Pineapples
Mary Schafer
Flushing, Genesee County, MI
1973
80 1/2" x 98"
Cotton with polyester filling
1998:53.74
Photo by Fumio Ichikawa, all rights reserved Michigan State University Museum

Mary Schafer adapted her "Pineapples" quilt from one found in the collection of the Shelburne Museum in Vermont. The quilt is a block-style pattern of appliqued pineapples, a motif that was often used in American decorative art as a symbol of hospitality. There are eighteen 11 1/2" appliqued blocks placed on point in alternate blocks. The border is a flowering vine of Mary's design. The quilt is signed "Mary Schafer" and dated "1973" in embroidery. Mary always made a point of signing her work. She felt that including a signature was an important part of the quiltmaking process that recognized the talent and hard work of the maker. Mary's original quilting designs are done in one-inch parallel diagonals, small scallops, and outline quilting. The areas between the appliques include quilting motifs of three parallel squares in squares and four-leaf clovers, with feathered shells in half-squares in the border.