Ducks in the Pond or Duck Walk
Mary Elizabeth Beardslee Durkee and and Martha L. Durkee Blakeslee
Oakland County, Michigan
c.1870
78" x 92"
Cotton with cotton filling
MSU Museum Accession 1999:12.6
Photo by Pearl Yee Wong, all rights reserved Michigan State University Museum

Donor Betty Quarton Hoard's grandmother, Mary E. Beardlsee Dukee, pieced the original version of this quilt with fabrics from the family store. The quilt features madder brown, pink, and purple fabrics in the geometric and abstract prints popular in the 1860-1880 time period. Because the family did not use the quilt, its colors remain bright.

Excerpted from Great Lakes, Great Quilts.