Trained in sculpture at Radcliffe College, Bertha Meckstroth made more than 140 quilts between 1916 and 1933. As a sculptor, she used trapunto, reverse appliqué, layering, and embroidery to create three-dimensional textures in her quilts, which she called “sculpted cloth.” Although Deer in Wedgewood is not as heavily sculpted as some of her other works, it is typical of her inspiration from other decorative objects: low-relief Wedgewood china in this case.

Meckstroth exhibited her quilts in a solo exhibition at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. See Merikay Waldvogel’s profile of Meckstroth in American Quilts in the Modern Age: 1870-1940.