Jane’s access to such a wide range of textiles supports the notion that at the time it was common practice for women to trade fabrics for their sampler quilts. Amazingly, none of the printed fabrics are used in more than one block. This centre green block is surrounded by others pieced in yellow and those in turn by alternating concentric rounds of colour including purple, pink and reddish brown calicos. Jane placed a green block in the centre, and chose this block carefully – the only other green blocks are in the outermost corners, along with a blue block. The calicos were carefully arranged by colour in the layout of the quilt. The designĮach block in the quilt is pieced with two fabrics, a printed calico or even-weave gingham and a plain white cotton. Many of the block patterns are commonly seen in quilts from this era, however, many more are unique, drafted by a skilled needle worker with a mastery of geometry. Many of the blocks are intricately pieced, the individual pieces ranging in size from less than a quarter of an inch to two inches on a side and some of the blocks having as many as 35 to 40 pieces. The average size of a quilt block during this period was eight to 12 inches square, while the blocks in the Stickle quilt are smaller than this. The small size and sheer quantity of the uniquely patterned blocks in Stickle’s quilt is especially notable.
Every year it goes on display for a full month so that quilters can experience the impact of this stunning sampler up close and personal, and for 2018 it will be on display from 1 September through to 8 October. The quilt permanently resides at the Bennington Museum in Vermont. Pam Weeks, Binney Family Curator of the New England Quilt Museum Bennington Museum “I strongly believe that a ‘real’ quilter’s life is not complete without seeing it in person.” As you will learn, it is a fascinating story of a quilter who, despite the struggles of war, illness and impecunity, produced a quilt of great beauty and character, which continues to excite and unite quilters around the world. Visit the Dear Jane website to sew your own Dear Jane quiltīut what is it about the quilt that has piqued the interest of so many? We spoke to experts from the Bennington Museum where the quilt resides, along with Pam Weeks from the New England Quilt Museum and Brenda Papadakis, and discovered more about this quilting phenomenon.
Its allure has yielded close to 140,000 sales of Brenda Papadakis’ book Dear Jane: The Two Hundred Twenty-Five Patterns from the 1863 Jane A.