Ridge at Summit Farms, 201 Wisteria Drive

280 Grandmother’s Garden

Quilter Aggie Sandifer

Sponsor The Ridge at Summit Farms

Grandmother’s Garden quilt was given as a wedding present in 1984 to John and Dianne Sandifer. Aggie Sandifer of York, SC made this quilt along with many others that she gifted to family members and friends. The Sandifer family thought it would be a fitting tribute to a loving aunt to place a replica of this quilt on their event venue – The Ridge at Summit Farms, located in Westminster, SC. The Ridge at Summit Farms hosts weddings, family, and corporate events.

Grandmother’s Flower Garden is a familiar name for rosettes of hexagon patchwork, but the name is much newer than the pattern itself. According to the National Parks Service Quilt Discovery Experience, this pattern “has a long history, dating back to the Colonial Period where it was known as Mosaic, Honeycomb, or French Bouquet.” The design first appeared in the January 1835 issue of Godey’s Ladies book; an influential fashion periodical founded in 1830. It is believed to be the first pieced quilt pattern published in America.

When the pattern was first introduced, it was sewn together without any attempt to arrange color. In the early 19th century, as color-loving quilters began experimenting with the design, hexagon quilts appeared with sorting and arrangement of colors. During the early 20th century, many quilt patterns were renamed to make them sound quaint and “colonial.”

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