HSTC Quilt Collection

HSTC Quilt Collection

Virtual Exhibit on our Website ONLY. These quilts are NOT on display in the museum
To see any of these quilts, contact our curator for a special appointment in our collection vault.

There's something appealing about quilts. They are soft, warm, colorful, homey, bright, beautiful, hand-made. Quilters compare quilts to music; the fabrics, colors, and designs blend together to create a melody that visually "sings".

Still popular in the 21st century, quilts evoke images of the historic past. Those that survive from earlier times tell us about women's lives, social customs, manufacturing, and trade.

Recently, the Bayside Quilters helped us catalog our collection of historic quilts. Quilting styles and patterns, fabrics, dyes, printing techniques, fillers, borders and edges, sizes and signatures are all clues that help identify and date quilts.

Here is a representative sampling of the Historical Society of Talbot County's quilts. They are an eye-catching selection of some of the region's most popular quilting styles and techniques.

Rose Applique Quilt
The colorful reds, greens, and the yellow center of the flowers stand out against the cream background of this appliqué quilt with a rose variation pattern.

Date: 1850 - 1860
Measurements: 97.5" x 102"
Historical Society of Talbot County Collections
1980.040.000001

The maker used reverse appliqué on the red roses, green stems and leaves, and carefully stitched outline quilting around flowers, leaves, and vines. Surveys of historic quilts have shown that the rose was one of the most popular appliqué patterns.

Baltimore Album Quilt

Date: 1840 - 1855
Measurements: 110" x 110"
Donated by: Mr. and Mrs. Charles D. Couch
1986.011.000001

This Baltimore-style Album Quilt is considered one of the finest quilts in the Society's collection. Baltimore Album Quilts were created in the mid 19th century, primarily in Baltimore and Maryland and represent the collaborative work of many women. Often they were given as gifts or to commemorate an event. According to the donor, the quilt was made for Methodist minister Rev. Edmund Leverage Hoffecker.

Closeup of this Baltimore Album Quilt's floral wreath motif.

The Rev. Hoffecker was married to Annie Stewart of Oxford and Bellevue, Talbot County, MD. The distinctive blue fondu fabric sashing helps us date this quilt to the 1840s. Appliqued blocks on this quilt include popular motifs such as floral wreaths, bouquets, stuffed grapes, pineapples, a butterfly, phoenix, cornucopias, harps, and a pieced Mariner's Compass.

Crazy Quilt

Date: 1870 - 1900
Measurements: 67" x 67"
Donated by: Mabel King, Easton, MD
1980.037.000001

This colorful piece of handwork is an excellent example of a very elaborate crazy quilt. Crazy quilts were a fad of the Victorian era. This multi-colored, multi-shaped silk and velvet quilt is

Detailed embroidery of a Kate Greenaway girl found in this crazy quilt.

embellished with decorative embroidery. Look closely and you will find embroidered angels, flowers, fans, crosses, little boys, and Kate Greenaway girls, as well as the maker's initials ADH or ADK.

Pieced Medallion Quilt

Date: 1835 - 1845
Measurements: 21" x 23"
Donated by: Elizabeth Earle, Miles River Neck Easton, MD
1962.041.000003

The madder brown, soft pink, umber brown and pink print fabrics were carefully pieced and appliquéd to create this early example of a doll's quilt. Although we don't know the (identity of the quilt maker, we know she was skilled by her tiny quilting stitches. 9-10 stitches per inch) The starburst medallion and dog-toothed borders indicate a Maryland influence.

Whole Cloth Quilt
This whole cloth quilt of brown and cream cotton toile dating to the first quarter of the nineteenth

Date: 1820 - 1830
Measurements: 92" x 101"
Historical Society of Talbot County Collections
1980.042.000001

century is one of the oldest in the Society's collection. Opulent floral designs cover the toile fabric. Otherwise simple, this quilt is made of one whole piece of fabric, with cotton batting and backing. The quilting forms a utilitarian diagonal grid pattern.

Goldsborough Quilt

Date: 1830 - 1840
Measurements: 81" x 81"
Donated by: Sara Bartlett
1990.013.000001

Colors burst forth on this pieced quilt in a pattern known as the Maryland Mathematical Star or starburst. This quilt was made by Maria Thomas Goldsborough (1807-1877) of Talbot County. In 1831 Maria married Samuel Dickinson, and moved to his family estate Crosiadore near Trappe, Maryland. A family heirloom, this quilt was passed down through generations of Dickinsons.

Signature Album Quilt

Date: 1850 - 1890
Measurements: 97.5" x 87.5"
Donated by: Sara Bartlett
1990.013.000002

Sixty-five women's names are inked on to the center blocks of this Signature Quilt. The names read like a who's who in Talbot County in the mid to late nineteenth century. Can you find any of your ancestors among the names on this quilt? Signature Quilts, like the Baltimore Album Quilts, were often made by a group and given as gifts for a special occasion. This quilt is also attributed to Maria Thomas Goldsborough Dickinson.

Special thanks to the Bayside Quilters for their skilled assistance in creating this web exhibit. Photo credits: Janet Buck. Design Credit: Jean Wortman.

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Historical Society of Talbot County
25 South Washington Street
Easton, MD 21601
Telephone Number: 410-822-0773