"1909-Mary" continues to intrigue as I look closer and closer at the various fabrics it contains. (You can read my first three posts on the "excavation" of this "quilt inside a quilt" here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.
One block contains a piece of fabric that so greatly resembles the quilt pattern Pickle Dish that I immediately ran to my bookshelf to find a quilt of that same pattern.
Eventually I emailed quilt historian Barbara Brackman a photo of this fabric. She asked permission to use it in a blog article she was working on about the Pickle Dish pattern. I was very happy to share it!
You can read her article here. Barb's blog is one that you want to be reading regularly so add it to your favorite's list if you haven't done so already.
The next photo is a Pickle Dish quilt from a 2010 eBay Auction. Fabrics in this quilt probably range from 1890-1920. The seller said that it was made in the early 1900s.
.Detail of the above quilt.
Below is a photo of a Pickle Dish quilt from the Oklahoma quilt documentation book.
"Oklahoma Heritage Quilts", Editors: Jane Amstutz Harden and Pamela Frazee Woolbright. Published by the Oklahoma Quilt Heritage Project (1990). Photos by Gene and Patricia Higgins.
The Pickel Dish pattern is obvioulsy still popular as I continue to find them on the Internet. Here is one from the 1940s as seen on eBay recently.
"1909-Mary" may have a 1909 date on the back in ink, but it is looking more and more like the scrapbag from which it was made contained predominantly pre-1870 fabrics. Or maybe the blocks were made in the 1860s and put together towards the turn of the century? I can only make guesses at this point.
One of the definitive articles about this pattern has been written by quilt historian Wilene Smith. Be sure to take some time to explore her webiste thoroughly.
Enjoy your research adventures!
