Patchwork pieced quilt with stars in various calico patterns on white cotton squares framed by brown and white dotted calico. Predominantly pink, brown, and blue on white. Backed in brown and pink window pane check cotton. Eight point star quilt pattern. (Ruby Mckim, 101 Patchwork Patterns, p.56.)
Nature inspired most eighteenth and nineteenth century quilt patterns and the star, one of the most significant design elements in early American quilt, dominates this cotton quilt. The pattern featured here, known as LeMoyne Star or Lemon Star depending on the region of the country it was made, would have been well known to nineteenth century quilters. Symmetry is a strong feature of this traditional quilt. Created between the middle and the end of the nineteenth century, this pieced quilt was probably made by Lucinda Thompson, a relative of the donor. The stars are made of multi-colored fabrics and even the seemingly plain backdrop of the quilt, when viewed closely, contains hundreds of tiny stars.
