Westminster City Hall 100 E Windsor Street, #100 Friendship Garden

#100 Friendship Garden

Quilter Essie Jane Spencer Smith

Sponsor Donna J. Campbell

The Dresden Plate pattern has many variations and was among the most popular patterns during the quilt revival of the early 20th Century. Other names include Friendship Ring, Sunflower and Aster. This variation is called “Friendship Garden” made from a 1940 pattern from a Baltimore newspaper.

Essie Jane Spencer Smith was born December 30, 1889. Essie raised her children, helped with the family farm, nursed the sick of the community, and lived her religion. When she traveled around the county with husband, she carried her quilting and her Bible with her. She was an avid reader and had a lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society. When she churned butter, she churned with one hand and had a magazine in the other. She was an amateur historian and knew much of the history of Oconee County and the Old Pendleton District.

The Friendship Garden quilt was pieced and quilted by Essie Jane sometime prior to August 14, 1945. The quilt was presented to her youngest son, Spencer Claude Smith, a WWII veteran, and his bride, Lelline Crout, when they married on August 14. Spencer and Lelline used the quilt through the early years of their marriage and recently passed it on to their daughter.

Westminster City Hall website.