Russian Sunflower
A very special quilt by Hubert ver Mehren
I purchased this quilt several years ago, from Folkling, an exceptionally well curated online and brick-and-mortar shop conceived of and operated by an adventurer/artist named Leney, and her spouse, Owen. It was listed as a Rising Sun quilt, origins unknown, but this extraordinary quilt had stories to tell and I wanted to hear them.
The quilt arrived a couple of weeks later, perfectly packaged and even more beautiful than it appeared in the listing. Though Leney is an excellent, creative photographer, the images she posted of the quilt made it appear more drab than it was upon arrival. I actually gasped as I lifted it out of the box and unfurled it on my sofa.
Though it was in need of a good soaking, the quilt had a silky soft top, thin cotton batting which lent seductive drape, a lightly textured muslin backing, and exquisite, dense quilting. Entirely hand-stitched, the quilt was a repository of its maker’s care and skill. The sherbet tones were bright, the binding was intact, and the entire quilt was structurally sound. I was in awe.
At that time, I was active on Instagram, connecting daily with a large community of quilt-loving folks from around the world who I knew would want to get a peek at the quilt. So, after carefully hand washing, air drying, and gently spot treating it, I posted a huge gallery of photos of the quilt to my business account.
Almost immediately, Cindy from Cindy’s Antique Quilts reached out to me with more information about it, which introduced me to the design work of Hubert ver Mehren, a quilt designer who, with his wife Mary Jacobs, operated the Home Arts Studio in the 1920s and 30s.
Cindy has been collecting and dealing in old quilts since 1987 and her knowledge of (and experience with) antique and vintage quilts is vast. She’s warm and friendly, and generous with her expertise; a note from Cindy is like going to quilt school.
Cindy believed the quilt to be a ver Mehren kit quilt (which Home Arts Studio began marketing to “housewives” in the 1930s) and suggested I do some research to confirm.
That’s where things got challenging. Information about ver Mehren, his wife Mary, and the Home Arts Studio is scant, with only a handful of websites (Wonkyworld Barbara Brackman and the Quilt Index in particular) offering illuminating tidbits. Still, the details of the quilt—such as the ornate edges, medallion quilting, and color scheme—made it clear that the quilt was a ver Mehren design and, as such, a rare find.
I was thrilled to have stumbled upon so precious and magnificent a handmade quilt, and imagined we’d never part.
And then, in late 2023, life changed and I had to move out of the house I’d been living in for four years. I needed to lighten my load, so I began selling off much of my collection of vintage and antique goods, including many of my most treasured quilts. That’s when I adopted the motto: I can’t keep them all.
But, I can be great Foster Mom, taking in quilts in varying degrees of neglect, transforming them, and passing them on to their forever(ish) homes. I can’t really say forever-forever, because everything is temporary, but, I was determined to pass this special quilt on to someone who would cherish it for a lifetime. I mean, who wouldn’t love to live with this? It makes me swoon!
Within a day of listing the quilt to my Etsy shop, the quilt sold. Of course, I was happy, but I was also a bit sad to know I wouldn’t be living with it much longer. And because I pride myself on excellent customer service, I immediately packaged it up, inserted a hand-written thank you note to the buyer, and sent it onward to its new home.
The collector who bought the quilt sent me a note later that day, explaining that it was “actually a ver Mehren Russian Sunflower” pattern and not a Rising Sun quilt, a topic I’d raised in my listing. I’d observed that the single-color center medallion and lack of colorful outer borders didn’t match the design of another ver Mehren Rising Sun quilt I’d subsequently added to my collection and I wondered if it was, indeed, a Rising Sun pattern or another, similar, pattern.
The buyer, Linda, who was clearly a ver Mehren enthusiast, confirmed my observations in her email, adding, “I never expected to see one. I am so excited to get it!” Which, of course, extinguished all traces of my seller’s remorse and replaced it with gratitude for being fortunate enough to have lived with it, and learned from it, as long as I had.
Truly, I find living with old quilts magical. They whisper to me, across time, stories of the people who traded the precious hours of their lives to offer something of comfort and beauty that could live on without them.
xo,
Trish
Wow! So beautiful. Thanks for sharing this!
Lovely!