Quilt center, ca. 1790, Made in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, American, Cotton, printed, 27 5/8 x 29 1/2 in. (70. 2 x 74. 9 cm), Textiles, John Hewson (1744?1821), John Hewson, the first important and well-documented textile printer in America, arrived in Philadelphia from London in September 1773 at the invitation of Benjamin Franklin. Trained to produce the highest quality block-printed textiles at Bromley Hall in London, Hewson set up a 'Calicoe Printing Manufactory' almost immediately