Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

QUILT TOP

Date Range From

1950

Date Range To

1960

Materials

COTTON, POLYESTER

No. Pieces

1

Length

215.4

Width

165

Description

QUILT TOP WITH EIGHT POINT STAR PATTERN IN 48 SQUARE GRID; QUILT TOP HAS BLUE TRIM ALONG EDGES AND BETWEEN SQUARES; EIGHT POINT STARS FASHIONED FROM MULTICOLOURED AND PATTERNED FABRICS. RIGHT EDGE HAS TWO SQUARES MISSING BLUE TRIM ALONG OUTER EDGE AND ONE SQUARE WITH RIPPED BLUE TRIM ALONG OUTER EDGE; LEFT EDGE HAS SQUARE MISSING BLUE TRIM ALONG OUTER EDGE. UPPER LEFT CORNER HAS THREE SEAMS SEWN IN BLUE TRIM. STARS IN SQUARES HANDSTITCHED; SQUARES ATTACHED WITH MACHINE STITCHED SEAMS; MACHINE STITCHED SEAMS ATTACHING SQUARES TO BLUE TRIM AND EDGES. EDGES ARE FRAYING; QUILT TOP HAS NO BACKING AND THREADS ARE EXPOSED; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION.

Subjects

BEDDING

Historical Association

DECORATIVE ARTS

FURNISHINGS

History

ON AUGUST 2, 2017, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED ED AND GLORIA BETTS REGARDING THEIR DONATION OF FIVE HANDMADE QUILTS. THE QUILTS WERE CREATED BY ED BETTS’ MOTHER, KATHERINA BETTS. ON THE EIGHT-POINT STAR QUILT, ED BETTS ELABORATED, “DAD DIED IN ‘69 SO JIM [MY BROTHER] AND I TOOK OVER THE FARM…IN 1970. GLORIA AND I TOOK OVER THE HOME FARM [IN 2010] AND [THE QUILTS WERE] LEFT BY MY MOTHER. [THE FARM WAS] EAST OF COUTTS, NINE MILES…IT BELONGED TO MY MOTHER AND DAD [KATY AND CLARENCE].” “WE FOUND [THE QUILTS] WHEN WE WERE CLEANING EVERYTHING OUT [OF THE ATTIC] WHEN WE MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE. [THE QUILTS WERE IN] AN OLD WOODEN BOX IN THE [ATTIC]…NINE WERE IN A BOX AND [THE BLUE AND WHITE APPLIQUE QUILT] WAS OUT.” ON HIS MOTHER’S HISTORY, ED BETTS RECALLED, “[MY MOM WAS FROM] CZECHOSLOVAKIA ORIGINALLY…SHE GOT ON THE TRAIN IN NOVA SCOTIA AND [CAME] WEST [IN 1930]. SHE HAD A BROTHER IN WETASKIWIN. SHE DIDN’T SPEAK ENGLISH AND WHEN SHE GOT ON THE CPR SHE THOUGHT SHE WAS GOING TO WETASKIWIN. SHE ENDED UP ON THE DOCK IN COUTTS. SHE DIDN’T KNOW ANYBODY…THE OSTBY FAMILY TOOK HER HOME AND THERE SHE WORKED FOR HER [ROOM AND BOARD]. FROM THERE SHE WENT TO OUR NEIGHBORS, DICK WOLLERSHEIM. HE WAS A NEIGHBOR TO DAD. SHE BROKE HER LEG, SHE GOT THROWN OFF A HORSE AND SHE HAD NO PLACE TO GO AND I THINK DAD TOOK HER HOME…[MOM] AND DAD WERE MARRIED IN ’32.” “DAD HOMESTEADED IN 1908…DOWN ON THE MILK RIVER…THREE MILES SOUTH OF [THE FARM].” “[MOM CAME TO CANADA] FOR A NEW LIFE. SHE THOUGHT SHE WAS GOING TO HER BROTHER’S PLACE.” ON HIS MOTHER’S QUILTING AND SEWING, ED BETTS ELABORATED, “I THINK [HER SKILL AND KNOWLEDGE OF SEWING CAME] FROM THE OLD COUNTRY BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT WOMEN DID –COOK, AND SEW.” “[MOM WAS SEWING] EVERYTHING. THAT’S THE WHOLE THING. SHE JUST HAD TO HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH HER HANDS…IT WOULD TAKE ONE HELL OF A MAN TO KEEP UP WITH HER…[THE UNFINISHED QUILT TOPS WERE] JUST SOMETHING TO DO.” “I THINK IN THE OLD COUNTRY…THINGS WERE PRETTY TOUGH THERE. SHE HAD QUITE A FEW BROTHERS AND SISTERS OVER THERE TOO AND HER MOTHER DIED QUITE YOUNG. SHE WAS THE CAREGIVER, AND I GUESS WHEN THEY GOT OLD ENOUGH, SHE PULLED THE PLUG.” GLORIA BETTS NOTED, “I THINK THE THING WAS, EVERY LITTLE SCRAP OF MATERIAL HAD TO GO SOMEPLACE. SHE DIDN’T WASTE ANYTHING. SOMEWHERE DOWN STAIRS…THERE’S A BOX THAT HAS OLD BABY BONUS CHEQUES THAT WERE NEVER CASHED. THERE’S RECEIPTS FOR A HUNDRED POUNDS OF FLOUR FOR TEN CENTS. SHE KEPT EVERYTHING. SHE WAS SO AFRAID THAT SHE WOULD DO WITHOUT AGAIN.” “I KNOW WHEN I FIRST MET HER, SHE WOULD SEE A PICTURE IN A NEWSPAPER OR IN THIS OLD CATALOGUE WHICH USED TO COME ALONG. YOU COULD MAIL AWAY IF YOU SENT TEN CENTS BUT SHE WOULDN’T SPEND TEN CENTS. SHE WOULD LOOK AT THE PICTURES AND THEN SHE WOULD DRAW IT ON NEWSPAPER AND THAT’S HOW SHE MADE THE QUILTS. IT’S AMAZING, THE WAY THAT THEY’RE PUT TOGETHER BECAUSE THEY FIT…THERE’S ONE QUILT THERE THAT’S MIS-MATCHED BUT THE REST OF THEM ARE JUST PERFECTLY PUT TOGETHER.” “THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN CALLED A CRAZY QUILT BACK IN THE DAY. YOU CAN SEE IN [ONE OF THE QUILTS] HOW THE PIECES DON’T MATCH COMING TOGETHER. YET YOU CAN TURN AROUND AND THERE’S ANOTHER QUILT…SHE’S PERFECTED [IT] ALMOST DOWN TO AN EXACT MATCH. IT’S AMAZING THAT SHE GOT THEM FROM A PICTURE, THAT SHE’S GOT THEM TOGETHER THE WAY THEY ARE.” “PROBABLY MATERIAL THAT SHE GOT [FOR THE QUILTS WAS FROM] HER CLOTHES. SHE WOULD PROBABLY CUT THEM UP AND MAKE THEM INTO SOMETHING.” ED BETTS RECALLED, “SHE HAD AN ANEURISM AND HAD TO GO TO CALGARY FOR A MONTH [IN THE ‘70S] AND AFTER THAT I DON’T THINK SHE DID MUCH SEWING ANY MORE…IN THE ‘80S SHE WENT TO LIVE WITH MY SISTER.” “[THE QUILT INTERIORS ARE] ALL NATURAL WOOL. I CAN REMEMBER HER SITTING FOR HOURS RE-CARDING ALL THIS STUFF TO PUT IN HER QUILT.” ON KATHERINE BETTS’ QUILTS, GLORIA BETTS ELABORATED, “SHE CERTAINLY WASN’T ONE TO SHOW OFF WHAT SHE WAS DOING EITHER. SHE WAS JUST A VERY PRIVATE WOMAN, VERY HUMBLE WOMAN.” “I THINK SOME [OF THE QUILTS] WENT TO BC WHEN SHE WENT TO LIVE WITH MARGE IN BC. I KNOW THAT HER TREADLE SEWING MACHINE WE HAD AT THE HOUSE UNTIL SHE PASSED AWAY AND THEN MARGE TOOK THE TREADLE SEWING MACHINE.” “I’M THINKING THE PURPLE [DOUBLE WEDDING RINGS QUILT] ONE IS THE MOST RECENT, ALTHOUGH I CAN’T REALLY SAY ABOUT THE TOPS…[THE ROYAL] ALBERTA MUSEUM TOLD ME NOT TO FINISH [THE QUILT TOPS], TO LEAVE THEM AS THEY WERE.” “NOBODY SEWED [IN THE FAMILY EXCEPT KATHERINA]. MARGE CROCHETED.” GLORIA BETTS NOTED THEIR MOTIVATION FOR DONATING THE QUILTS, STATING, “WE’RE DOWNSIZING BECAUSE OF AGE AND MOVING. [THE QUILTS] HAVE TO GO SOMEPLACE WHERE THEY ARE GOING TO BE LOOKED AFTER.” KATHERINA BETTS WAS BORN KATHERINA KOVACIKOVA IN 1903 AND IMMIGRATED TO CANADA FROM CZECHOSLOVAKIA IN 1930. A GRAVE RECORD ON FINDAGRAVE.COM LISTS KATHERINA KOVACIKOVA BETTS AS THE WIFE OF CLARENCE BETTS OF COUTTS, ALBERTA. ACCORDING TO 1930 PASSENGER LISTS FOR THE HMS MONTCLARE [ACCESSED THROUGH THE LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES OF CANADA DIGITIZED MICROFILM RECORDS], KATHARINA [KATHERINA] KOVACIKOVA ARRIVED IN ST. JOHN’S, NEW BRUNSWICK ON MARCH 30, 1930 FROM HAMBURG, GERMANY. KATHERINA WAS LISTED ON THE PASSENGER LISTS AS 26 YEARS OF AGE, SINGLE, BORN IN RADOSINA, CZECHOSLOVAKIA AND ARRIVING IN CANADA TO PURSUE A “DOMESTIC” TRADE. KATHERINA BETTS PASSED AWAY IN VERNON, B.C. ON MAY 20, 1985, ACCORDING TO LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES. KATHERINA’S HUSBAND, CLARENCE, PASSED AWAY ON DECEMBER 4, 1969 IN COUTTS, ALBERTA. FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION, LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES, AND COPIES OF THE GRAVE AND PASSENGER RECORDS, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20170026001-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20170026005

Acquisition Date

2017-08

Collection

Museum

Less detail