The Secrist Quilt was discovered in a trunk in a cabin on land once owned by Tom Wood, son of Maude Secrist Wood and grandson of Seth and Nancy Secrist. It’s a handstitched 9-patch Signature quilt made of blue and white calico cotton embroidered with each quilters signature. 

Elizabeth Secrist married Seth N. (Nate) Secrist, a Union veteran, on March 22, 1868 in Eddyville, Iowa. They moved to Clark County in 1873 in the Lake Shore area and started an orchard mostly of prunes. 

Nate served on the school board, two terms as County Sheriff for Clark County (circa 1890), and as Clark County Commissioner.  In 1898 Nate and his sons John & George joined the Alaska Gold Rush and walked the Chilkoot Pass.

Seth Nathan Secrist, his wife Elizabeth and several of their 12 children are buried at the Old City Cemetery (at the corner of Mill Plain and Grand Ave.) in Vancouver, WA

According to the 1900 US Census, the makers of the Secrist Quilt lived in Fruit Valley, Washington. It is believed the quilt was made by family & friends for the marriage of Fannie Seacrist to Mr. Beverly Randolph Sowers. Soon after their marriage the couple moved to Tacoma where Mr. Sowers worked as a Locomotive Fireman.

 The basic form of a Nine Patch Quilt consists of nine equal squares, arranged three rows across and three down. The first known Nine-Patch Quilts were made at the beginning of the nineteenth century and they are still a popular form of quilt making today.

Because of its simplicity and ease of maneuvering when making, many quilters learned their craft by making the Nine Patch Quilt. The Little House on the Prairie books mention Laura making a nine-patch quilt block as it was a simple design that could be taught to children as soon as they could hold on a needle.

Quilts with signatures, like the Seacrist Quilt, date back to the mid-1800s. At that time in history, people were spreading out across the United States, and these quilts were valued reminders of family and friends that had remained behind.

Mrs. S. N. Secrist (Nancy “Elizabeth” Secrist)
Mrs. Martha Byham (Mary Martha Byham)
Mrs. G. Hall (Jane Hall)
Mrs. F.G. Woolf (Lillia Woolf)
Mrs. W.H. Secrist (Mary Secrist)
Mrs. J.B. Woolf (Adeline Woolf)
Mrs. J. Wood (Mary Maude Secrist)
Mrs. J. W. Secrist (Francis Secrist)
Mrs. G. Minkler (Almeda Minkler)
Miss Eva Hall
Miss Ruth Hall
Miss W. J. Byham
Miss Inez Minkler
Miss Georgia Byham
Miss Grace Secrist (shown in image)

Donated by Minnie Olson, this hand-pieced quilt by Esther Short is one of the few pieces by Short available. Olson, great grandaughter of Short, lived in Portland where she was a voice instructor of some well-known names of screen and stage during the 1940s and 50s.

Ester Short and husband, Amos, arrived in Columbia City (later called Vancouver), Washington Territory in 1845 via wagon train from St Joseph, Missouri to Oregon Territory.

After Amos’ death, Ester filed a Donation Land Claim for land which makes up much of Vancouver today and began the hard work of building the city.

A shrewd business woman and entrepreneuer, Short’s legacy lives on in the community where she is known as the mother of Vancouver, Washington. 

For more information on Esther Short, and the many other women who helped build Clark County, check out our exhibit “(Her)Story: Founders, Leaders, and Visionaries.”

English paper piecing is a quilting technique that traces its first noted origins to the 1770s, and became widely popular in England during the early 1800’s. Godey’s Ladies Book published the first hexagon pattern in 1835.

In the 1800s, paper was a luxury, and women often reused old letters, catalogues, and newspaper articles as the foundation in making their quilts.

The unique method of English paper piecing involves attaching stabilized pieces of fabric together; a piece of fabric cut is cut in a set shape that is 1/4″ larger than the paper shape template. The fabric is then is basted to the cardstock shape, and the resulting fabric shapes are sewn together to create a design. Once the design is completed, the paper is removed, and the fabric retains its shape. Done by hand, this is a slow stitching method.

The unique method of English paper piecing involves attaching stabilized pieces of fabric together; a piece of fabric cut is cut in a set shape that is 1/4″ larger than the paper shape template. The fabric is then is basted to the cardstock shape, and the resulting fabric shapes are sewn together to create a design. Once the design is completed, the paper is removed, and the fabric retains its shape. Done by hand, this is a slow stitching method.

The unique method of English paper piecing involves attaching stabilized pieces of fabric together; a piece of fabric cut is cut in a set shape that is 1/4″ larger than the paper shape template. The fabric is then is basted to the cardstock shape, and the resulting fabric shapes are sewn together to create a design. Once the design is completed, the paper is removed, and the fabric retains its shape. Done by hand, this is a slow stitching method.

The quilt’s red, green, gold, and white Hexagons, were pieced by hand by Esther. According to Olson, Esther used fabric from the first general store in Vancouver, Washington, which she owned. It has no backing and a border was added at a later date by machine, likely to protect the edges from fraying and help with hanging the quilt top.

As people continued to leave their hometowns to put down roots in the growing communities of the west coast, quilts remained a way of connecting to family and friends left behind well into the 1900s.

Ida Poole moved from Tiffany, Wisconsin to La Center, Washington with her parents sometime between 1900-1904. Traveling with them were family friends and neighbors the Bradways.

Not long after arriving in La Center, Ida married Millard Lewis Bradway. The couple had 6 children and ran a general store in La Center through the 1940s.

Ida May Poole Bradway died in 1968 and is buried at the Mount Zion Cemetery near La Center, WA

The quilt, donated by granddaughter Janice Beckamn, was a gift made by Ida’s friends when she left Wisconsin.

It is a silk and cotton Crazy Quilt constructed of large square blocks of small, irregularly shaped pieces of silk, cotton and velvet joined with hand embroidered leaf stitches.  The backing is various pieces of cotton, some striped and some solid.

Another Signature quilt, Ida’s friends included their name or initials on various pieces of the quilt. One name is Marcia who was Ida’s best friend. Ida named one of her daughters (born in 1914) after Marcia.

Crazy Quilts became the first commercial needlework craze in America. Many sources believe that the “asymmetrical art” of the Japanese Exhibit at the 1876 World Fair held in Philadelphia would be a prime inspiration for the Crazy Quilting boom. Roughly 20% of the American population at the time would attend this fair, making it a hugely influential cultural event.

Cigar manufacturers wrapped silk ribbons around bundles of cigars, and cigarette paper manufacturers tucked silk premiums into their cigarette paper packages for men to give their wives.

Women’s literature supported the rage by publishing crazy patchwork patterns that could be ironed on, traced, or transferred to fabric. Some magazines offered pattern incentives in exchange for enlisting new subscribers.  This enthusiasm for this quilting fad continued until about 1910.

A hand stitched applique quilt in a red and green on white Tulip pattern with grape design donated by Mary Myrtle Scroggs (1880-1966) a teacher at Central School in Vancouver, WA.

The Scroggs’ quilt was made by Mary’s mother, Elizabeth Pollock Scroggs, and grandmother, Elizabeth Mitchell Pollock as the younger Elizabeth prepared for marriage and her future.

Elizabeth Mitchell Pollock and her daughter Elizabeth (Pollock) Scroggs made the appliqued red & green quilt in the year 1865.

It is believed the quilt may have been made for the younger Elizabeth’s trousseau, or bridal collection, for her marriage upon the return of her future husband, Alexander Scroggs, who had served as a volunteer with Company H of the 168th Ohio Infantry during the Civil War.

Appliqué is ornamental needlework in which pieces or patch of fabric in different shapes and patterns are sewn or stuck onto a larger piece to form a picture or pattern. The word “appliqué” is derived from the French verb “appliquer,” meaning “to put on.” It is commonly used as decoration, especially on garments. 

The Tulip was one of the most popular appliqué patterns in the southern states during the 1870s. The color scheme of red and green is typical for appliqué quilts of this era. Although quiltmakers in other parts of the country favored printed fabrics at this time, solid colors were more common in inland parts of the southern states.

A double sided Tied Quilt donated by Betty Davenport, granddaughter of the quiltmaker, Ida Lilly (dresser) Heisen.

Ida Lily of Washougal, WA married H. R. Heisen, a farmer and widower with a 3-year old son in 1894.

H. R. was the son of Alexander Heisen who homesteaded and founded the town of Heisson, Washington. By 1900 Ida and H.R. were living at Battleground, Washington.

Busy caring for children and maintaining a home, Ida took up quilting late in life and became a prolific quilter. 

Tied quilts were utlitarian quilts often made for infants and children. The top and bottom are stitched, usually by hand, as is common in other quilts. The two pieces are then joined with a stitch taken through all three layers of the quilt sandwich and knotted on the quilt top surface or, occasionally, on the back of the quilt.