Life on America's farms in the 1920s and 1930s meant hard work and frugal habits.
Dorothy Overall's Flour Sack Bassinet Quilt
Grade Range: K-12
Resource Type(s): Artifacts, Primary Sources
Date Posted:
3/16/2009
This bassinet quilt with a framed center design is made of high quality plain blue and white cotton feed sack fabrics. Mrs. Dorothy Overall of Caldwell, Kansas, a contestant in many sewing events in the 1950s and 1960s, pieced and appliquéd this quilt on a Pfaff sewing machine she had won in a contest. In 1959 she won the National Cotton Bag Sewing Contest, which included a vacation trip to Hollywood as part of the prize.
According to Mrs. Overall, cotton feed sack fabric was light enough for summer, almost as nice as percale, and the colors didn't fade. Cotton sacks for flour, animal feed, and other commodities were produced in many colors and prints. Flour and feed companies found that their sales were often influenced by the popularity of their sacks, which were used for clothes and household items.