THE BRENNER FAMILY SWALLOWS IN THE WINDOW QUILT – Around The Frame

The 37th Annual Maumee Valley Antique Steam & Gas Association Show lived up to expectations. This is where you go to eat the sweetest corn imaginable, still for only $1 an ear, and the chicken dinner sells out well before suppertime.

At last year’s show I offer to come back this year as “The Quilt Whisperer” where people could present their quilts to me and I would tell them what they were telling me about their birth, their life and the accidents that cause them to be in need of restoration.

Quilts and quilt tops that haven’t seen the light of day are laid on a sheet placed over a quilt frame to be admired and triaged. Susie Wilson, New Carlisle, Ohio brings a half dozen tops sewn by the church ladies in the early 1900s and stored away for decades. Some church members thought they should be discarded but Susie saves them. She solicits suggestions on how to honor the original makers as she prepares to finish them. Other quilts invoke the need for proper cleaning, storage and display techniques.

One quilt needing no assistance brings the audience to their feet and around the frame: This pieced quilt according to Barbra Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns is a Swallows in the Window. Edwin Brenner, Kensington, Ohio is the owner and he wants to know how old I think it is. Considering the color combination, hand stitching and narrow binding I know it is going to be pre-Civil War, and estimate 1840-1860.

Click to advertise on this website

Edwin flips a corner over and there the label embroidered in red thread reads:
120 years old 1950
Born 1816-Died 1891
Julia Brenner
Isaac Brenner Aunt
Louis Brenner Great Aunt
Dale Brenner Great Great Aunt
Gloria Jene Brenner Great Great Great Aunt
So doing the math, this quilt was made in the 1830s! Now if this isn’t great enough, Edwin has a hand-written letter:

Alliance, Ohio
June 1, 1955
Giving this quilt to Dale Brenner I want this quilt handed down in the Family. It was Pieced and quilted by Julia Brenner she also spun the thread that is was quilted with. Gertrude Brenner bought it at Johnnie Brenner sale. I have bought it from her. I have kept it since 1926. So Please don’t use it. Keep it so it can be handed down in the family.

Ella Brenner Stump
Ronia Krieg reads the note aloud and is so overcome with emotion she tears up as she reflects on this precious textile treasure and how well it has been preserved for generations. Everyone is grateful to Edwin for keeping it safe, and sharing it at the show.

I would be remiss not to mention the absence of Peggy Gable Miller longtime quilt show coordinator. Family responsibilities and a new job prevented her from coordinating this year’s show. It fell into the capable hands of Brenda Schuller who did an outstanding job. Kudos to all!

Lois Levihn Eubank is the owner of Born Again Quilts Restoration Studio and Quilt Gallery located at 4005 South Wayne Ave. She can be contacted at 260-515-9446 or bornagainquilts@frontier.com.