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Inspired by the art nouveau style that
was sweeping the decorative arts at the time, Marie designed her beautiful
appliqué quilts with pastel colors, curvilinear designs, and an
abundance of floral themes, quite a departure from the pieced quilts of
her ancestors. Needless to say, her designs were a breath of fresh air
for quilting.
Her friends encouraged her to send a
quilt to the Philadelphia home office of Ladies' Home Journal,
whose editor, Edward Bok, was eager to showcase trend-setting designs
for home decorating. That quilt, Pink Rose, along with three others—Iris,
Snowflake, and Wind-blown Tulip—appeared in the January 1911 issue.
A year later in the January 1912 issue, Poppy, Morning Glory, White Dogwood,
and Sunflower were featured. The August 1912 issue featured six of Marie's
baby quilts—Pansies and Butterflies, Sunbonnet Lassies (also known
as Keepsake), Daisies, Wild Rose, Morning Glory Wreath, and Bedtime. A
total of fourteen quilts were featured in less than two years—in
color, no less! The quilting revival had begun.
Requests for Marie's quilt patterns
poured into her Marion, Indiana, home, and she suddenly found herself
in the mail-order business. She published a four-page pattern catalog
entitled "The New Patch-work Patterns" and enlisted her family
and friends to produce the pattern packages.
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