QUILT INDEX RECORD

9-6-2279

Who documented this quilt?

Louisiana Quilt Documentation Project

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Louisiana Regional Folklife Program, Louisiana Tech University

Date data was collected:

6/25/2002

Interviewer:

Susan Roach

Lousiana Quilt Documentation Project Number:

270

Quilt owner's city:

Oak Grove

Quilt owner's state:

Louisiana (LA)

Quilt name or pattern used by family/owner:

Storm Signal

How was this quilt acquired?

Inheritance

Reasons quilt was made:

Personal enjoyment

Quilt top made by:

Roberts, Bertha

Quiltmaker's occupation:

Farm Housewife

Quiltmaker's birthplace, city:

Gloster

Quiltmaker's birthplace, state:

Mississippi

Highest education level completed:

High School

Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' name(s):

R.A. Roberts

Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and/or partner's/partners' occupation:

Farmer

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

O'Neal

Quiltmaker's ethnicity:

Anglo-Scotch-Irish

Number of children:

5

Did the quiltmaker make other quilts? Approximately how many? Where are they?

Learned to quilt from: family members Other quilts by the quiltmaker: scattered Her birth date is uncertain but sometime in the late 19th century or early 20th century.

Favorite pattern, piecing preferences, quilting is done with:

Quilting done with: Frame from Ceiling

Reason(s) for quiltmaking:

Necessity

Type of item:

Finished quilt

Sizes, overall width:

70

Sizes, overall length:

82

Size of quilt blocks:

9.5 X 10

Sizes, sashing width:

2

Quilt type, applique:

Hand Applique; Machine Applique

Describe the techniques used to make the quilt top:

Pieced

Pieced quilt type:

Block pattern

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Setting:

Side by side

Binding:

Back turned to front; Machine sewn

Brackman ID#:

1196, variation

Number of borders:

1

Describe the borders:

Single

Top fabric, design:

Feedsack

Top fabric, colors:

Gold; Yellow

Top fabric, color value:

Light or pastel colors

Backing/lining, design:

Print

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 1:

4

Quilting, type of thread:

cotton

Quilting, color of thread:

white

Quilting, design:

Shells

Batting:

Cotton

Condition:

Poor/very worn

Related items such as diaries, obituaries, wills, household inventories, or pictures of the quiltmaker:

The rust stains on some quilts were from bed springs. Sometimes her mother would spread and place quilts between the bed springs and mattresses to provide additional padding to stabilize and improve the bed's age and weaknesses and the lumpiness of the mattress. This quilt was made by either Bertha Roberts or Iona Roberts. Iona Roberts was also a housewife, born around the same time as Bertha, in Sikes, LA. Her husband was J.K. Roberts, a farmer. Her maiden name was Gates and her ethnicity is English. She had 3 children. These quilts were also often put on the floor (where it was cooler) for people to nap on after lunch workdays on the fields on the farm. The quilts were also used during winter for covers. The house was not insulated, so they sometimes used three, four, or five quilts on a very cold night. The owner has no recollection of ever seeing one washed.

Who estimated the quilt's date?

Date estimated by Susan Roach

Place made, country:

United States

Copyright holder:

Louisiana Regional Folklife Program