Princess Feather quilt, or Feather Rose quilt, unknown maker from the United States

Exhibition Label:
"Quilts: A Thread of Modernism," Aug-2005, Debra Thimmesch and Barbara Brackman
As the twentieth century turned, quilts suffered a poor reputation among America’s trendsetters. According to the magazines of the time, quilts were the bedding of the poor and the hobby of the countrywoman. During the mid 1920s attitudes changed. Modern Priscilla needlework magazine announced the beginnings of a craze in March 1926:

Patchwork’s The Thing for Coverlets. Who would have expected the renaissance of the calico quilt to arrive in the midst of the age of jazz! Perhaps this passion for patchwork is a sign that ‘this freedom’ hasn’t taken us as far from the ‘fundamental feminine’ as the worried critics imagine. Anyway, calico and patches again appear in the Fifth Avenue shops, and collectors fairly fight over grandmother’s second best coverlet.

The idea that old quilts in the attic were again valuable and that fashionable women were making them reflected a nationwide trend. This particular quilt looks to have been made soon after that quilt fad began. The pattern is traditional, dating back to the early-nineteenth century, but the pastel colors reflect new taste and dye technology. What would have been bright red and green in 1860 now is colored in the twentieth century’s softer palette. The pattern is generally known as “Princess Feather” or “Prince’s Feather,” possibly after a common plant (polygonum orientale), a member of the smartweed family that produces both red and green colored leaves.

Priscilla Publishing Co.
United States (Boston, Mass.)
Priscilla Patchwork Book No. 1, 1925
Loan courtesy of Barbara Brackman

The Priscilla Patchwork Book was a quilting instruction book published by Modern Priscilla magazine in the mid 1920s. Like the magazine, the pamphlet was part Colonial Revival, part celebration of modern design.