QUILT INDEX RECORD

18-14-95

Description:

This is likely the first Double Feather Star quilt top Gasperik pieced and appliquéd from a pattern she made with her daughter Elsie's help. It is based on an antique quilt in Marie Webster's book. Compare to #006 Double Feather Star and #045 Double Feather Star. Interestingly, this Gasperik quilt design adaptation Double Feather Star may be the source, rather than the result, of a commercial pattern. Fellow Chicagoan Catherine (aka Katherine) Hamburger entered a quilt which she called Harlequin in the 1942 Woman's Day contest. Hamburger's Harlequin was offered in 1943 as a pattern from Spool Cotton Co. ordered through Woman's Day. Harlequin uses two of the Gasperik Double Feather Star blocks. Note that the orientations of all triangles in the pieced star block and the orientation of feathers in the applique vase block match on this quilt top and the Hamburger Harlequin quilt photographed for Woman's Day. These orientations also match the photograph published in the February 11, 1936, Detroit News of a quilt top which arrived too late to include in the October 1935 Detroit News Quilt Show and Contest. Three of those Woman's Day/Spool Co. patterns, as well as a small newspaper clipping about a prolific and prize-winning quiltmaker named Katherine Webb Hamburger (of 11435 St. Louis Ave, Chicago; thought to be the same woman as the quilt contest entrant described by Woman's Day as "Catherine Hamburger of Chicago"), are among the surviving quilt papers of Mary Gasperik.

Essay:

Linda MacLachlan wrote her thoughts in the following 1992 exhibit caption: "a 77 x 100 inch Double Feathered Star top, unfinished. Plumes of off-white percale in 2 different designs appliqued on white on black calico patches. Alternate patchwork feathered stars are in the same calico on relatively rough and heavy off white muslin. This top is similar to Susan's and Doris's in design except that its corners do not contain appliqued single plumes on the muslin corners. I am in the process of quilting it in the same pattern Grandma used on Susan's quilt. I suspect it remained unfinished because the muslin is too heavy to quilt very finely." Susan Salser wondered, ". . . if my grandmother might have selected that heavy fabric to piece and applique this first attempt at a 'Webster' quilt because she understood that Marie Webster used linen to make her own quilts. The kind of linen Mary was most familiar with was the heavy linen her family (and ours!) used as bed sheets. Such material is excellent for embroidery and cutwork (two needlework forms Mary practiced throughout her life), but would have made the Double Feather Star top difficult to quilt successfully."

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Mary Gasperik Legacy Project

Who documented this quilt?

Mary Gasperik Private Collection

Gasperik Legacy Project Number:

081

This is a:

Quilt top with unfinished edge

Quilt's title:

Double Feather Star

Owner's name for quilt:

Double Feather Star (Linda)

Names for quilt's pattern in common use:

Feather Star With Applique (Marie Webster)

Brackman # or other source & #:

40.42

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Straight

What color is the quilt?

Black; White

Overall color scheme:

Two color

Quilt's condition:

Unknown/Not Rated

Notes on condition, damage, or repairs:

Quilt top by Gasperik is being quilted by grand-daughter.

Time period:

Timespan

When was the quilt started?

probably 1935

When was the quilt finished?

1993

Family/owner's date for quilt:

quiltING begun by granddaughter in 1993

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

c. 1935

Who estimated the quilt's date?

Merikay Waldvogel

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Number of quilt blocks:

18 whole blocks, 10 half blocks

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

On point or rotated on 45 degrees

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Side by side

Number of different block patterns used in the quilt:

3

Number of borders:

1

Describe the borders:

One white border on four sides. Unlike quilts 006 and 045, there is no applique feather in each corner of the border.

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Fabric types used to make the quilt top:

Broadcloth; Muslin

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Print; Solid/plain

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Piecing

Applique techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Applique

Description of the back:

paisley print selected and attached by quilt owner Linda MachLachlan ~1993

Describe the back:

Same fabric used throughout

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

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

The off-white fabric Gasperik chose to use in this top is so heavy and stiff as to be probably unquiltable. Such a mistake may reflect Gasperik's lack of experience in quilting at the time she pieced and appliqued this. Had she been a member at the time she started this, it is likely that Tuley Park Quilting Club members would have advised her to select a different fabric. The choice that she DID make was perhaps intended to capture an 'antique' look, which she may have sought because she was copying an antique quilt (Figure 35 in Marie Webster's book). Gasperik's fabric is somewhat reminiscent of heavy Hungarian linen, although I do not know exactly what the fiber is.

Quilt top made by:

Gasperik, Mary

Quilted by:

MacLachlan, Linda Krueger

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?

Inheritance

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

Selected by daughter Elsie during a division of quilts after Gasperik died in 1969. After Elsie's death in 1988, daughters Karen, Linda and Susan divided her quilts. Linda selected this one.

Why was the quilt made?

Personal enjoyment

The quilt was made to be used for:

Unknown

Quilt is presently used as:

Keepsake/memento; Other

Describe present uses of the quilt:

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

Where did the maker get their materials?

Purchased new; Unknown

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Other

Describe the source of the pattern:

Gasperik (with Elsie's help) made her own pattern from a photograph of a section of an antique quilt in Marie Webster's Quilts: Their Story and How to Make Them.

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

Another quilt

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

Grand-daughter Linda MacLachlan backed the quilt and, in 1993, began finishing it, following the quiltING pattern Gasperk used on #045.

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:

Quilts: Their Story and How to Make Them, Marie D. Webster, Doubleday, Doran & Company Inc., 1928, quilt photograph facing page 66.

The Detroit News, February 11, 1936, page 24, "There are 1467 Pieces in This Charming Top", by Edith B. Crumb. Has a photograph of this Gasperik quilt top. Almost all of this significant article is about Mary Gasperik. It presents this top (which arrived too late to appear in the October 1935 Detroit News quilt show), mentions a red and white version that Gasperik was currently working on (quilt #006 which was shown at the 1937 Detroit News quilt show) and a Bridal Bouquet quilt which she is "planning to give it to her niece as a wedding present" (quilt #074, donated to the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art by that niece in 1972). It is unlikely Gasperik herself ever saw the article. The Detroit clippings which survive were ones she brought back from the quilt shows she attended. There was no Detroit quilt show in 1936.

Family photograph taken of the quilt top in the Kruegers' Chicago apartment at the time the Krueger sisers divided Elsie's quilts (ie before sister Linda embarked on her plan to quilt it). That is the photograph presented with this quilt record.

Instruction sheet from Alice Beyer, Director - Art Crafts, Chicago Park District reads, in part: "The clubs are organized according to the needs and requests of the neighborhoods and are carried on by skilled Park instructors. These instructors act as leaders, and, in turn, develop club members in the groups. The Clubs meet for two and a half hour periods, twice a week. However, some of the Clubs, having volunteer leaders, meet for several hours at a time." A photocopy of this instruction sheet was sent to Susan Salser by Barbara Brackman. The leader of the Tuley Park Quilting Club was named Virgie Stewart.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Linda Krueger MacLachlan

Quilt owner's country:

United States

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?

Krueger sisters

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Susan Salser

Details