Quilt, appliqued

American quilts were created in large numbers throughout the nineteenth century, though predominating styles changed with each decade. After the 1880s surge of decorative but impractical silk and velvet crazy quilts, the fashion for quilt making waned—but not for long. The 1910s and 20s saw the rise of the Colonial Revival, and with it, the renewed interest in quilt making, as it was mistakenly thought of as a colonial craft.

Marie D. Webster (1859-1956) designed this Poppy pattern for women to make into a quilt for their home. It is an interesting combination the Arts and Crafts style, Art Nouveau, and Colonial Revival style. It was one of eight designs she published in Ladies Home Journal in 1911 and 1912. These patterns proved so popular that Webster opened a mail order business out of her Marion, Indiana home to provide quilt making kits for fifty cents apiece. The kits included full directions about how to make the quilt, templates for cutting out the designs, a picture of the finished quilt, fabric swatches for color inspiration, and full size pattern placement guides. These kits were such a success that in the 1920s she formed the Practical Patchwork Company, which in addition to patterns also provided basted together quilts that the home quilter only needed to permanently stitch down and then quilt. The company even sold completely finished quilts made by women in Webster’s home town, in keeping with the movement towards craft cottage industries at that time, when women wanted to be able to earn money, but were often untrained to work in the professional job market.

It is hard to know which category this particular Poppy quilt fits into—pattern, pre-basted, or cottage industry-made. Nonetheless, in addition to its most attractive design, and the skill with which it was sewn by whomever made it, it is the first Webster quilt to enter our collection, and one of only two or three pieces that represent the Colonial Revival moment (see also 2014.620 and 1971.180.126). Webster’s story is iconic, and in 1915 she went on to be the first person to write a book about the history of American quilts called Quilts: Their Story and How to Make Them. Though not particularly accurate by today’s standards, it inspired others to study and write about quilts as an American art form.