Housetop Sampler by Maker once known

Keep scrolling down for a closer look at the quilt. ↓

In addition to Housetop medallions, this quilt contains many blocks that demonstrate knowledge of patterns like Birds in the Air:

Egg Timer,

Pinwheel,

and an unfinished Sawtooth star.

The maker may have been combining such a diverse array of patchwork as a display of mastery, but she was also preoccupied with the cohesion of the piece: wide blocks of denim and a rose-pink polka-dot fabric punctuate the blocks throughout the composition—a demonstration of how design was as much a consideration as utility and how the maker’s knowledge of patterns mixed with improvisational aesthetics.

Although this quilt is in excellent condition given its age, it contains many areas of structural damage that were supported during conservation using overlays of fine nylon mesh that are dyed to match the fabric and are nearly invisible. The navy blue patch with diagonal stripes is, for instance, now overlaid with mesh.

Maker once known, Housetop Sampler, 1910s–1920s, cotton, 68 × 62 inches, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, gift of Corrine Riley on the occasion of Collectors Evening 2017, 2017.182.