 
The Presbyterian Ladies of Oak Ridge, Missouri
Oak Ridge, Missouri 1897–1898
Cotton with cotton embroidery
74 1/2 x 90 1/2 in.
American Folk Art Museum, gift of Beverly Walker Reitz in memory of Vest Walker, |
Subscrption Quilts
In the middle of the nineteenth century, it was common for women to make signature quilts for charitable purposes. For a specified payment, often a dime, quiltmakers would ink or embroider the names of donors onto the top of a quilt. The finished quilt might be given to a distinguished person in the community or the quilt could be auctioned or raffled to raise more funds. These quilts were often indistinguishable from other album or friendship quilts. By the 1880s, however, a distinctive style of fund-raising signature quilt developed—such as this Schoolhouse Quilt Top—which employed simple patterns, often in only two colors (blue and white and red and white were popular combinations) and were literally covered with names. For many quiltmakers, the fund-raising aspects of making a signature quilt evidently had become more important than the aesthetic considerations.
[Source: Folk Art Museum] |
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