Quilt

Object/Artifact

-

Vermont Historical Society

quilt

Name/Title

Quilt

Entry/Object ID

2002.1.1

Description

Paper-pieced quilt in the pattern Grandmother's Flower Garden. The design consists of small hexagons forming flowers. Each flower has an orange center, with the "petals" made of printed cottons in various colors. Each is then bordered by a row of white, and they are held together by hexagons in plain green. The same green is made into a border around the whole quilt, and is quilted into a feather design. Both the piecing and quilted are handstitched.

Context

Made by Frances Slater Russo for her neighbor

Acquisition

Accession

2002.1

Source or Donor

Hanson, Rosina

Acquisition Method

Purchase

Made/Created

Artist

Russo, Frances Slater

Date made

1932

Place

State/Province

Vermont

Country

United States of America

Continent

North America

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Quilt

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Needlework

Nomenclature Class

Art

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Overall

Height

90 in

Width

80 in

Material

Cotton

Interpretative Labels

Label

Quilt, 1932 Frances Slater Russo Rutland, VT Cotton "Grandmother's Flower Garden" was one of the most popular patterns of the early 20th century, but even so this quilt is a particularly beautiful example of the form. Looking closely, you can see that each tiny hexagon has been handstitched. Francis Russo worked as a seamstress during the Great Depression, and earned ten cents an hour doing that work. She made this quilt for a neighbor, and earned $100 for it. At her previous rate, that would mean she spent a thousand hours working on the quilts, which is easy to believe.