Block-Style Quilts 250 Years Ago

Charlotte Merritt Roe (1774-1836) was born in Rye, New York in Westchester County but made this Nine-Patch child's quilt after she moved west to Virgil in Cortland County in 1797.

The crib quilt was probably made for daughter Charlotte who only lived for a few weeks in September, 1806. The preserved quilt became a memorial.

Paducah Nine Patch

A 19th-century echo from Pat Speth

Today we make block quilts. When searching for an appropriate early American style to recreate for Democracy's 250th anniversary this year we might prefer a repeat block format to the medallion-style, central focus compositions shown at these earlier posts on period quilts.

Sorry, fans of the block quilt!  I cannot find any block-style quilts reliably attributed to 1776-1800, the first quarter century of American independence. Checking my picture files of date-inscribed quilts I do find some with a late-18th century date but now I am not so sure about the reliability of that date. For example:

I wonder if there is a big flaw in my reliance on date-inscribed pieces because the date on the quilt might not be when the patchwork was stitched. It might be the date on a pre-existing backing or supporting fabric. In the Nace Nine-Patch here an old linen sheet was likely trimmed and saved in the backing. That cross stitch inscription in red above is the typical household linen marking stitch often seen on sheets as they were among the most valuable items in a household. Marking sheets with cross stitch embroidery and a date and/or number was considered good housekeeping.

Embroidered block quilt with the date 1783 on the face

Julie Silber Inventory

But......

We have a piece of recycled needlework with the date of the earlier embroidery rather than of the patchwork.

Crosstitched "Amy Perry" and dated 1816
From dealer GBBest on eBay

Hard to read. Has the original inscription on a piece of needlework been altered?

The most reliable date is one on the front of the quilt, stitched to be seen

as in this star quilt dated in the center block

H Werner

1807

Debby Cooney showed the quilt in a 2017 program.

Lori Lee Triplett sent the photo.

I can't find out much about H Werner---Hannah? Werner

New England records included a lot of Hannah's of an age to make 

such a quilt thirty or so years after our Independence.

Another date that may be reliable as it's the focus of the face of the quilt:

"Ann Thankful Mathewson

1815"

Collection of the Rhode Island School of Design 

This nine-patch is the earliest dated block-style quilt the Rhode Island project recorded.

 

From the collection of the late Trish and Donald Herr

Barbara Schenken 1814

(Date on front or back?)

Trish wrote a bit about it in the 1986 edition of the Oral Traditions series:

In the Heart of Pennsylvania, 19th and 20th Century Quiltmaking Traditions

A date in the quilting is usually reliable.

As in this 1816 nine patch that Susie Wimer saw in a museum

Now you have noticed that nearly every one of these block-style quilts

dated in the early 19th century is a nine patch.

A fashion or fad?

Teaching tool?

And a good illustration of the absence of block-style patterns in 18th-century America.

See more of the same at this post:

https://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-classic-early-american-quilt.html