Flower Basket quilt
Creator: Stanton, Samantha P. Monroe (Mrs. William)
Date: between 1840 and 1880
Pieced and appliquéd cotton quilt in flower basket pattern. Design features 32 flower baskets set in staggered rows, alternating with elaborately quilted white blocks. Baskets are pieced of red and orange triangles, and have appliquéd handles. Issuing from the top of each basket are three appliquéd tulips. Narrow appliquéd vine border on three sides. Green binding, white backing, and cotton batting. This quilt was probably made by Samantha Monroe Stanton (1845-1908) in Tennessee around the time of her marriage to William Stanton in 1865. The Stantons settled in Kincaid, Kansas, after the Civil War.

Crazy quilt
Creator: Vawter, Edna J.
Date: between 1940 and 1949
Crazy Quilt featuring irregularly shaped fabric pieces, and backed with silk ribbons from Kansas fairs. Top is formed of eight Crazy Quilt blocks, with each smaller fabric piece outlined in embroidery stitches. Narrow sawtooth edge formed of points from the rosettes of purple award ribbons. Backing is made up of over 300 silk fair ribbons in purple (Champion) blue (First Premium), red (Second), white (Third), plus a few pink (Fourth) and one yellow (Fifth). Most are from the Thomas and Trego county fairs between 1929 and 1940. The quilter was Edna Gross Vawter of rural Logan County. Her daughter, Roberta Vawter Meek, won the ribbons by showing swine in the 4-H and open classes at fairs.

Double Irish Chain quilt
Creator: Copeland, Emma Cartwright (Mrs. Russell E.)
Date: between 1900 and 1904
Cotton quilt pieced in variation of Double Irish Chain pattern. Pieced blocks feature mostly brown or tan prints, and are edged with triangles in a light-blue print. Pieced blocks alternate with whole pink squares. Two opposing corners have a small piece of brown printed fabric at the border. Hand-stitched and -quilted in a grid design overall. Brown print binding. White cotton batting and backing. Initials "E.D.C." are handwritten in ink on back corner, and indicate the owner, Elmer Dwight Copeland. This quilt was made by Emma Cartwright Copeland (b. 1865 Indiana, d. 1944 Kansas) for Elmer who was her son and only child.

Crazy quilt top
Creator: Wilson, Henrietta Elizabeth (Means)
Date: between 1899 and 1900
Unfinished crazy quilt without a backing or binding. Quilt features many irregularly shaped pieces of fabric stitched to a cotton foundation and outlined in multi-colored embroidery. Embroidered names include the maker's cousin, Foster Means. The quilt incorporates printed ribbon badges with marks indicating the Northwestern Kansas Teachers Association and the Freemasons. The quilter was Henrietta Elizabeth Means Wilson. She made this top before her marriage to Oren V. Henderson on July 17, 1901 at Atwood, Kansas. Henrietta was an elementary school teacher and Oren served as Superintendent of Schools for Rawlins County.

Crazy quilt
Date: 1887
Elaborately decorated crazy quilt composed of irregularly shaped and multi-colored silk brocades, taffetas, and velvets. Quilt is made up of 20 large square blocks, each with embroidered initials or a name (probably indicating its maker). Outline embroidery on pieces, plus many detailed decorations worked in embroidery or paint. Some unusual details include pieced fans, a large horseshoe, and sequins and beads. The year 1887 appears in embroidery several times, as well as a few full names?Mrs. May Hunter, Annie Haag, and E.L. Martin. Backing of dark red wool, turned over onto front edge to form binding. Trimmed at each corner with cluster of silk ribbon bows. This was a friendship quilt made for Bertha Frische Younggreen by her sewing circle in Topeka, Kansas.

Nine-Patch baby quilt
Creator: Aspelin, Dagny Elizabeth Nicholson
Date: between 1939 and 1945
Nine-Patch baby quilt made of pastel cotton fabrics and tied with blue yarn. Top is composed of twelve large blocks of alternating plain white and pink print squares. Separating the Nine-Patch blocks are strips of plain yellow sashing with blue squares where horizontal and vertical sashes cross. White borders. Blue binding. Backing is white and pale pink cotton. Machine-stitched and hand-tied. Dagny Nicholson Aspelin made this quilt for her grandchildren to use while visiting during World War II. Dagny Aspelin emigrated from Denmark to the United States in 1890. She married Albert Aspelin in 1912 and they farmed near Dwight, Kansas. They had 17 grandchildren.

Crazy quilt
Creator: Haywood, Martha E. Hutchinson
Date: between 1888 and 1915
Crazy Quilt made up of irregularly shaped cotton and silk fabric pieces assembled around a central blue medallion featuring the embroidered letter "H." Each fabric piece is decorated with featherstitched outline embroidery, and some have painted designs and additional needlework. Pink sateen binding and backing. Tied with pink cotton yarn. The elaborate embroidered "H" at center stands for "Haywood." This quilt was begun in 1888 by Martha Hutchinson Haywood and used as a bedcover in the sod house she shared with her husband, Charles, and their children in Fowler, Kansas. The Haywood cattle brand appears on the quilt, as well as a horse depicting the steed ridden by Charles when Martha first saw him. The embroidered names "Ben" and "Carl" refer to the Haywoods' sons, and the quilt also incorporates pieces of a graduation gown worn by their daughter, Nettie.

Tea Leaf or Single Lily quilt
Creator: Crowel, Eliza Ann
Date: 1872
Pieced cotton quilt in Tea Leaf or Single Lily design. Pieced blocks feature printed diamonds in a floral design with appliquéd stem and leaves, all on a white ground. Pieced blocks alternate with whole blocks of green calico. Double border of pink calico and dark green prints. Hand-pieced. Hand-quilted overall in a variety of designs, including outline quilting, scallops, and overlapping circles. Batting is probably cotton. Binding of dark green print, and white cotton backing. Eliza Ann Crowel made this quilt when she was nine years old. Born in Ozawkie, Kansas, in 1863, Eliza moved to Lyon County, Kansas, at the time of her marriage to Frederick Denner in 1880. The family believed this quilt was never laundered.

Crazy quilt
Creator: Sharp, Virginia A. Jessee
Date: 1908
Small quilt or throw made in Crazy Quilt design, with 24 blocks of irregularly shaped multi-colored silk pieces. Each piece is outlined in embroidery stitches. Most blocks are ornamented with additional embroidery or appliquéd with lace ornaments trimmed in small beads or French knots. Edges are trimmed with narrow ruffle of silk taffeta ribbon in a variety of colors. Dark blue silk brocade backing, tied with narrow silk ribbons. Embroidered at one corner on backing: "Made for / Omer L Sharp / by his Mother / Virginia A Sharp / May 1908." Omer was born in Kansas on May 20, 1882, to Campbell and Virginia Jessee Sharp. The family lived in Brown and Sheridan counties. Omer married Cora Dell Montgomery only three months after the quilt's inscription, indicating it may have been a wedding present.

Mixed T baby quilt
Creator: Spicer, Eva M.
Date: 1889
Baby's cotton quilt pieced in Mixed T pattern. Top is composed of 63 small square blocks in all-over set without sashing. Each block features a large block "T" pieced of brown, blue, or pink print fabrics on a light shirting print background. Cotton batting visible through holes in top. White cotton backing turned up and over edges to form binding. Hand-pieced with machine-sewn binding Hand-quilted in diagonal lines overall. Eva M. Spicer of Ford County, Kansas, made this quilt for her daughter Augusta Spicer Hamar, born in 1889.

Wild Goose Chase quilt
Creator: Webber, Belinda
Date: 1865
Pieced cotton quilt in Wild Goose Chase pattern. Design incorporates nine very large pieced blocks of orange fabric alternating with whole blocks of plain white cotton. Appliqued vine border on two opposing edges. Hand-stitched and quilted overall with feather medallions on a grid. White cotton binding and backing. Batting is probably cotton. This quilt was made by Belinda McQuaid of North Henderson, Illinois, who bought the fabric with $6.00 given to her by fiancé Daniel Webber before the Civil War. Daniel did not return from the war, apparently deserting from the Illinois 4th Cavalry in 1863. Belinda married Daniel's older brother, Benjamin (also a Civil War veteran) in 1866, and in the late 1870s the quilt came with them to Norton County, Kansas.

Crazy quilt
Date: between 1880 and 1910
Crazy Quilt featuring many irregularly shaped pieces of silk stitched to a foundation fabric. Pieces are outlined in a variety of embroidery stitches worked in cotton thread. Backing is blue/tan plaid silk. Binding is same plaid silk on two opposing edges, while remaining edges are trimmed in fringed braid. Quilt has been tied with narrow silk ribbon visible only on backing. This quilt is from the home of the Edmond F. Pugsley family of Sabetha, Kansas. The Pugsleys came to Kansas from New York sometime around 1870, settling in the town of Albany, Kansas before eventually moving to Sabetha. They had two daughters, Bessie and Lucy; the latter was a dressmaker.

Crazy quilt
Date: between 1880 and 1935
Crazy Quilt made up of irregularly shaped multi-colored silks, satins and many printed silk ribbons from meetings of the Kansas Federation of Women's Clubs, the Kansas Council of Women, State Bar Association, and other organizations. Dates on ribbons range from 1882 to 1930. One includes a 1928 Republican National Convention button depicting Kansan Charles Curtis. Most fabrics are outlined in featherstitch embroidery, with scattered embroidered stars and scissors. Hand-stitched. Bound in black velvet and backed in pale green silk. This quilt belonged to William Agnew Johnston and Mrs. Lucy Browne Johnston of Topeka. The Johnstons were active in the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association (K.E.S.A.) and the Men's Equal Suffrage League (M.E.S.L.) of Kansas, two organizations that were critical allies in the 1912 ratification of the Woman's Suffrage Amendment to the Kansas constitution. This amendment made Kansas the seventh state to enfranchise women. Lucy Johnston was president and campaign manager of K.E.S.A. in 1911-1912 during the final push for ratification. She also was active in other women's clubs and lobbied for better libraries around the state. Her husband, William Agnew Johnston, was Chief Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court and an active member of the M.E.S.L. of Kansas, an organization that canvassed the state for woman's suffrage.

Double Wedding Ring quilt
Date: between 1920 and 1949
Double Wedding Ring quilt made of a variety of printed cotton fabrics, stitched to form interlocking rings. Four-patch yellow and pink block where rings intersect. Scalloped edges and rounded corners trimmed in pink cotton binding. White cotton batting and backing. Machine-stitched. Hand-quilted in simple geometric and floral motifs on white ground, and outline stitching on color fabrics.

Bear's Paw quilt
Creator: Nye, Mary Alice Koger
Date: between 1890 and 1925
Red and blue cotton quilt made in Bear's Paw pattern. The maker was Mary Alice Koger Nye and the quilt was used in her family's household in Belle Plaine, Kansas. Fabrics in the pieced blocks came from dresses worn by Nye and her daughters before World War I, while fabric for the plain red blocks and blue/white pinstriped backing were purchased after the war. Batting appears to be a thin cotton sheet or blanket. Blocks are hand-pieced, and top was assembled by machine. Hand-quilted in diagonal lines.

Rose and Tulip quilt
Creator: Parks, Rachel Yarnell
Date: between 1840 and 1865
Red and green cotton appliqué quilt made in a variation of the Rose and Tulip pattern. This quilt is atypical because its pattern typically is appliquéd rather than pieced. The likely maker, Rachel Yarnell Parks, was born in 1812 in Knox County, Tennessee, and died in 1890 in Moniteau County, Missouri. Piecing an appliqué quilt design is a Tennessee tradition. The floral designs are on pieced circles inset into the blocks. White cotton binding, backing, and probably batting. Hand-quilted designs include diagonal lines, grids, and outline stitching, highlighted with foliate and floral designs.

Child's quilt
Creator: Garman, Amanda Elizabeth (Ziegler)
Date: between 1878 and 1883
Child's cotton quilt in a unique design featuring red appliquéd hands on white ground. Made by Amanda Ziegler Garman for her daughter, Bertha. The appliqué pattern was made by tracing Bertha's hand. The family immigrated to Kill Creek, Kansas, from Bristol, Indiana, shortly after Bertha was born in 1878. Sashing strips are pieced of tiny red triangles on white ground. White cotton binding and backing. Batting is probably cotton. Hand-appliqued, hand-pieced, and machine-quilted in geometric designs.

Autograph quilt
Creator: Burgett, Marie Marcellus
Date: 1986
Blue and white quilt featuring the embroidered signatures of 24 prominent Kansans. Made by Marie Marcellus Burgett of Junction City to celebrate Kansas' 125th anniversary of statehood, 1986. Burgett obtained the signatures of 24 living Kansans on white fabric squares, and embroidered the signatures along with a summary of each individual's achievements. The quilt won a grand prize at the Riley County Fair, and reserve champion prize at the Geary County Fair, and was exhibited in the Kansas Capitol. According to Burgett, the blue fabric represents the Kansas skies. Made of cotton/synthetic blend fabrics. White binding and navy blue backing. Machine-pieced. Hand-quilted with outline stitching around signatures, and also sunflower and wheat designs.

Baby Blocks or Tumbling Blocks quilt
Creator: Chambers, Regina V. Mills
Date: between 1888 and 1889
Red, brown and white cotton quilt in Baby Blocks or Tumbling Blocks pattern. The quilt maker was Regina Mills Chambers, born in Ohio in 1867, who immigrated to Kansas in the 1880s where she briefly taught school in Alma. Chambers eventually settled in Hoxie, Kansas, where she practiced law with her husband. About 180 names are inscribed in brown ink on the quilt's white pieces. Some inscriptions also include locations and professions. There are Kansas place names as well as a number of other states. All marks were written by the same hand (probably Chambers) in brown ink. Hand-pieced and hand-quilted in outline stitching. Red cotton binding and white cotton backing.

Crazy quilt
Creator: Hughes, Clara L. Strieby (Mrs. A. J.)
Date: 1884
This crazy quilt features green and red velvet sashing that forms two large diamonds spanning the top. Sashing is embroidered with initials and a date. Quilt top's irregular pieces are outlined in featherstitch embroidery and decorated with embroidered flowers, plants, birds, butterflies, and appliquéd objects. Wide apple green velvet border is embroidered with flowers in three corners and wheat stalks in the fourth. This elaborate quilt was made by Clara Strieby Hughes of Council Grove, Kansas, as a wedding gift for her niece Mary Dillon upon her marriage to James Monroe Miller on Dec. 23, 1884. Hughes was a businesswoman with a share in the M.C. Armstrong & Co. store in Council Grove. The silks she used in this quilt may have been store samples.

Album Patch quilt top
Date: between 1854 and 1856
This Album Patch quilt top is composed of multi-colored pieced calico blocks set on a white muslin ground. Inked names handwritten on the center of each block include Lyda Davis, Sarah Emminger, Ellen Wiestline, and Mary Swartz. White paper fragments with handwritten names are pinned to the center of some blocks. Dates written on the top include 1854, 1855, and 1856. This top probably was made in Pennsylvania and later brought to Kansas.

Prairie Queen baby quilt
Creator: Mary L. Wilson Carl
Date: between 1875 and 1925
This baby quilt is pieced in a derivative of the pattern Prairie Queen. It is roughly square with nine colored blocks separated by lattice strips. Backing is combination of plain white and polka-dotted cotton. Mostly hand-pieced and -quilted with a machine-stitched binding. Mary Carl (1865-1943) made this baby quilt in Parsons, Kansas, probably for her only grandson, Carl Hunter, born in 1911.

Child's quilt
Creator: Mary L. Wilson Carl
Date: between 1940 and 1943
This child's quilt features 15 small embroidered figures on a white cotton ground. The figures are all animals, some anthropomorphized (e.g., duck with top hat and cane). The quilt has a pale blue border, white binding and backing and is machine-stitched, with both machine- and hand-quilting. Mary Carl (1865-1943) made this baby quilt in Parsons, Kansas, probably for her only great-grandson, William R. Hunter (1940-1985).

Sunflower quilt
Creator: Eveleth, Blanche Hovorka
Date: 1935
Yellow and brown cotton quilt pieced and appliquéd in pattern known as Sunflower, Missouri Daisy, or Star Dahlia. Quilt is made up of 42 blocks separated by sashing. Each block is pieced in two different shades of yellow/gold, with a sunflower at the center of an 8-pointed star. Flowers feature gathered petals radiating from a large, dark brown head. Quilted designs include outline stitching, grids, and leaves. Gold cotton backing. Machine-pieced and hand-quilted. Blanche Hovorka Eveleth made this quilt sometime around 1935 as a wedding present for her half-brother, Ken Hovorka. Both were born in Kansas but living in California at the time.

Friendship quilt
Date: between 1845 and 1865
Chintz friendship quilt in Broderie Perse style. Blocks are appliquéd with chintz cut-outs of floral sprays, wreaths, garlands, and a few animals. Hand-stitched, appliqued, and quilted. Each block is inked with a signature; most of these people were listed as residents of James Island, South Carolina, in the 1860 census. Reverend George T. Holyoke found this quilt in a Union army camp during the Civil War when he was a private in the 45th Illinois Infantry. This may have occurred in South Carolina where the 45th closed out the war on Sherman's March. After the war, Holyoke became a Congregational minister and moved to Kansas with his wife.