Object Record
Images
Additional Images [8]
Metadata
Collection |
Porcella, Yvonne |
Object Name |
Quilt |
Title |
Halloween Quilt |
Other Name |
Rainbow Around the World |
Year Range from |
1935 |
Year Range to |
1945 |
Description |
The quilt is composed entirely of one inch squares set straight but creating a diagonal pattern of multicolored pastels with a series of cream squares also on the diagonal, each of which are surrounded by a row of black and a row of orange squares with cream setting triangles around each cream block. This is a seven row Irish chain variation pattern. The border is five stripes of solid color: white, black, bright orange, white and a lighter orange. The quilt is finished with black prairie points around all four edges. Quilting surrounds two sides of some patches and goes diagonally through the center of others, forming chevrons in the pieced blocks with the centers in the centers of the blocks. The hand quilting is 8 stitches to the inch. The cream squares are quilted with feather wreaths. In the borders the two white stripes are quilted with a double row of clamshells. The black border is simply quilted along the edges, as is the outer pale orange stripe. The bright orange stripe is quilted with a single chain. All of the fabrics appear to be cotton dress prints of the 1920s and 1930s. A date of the later 1930s is suggested by the dominant black and orange colors. The back is cream cotton, with an applied muslin sleeve. A black fabric label with a white grid is stitched to the lower left corner. Each letter is written in one square of the grid with a silver pen: "Halloween Quilt From the Collection of Yvonne Porcella" This is followed by her address. In her book "Arts and Inspiration", page 127, this quilt is shown on the bed in Porcella's guest bedroom. |
Provenance |
Merikay Waldvogel donated this quilt to TQHF for the It's an Honor to Honor the Honorees! exhibit, held in 2018, with this explanation: "The quilt I’ve chosen for the exhibit is one that was owned by Yvonne Porcella (TQHF honoree!). She gave it to me in 2006 because I found the source of the 1930s pattern: "Rainbow Around the World." She told me this quilt had an impact on her quiltmaking. She did not know who made the quilt. "Yvonne Porcella, of course, was known for her distinctive style: bold colors, squares on diagonal, and prairie points inserted inside the quilt. She called this 1930s quilt "My Halloween Quilt" for obvious reasons. In 1983, she was invited to show a quilt that had an influence on her work along with a current quilt. The exhibit "Influences" was co-curated by Barbara Brackman (TQHF honoree!) and held at the Spencer Art Museum in Lawrence, Kansas. "As a quilt historian, I document as much information as possible especially for those quilts whose quiltmakers’ names are not known. I found an ad for this quilt project in Household Magazine (Topeka, KS) in April 1934. [see clipping]. I call it a "project" because it came with a pattern sheet and a bundle of assorted scraps. Other companies published similar layouts: Mary McElwain (Quilt of a Thousand Prints), Mickey Cut-to-Size Quilt Patches (Steps to the Flower Garden) and Mrs. Danner’s Quilts (Steps to the Altar). "When I shared this information with Yvonne, she decided to give me this quilt. I chose it for this exhibit because I think it represents my quilt journey that continues to this day—preserving women’s history through the stories quilts can tell. This means saving not only the quilts, but also the "paper." I save it because you never know when the connections will be made." |
Artist |
Unknown |
Dimensions |
H-102.5 W-85 inches |
People |
Porcella, Yvonne Waldvogel, Merikay |
Source |
Waldvogel, Merikay |
Object ID |
2019.010.001 |