March 26, 1890: “Dear Ella… the log cabin I was going to send you I had to use some in the coldest weather so I do not feel like sending it but intend to piece you another that would please me better…”
Those words, written so long ago by my great-great-grandmother to her daughter, were made more meaningful when I received an amazing and generous gift from my sister, Jacqueline. I could not imagine what she might have sent, or why. Balancing the large white box on my lap, my eyes and fingers sought the contents. What I found – an antique quilt top entirely hand pieced in the Tumbling Block pattern – surprised and delighted me then and continues to fascinate and challenge me today.
The quilt top measures roughly 80″ by 90″ and is composed of over 600 diamond shaped pieces, no two of them alike. A friend more knowledgeable than I tells me it is a charm quilt. Possible the “queen” of scrap quilts, a charm quilt may also be known as a beggar quilt because the quilt maker collected scraps of fabric from family and friends to add to her own selection of different textiles.
Who was this quilt maker? Most likely, Elizabeth Ann Adams Terry Stevens Brown. Yes, she had three husbands! Born in Erie County, Pennsylvania in 1841 and married before the age of 20, Eliza Ann knew hardship and heartache, but she also knew how to help herself in the wake of abuse and neglect.

What Eliza did was turn her considerable skills at homemaking into a successful dressmaking business. In the 1880’s, Menomonie, Wisconsin was a prosperous lumber company town and during the more than five years Eliza lived there, she supported herself and her family by applying her expertise to the clothing needs of the community. Her youngest son remembered that prior to a big ball, his mother and her employees would turn out dazzling creations in bright colors.
You and I can imagine that Eliza’s scrap bag held a treasure-trove of textiles. If the Tumbling Block quilt top is any indication, she knew what to do with what she had. For the most part, she chose light colored fabrics with small or miniature prints – flowers, leaves, gingham checks or pin dots – for the top of each block and dark colored fabrics with larger patterns – paisleys, plaids, stripes or polka dots – for the sides. The contrast of light and dark colors and of delicate and bold patterns created a visually energetic and interesting design.
While examining the quilt top, my friend, the one more knowledgeable than I, was heard to murmur “indigo blue”, “double pink”, madder dyed”, “fugitive dye”, “conversation print”. For my part, I was delighted to discover one blue and white print celebrating America’s first one hundred years: “1776 – 1876 – Centennial”!
Eliza Ann gave up the dressmaking business when she moved to Colorado in 1887, leaving some of her household goods with Ella, then 22 years of age. The Tumbling Block quilt top may have been left behind, or Eliza may have pieced it in Colorado and sent it to Ella later. Whenever it was pieced and however it came to Ella, the quilt top remained in her care and in the care, years later, of her daughter, Louise.
I love this old quilt top. I love the artistry of the quilt maker who fearlessly juxtiposed a variety of patterns and colors. I admire the resourcefulness she demonstrated by sewing together two and sometimes three small scraps of fabric in order to have a piece big enough to use. And I am grateful for the stewardship of those who saved and cared for the quilt top, never suspecting that one day I would share some of its charms(excuse the pun!) with you.
I am indebted to my sister, Jacqueline, who received the Tumbling Block quilt top from Louise, our maternal grandmother, and who, knowing my passion for our family history and my appreciation of antique quilts, gave the quilt top to me. It is a tangible link and a tribute to an ancestor who left us a beautiful piece of her life to contemplate and to enjoy.