Unknown Maker
Pieced Quilt (Flying Geese)about 1845–50 Quarryville, Pennsylvania
calicoes and chintz; quilted in crosshatch
101 1/2 x 99 1/8 in.
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Patricia Smith Melton
In this Quarryville, Pennsylvania quilt, some 826 triangular calico “geese” appear to fly along white pathways over an earth-toned chintz “landscape” of flower and plant forms. Typically, when a patchwork quilt contains both small and large pieces of cloth, the small ones predate the larger. While the chintz dates from about 1830, the triangles are made from a variety of different dress and furnishing fabrics spanning the period from 1800 to 1820.
