I had a chance to take a picture of the quilt that my wife just got from a cousin that her great grandmother made in 1930. When we hung it up to take a picture we discovered a rather curious shape to the upper 1/3 of the quilt. It appears to have been expanded when it was made with the addition of a number of extra pieces of pattern to allow for a widening of the shape on one side. I have never seen this sort of thing done and I have no reason why the maker would have done this. All the other edges are square to each other with the exception of the upper left edge. Curious to say the least. It will probably forever remain a mystery, as the maker is long gone as are any contemporaries of hers. The quilt is rather large over 7' long by 5' wide. And the blue is a flying geese pattern. The name of the man is at the top and her name is in the 2nd and 3rd line and his family name is on the 4th line and the date of 1930 at the bottom. There is a small spot of blood in the center of the quilt that goes all the way through to the back. Almost not noticeable, but it is there. I may attempt to remove it after I try some of the various remedies on the portion of the stain that is on the back. If it doesn't respond, then it will become part of the history of the quilt. It is now hanging in our living room and looks just fine, as it is. So we may not do anything to it at all.
John

So interesting! Maybe she was running out of blue material and make the best 'adjustment' she could.

Could the size change be to accommadate the longer name???

A thought-

SAMUELA be a woman's 1st name
then her middle name, followed by
her maiden name
last - her married name

"When this you see, remember me.'' Or made by a young woman in memory of her mother???

my thought is that it was made to fit an odd shaped bed, like in a boat or camper

That is what I thought, she needed more room for the name.

I thought that too, until I counted the letters. Samuela & Secrest both have 7 letters. Plus, the word length could be adjusted by the white spaces between the letters.

I agree that it is a custom shaped quilt to fit a particular bed, camper, daybed, or lounge.

I think she needed more room for the name too.

Someone in that bed was a cover hog, and she was trying to pre-empt them.

Darren

Isn't it so much more interesting than a regular shape?!!

Maybe the person who slept on that side had an arm that stuck out (war wound or accident) and the wonderfully named Samuela wanted to keep it warm?

Samuela AND Idamae are two different people. The quilter fit the word AND in between other blocks. They are definetly related.