The Midwest Fabric Study Group gathered at the home of Katha Kievit in Maineville, Ohio, on Sunday, September 19th to study doll and children's quilts. There were thirteen people in attendance with three of them being new to our group. We began our day with lunch and rounded out our meals with a wonderful "chocolate course." This luscious course featured decoratively iced brownies provided by the Kievit girls and Linda Pumphrey's contribution of chocolate pudding brownies complete with whipped cream!

Our appetites fully satisfied Amy Korn led us into our study of children's quilts and doll quilts. We began our day with a nine patch worked in a variety of blues. This piece dated to 1895 -96 and came from Liberty Center, Ohio.

One member brought a machine quilted doll quilt made from several indigoes and shirting prints circa 1900. Another member brought two sweet little doll quilts she purchased at a doll show. We saw an Amish wool and cotton doll quilt that was machine quilted. It was made by Sara Christner Miller in 1910 - 15 near Shipshewana, Indiana.

Our next piece was an interesting 1890s medallion style mix of star blocks, nine patches, and various fabric scraps. The stars were arranged in the center to form the medallion with two sides framed in a double pink strip and the alternating two sides with an indigo strip. The next round featured nine patch blocks alternating with a square. It appeared to have been someone's clever use of orphan blocks.

We saw a comfort cover that was two sided. One side had rows of multi-color scrap squares set with a chrome yellow and red print stip. The reverse side was made up of several scrap square rows set side running through the middle. The two outer sides were made up of wider strips of the yellow print. There was evidence that this had once been tied judging from the holes and remnants of string still in some of them.

We saw a variety of 30s, 40s, and 50s quilts, several being kit quilts. One member even brought two kits still containing the fabrics, floss, and instructions! We saw a 1945 lambs kit that was made by a member's mother in law. It was well loved and a little faded but still wonderful. A top was shared that was made up of Dolly Dingle/Campbell kids style pre-printed squares ready to embroider and solid blue squares. This same blue could also be seen in another top featuring Nancy Page cats, affectionately referred to as feral cats. Another printed top we saw was manufactured by Royal Society Floss/Virginia Snow Studios in Elgin, Il. The top was called "The Animals go Two by Two." It had pre-colored printed giraffes, bears, elephants, pigs, the ark, and even Noah with his wife. Along the same line, we saw a top with accompanying pillow case from the 1930s that had a circus theme that was appliquéd and embroidered.

One quilt that sparked some interesting discussion was a 1930s Puss in Boots that had a silk tag sewn into the binding. The tag read "Galante, Hardinsburg, KY." We suspect Galante was an Italian worker who worked for Eleanor Beard before opening his own studio. Anyone have any further thoughts on this on?

We saw a couple of pretty pink crib sized quilts. One featuring a very refined looking Sue with a Grandmother Clark quilting design stitched into the border. The second one was a maypole quilt that featured quilted ribbons radiating from the center to each set of dancer's hands in the appliquéd border.

We also saw a pair of quilts made from Vogue patterns in the 1970s. We were told both were tied as the maker didn't want to quilt them. One was done in the shape of a duck holding an umbrella and its companion was done in the shape of a red barn with green grass and a brown lane.

We saw two quilts that had pink striped blankets inside used as batting. When we held them up to the light you could really see the stripes! The first one was an Amish crib size quilt made up of pastel leaves. It was made in Howard County, Indiana, by Sylvia Hostetler Troyer in 1938. The second a bow tie quilt done in the late 40s or early 50s that was pieced by the grandmother and quilted by the member's mother. These quilts sparked a conversation about the usage of flannel blankets as batting and whether this was common practice.

Once we finished up with the crib quilts we opened the table up to show and tell. One member shared a newly acquired full size quilt made up of tiny nine patch blocks sashed with red print. Each corner stone featured an appliquéd flower shape done in reds and greens. The wide border was done in "that green" we see so often in quilts from the 1870s and1880s.

One of our guests wowed us with a quilt that was made for the Creola County, Ohio, postmistress upon her retirement in 1988. Each square in the quilt featured an historic event in postal history. The center rectangle featured a poem. The entire quilt was hand appliquéd, embroidered, and quilted. I have offered to make a label for the back of the quilt detailing all the known information and another member has volunteered to photograph each block.

One of our newly certified appraisers brought a group of quilts to sell for one of her clients. The family states that theses quilts were all from the same maker or at least from the same branch of the family. Four of our lucky members got to make new additions to their collections.

One of the quilts to find a new home was a pineapple log cabin done in wools and suitings. Another was a rather large postage stamp quilt from the 40s or 50s with each block being no bigger than the quarter. My favorite was an appliquéd full sized quilt with red and green basket blocks. Each block had red and chrome yellow flowers coming out of it in place of the usual handle. The quilting on this quilt was a real treat with lots of grid quilting offsetting the feathered wreaths.

Our next meeting will be the weekend of November 20-21 at the Frederick Talbott Inn in Fishers, Indiana. Our topics for the weekend will be on feedsacks and organizing your study materials. Submitted by Lisa Portwood.