Object Record
Images
Additional Images [9]
Metadata
Collection |
Ickis, Marguerite |
Object Name |
Quilt |
Title |
Fan Medallion |
Date |
/ / |
Year Range from |
1935 |
Year Range to |
1945 |
Description |
Dramatic quilt in satins and velvets comprised of multicolored fans on a black velvet background. A) Black satin background with fan blades made of various shades of red, yellow, blue, magenta, purple and pink, satins, velvets and crepes. All solids, no prints. The batting is a very thin sheet cotton. Quilt is pieced, appliqued and quilted by hand. The backing is a dark green moire taffeta, pieced by hand. Black cotton sleeve and muslin label. Applied straight grain binding of black satin. Binding is attached by machine and sewn down by hand. Twelve fan blocks, 15" to 15 1/2" square, are arranged medallion format. Four fans joined at the base in the center of the quilt create a circular focus. Two fans joined at one edge are arranged at top, bottom and both sides. Fan blades are curved at the end, and the base features reverse applique with an open center. Fan blades vary in length from approximately 8" to 9". Fans are appliqued overall and are not set into seamlines at the edge. Quilt has 16 blocks, set 4 across and 4 down, separated by lengthwise black sashing of 6". The features, color scheme, and arrangement give the quilt an "art deco" flair. For the quilting, there are feathered wreaths in large plain areas. Each fan blade has one line of quilting running through center lengthwise. One row of stitching follows shape of applique. Eight petal floral motif on triangular ground between applique blocks. Heavily feathered vine on sashing. Quality of quilting is good. Stitch is even and small. Thread is black overall. Coverage is moderate on applique but more dense in the sashing and solid areas. B through AU) Fabric scraps left over from the making of the quilt. |
Provenance |
Quilt was made by Marguerite Ickis (1897-1980). Ms Ickis related that the quilt was created from pieces of costume fabric from plays made possible by the WPA Federal Theatre Project, for whom she was a consultant. The Library of Congress American Memory website states: "The Federal Theatre Project was the largest and most ambitious effort mounted by the Federal Government to organize and produce theater events. It was an effort of the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to provide work for unemployed professionals in the theater during the Great Depression which followed the stock market crash of October 1929. The Federal Theatre Project was one of four (subsequently five) arts-related projects called Federal Project Number One, established under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during Roosevelt's first term. The WPA was created through Executive Order No 7034 issued on May 6, 1935. The FTP was administered from Washington, D.C., but its many companies stretched the full breadth of the Nation. It functioned from 1935 to 1939 when its funding was terminated. In that brief period, it was responsible for some of the most innovative staging of its time. FTP came to an end on June 30, 1939 when its funding was terminated. In the course of its existence, the FTP was responsible for hundreds of stage productions, both of classics and new plays written for the FTP, mounted in cities across the nation. The FTP is the only instance in which the Federal government was directly responsible for the production and administration of stage work on a large scale." Marguerite Ickis was inducted into The Quilters Hall of Fame in 1979. Information available on the Quilter's Hall of Fame website states the following: "She proudly revealed that she had 'lived nine lives'. She was a botanist, worked for the Girl Scouts, was an editor, a dean, writer, quilter, researcher, ran an inn and restaurant and upon retirement became a painter of real life scenes." One of Ms Ickis' most well known endeavors, and one if the major reasons for her inclusion in the Hall of Fame, is her book, The Standard Book of Quilt Making and Collecting, published in 1949. It was reprinted in 1959 by Dover Publications Company and has consistently been a best seller. Ms Ickis wrote many other books on arts and crafts including, but not limited to: The Book of Festival Holidays (1964) The Book of Arts and Crafts (1976) Working in Plastics (1947) Directions for Knotted and Braided Rugs (1941) The Book of Patriotic Holidays (1962) Handicrafts and Hobbies for Pleasure and Profit (1948) The Book of Christmas (1968) Folk Art and Crafts (1958) The Book of Games and Entertainment the World Over (1962) |
Artist |
Ickis, Marguerite |
Artist Role |
Quiltmaker |
Dimensions |
H-73.5 W-62 inches |
People |
Ickis, Marguerite |
Relation |
Show Related Records... |
Source |
Turnbow, Holice |
Subjects |
Fan Pieced Appliqued |
Object ID |
2004.001.001 |