Pink & White Quilt "Drunkards Path Pattern"

Here it is the fourth of July and I thought it a perfect day to finish up my quilt postings. This is the final quilt in my old quilt collection, and it too belonged to Anne Elston Krout-Scearce, wife of Harry Marshall Scearce. This quilt has a well known pattern called, "The Drunkards Path." It can make you feel tipsy just looking at it.

Here is Anne's laundry mark, 137, inked on just like the last one.  This quilt is finely quilted with a steady hand. I would say it was most likely made from 1924 to 1927. It was pieced by machine. Anne purchased a new Singer treadle sewing machine, made in September 1924, and she passed away September 1927. This gave her three short years in which to make her quilts.

You can see by its wondering pattern, why it is called the drunkards path. It measures 71" x 86" and is very thin, with a cotton back and cotton inner batting.

As you can see, it is done in very fine rows approximately 1 inch apart, of tidy little stitches, 10 & 11 to the inch. This really took skill and patience.

Here on the back, you can see just how straight and uniform, all of those tiny rows of stitches are.
I take my hat off to you Grt. Grandma Anne.

Even the edge of the quilt, as like the others, is entirely sewn on by hand. The dedication to detail astounds me.

The beauty of these quilts never ceases to amaze me, every time I look at them. I love this quilt with its simple pink and white color pallet and staggering design. I believe it was a work of love and certainly dedication.

I have often wondered if some of the patterns of these quilts, paid homage to the families involvement with the Women's Christian Temperance Union, of which several members were active participants?! If these quilts were made for other than family use however, we have no record.

Sadly, we are left with only the quilts themselves and they aren't talking. How nice it would have been, if Anne had taken the time to record her thoughts on these quilts. I am very glad at least that she put her laundry mark on them.