Quilt Raffle

A special quilt is being raffled this year, made by Laurie Sieminski and donated to the Union Mills Homestead! The quilt is named “Autumn Stars” and measures 88 inches by 88 inches. Raffle tickets are $5 each or you can purchase 5 tickets for $20. Raffle tickets will be available in our gift shop and at our events this year. The drawing will be held at our Christkindlmarkt in November. Proceeds from the raffle will benefit the nonprofit Union Mills Homestead Foundation.

Quilts like this are made in a long tradition of recycling scraps of fabric into bedcovers. Quilted fabrics have been made for centuries by many cultures all around the world—for warmth in bed, for padding beneath chainmail worn by knights, and to keep out drafts in large castles. Quilts were more utilitarian than decorative.

In earlier times, nothing went to waste, so an outgrown dress or work shirt would be set aside until it could be repurposed into new uses. Over the years, a thriving trade with England brought woven and printed cottons back to North America, offering seamstresses much more variety and quality for their patchwork.

Crossroads communities like Union Mills were the center of local quilt making. With its direct link by turnpike to the Port of Baltimore, Union Mills prospered. Ships sent flour from the area into markets around the world, and brought back goods that Americans needed, including fine fabrics. It’s easy to imagine how delighted local women must have been to be able to choose a pretty calico to add to their fabric scraps.

German settlers who came to this area in the 1700s brought along their traditional folk designs. In their quilts they often used center appliques of flowers or foliage, representing Nature, surrounded by geometric blocks. The “fylfot”, or pinwheel, was a popular block pattern that some believe to represent good and evil. The pinwheel block in this quilt is one of several variations of fylfot blocks and reflects the proud German heritage of the Union Mills Homestead.

The patchwork tradition is still going strong today, although it has become more of a pleasurable pastime than a necessity, and there are hundreds of stores around the world that cater to quilters. The Union Mills Homestead is proud to make this beautiful quilt available for a raffle this year. Get your tickets now!