Pieced Bouquet and Quilt of 8,066 Hexagons

 The Pieced Bouquet pattern appeared in the New York Daily News on Monday, January 8th, 1934.

 

A late addition to quiltdom, this design is almost modern in character.  It can be varied by using a different print in each block, giving the quilt the appearance of an old-fashioned garden.  The border is made of strips of green and yellow.

 Daily News    New York, New York    January 8, 1934

Here is the full page of the Daily News. There is a tiny article in the bottom left hand corner.

 

STITCHES QUILT OF 8,066 BLOCKS

Waynesburg, Ohio - The tireless fingers of Mrs. Elton Hoobler have just completed a quilt of 8,006 tiny hexagonal blocks, whose millions of stitches required nine months to complete.

 

This amazing quilt story went viral in 1934.  The longer form of the press release provides a bit more information.

 

Believing her quilted record unique, Mrs. Hoobler says that the tedious piece of needlework required 800 yards of thread for "piecing" and 1,200 yards for "quilting."  Each of the 8,066 blocks is one inch square.  Two hundred eighteen different colored blocks, no two alike, are represented.

 

Mrs. Hoobler's  record did not last long. Quilts of many, many tiny pieces continued to outdo the previous champions.  In 'The American Quilt: A History of Cloth and Comfort', if states that the most plausible explanation for these painstaking constructions is that they were done in a spirit of competitiveness.

To view the work of a champion, visit this post on Albert Small's quilts.

 

Albert Small's first quilt  36,141 hexagons

Ruby McKim and the Little Ship O' Dreams

 When Ruby McKim published this simple boat pattern in 1934 she called it the Little Ship O' Dreams.  This pattern was another quilt from McKim's States Patchwork Quilt Parade.

 

 

In looking about for an interesting quilt for that busy little State of Delaware, we found the “Ship O’ Dreams,” suggestive of her surrounding waters, teeming industry and brave adventures.  This block would be especially fitting for a boy’s quilt.  It is very easy to piece and daintily picturesque when done.

Our color scheme suggests a blue boat silhouetted against a buff sky, with lighter blue for the water.  Alternate plain blocks may be light blue, buff or unbleached.

Borders are almost always such a worthwhile addition to a quilt that we suggest a 6-inch border light blue with darker blue, or of buff with the lighter blue applique “waves.”  A free hand pattern of a wave will be easily made, about 4 inches high by 7 long at the base and spaced fairly close together as sketched. 

 

McKim Studios    Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas    April 20, 1934

 

The ship pattern was popular in signature quilts.  The block was easy to piece, there was plenty of room for a signature, and the ship represented, perhaps, travel and farewells.  The large orphan block at the top of the post was made by Lillie Silvy but never found its way into a quilt.

These two ships are in the Banner, Oklahoma quilt made in 1937.  As a child, Lou Henslee moved from Alabama to Hood County, Texas in a covered wagon.  She had twelve children, all long lived.  Henrietta Elizabeth Putnam, Lizzie to her friends, only had six children.

 

When Mrs. Danner published a similar pattern she just called it The Ship Quilt.

Ruby McKim Little Ship O' Dreams