Embroidery floss, undated

The Eleanor Loos Boelte Quilt Collection is primarily comprised of quilt patterns and quilt kit materials used by Eleanor Loos Boelte, likely from the mid-1920s to the early-1940s. The pieces in this collection exemplify the process of making kit quilts in the early 20th century. The collection includes popular publications such as the Pictorial Review: Book of Monograms, no. 1, as well as Grandma’s Clark’s perforated patterns. It also includes two packages of Grandma Clark’s blue stamping powder, used to transfer pattern designs from the perforated paper to fabric. Evidence of this stamping process can be seen on the two floral embroidery patterns that match the embroidered quilt squares. The embroidered quilt squares are accompanied by embroidery floss, embroidery floss organizers, and pink and white fabric. Boelte made a kit quilt using the same color fabric and embroidery design as the pieces in this collection, suggesting that they were going to be used to make a second, similar quilt. This kit quilt is part of the American Folk Art Museum’s collection (2014.3.2).

Also in this collection are printed documents provided by the donor, Pat Boelte. These resources include ancestry documents for the Boelte family, in addition to information about Charlotte “Lottie” Zeuner (1841-1915), the great great maternal aunt of Boelte and the assumed maker of “Aunt Lottie’s Redwork Quilt,” which is also part the American Folk Art Museum’s collection (2014.3.1). These papers also contain an appraisal form for each of the three quilts donated by Pat and John Boelte to the American Folk Art Museum in 2014 (2014.3.1-3).