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Pieced by ...



The old quilt that I am copying has 2 blocks with information about some ladies that may have worked on the quilt.  I have no idea how reliable the information is but I have done some research.

First we have Ruth who was born in 1796 and died in 1864.


Obviously, this wasn't written by Ruth but the dates match what I can find online.  

Next is Sally who was born in 1789 and died in 1881.  Again, the dates match up with the records.


Her block  is said to have been pieced on April 7th, 1879.  What happened on that date in 1879 so that the date was remembered?  I found nothing on "on this date" lists so it must have been something local.  I need to do more searching and see if there was a birthday or a wedding on that date.  It's also possible there was a note with the block or a diary entry.

So, what do I know?  If these are to be believed the quilt was documented and assembled after both ladies died.  But when and by who? How many of the blocks did Ruth and Sally make?  Who made the rest?  Some of the fabrics might be from when Ruth was alive but most are later.  How late, I'm not sure.  One friend of mine guessed the fabric might be from clothes from the 1920's.

Both ladies were from the same town in New Hampshire so that's good.  My friend says that the names on the quilt are family names and he has relatives living in the same town so that's good.  I think the aunt that the quilt came from lived in the same town.

I started looking at these ladies families online looking for a connection.  The connection is Mary.  Mary is Ruth's step-daughter and Sally's daughter-in-law.  She was born in 1820 and died in 1890.  Mary had 4 children and one was a daughter.  I must do more research on the family.  I did a quick search and can trace down to my friends aunt, another Ruth.  

Maybe Mary documented the blocks and her daughter or granddaughter finished the quilt.  I'll probably never know.




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