Puzzles & Games

  1

fShare

Tweet

This large hand pieced, appliqued, and embroidered quilt created by Mildred Jacob Chappell in 1931-2, depicts the settling of the west.  It has an embroidered salute to the pioneers who settled the countryside calling them "indomitable and unafraid."  Everyone from Lewis and Clark to Geronimo are depicted in this imaginative quilt, Settling the West.  Mildred's love for the Old West earned her many accolades including success at the Century of Progress national competition in 1933.

Mildred added an inscription to the back of the quilt which reads,

I, Mildred Jacob Chappell, made this quilt as a labor of love.  Love for the 'Old West' as I have known it in history and books.  Love of the "New West' as I have known it in travel.  My only regret is that I could not have lived one hundred years earlier to experience those stirring times, instead of only having made this quilt to commemorate them.

West1 - 100 pieces - non-rotating

West2 - 72 pieces - rotating

  3

fShare

Tweet

Therese May made this quilt in 1969.  It is 72" x 90" and is made up of cotton, machine pieced and appliqued, and then tied with yarn. It is the Therese Quilt.  The Therese Quilt uses self-portraits and photography to create the overall picture.  Each roughly-cut patch is appliqued onto the quilt.  According to The Twentieth Century's Best American Quilts from C&T Publishing, this quilt shows "the early style of a university-trained fine artist who devoted her art career to making quilts which flaunt "imperfect workmanship" to emphasize spontaneity and passion rather than control and precision."  

Therese was responsible for much of the embellishment movement in quilting and helped promote the idea that anything goes.  For her, it was more about the creation of the art than the perfect workmanship. Perhaps this is something we should all keep in mind when our points aren't always perfect.

Therese1 - 90 pieces non-rotating

Therese2 - 70 pieces rotating

  1

fShare

Tweet

Dr. Jeannette Dean Throckmorton was quite a lady. Born in 1883 she graduated from medical school and went on to receive degrees from three other universities. In 1938 she was listed in Who's Who Among Physicians and Surgeons. She was also the medical librarian for the Iowa State Medical Library for 35 years. Dr. Throckmorton was known for stuffed and corded applique.  While she used the quilt kits of the time, her skill level propelled them above the ordinary. She used the "quilt-as-you-go" method and made many, many quilts and gave away so many quilts that she eventually lost track. Enjoy this bit of Sunflower color on a dreary winter day.

If you are having trouble finding pieces, you'll need to check under the menu and sometimes you'll have to move the whole puzzle to check underneath.

Sunflower1 - 90 pieces non-rotating

Sunflower2 - 80 pieces rotating

  0

fShare

Tweet

The top 100 puzzle this week is an applique masterpiece by Wisconsin quilter, Charlotte Jane Whitehill.  It was made in 1930 and was quilted by an "unknown" quilter.  Indiana Wreath measures 90" x 90"  Charlotte came to quilting a bit later in life. Born in 1866, she made her first quilt in 1929.  For the next fifteen years or so, she appliqued 35 quilts and pieced at least 2.  According to Barbara Brackman, the Indiana Wreath design was quite popular after many women saw a similar quilt in Marie Webster's 1915 book, Quilts: Their Story and How to Make Them.

Wreath1 - 81 pieces non-rotating

Wreath2 - 80 pieces rotating

(Please ignore the yellowing in the white background fabric, that is unfortunately a problem with the original photograph and is not part of the quilt.)

  1

fShare

Tweet

Myrtle Melvins Fortner completed The Matterhorn in 1934.  It is a large quilt, 95" x 105".  She used hand-dyed and commercial cottons.  It is hand pieced and quilted.  Myrtle was quite a lady, after losing everything in the early 1930s, she moved to the California desert and built a house with her own hands.

While she made a living painting canvases and china plates, she spent years working on this quilt.  The Matterhorn is based on photographs that Myrtle had from her niece's trip to Switzerland.  There are 9,153 1" square pieces.  Once it was finished, she hung it in her home and covered it with curtains to protect it from light.

Matterhorn1 - 80 pieces - non-rotating

Matterhorn2 - 80 pieces - rotating