Country Sampler Quilt, 1970
Dorothy Rankin created this counted cross-stitch, so-called Country Sampler, in 1970 as evidenced by a date stitched in red thread on the reverse of the quilt. Leeward Company manufactured the kit.
A blue, ribbon-like decoration festooned with pink flowers forms the border of the quilt. Five stylized plants with pink, yellow and blue flowers decorate each edge inside the faux ribbon. The central motif of the quilt is a panel which is framed by a zig-zag border with yellow and pink flowers.
Within the border are four horizontal rows of decoration. The top row includes a pair of flower baskets and confronting peacocks with a central floral motif. The flowers, baskets, and peacocks are all symbols of prosperity and good fortune. Beneath the birds and flowers is a row of numbers, a typical sampler addition. The remaining three rows are pastoral scenes evocative of early country life. The binding and top of the quilt are cream colored cotton.
The second horizontal row represents a farmyard. On the left side of the scene are two spotted cows, a fence with a rooster, and a distant farmhouse in gently rolling hills. On the right side of the scene are two sheep, a cow beside a fence, and a rooster. A tiny house is shown in the far distance. In the center of the scene is an apple tree. This is possibly a reference to the tree of life often shown in very early quilts.
The third horizontal row centers on a large two store houses shown in three quarter view. In front of the house is a peaceful farmyard. A woman feeds chicks in the left foreground in front of a weeping willow. In the left background is a distant barn. On the right of the scene a man rides in a buggy, a tree shades him and a barn stands in the distant background. This row is underscored by the alphabet stitched in blue thread.
The fourth horizontal row shows a central church in the background. In front of this, planting (left) and harvesting (right) take place with a woman and man working the fields. A well is evident on the left, and fruit trees dot the landscape. A large barn appears in the right background.
As the country readied itself for its 200th anniversary, quilts like these, remembering America’s agrarian past, were quite popular. With productive crops, hard work, healthy livestock and faith (as shown or implied in the pictorial elements of this quilt), the country—and presumably the quilt owner, could not help but prosper.
This quilt is registered with the Illinois Quilt Research Project, CU-341