Velvet "Sunburst" Quilt (Fan Design)
Datec. 1900
DimensionsOverall: 139.7 x 180.3 cm
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Irene Cushman, 1976
Object number1976.062.003
Label TextDonor Irene Cushman explained that her grandmother, Elisabeth Macgregor (1844-1915), made this fan spread, and that her dressmaker mother, Margaret (1875-1958), provided some of the fabrics. Many are silk velvets. Once only available to the wealthy, these fabrics became affordable with the growth of the American silk weaving industry in the 1870s and 1880s. Macgregor’s choice of these fabrics to construct the fan pattern illustrates a change in taste occurring at the end of the 19th century. Women still admired the effect of the silks but they preferred the simplicity of the fan pattern to the complexity of the crazy quilt pattern.
To finish this spread, Macgregor tied the two layers together with red thread at the bottom right-hand corner of each block. She used the same red thread to embroider a feather stich around the base of the blades.
NameQuilt
CopyrightPhoto Credit: Alex Walker
January 1891
Newcombe, Mrs, Kent County
c. 1863
c. 1907
c. 1904
