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Sears Quilt Contest 07: Folk Renditions of “A Century of Progress”

Folk Renditions of “A Century of Progress”
When Sears proposed making original quilts in the theme “A Century of Progress,” some quilters (and their spouses) went scurrying off to libraries.  Others tapped into their own reservoir of ideas.  These examples I have called “folk” renditions of “A Century of Progress.”

Meet Zada Chapman who created a quilt like none other at the time.  At least, none has been found.  It might remind you of quilts by art quilter Susan Shie or quilt historian/artist Teddy Pruett.  It includes the Lord’s Prayer, a silhouette of the State of Illinois, Mrs. O’Leary and her cow, George Washington, and an embroidered account of an assassination attempt on Franklin Roosevelt in the months prior to the contest deadline.

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Wheel of Progress
Zada Chapman
New Smyrna, Florida
1933
Private Collection

A Folk Art Design of the Century of Progress.

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Fort Dearborn Quilt
Mary O'Halloran Fitzgerald
Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
1933
Private Collection

Pictorial quilt depicting Fort Dearborn in 1833, it received a Green Merit Ribbon

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Phoenix Rising
Maker unknown
1933
Private Collection

Whimsical Quilt with a Century of Progress theme.

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Nineteen Hundred Thirty Three
Jeanette Morgan Longsworth
Racine, Ohio
1933
Private Collection

Jeannette Morgan Longsworth of Racine, Ohio created a quilt with a bold design to catch the judge's attention and possibly win the bonus prize. The contest took place at the depths of the Great Depression and many people who would not otherwise have made a quilt, did so in the hopes of winning the $1000 grand prize.

Merikay Waldvogel
2011
All rights reserved

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