Ruby Short McKim Redwork Colonial History & Sampler Quilt Part I

This last Fall I was happy to be a part of the fund raising efforts of the High Prairie community not far from us. They put together a lovely Octoberfest, quilt sale, and entertainment, for the purpose of raising funds to support their local volunteer fire department. Much to my delight I found three wonderful quilts I just had to add to my collection. These quilts were generously donated by Diane Cazalet, and have been a part of her collection for many years. Attempts to contact her to find out more about these quilts has failed, so unfortunately I do not know anything else about them.
The first stunning quilt I wanted to share was this marvelous red-work quilt made from the famous talent, Ruby Short McKim. She was a prolific early designer of embroidery and quilts for many years, and her history can easily be found on Foogle.

The quilt contains 49-10" x 10" embroidered red-work squares, outlined by red cross stitching. The quilt measures 71" x 72" and is thin like a counterpane. The quilting which was too difficult to picture, consists of hearts and flowers in the corners of each block, with light scrolling connecting them. 7 & 8 stitches to the inch, makes this a very nicely stitched quilt indeed. Its edge is finished off with a tidy 1/4" binding. The blocks and back are machine stitched, but the binding has been sewn by hand, as well as all of the turkey red embroidery. These first set of blocks are from her Colonial History patterns, which came out in December of 1926, weekly, in the Sunday Plain Dealer, a newspaper in Kansas City, Kansas at that time.

In the center of the quilt is this block, which says, Mother Age 87 1928. This would put the birth of this mother in 1841. It does not tell us much else tho. Did the mother do the blocks and the daughter or daughters assemble it for her by 1928? Did she herself make it and gift it to a son or daughter in 1928? I wish I knew! This series of historical blocks came out in the weekly paper, and some sources say there were a total of 24. If this is true, it would give the person two years to collect, stitch, and assemble this quilt. This could be done, so I do believe this quilt was made on the year date in question. Tho it could be said that only the block with that date was stitched then. We may never know?!

 This was called, "The Betsy Ross Flag or 1st American Flag." Of course there isn't a shred of historical proof that Betsy Ross was commissioned to make the first flag, and there is plenty of proof that someone else did, but who am I to spit in the eye of such historically romantic notions?!

This one was called, "George Rogers Clark." He at least was a proper historically notable person, who fought in the Revolution on the frontier of America.

 This one is unidentified, as of this date, so as I find out the names of these, I will add them.

This one was called, "Indian Home Life." With that teepee in the background, it must be a Plains Indian.

This one is also unidentified at this time. He is a bit rough around the edges, time not being kind to the Turkey Red thread, which thankfully is color fast.

This one was called, "Lord Baltimore." Who the woman in the dress in the background is, is anyone's guess?! Anyway I think that is a woman in the background, it's hard to tell.

 This one was called, "Champlain." Just looks like two kids in a canoe to me, but whimsically fun.

This one was called, "George Washington". Looks to me like it's at Valley Forge. That was one cold winter.

 This one was called, "Puritan Stock." Ruby sure had a sense of humor, because that was one thing the Puritan's were really proud of. That they were pure stock I mean.

This one was called, "Pocahontas and Captain John Smith." Here's another little fictional historic romance for you. But hey, once Disney gets a hold of something, who needs something so cumbersome as the truth?!

 I believe this one was called, "Balboa." It is difficult to find these blocks names online, unless I purchase the book from McKim Studios.They have a reprint of the book that was first printed in 1930, which includes all the names of these blocks, but at $22.50 I shall have to give it a wait.

 This one was called, "The Minute Men." When I was a kid I thought they were called that because George Washington said, "Wait a minute, where are the men?" I'm sure I said something to that effect to my teacher, and I'll bet I got a good rap on the knuckles for it too!

This one was called, "Captain Myles Standish." I do wonder if the Indian is Hobomok mentioned in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem about Myles Standish called, The Courtship of Myles Standish?! I somehow doubt it, for it is pretty much just another long historical yarn. Longfellow, the Disney of his day, took rather romantic leaps of fancy when it came to history, but it still makes for interesting reading. A little peak at Wikipedea will give you plenty of true information about the real Myles Standish and Plymouth Colony if you are so inclined.

This one was called, "William Penn." Are we seeing a pattern here?! Looks like the Indian once again is not being named. That is too sad. At least we know Penn did make a treaty at Shackamaxon, with the Lanape Indians, and paid them for their land. Not that, that was a concept they understood.

 Another unidentified block, showing an Indian. This also looks like a Plains Indian.

 This was called, "New World Mission." It reminds me of the Adobe structures in New Mexico, Arizona, and old pictures of California. No doubt it is a representation of the Spanish Missions of the Southwest.

 This was called, "Peter Stuyvesant." I don't recall Peter having a peg leg, but he was the governor of the Dutch Colony, New Netherland for a time, which is now New York state. He was a real interesting fellow and well worth reading about.

 This was called, "The Standard of England or The One Penny," block. This is why some quilts with this block are also called, "One Penny" quilts online, as it is the only readable block one some of the quilts.

 This was called, The Pilgrim's bidding farewell to the Mayflower." Since I am a descendant of John Alden and his wife Priscilla Mullen's, I especially like this block. I can't imagine what it must have felt like for them, to stand on the shore at Plymouth, Massachusetts and watch that ship go out of sight.

 This was called, "Captain Henry Hudson." An Englishman hired by the Dutch to scout out the North American coast line in hopes of finding the Northwest Passage to the East. Instead he found the Hudson River, so named for his getting there supposedly first.

 This was called, "The Vikings". Very appropriate, as it is just as likely they reached the Hudson river first, but who's counting?!

 Another unidentified fellow, that I think is an Indian that has taken up wearing early Dutch clothing. They often did that, according to the Dutch records, but never washed their clothes until they fell off as rags. A habit which the Dutch found rather offensive. They being given to strict cleanliness themselves.

 This was called, "The Santa Maria", which I think is one of the ships Columbus used in 1492. As we all know now he did not discover America, but hey, in the 1930's and up until very recently, he was all the rage.

 This was called, "The Meeting House." There were meeting houses made from logs, as family records from early New Jersey can attest, but this looks more like a cabin from a Currier and Ives Christmas card, than what those looked like. It was the Swede's who first brought log cabins to the New World in early colonial days. It didn't take long for their popularity to spread, and they soon became the go to housing on the American frontier.

Last but not least, this one was called, "Priscilla Mullin's." This square is one of my favorites because it represents my 10th grt. grandma. There aren't any records showing spinning wheels being brought on the Mayflower, but it does show they had a few sheep, not long after the colony was established. So I can easily believe Priscilla would have got to spinning as soon as possible, given the cold New England winters.

Coming soon Colonial History Quilt Part II, where I show the rest of the 49 blocks in this quilt. They are made up of other less historical and more whimsical themes.