Twelve Quilts of Christmas – #12

The incomparable Susan McCord Vine Quilt.  

Breathtaking! 

Her Vine Quilt has been called her “undisputed masterpiece” and stunningly beautiful.  It is her most famous quilt. 

How it came to be in the public view, goes back to the 1970’s.  The upcoming bicentennial sparked an interest in history and traditional crafts, including quilting. Around this increased interest, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City held a seminal quilt exhibition in 1971 that changed how the world viewed and what they thought about quilts, by taking them off beds and hanging them on the walls of a world renown art museum.  I wrote about one of the quilts in that exhibition here.  And I covered that exhibition here, on my post about Why Quilts Matter.

As a result of this renewed interest in quilts, groups began organizing quilt documentation days in various states.  Many others followed later.  With requests for ordinary people to look in their attics and cupboards and bring in their quilts to be photographed and documented, people looked at their family quilts in a different light … they were important pieces of history.  

It is during this time that the quilts of an ordinary Indiana farmwife, Susan Noakes McCord, who had “an extraordinary genius for designing and making quilts”, came to light.  In 1972 Ruth Canaday, brought ten of her grandmother’s quilts to The Henry Ford.  They were extraordinary. Between 1972 and 1973 the museum bought them. The Vine Quilt was among that group. 

McCord’s quilts were on exhibition at The Henry Ford during the 1970’s.   McCord rightly became “known for her innovative designs and exquisite craftsmanship.” The Vine Quilt continued to be exhibited after the 1970’s.  In 1981 it was featured near the entrance to the exhibition American Quilts, A Handmade Legacy at the Oakland Museum of California and described as the “Sistine Chapel of quilts”.  It was displayed again in 1983 World of Quilts exhibition at Oakland University, Michigan, which included the best 100 examples of quilts from public and private collectors.  The Henry Ford included it in two exhibitions.  The 1988 exhibition Susan McCord’s Quilts: A Farmwife’s Legacy and the 2004 exhibition Quilting Genius.  The Vine Quilt’s image graced the pages of magazines and numerous books highlighting antique quilts. Gratefully it is in the hands of the museum being carefully preserved for future generations to enjoy.

When I was studying the quilt highlighted yesterday, McCord’s Feathered Star, I asked myself if maybe I liked that one more.  Some have said it is their favourite.  It didn’t join the collection at The Henry Ford until 1992, so the Vine Quilt had a bit of a head start on garnering attention and accolades.  I decided however, that I remain steadfast to The Vine Quilt as my all-time favourite.  You cannot see what the full glory of the Feathered Star quilt was nor McCord’s original design goals … fading has seen to that.  That is not the case with The Vine Quilt … the colours of this masterpiece are clear, it’s condition relative to age is good, and most importantly there is limited damage, fading or age marks.  This means that Susan Noakes McCord’s intent and her creative vision is still clearly visible for all to see. And what a vision she had!

That vision rests on the trailing, undulating vine design which is unique to Susan McCord. She used this vine and leaves design on many of her other quilts, as you have seen, but in this quilt, the vine design has become perfection and is a work of genius.  It demonstrates in every stitch, the freedom that I was referring to when writing about quilt #7 and how she might have found the time to create such incredible works of art.  The Vine Quilt is the ultimate example of what I call “Quilting with Abandon” … quilting with such joy and spirit flowing that it is visible to all.

I had the immense privilege of being able to study many of the McCord quilts in 2012.  What I saw in her Vine Quilt when I was looking at it was her tenacity.  She had a vision of what she wanted to create and she was going to see it through despite what might have been barriers to others; barriers enough to make them never even start. 

McCord’s Vine Quilt is created with 13 panels of muslin separated by pink sashing.  On each of those panels she appliqued her undulating vines.  Each of those 13 vines has over 300 appliqued leaves.  Many of those over 300 leaves are string pieced, with most leaves having between 2 and 6 pieces per leaf.  She used 4 different colours of thread to applique those string pieced leaves down.  She did not create large sheets of strata to cut her leaves from.  Each leaf is industriously hand pieced.  To have cut them out of larger strata she would be cutting through her hand stitching rendering the task of appliqueing them down a monstrous affair, as the stitching would start to unravel from being cut.  

She used printed cottons and calicos, floral, plaids, strips and solids for her leaves.  She used a palette of blue, cheddar, maroon, pink (including double pink), purple, red and white.  It was noted in some curatorial document that “sizing from mills still apparent on the muslin indicates maybe never washed.”  The curatorial notes also indicated that in examining the stitching on the quilt there may have been two people involved in the execution of the applique.  It was Susan McCord’s vision though.

And after this wonderful deep dive into the quilts of Susan Noakes McCord, what I know for sure is that The Vine Quilt has been and will remain, hands down, my favourite quilt.

Here are the final Some Other Facts About This Quilt:

Condition: Good/moderate use  

Construction: Hand pieced, hand appliqued 

Sashing: 1.25” wide

Borders: 1 on each side.  Sizes not noted.

Back: Cotton muslin, white, solid/plain, handsewn, 3 pieces (34.75 in; 34 in; 6 in)

Batting: Thin, Cotton 

Quilting: hand quilted, white cotton thread, 9-10 stitches per inch in outline around leaves and with diamond/grid in sashing

Binding:  Edges turned in/no separate binding; hand sewn

I am so glad that you joined me this year.  I have enjoyed having a really good look at all of Susan McCord’s quilts and being able to share what I discovered about them with you.

As we head off into a new year soon, I would like to ask a favour of you.  Would you please do me the honour of leaving me a comment on this post and telling me what you have liked about the Twelve Quilts of Christmas.  Do you have a favourite theme?  Is there a theme you would like me to cover? What have you taken away from looking at these quilts?  Has what you have learned changed how you approach your own quilting practice?   Your feedback will help guide me as I go forward. And your comments will be exceptionally helpful to me in sharing them with guilds or groups that might want to hire me in the future to speak about all that we can learn from antique quilts.

I would truly love to hear from you!  And I thank you most sincerely in advance for taking the time.

I wish you and yours the merriest of holidays and the send my very best wishes for a happy, healthy and peaceful year to come.

Mary Elizabeth