Postage Stamp quilt pieced in pattern known as Sunshine and Shadows or Double Irish Chain. Quilt's chains are made up of postage stamp-sized pieces of feed sacking. Tan-colored muslin ground between chains, apparently tea-dyed. Narrow green and black borders, with black binding. Hand-quilted overall in grid and outline patterns. White cotton backing embroidered with maker's name, year, and directional arrows. The maker, Gertrude Hawks, added the arrows to indicate the quilt's longest edge, thereby making it easier to make the bed. Hawks lived near Hiawatha, Kansas, her entire life. She took up quilting after her husband died in 1947.
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