An Ohio Rose

Hello again from 24 Blocks. Tonight we’re just featuring the work of one quilter, Bonnie Olson, and her Ohio Rose quilts. She was inspired by a quilt her grandmother made around 1939-40 and wanted to replicate the pattern in a queen size. We love her story. And we love keeping family quilting traditions alive.

The Ohio Rose pattern is very old and has several different forms. It sometimes also is called Rose of Sharon or Whig Rose. It was largely favored in the North before the Civil War. It was meant to be a “good quilt” used to cover a bed mainly for company. They were frequently given for weddings.

We have seen tissue paper patterns for Ohio Rose years ago in our own grandmother’s collection. We have also heard that they came out sometimes on the wrappers for batting during the Depression and WWII eras.

What we love, though, is that Bonnie has loved her grandmother’s work so much that she took the time to create her own pattern and make a new version. It is all so beautiful. Thank you Bonnie for sharing it with us all.

from: Bonnie Cundiff Olson: “My grandmother in KY made this Ohio Rose quilt c.1939-40 for my mother who married in 1940. In 2004, I retired, moved from IL to Ohio, took up quilting, and this year made a queen sized version of her Ohio Rose quilt. This is my grandmother’s all made by hand.”

from: Bonnie Cundiff Olson: “This is my Ohio Rose, all machine made. Close up of the border follows. I could not find a pattern, so had to copy my grandmother’s.”

from: Bonnie Cundiff Olson: “Border of my Ohio Rose quilt. I’m going to make valances in a similar pattern.”