Sarah Nunn McCrea made a quilt about 1830, an educated guess on my part as to the date. She was born in 1779 and died in 1859. She married William McCrea (1776-1858) and proceeded to have a son named Samuel McCrea (1816-1899). He married Emeline Swazey, an ancestral relative to the late Patrick Swazey.
I purchased this 73 3/4″ x 85 3/4″ monochromatic quilt with a backing of linen sheeting that may have been not only homespun but home woven, according to the late Virginia Stevens who collected the quilt in New Jersey from her friend, another descendant in the family line.
Mrs. Stevens looked through all of her quilt books for the name of this quilt pattern, but finding none (because quilts were not customarily named particular names, that early), she decided to call the quilt, “Star of Delaware.”
This quilt was made for utilitarian use as were most bed-size quilts of the time, one would suspect. Here is a photo of one of the quilt’s blocks, a design that is replicated across the surface of the quilt. I have drafted the pattern and have made one block, hand-piecing it.
One block from the original Sarah Nunn McCrea quilt
The quilt took skill to piece and quilt. If it had been rendered in more vibrant colors, it would be more pleasing to the modern eye. However, it stands as testimony to one woman’s ingenuity and steadfast devotion to finishing a project. As any other old quilt, this one was a “labor of love,” from a much different time. I am happy to caretake a “Piece of the Past,” that has a more extended meaning than would first meet the eye.
Keeping the quilt tradition alive: a quilt block drafted by Patricia Cummings and hand-pieced by her (not yet quilted)
Dancer and screen actor, Patrick Swayze, died yesterday at age 57. Rest in peace.
Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications
Tags: family quilt, Patrick Swayze
