Variation of Cats and Mice with Sawtooth Border

I really wish I could use the image I discovered in this blog post, but until I obtain permission, I cannot. Copyright matters. I'm requesting permission to use the image, but until then, this is a post without an image.

Variation of Cats and Mice with Sawtooth Border

There's a quilt in Michigan with my relative's name on it. But first a little background and a disclaimer that my relative's name is not actually on the quilt. The quilt is apparently a variation of "cats and mice with a sawtooth  border."

My uncle and aunt, Herman and Ruth (Weber) Haase, lived much of their life in Appanoose Township, Hancock County, Illinois--at least between 1900 and 1920 when they are enumerated in the U. S. Federal Census. Herman was born in the early 1860s in Hancock County and he and his wife are buried in the northern part of Hancock County.

While searching for information on the Haases, I ran across a reference to Sophia (Weber) Haase at Michigan State University. Initially, I thought the reference had to be to a different person, but I was nagged by the unusual combination of names.

A quilt made by Ruth (Weber) Haase apparently is in a museum in Michigan. The website The Quilt Index indicates that the quilt was made between 1875 and 1900. When I saw that the quilt had been donated by "Mrs. Clarence Hilberry," I knew I had the correct person as Ruth Hilberry was the daughter of the Haases.

One doesn't expect a quilt made in Illinois by an Illinois resident to end up in a museum in Michigan. It always pays to look everywhere and don't assume that material about your ancestors will stay where they did.

To be perfectly honest, at this writing I am not certain where the Haases are buried. I've not done too much research on this branch of the family as I descend from Herman's half-sister, Franciska (Bieger) Trautvetter. However, as their son stayed in Hancock County, Illinois, I'm pretty certain that they remained in Illinois. Franciska and Herman are children of Barbara (Siefert) Bieger Fennan Haase Haase who died in 1903 in Warsaw, Hancock County, Illinois.

This was a nice visual reminder of the importance of not limiting the geographic scope of your search for ancestral artifacts.

Why can't I use the picture?

It's simple. I didn't take the picture and the copyright to the picture belongs to the owner, not me. Even if the quilt were made by an ancestor and I was their only living descendant, I still could not use it. The museum owns the quilt and the image on their site. Readers who would like to see the quilt can visit The Quilt Index where an image of the quilt is shown. The quilt is in the Michigan State University Museum.