Our antique quilt raffle was held at the NVGS Holiday Reception on December 11, 2024. NVGS member Loretta M. was the lucky winner! The antique quilt from Depression-era New England will soon settle in her home in northern California.
Kept with love, the quilt was in NVGS President Mark Perkins' family for nearly a century. The name of the artist is not known for certain. She was one of several women living in Massachusetts or Maine. We do know her heritage stemmed from the British Isles.
If you look closely at the quilt, you will notice successive rows built around a single square in the center. This design, called Around the World, found favor with quilters during the Depression because it could be made with small pieces of fabric. Scrap quilts enabled their makers to avoid the cost of expensive fabrics.
The other feature that makes this quilt unique is the size of the finished squares. While traditional finished squares in this pattern measure 1 inch, this quilter produced finished squares of 1/2 inch! Experienced quilters have marveled at the time and persistence it took to create this stunning work.
Loretta thrilled to hear she won this special quilt, particularly because she can trace her ancestry to the area where the quilt originated. We congratulate her, and thank everyone who has supported NVGS in our 50th anniversary year.
