On this day in 1905, Hollywood silent film star Greta Lovisa Gustafsson (Garbo) was born in Sodermalm, Stockholm, Sweden. “Garbo” began life as a shy daydreamer in a impoverished family of five in a working class slum. After studying acting in Stockholm, she was recruited by Louis B. Mayer, vice president of MGM to come to New York at age twenty. Young Garbo, who spoke no English at that point, was wisked away by the studio to a dentist and a weight loss specialist. Garbo went on to become one of Hollywood’s cult stars, nominated three times for an Academy Award and in 1999 the American Film Institute ranked Garbo fifth on their list of greatest female stars of all time.

Margreta Larson Lindberg, also of Swedish descent, made this one patch quilt with wool batting between 1876-1900 in Cambridge, Minnesota. Lindberg was a farm wife and mother of four who made two or three quilts in her life according to the Quilt Index record, contributed to The Quilt Index during the Minnesota Quilt Project.

View this quilt on The Quilt Index to read more about its history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greta_Garbo

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