Quilt
PeriodCirca 1930-1940
Place MadeKeyport area, New Jersey, U.S.A.
MediumCotton
Dimensions86 × 67 in. (218.4 × 170.2 cm)
ClassificationsQuilts and Coverlets
Credit LineGift of Elizabeth Errickson Walling, 2009
Object number2025.504
DescriptionA pieced quilt in the Grandmother's Fan pattern, entirely hand sewn and quilted, of variety of brightly colored cotton prints in shades of pink, yellow, blue, green, lilac, and red with sky blue fan bases, on plain white cotton ground. Plain white cotton backing, narrow sky blue binding, and thin cotton batting. Quilting is large stitched outline.Curatorial RemarksPieced and appliqued quilts of the 1920s and 1930s are often easily recognizable for the cheerful color palette and certain popular patterns. While often grouped together as "Depression Era quilts," these quilts date to the early 1920s. With the introduction of loom and production equipment and processes in American cotton factories combined with improved dyes, fabric yard goods and inexpensive dresses were more readily available. Mail order catalogues such as Sears, Roebuck & Company allowed even those living in remote rural areas access to relatively affordable fabric and clothing. Simplified patterns for clothing were also readily available, with many women sewing clothes for themselves and their families. The resulting scraps were used in quilts, providing cheerful spots of color and warmth. Certain patterns which made good use of even the smallest scraps of fabric were highly popular, including Grandmother's Flower Garden, Sunbonnet Sue, LeMoyne Star, many variations of the traditional Irish Chain, and Grandmother's Fan.NotesDonor Elizabeth M. Errickson Walling (1932-2019) was a lifelong Keyport resident. Mrs. Walling worked as a teacher in the East Keyport School for more than forty years. Her father, Edward Errickson (1902-1993) was a Raritan Bay fisherman. Her mother, Theresa "Tressa" C. Shin Errickson, made most of the clothes for her daughters Betty Jane and Elizabeth. Elizabeth Walling noted that the quilts she donated to the Historical Association were all made by a Keyport neighbor, but did not recall the name. Several of the quilts in the donation were embroidered with the initials "D. G." Research is ongoing to identify this unknown but extremely talented Keyport quiltmaker.
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