Quilts of the Animas Museum
Utilitarian Quilts
Utilitarian Quilts
As women settled into their new homes on the frontier, they didn’t have a lot of time to spend doing fancy needlework. Their families needed to be kept warm. Mrs. Rose Lewis was a La Plata County quilter who, according to her granddaughter, was proud of her “functional, not fancy” quilts.
LOG CABIN QUILT - Light and Dark Setting
Date: Made before 1936 in Hesperus, Southwestern La Plata County
Materials: Cotton, wool, linen, cotton batting
Techniques: Hand-pieced, tied
Block pattern: Log Cabin
Maker: Helen Elizabeth Hetherington Isgar
Gift of Joan Isgar Kellogg
Catalog Number: 11.24.1
Helen was born in Toronto,Canada in 1863. In 1889 she married Durango businessman George Isgar. A quilting frame was always set up in her house, as she had time to quilt and money to buy fine fabrics. She often made quilts for special occasions.