Quilt, Star pattern

This is a blue and white cotton quilt with a pattern of five large eight-pointed stars, one in the center and one at each corner. Each star is made up of both large and small triangles of indigo-blue fabric printed with white stars. The backing is plain white woven cotton. There is a layer of cotton batting between the top and back layers The large white areas between the stars are quilted with wreaths with a square grid at their centers. Square-grid quilting also appears in the white border, and straight-line quilting is used in the pieced blocks. The quilt is hand pieced and hand quilted.

When the quilt entered the museum’s collection from the donors, a note attached to it stated: Quilt made by/ Eliza Smith Barber/ Mother of/ Henrietta Eleanor Barber Robinson. Eliza Smith Barber (1818-?) was the donors’ great-great-grandmother. She was married to George Barber (n.d.s.) and, in addition to daughters Henrietta and Margaret, the couple had a son named Ohio Columbus Barber (1841-1920), who was the proprietor of the Barber Match Company of Akron. In 1880, according to the census, Eliza was widowed and still living in Akron with her mother, Susan Welty.