Basket Quilt, S. Catherine & Main Streets

#228 Basket Quilt

Quilter Adalene Wendelken Oelkers

Sponsor Walhalla City Council

Adalene Wendelken Oelkers was the daughter of one of the 37 charter members of the German Colonization Society. Her parents emigrated from the Kingdom of Hanover in northern Germany to the South Carolina low country. The names of the charter members appear on the obelisk in front of St. John’s Lutheran Church which they founded. According to quilt historian Barbara Brackman, the first recorded example of a basket quilt was in 1855.

This project was commissioned by the Walhalla City Council in 2017 in conjunction with Walhalla Partners for Progress and the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail to honor the founding families of Walhalla. The story of each quilt is placed on the back side of each quilt providing an opportunity to learn about the founding families while strolling along Main Street. Complete story can be found on our website, search for quilt #228.

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