1890 - 1910 Morris Family's "Blazing Star" Quilt

When this quilt was given to the Collection in 1972, the donor indicated that it was from her husband’s relatives who lived in New Jersey. Sixteen 12-13-inch blocks are pieced in a “Blazing Star” pattern using red, white, and blue cotton fabrics. The blocks are set with sashing and borders of the same color scheme. The lining and filling are also cotton. The quilt was machine pieced and joined. Small floral designs and variations of the fleur-de-lis motif are quilted on the borders, sashing, and open white spaces. The diamond pieces that comprise the “stars” are accented with linear quilting. The hand quilting is 9 stitches per inch.

The donor, Mrs. George Maurice Morris (nee Miriam Hubbard), was a collector of 18th-century furniture. In 1934 she and her husband purchased and moved a 1754 Georgian-style home from Danvers, Mass., to Washington, D.C. It was restored and named the “The Lindens,” apparently for the linden trees along the original driveway in Massachusetts. “The Lindens” is the oldest building in Kalorama, Washington, D.C., and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. Mrs. George Morris donated an 18th century-example of a palampore, an early-19th-century appliqué quilt and this late-19th- early-20th century “Blazing Star” quilt to the Collection.

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