A while ago Jan asked on my Facebook page:
Is it Prince's Feather or Princess Feather?
Quilt pattern names can never really be called correct. They change over time. Generations forget them. Writers make them up. Here are some names from my Encyclopedia of Applique:
Several "Princess Feathers" with the earliest perhaps the Ladies Art Company or Marie Webster in the early 20th century.
Nancy Cabot in the 1930s called it "Washington Feather"
Carrie Hall called it "Feather Rose" and "California Plume" in 1935.
In 1888 Mrs E.A. Hill of Comanche, California, entered a
notable "Washington plume quilt" in a fair.
Did Washington wear a feather?
Portrait of Washington as a Colonel in the Virginia Militia
about the time of the Revolutionary War.
I guess that's a feather in his tri-cornered hat.
You know: "Stick a feather in his hat and call it macaroni" from the song Yankee Doodle.
In 1872 Mrs M Meyers won acclaim at the local fair for
her "feather quilt," which may have been similar to what we'd call a Princess Feather.
From Julie Silber's inventory, mid 19th century.
But there are other names too.
The quilt above came with a note
"Huldah's Spread
Strawberry & Fern
Aplique
made by Grandma Stone
about 1860"
A few other quilts have notes or inscriptions about the name.
Below one from the book Arkansas Made.
"1874
Modesh Feathered Star"
Modish---as in fashionable?
Here's one I saw years ago, a badly burned quilt dated Sept 1859 in the center.
Above the date it says
"Kossuth...Feather"
Revolutionary Lajos Kossuth with his trademark feathered hat.
See Karen's thoughts on the pattern name here:
Prince of Wales about 1860
(Talk about macaroni---which was slang for all that stuff on his coat)
Heraldry for the Prince of Wales.
Ich Dien = I Serve