“The Calico Garden,” a reproduction (crib size) quilt created by Patricia Cummings.
Florence Peto was a New Jersey quilt historian and a quilter, too. She is the person who created the original design that you see re-created here. “The Calico Garden” quilt of hers is in the collection of the Shelburne Museum in Burlington, Vermont. I was amazed to view the original. For some reason, I thought the coloration to be quite different, based on photos I had seen.
My quilt is not “exactly” like that of Mrs. Peto who used much smaller Broderie Perse (appliqué) pieces in floral swags for the borders. I needleturned most of the appliqué work, and hand quilted this quilt, which took about a year.
When I was finished, I filled out some paperwork that came with the pattern I had purchased from Hoopla Designs, and I sent it along to the Shelburne, with a photo, for their records. They are attempting to keep track of reproductions of quilts in their care.
I hope you enjoy seeing this cheerful quilt as much as I enjoyed making it, perhaps as long as five years ago.
There are references to Mrs. Peto, and her words as a quilt historian, in my book, Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster (1867-1950). If you are not familiar with this book, yet you claim to like quilt history, you don’t know what you are missing if you do not own a copy of this book on CD. (355 pages/ 340 photos)
Here’s to Beauty! May it ever be.
Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications
