Quilt, Pieced Four Patch on Point

Date1835-1850

MediumPlain and printed cottons

DimensionsOH 81 1/2 X OW 70 1/4" (206 x 178 cm)

Credit LineBequest of Grace Hartshorn Westerfield

Object number1974-358

DescriptionThis is a pieced quilt in a design of "four patch on point" with blue-ground floral print between each pieced block. The quilt is pieced from eight-inch squares. The blue-ground print is block-printed in a floral design of roses in madder reds, with penciled blue and yellow and overprinted green leaves. The four-patch blocks are pieced from polychrome roller-printed cottons in small-scale repeated florals and plaids. The quilt is backed in natural-color plain-woven cotton and has a knife-edge finish at the top and sides. The bottom is bound in a folded one-inch twill-woven, brown-striped tape. The bedcover is quilted in 9 running stitches per inch in a pattern of interlocking circles that form an Orange Peel pattern.Label TextThe unknown maker of this quilt used a simple four-patch design and turned it on point to create diamonds. The quilt is given a sense of lively color through the use of a brilliant lapis blue and pink floral print for the blocks between the patch designs.

Four patch is the simplest of pieced quilt patterns and often was the first block that a young quilter made. Nothing is known of the maker of this quilt.Inscription(s)No inscriptions.Mark(s)No marks.ProvenanceThe qult is from the estate of Mrs. Jason Westerfield. No further provenance is known.