On this day in 1964, Christopher Allen Eselgroth was born in Greece, New York, a suburb of Rochester. A typeface -knowing, ridge-conquering, rock and roll-playing, moon pie ice cream- devouring, basil-growing, family-loving man–he is. Happy Birthday, sweetheart. xo Amy

This stunning signature quilt was started in 1900 as a fundraising effort by Mrs. Addis Elliot and later purchased for $65 by the Rochester Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in Rochester, New York. From this Quilt Index record:

“The red and white pieced quilt with fan blocks with an American Flag in the center. The border is pieced with the blades of the fans. Outline stitched in each of the blocks are what appear to be a series of 1900 store names and Rochester businesses along with dozens of names of people.”

The record also includes a letter the quiltmaker wrote to the Rochester Historical Society in 1950, recalling the story of the quilt. Here is an excerpt:

“I have been requested to write to you about the quilt that I sold to the W.C.T.U. I will say that it was started in the year 1900 while I was living at the restaurant at 95 E. Main St. I belonged to a lodge called the good Templar I.O.G.T. Independent or of good Templar. It met every Friday night. We got short of money to pay our rent so it was proposed by the members to start to raise some money. Each member went out and worked and got names for to put on an advertising quilt at so much a name or whatever they could give…”

The quilt is now privately owned and Elizabeth Davis contributed the quilt and its history to The Quilt Index during the Signature Quilt Project.

View this quilt on The Quilt Index to find out! Read more about its history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view or click the “See full record” link to see a larger image and all the data entered about that quilt.

Posted by Amy E. Milne
Executive Director, Quilt Alliance
amy.milne@quiltalliance.org