Star and Crescent quilt or Compass quilt, unknown maker from the United States

Exhibition Label: "Quilts: Flora Botanica," Jun-2008, Barbara Brackman and Susan Earle Here we have a faded beauty, a once impressive masterpiece by an unknown maker who used a floral vine border to frame pieced blocks in a design published as Star and Crescent or Star of the West. Details include a corded insert (piping) in the binding and around the patchwork center, indicating a date of 1840 to 1865, when similar piping was a popular feature in women’s dresses, still stitched by hand. American quilters loved Turkey red for their quilts. The imported fabric did not bleed from washing or fade from light, but abrasion easily wore the surface. This quilt must have been used and washed often, resulting in much fabric loss. Mid-century greens do not often fade, but a well-meaning owner may have bleached the quilt.