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D2007-CMD-0142
Quilt, Pieced Flying Geese
D2007-CMD-0142

Quilt, Pieced Flying Geese

Date1842-1860
Artist/Maker Deborah Middleton Parry (1830-1904)
OriginAmerica, New Jersey, Burlington County
MediumCottons
Dimensions92 3/4" x 99 1/2" (236 x 253 cm)
Credit LineGift of Dr. & Mrs. Paul Middleton
Object number1986.609.22
DescriptionThis is a large pieced quilt constructed in the Flying Geese pattern, consisting of a pieced top, lining, batting, and edging. A total of 1,319 pieces of cotton in various printed patterns including checked and striped shirting material were used in the construction of the pieced top. The design consists of an outer border on both sides and bottom of vertical paisley stripes extending the height of the quilt in colors of red, blue, cream, and ochre. This border surrounds an inner block with eleven vertical rows of stacked triangular elements made of various printed fabrics in shades of brown and tan predominating. The triangles are surrounded by a contrasting background. These rows are separated by ten rows of undulating floral stripes of green, blue, red, pink, and yellow sashing. It is backed in cotton printed in a tiny leaf pattern and bound with folded one-inch-wide striped, twill-woven tape. It is quilted in figure eights and parallel ones in 7 running stitches per inch.
Label TextPieced triangles lined up in perfectly straight rows recall the appearance of geese in flight in this quilt. According to family history written on a slip of paper pinned to the quilt, it was begun by Deborah Middleton Parry when she was a twelve-year-old girl in 1842. If the tradition is correct, the quilt must have been finished some years later, as some of the textiles-including the paisley border pattern-appear closer to the 1860s.


MarkingsPaper card that accompanied quilt has hand-written ink description: "This large quilt made by Gt. Aunt Deborah Parry (1830-1904) when she was a girl. Probably completed about 1842."
ProvenanceThe quilt is said to have been made by Deborah Parry (1830-1904). Deborah Parry was once thought to appear in a late-1850s family group portrait, labeled by a later ancestor, "Deborah Parry/ Daughter Caroline Folwell/ Amy's Sister/ Amy B./ Joel H./ Middleton/ Pauls Great Great Grandparents/ Middleton--Donor". See copy of picture and label in file 1986.609.22. The woman in the portrait is now believed to be Phoebe Ann Carleton of Frankfort, Maine. According to genealogical records, Deborah Middleton Parry apparently grew up and lived in Chesterfield and Crosswicks, Burlington County, New Jersey. Her husband was Wilson Parry (1815-1886). The quilt descended through Deborah's brother's family until it became a gift to the museum by Dr. and Mrs. Paul Middleton.