Marion Case Cunningham first envisioned a quilt depicting Des Moines historical sites in about 1978. Women from the Des Moines community with a link to their subject completed most of the squares in the early 1980s. However, at that time there were not enough of them to assemble into an entire quilt. In the interim the squares were “framed” with strips of brown construction paper glued to the seam allowance to simulate a finished quilt and then hung inside the entrance of the Des Moines Museum on the outside wall. Unfortunately, the roof of the museum leaked right above the quilt at one point, and water stained many of the squares. A member of the museum Board of Directors removed them from the wall, discarded the paper “frames,” and stored them in a cabinet drawer, where they languished for years.

Carol Davis, the secretary of the Board of Directors, found them in January 2001 and took them to five different cleaners in an attempt to have the glue residue and water marks removed. All the cleaners said it would be safer to leave them as they were, as dry cleaning or washing would very likely damage them further. Although stitching the squares into the final quilt covered most of the glue residue, one can still see the water damage in several of the squares. Various women from the community contributed seven new blocks in February 2001, and the finished quilt had its debut in its new location on an inside wall of the museum in April.

Debbie Elhard, owner of Carriage Country Quilts at 22214 Marine View Drive S. in Des Moines, generously donated the fabric for framing and backing the quilt squares of the Des Moines Historical Quilt.

Janette Moses Armstrong, the daughter of Des Moines pioneer Rilda Martin Moses and Otto Moses, made the quilt square of the Van Gasken House used as the cover of the Des Moines Historical Quilt scrapbook, which is on display at the Des Moines Historical Society Museum.

Van Gasken House

Jan Swecker used Janette Moses Armstrong’s quilt square to construct the cover for the scrapbook.

Janet Anderson Smith took, gathered and scanned the photos for the scrapbook and web site. She also wrote and edited the text for both, and compiled the scrapbook.

Shelley Voie, Reference Librarian at Des Moines Library, created the Des Moines Historical Quilt web site.

Anita Sheneberger, Children's Librarian at Des Moines Library and professional quilter, created the quilt square image in the Pieces of the Past logo. The design is a modified mariner’s compass in which the blue represents water, and green and brown represent timber.