Ida A. Suits Friendship Knot – A Pieced Quilt with 25 Signatures

Can anyone help Arene Burgess - my quilt history friend and fellow Illinois researcher/historian with her research project --

Here is Arene's Story..........I'll let her tell it in her own words.

Who was Mrs. Ida A. Suits and what was the Hickory Grove Country Life Club? I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to learn the origins of this quilt and the maker since 1989 when it came into my possession.

I purchased this signature quilt from an Alton, Illinois woman who said she bought it at an estate sale of a Litchfield, Illinois doctor. Did the doctor take this quilt in payment for services? Did he or his wife win it in a raffle? Was it a retirement or appreciation gift?

The pattern is called Friendship Knot or Starry Crown (See the Collector’s Dictionary of Quilt Names and Patterns by Yvonne M. Khim, page 310.)

The names of the 25 people who signed this quilt are listed below. Mrs. Suits signed, dated, and identified herself as the maker. Did she make the top and quilt it alone or did she have help? A check through local telephone directories lists no Suits. This quilt has been displayed three times at local shows, but no one has come forward with any information.

Was the Hickory Grove Country Life Club one of a group of local clubs affiliated with an organization such as The Royal Neighbors, or the Modern Woodman? Did the Grange (a farmer’s organization founded in 1867) sponsor local clubs?

It is obvious that this quilt was made with a combination of purchased fabrics and scraps. This would indicate the quilt was planned as a raffle or fundraiser and the signatures were not just an afterthought.

I realize 74 years is a long time, but my hope is that someone will recognize all or one of these names and contact me with further information about the Hickory Grove Country Life Club or Mrs. Ida A. Suits or one of the following ladies/gentlemen listed below:

Names Embroidered on the Friendship Knot

Don Tipsword
Rosetta Tipsword
Ollie Roberson
Floy Roberson
Roy Bollman
Albert Jarvis
R.N. Suits
Mary Small
Mary Livingston
Julie Priddle
Agatha Jarvis
Evelyn Akerman
O.(?) L. Whitlock
Ella Whitlock
Mary Rosna Jett
John Priddle
John N. Suits
Luella Hill
Ida A. Suits (Maker of the quilt)
Lou Apiger
Thomas Priddle
Dennis (?) Priddle
Mrs. Guy
Byran Guy
Ed Priddle

Special Note:

If you have any additional information, recognize a name, or are related to anyone on this list, please contact me at my email address: Arene Burgess CBur305325@aol.com or contact Susan Wildemuth quiltingbee73@yahoo.com and she will put you in contact with me. Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated and would forward my research -- Thank you!