Images(2)

Quilt, Worsted Central Star

Date1800-1825

MediumWorsted wool face; woolen, linen, and cotton backings; woolen batting; wool quilting threads; linen piecing threads (by microscope and lab).

DimensionsOW: 85"; OL: 86".

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1952-345

DescriptionThis is a square quilt pieced of pink, green, and brown plain-woven glazed worsted with a single 8-pointed star at the center, surrounded by a zig-zag inner border and an outer solid brown border. The wool quilting is worked 4 to 6 running stitches per inch in dark pink, green, and tan, depending on the color of the ground fabric on which the quilting is worked. The quilting conforms to the piecing, with additional motifs consisting of a round medallion at the center of the star, pineapples, and leaves within the star block. The narrow inner border is quilted with an oval two-line cable. The wider outer border is quilted with an undulating leafy vine on all four sides with isolated leaves in the corners and centers of the sides. The quilt's backing is composed of several different striped textiles of blue, natural, and brown stripes woven in plain weave of woolen, linen, and cotton. The batting, or filling, is wool. The edges are bound with green wool twill tape. Later patches of wool form repairs to the backing and binding.
Label TextStar Pattern Wool Pieced Quilt
Maker unidentified
America, probably New York or New England, 1800–1825
Wool, linen, cotton
86 x 85 in. (218 x 216 cm)
4–6 running stitches per inch
Museum Purchase, 1952-345
When designing pieced objects, most quilters combined numerous small shapes to form repeated motifs, such as squares or stars. In this unusual and richly colored worsted quilt, a single bold eight-pointed star is centered in the field surrounded by large-scale pieced zigzags. Although the quilting follows the pieced outlines of the star pattern, the large plain blocks are filled with cables, vines, and undulating leaves. The quilt is backed with an assemblage of homespun striped textiles, some woven with linen warps and wool wefts, or linsey-woolsey. One of the backings also has cotton woven in one direction. Although the quilt came from a New York vendor, no history was known or related at the time.