Album Quilt Top finished

Just in time for Saturday's quilting demonstration at Bloomington Heritage Days!  It was a real 'nose to the grindstone' week here pulling together the reproduction of the 1893 Album Quilt which is in the Bloomington Historical Society collection.  But, this afternoon the top is finished.  And photographed!

It will be a wonderful hands-on kind of quilt to use when I talk about the original and the stories of the women whose names appear on the quilt.

In addition to the names on the quilt, I have also added married names and birth/death dates if I could find them.  Eventually I'll embroider on any last bits of information I find and then quilt it with Baptist fans - like the original.

Next step is to empty out my quilt chest and fill it with the quilts I plan to take to the demonstration.  I'll be there from 11-6, so stop in if you're in the area!

Linking up on Friday with Sarah and Amanda Jean.  Don't you love seeing what other quilters have been up to this week?

Album Quilt blocks coming along...

This week I've been working on the album blocks for a reproduction of the 1893 'Indian's Womens Missionary Society' Quilt in the Bloomington, MN Historical Society Museum.  Heritage Days is coming up quickly on Sept. 21 and I'd like to have the top finished for a hands-on display.   Obviously the original fabric prints aren't available, but I've tried to come close whenever possible.

Here's what I have so far....

blues

greens and brown

reds

The next step will involve more research on the computer.   In addition to their English name I'd like to add birth and death dates for each of the women and men, and their Dakota name if I can find it.  The original has names written in ink, but I will use the embroidery feature on my sewing machine.  I've had ink bleed into fabrics before, and want to make sure the writing is clear and legible.

So, hours at the computer next week after the holiday.  Then comes embroidery, trimming, sashing and assembling the top.  Think I can get it all done by the 20th?

Linking up to share the finished blocks with Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Album Quilt: Gertie Simmons

It has been a long time since the last blog post.  It has been a busy summer with quite a few out-of-town guests staying with us, and my sewing machine has been put away for some time.

Still, I've had quilting on my mind.  In every free moment I've been researching the names on the Album Quilt at the Bloomington Historical Society.  Imagine my surprise to find the name of this young woman.



Gertie Simmons block - Indian's Womens Miss. Society  Presbyterian Church
1893 Yankton Agency S.D.
Album Quilt - Bloomington Historical Society

  This young woman went on to become a well-known Native American Author, Founder of the National Council of American Indians, and advocate of Indian rights.  She was a talented musician as well, and even collaborated to write an Opera in 1913.  Here I was looking at the names in the local Greenwood, SD Presbyterian Cemetery - and to find out she's buried in Arlington National Cemetery!
Here's where you can read about Gertrude Simmons (Zitkala-Sa) .  Her mother Ellen Simmons also has her name on one of the blocks in this quilt.

1893 Album Quilt

All week I've been side tracked by the Indians Women's Missionary Society Album Quilt that is in the collection of the Bloomington MN Historical Society.  I seem drawn back to the computer like a magnet to search just one more name out.  Then you should hear me Whoop Whoop when I find someone.

Yesterday I made a replica of the title quilt block.  It's too large, and I'll have to make another one starting with smaller blocks, but it turned out well.  The edges are nearly all bias, and I used a trick from garment sewing called 'stay stitching'.  I carefully straight stitched around the edges to keep them from stretching.  I may need to use fabric starch on the muslin squares if I decide to make a reproduction for the Historical Society fundraiser.  I think this single block would be nice for a throw pillow.

Most of the signatures are those of Native American women from Wahehe, S.D. many of whom were married to Canadian Frenchmen.  Names also include Presbyterian Missionary J.P.Williamson and his wife, the Native American pastor and his wife, and missionary women who were school teachers in the Mission School.  One document I found mentioned how this Women's Missionary Society supported the work of the Mission 'with their needles' and brought in half the yearly income for the mission. 

The quilt was donated to the Historical Society by the Pond family, one of the earliest families in Bloomington.  Edward and Mary Frances Pond were missionaries with Rev. Williamson in South Dakota at one time.  The signature of their daughter, Agnes Pond, is on the quilt.  The 1900 census has Mr. & Mrs. Pond back in Bloomington, MN but Agnes and her sister were still at the mission in South Dakota.  I wonder if this quilt was a going away gift to Mrs. Pond when she and her husband returned to Minnesota.

Exciting new project!



Log cabin variation: Blmgtn Historical Society



Yesterday I stopped by the Bloomington Historical Society to drop off a few things and on a whim asked about quilts in their collection.  What a find! 

The first quilt I saw was a delightful log cabin variation.  There is a half block at the end of every other row, so the blocks do not line up across.   I love the reds and pinks that flow throughout the quilt.

But the quilt that totally caught my interest was a lovely Album Quilt dated 1893.  The center block has the name Agnes Pond, who was from an early Bloomington family, and went to serve in South Dakota as a missionary.  The quilt was made by the women in her mission and given to her as a gift.


Agnes Pond Album Quilt: Blmgtn Historical Society


Another block is penned with the words:
Indian Women's Missionary Society
Presbyterian Church
1893 Yankton, S.D.

Each block has a name written in the center.  What lovely penmanship!

Who were these women?  Why was the quilt made?  I took quite a few photos, and we wrote down the names as best we could decipher them.  Off I went on a mission!  Could I find the women on the internet using a geneology web site? 

I couldn't stop looking, and one exciting find led to another!  The women are all from South Dakota, and most were Native American.  I found many in the 1900 census, and more in the land ownership records.   According to the 1900 census, most of the women could not read , write, or even speak English.  But here are their names, recorded for us to find over 100 years later.  There are also two men listed who were missionaries. 

I hate to set it aside for the weekend, but next week I'll be hot on the trail again.  What interesting discoveries lie ahead?



Indian Women's Miss. Society block