Woman's Day 1965 - The Met Quilt

October 1965 issue of Woman's Day magazine included an article about a beautiful "Baltimore Friendship Quilt." The article, by Roxa Wright, told how the quilt "was discovered in storage shelves of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union, an organization which maintains George Washington's old home on the Potomac River." The quilt was "anonymous in every way."

"The Met Quilt," as we often refer to it today, was later donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. A nearly identical quilt resides in the Baltimore Museum of Art, often referred to as "The Sliver Quilt." Other quilts have since been discovered with similar patterns and some of the same fabrics, many with inscriptions and dates from the 1840-50 era. After much research by scholars and historians, the maker (or makers) remain unknown.

The quilt was reproduced and photographed for the article, and a pattern was offered by Woman's Day for $1.00. The pattern was printed half-size thus had to be enlarged 200% (by hand). Remember, that was 1965, long before enlarging photocopiers! When enlarged, the patterns are 32 inches square, 16x32, and 16 square.

In 2005, the Folsom Quilt Guild produced a raffle quilt from the same pattern, and sold copies for $50, but they do not offer it any more. It is obviously an ambitious quilt to make, but many quilts have since been created with the Woman's Day pattern.

I feel fortunate to have an original pattern from the Woman's Day offering - the poor thing is yellowed and falling apart at the folds - but well loved, and actually used to make quilts today.

 

 

Happy Stitching!

Barbara M. Burnham

(c) 2012 Barbara M. Burnham. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any kind is expressly prohibited without prior written authorization.