GARDEN OF EDEN
(Ladies Art Company #204)
Catalogue published 1898 |
Quilt Notes: GARDEN OF EDEN was first published in the late 19th century in the Ladies Art Company Catalogue #204. A facsimile of the illustration in the Catalogue (see left) shows that the number of the pattern was pushed to one side so that the reader could see that the horizontal band of the design appears to cross in front of the vertical band in the background. An ersatz overlay of this type is very unusual in quiltdom. But it was clearly the intention of the block in the LAC catalogue. A possible explanation for the band, in connection with the Adam and Eve story, is that it might suggest the fig leaf as a covering, perhaps humorously. The illustrations above also play with the apple in the garden in various ways — the patches on the illustration upper right work with some marvelous hand drawn abstractions of the apple form.
Nancy Cabot's version of the block uses a plaid-like criss-cross, producing a square in the center (though it then looses it's unique and more interesting identity). Jinny Beyer's QUILTER'S ALBUM OF PATCHWORK BLOCKS retains the overlap, but it is placed in the vertical direction instead of the horizontal (p.183-2). Maggie Malone's 5,500 QUILT BLOCK DESIGNS (#2661) illustrates the pattern as it first appeared in the LAC and as illustrated left. Barbara Brackman's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PIECED QUILT PATTERNS (#1873) uses Cabot's design. For the record, Cabot's comments share the following (Chicago Tribune, June 23, 1934):
"The name of this block is as old as time: and as for the original pattern, it is well over 150 years of age. Two shades of yellow, white and lavender were used in the original quilt, the history of which is obscure. Considered today, the word futuristic might also be used as concerns its color and formation."
Other garden inspired designs at this site include:
BUTTERFLY IN THE GARDEN
CATALPA FLOWER
FLOWERING NINE PATCH (with Georgia O'Keeffe)
PRAIRIE QUEEN
PATCHWORK PINES (with Georgia O'Keeffe)
WILD IRIS
FORMAL GARDEN
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(Grid = 5 x 5)
GARDEN OF EDEN