Sunday, 17 November 2013

Four Generation Dresden Plate Quilt



Grandma Pollard’s Dresden Plates

 
This is truly a four generation quilt and a family treasure!


The Dresden plates in this quilt were made by my great grandmother, Etta Amanda Dawdy-Pollard (1864-1945) in the late 1930’s to early 1940’s.   


 She would create these plates by hand using scraps of material left from the making of dresses and aprons for/by my grandmother, Hattie May Hoover-Pollard and my Aunt Marjorie Pollard.  This task kept Etta’s hands busy while she visited her son, my Grandpa David B. Pollard and his family in Ridgeville during the summer.  Aunt Marjorie had always intended to complete this quilt but caring for her father in his later years, knitting for her nieces, nursing at the Welland hospital and enjoying life with Uncle Lloyd for 6 years, kept her from working on the quilt.


In 2008, at the age of 88, Aunt Marjorie impeccably appliqued the plates to muslin blocks.  I added the centre to each plate; then using reproduction fabrics I added sashing and the border and finally hand quilted it all together to complete the quilt in 2010.  The signature of each quilter is on the label on the back of the quilt.

This quilt has been on display at the Grimsby Museum from October 20 to November 17, 2013 in a display of quilts called “The Art of the Quilt”. 

Submitted by  Harriett Pollard-Rynberk

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