News quilt show)

Contests entered:

Probably won a $5 prize in the category "Best Finished Quilts Made with Detroit News patterns" at the 1940 Detroit News Quilt Contest. 10 such prizes were awarded at the May 1940 (final) Detroit quilt show and Mary Gasperik was awarded one of them. At this same show she won a second prize in the category "best finished applique quilt", probably for her Hungarian Girls quilt (#014), which was not made from a Detroit News pattern. More than 2000 quilts were entered in this contest.

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:

Detroit News clipping, January 2, 1934: Edith B. Crumb, Quilt Club editor, holding a quilt of this design.

Compare to Nancy Page Quilt Club series of 30 blocks: French Bouquet.

Overall view of Nancy Page quilt French Bouquet.

Photo taken by Elmer Gasperik of his mother seated at her quilting frame in the dining room at 9314 Cottage Grove Ave., Chicago, working on Nosegay (which looks nearly completed). Elmer Gasperik heirs - private collection.

Family b/w photograph of completed Gasperik quilt (undated)

Color photograph of Gasperik Nosegay hanging on a clothesline is picture #6 on a computer disc sent to Susan Salser by Kathy Jacob, 1/30/2006. Picture #5, on this same disc, is a b/w photo of Nosegay airing on a different clothesline. Neither picture is dated. Original photos in private collection of Elmer Gasperik heirs.

Yellow paper exhibit tag for "Nosegay Quilt" (Susan Salser- private collection)

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 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' 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:

This quilt was probably made to compete in a Detroit News quilt show. At the time Gasperik began competing in those shows, it was a requirement - in order to win prize money - that a quilt be made from a Detroit News quilt pattern. 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

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