Place

Toronto Township, Mississauga

Date

Circa 1860

Materials & techniques

Cotton, silk

Credit

Greeniaus Family

ID

Museums of Mississauga 986.11.2

This multi-coloured log cabin quilt came from the Greeniaus family of Toronto Township, now part of the City of Mississauga. The family were United Empire Loyalists who emigrated from the United States and settled in what is now the southern part of Mississauga in 1806.

The quilt belonged to the donor’s grandmother, Catherine Ann Greeniaus (née Kennedy) who died in 1920. Her husband Gaylord was a farmer and exhibited at a wide variety of Ontario fairs winning prizes for his cereals, fruit and apiary products. The Log cabin quilt pattern was very popular and is one of the most recognized designs.

The earliest log cabin blocks were hand-pieced using strips of fabric around a central square which was usually red to represent the hearth. Traditionally one half is made using dark fabrics and the other light. This pattern was very popular in the 1860s and is thought to be influenced by designs found on Egyptian mummies.