Windmill quilt, Catherine Grabill Landis

Exhibition Label: "Quilts: Flora Botanica," Jun-2008, Barbara Brackman and Susan Earle Industrialization in the fabric mills eventually caused a design standardization reflected in the calicoes here, simple prints only suggesting florals. Catherine Landis seems to have been more interested in creating effects in color and patchwork than in showing off a variety of fabrics. Her bold coloring makes it difficult to analyze the patchwork pattern, a simple pinwheel block of dark and light triangles paced on point. Her relatives, sisters Maude and May Landis, donated this quilt and much more to the University of Kansas. Their names live on through scholarships in nursing and mathematics.