QUILT INDEX RECORD

2-33-5

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Signature Quilt Pilot Project

Who documented this quilt?

Signature Quilt Project Public Submission

This is a:

Finished quilt

Quilt's title:

Antique Ohio Star Signature Quilt

Names for quilt's pattern in common use:

Ohio Star (main); Letter X or Flying X

Brackman # or other source & #:

1976a; 1976b

How wide is the quilt?

79 inches

How long is the quilt?

79 inches

What color is the quilt?

Blue or Navy; Red; White

Type of inscription:

Initials; Multiple Names; Place; Signature

Describe the type of inscription:

greetings (e.g. "yours truly"); offices or positions of signers

What is inscribed on the quilt?

The quilt contains the inked signatures of 70 prominent Americans of the late 19th Century. (Note: there are no signatures in the outer rows and columns of the 6 x 6 blocks portion of the quilt; there are six signatures in the white linen portion of the border) Column 2/Block 2: Long, John D.; Rice, Alexander H.; Bullock, Alex. H. Worcester, Mass.; Yours truly, Claflin, William Column 2/Block 3: Boutwell, George S. Nov. 1880; Washburne, E.B.; Banks, N.P.; Talbot, Thomas Column 2/Block 4: Hale, Edward E.; Horton, Everett A.; Bortal, C.A.; Mims, A.A. Column 2/Block 5: Schofield, J.M. Maj, Gnrl U.S.A.; Cudworth, C.; Douglass, Fred.; Kimball, John W. Column 3/Block 2: Grant, U. S.; Grant, Julia D.; Colfax, Schuyler; Hamlin, Hannibal Column 3/Block 3: Garfield, J.A. Mentor, O. Nov. 16, 1880; Garfield, Lucretia Rudolph Nov. 16, 1880; Blaine, J.G.; Garfield, Eliza Ballou Column 3/Block 4: Windon, William; James, T. L.; Robertson, W.H. Collector Port of New York; (?) Column 3/Block 5: Livermore, Mary A. Melrose, Mass.; Dahlgren, Madelinn Vinton; Alcott, Amos Bronson; Alcott, L.M. Column 4/Block 2: Hayes, R.B.; Hayes, Lucy; Wheeler, W.A. Dec. 12, 1880; Edmunds, George F. Column 4/Block 3: Arthur, C.A.; Logan, John A. Ills.; (?); Beck, Ja. B. Lexington, Ky. Column 4/Block 4: Longfellow, Henry W.; Whittier, John G.; Very truly, Childs, Geo. W. 1881; Holmes, Oliver Wendell Column 4/Block 5: Adams, Charles Francis; Gougre (?), John B.; Bancroft, Geo.; Shillaber, B.P. Column 5/Block 2: Sherman, W.T. General; Sheridan, P.H. Lient General U.S.A.; Hancock, Winfield Scott; Sargent, Horace Binney Column 5/Block 3: Merrill, George Sargent Commander in Chief GAR 1881; Creasy, Geo. W. Comd Dep Maj GAR; B(?), Capt J.G. Lynn, Mass.; Joslin, Geo. C. Column 5/Block 4: (?); Hartranft, J.F.; Very truly, (?), Natt. Governor; Beecher, Henry Ward 1880 Column 5/Block 5: Devens, Chas. Atty Gen; D(?), H.L. Mass.; Hale, Eugene; Hoar, Geo. F. Borders: Redfield, L.H.; Greenwood, Edna H.; Watkins, Malcolm; Wo (?), Robert A. 99 yrs; Poore, Benj. Perley; Higginson, Thos. Wentworth

What is the date inscribed on the quilt?

1880, 1881

Method used to make the inscription:

Ink

Location of inscription:

on block; on border

Time period:

1876-1900

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

1880-1881

Further information concerning dates:

Some of the signatures are dated 1880, 1881

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton; Linen

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Solid/plain

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Machine Piecing

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

This Ohio Star signature quilt, dated 1880 and 1881, was made by Sarah F. Gallup (Mrs. James B.) of Leominster, Massachusetts as a fundraiser to benefit the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization that supported the Union veterans of the Civil War. The colors are red, white and (originally) blue (now faded to gray-green). The fabrics used in the top are red cotton twill, white linen and the faded blue cotton twill. The batting is cotton and is of medium thickness. The quilt is machine pieced and is bound with a machine-sewn red cotton twill binding that is top-stitched. The “quilt” is not quilted, but is tied with precisely placed knots on the back every 2.75 inches. These tie threads cannot be seen on the top. The quilt is 79 inches square and consists of 36 eight inch square Ohio Star blocks pieced in red cotton twill and white linen. In each block, the stars are red and the four corner white linen squares contain the signatures. The set strips are the faded blue cotton twill. The blocks are set six across by six down, with only the center blocks (four across and four down) as signature-containing blocks. These 16 blocks contain 64 signatures. The border consists of three strips of the red, white and faded blue fabrics, with the blue inside, white linen in the middle and the red cotton twill as the outermost strip. Six signatures are on the white linen border strips. There are four corner blocks in the border which are also pieced in red, white and faded blue, and resemble the “Letter X” and “Flying X” blocks pictured in Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Pieced Blocks, numbers 1976a and 1976b. The 70 signatures on the quilt are written in black or iron oxide ink.

Quilt top made by:

Gallup, Sarah F.

Where the quilt was made, city:

Leominster, MA

Where the quilt was made, county:

Worcester

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

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

In the mid 1970s the prize quilt was auctioned by the Skinner Auction house near Boston, Massachusetts, and was purchased by a couple who had an antique shop in Waltham, Massachusetts. It was placed in their shop to sell as a “friendship quilt”, where the current owner purchased it in 1977. More information is available in QUILT WORLD magazine, in “PIECES and PATCHES” articles written by Pat Flynn Kyser in February 1983, August 1985 and October 1985. This quilt has also been documented in the Massachusetts Quilt Documentation Project (MassQuilts) and is included in their book, MASSACHUSETTS QUILTS-OUR COMMON WEALTH (“Signature Quilt-Sarah F. Gallup Quilt”, Title page and pp281-284). Because of Pat Kyser’s articles in QUILT WORLD, I was contacted by the owners of the unfinished top and in 1983 was able to visit them in their New Hampshire home. Not only did this couple have the top that Mrs. Gallup kept, but they also owned an album she had compiled, telling the story of how and why she made the quilt. By that time, the top Mrs. Gallup had left unfinished had been quilted with muslin backing. (As best I can remember, the quilting lines were about ¼ inch inside all the seam lines) Later in the 1980s, the owners were interested in selling the quilt and album, but I don’t know if they did. Subsequently, because of a series of sad events – aging and illness

Why was the quilt made?

Fundraising

Quilt owner's name:

Private

Quilt owner's city:

Huntsville

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Any other notes or stories about the quiltmaker:

Mrs. Gallup pieced two tops. The one described here was the fundraiser prize for a bazaar at the Leominster Congregational Church. She did not finish the top she pieced for herself ; it was never tied.

Description of quilt:

This Ohio Star signature quilt, dated 1880 and 1881, was made by Sarah F. Gallup (Mrs. James B.) of Leominster, Massachusetts as a fundraiser to benefit the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization that supported the Union veterans of the Civil War. The quilt measures 79 inches square and is made up of 36 eight inch blocks of the Ohio Star pattern. These blocks are red cotton twill and white linen, with originally blue (now faded gray-green) cotton twill set strips. There are 70 inked signatures of the political, military and cultural leaders of the period. The signatures are located on the white linen corner squares of the 16 center blocks, with six of the signatures in the white linen strips in the borders.

Access and copyright information:

Open/Public Domain

Details