QUILT INDEX RECORD
12-8-6126
Who documented this quilt?
Michigan Quilt Project; The Henry Ford Collection; Black Diaspora Quilt History Project
Where are the records for this quilt housed?
Michigan State University Museum
Michigan Quilt Project Number:
13.0100
If this quilt is owned by a museum, enter the accession number:
2006.79.22
Owner's name for the quilt:
Strip Quilt
Subject of the quilt:
Improvisational
Names for quilt's pattern in common use:
Work Clothes Quilt
Biography of the quiltmaker?
For Susana Hunter (1912-2005) and her husband Julius, life in the Jim Crow South meant hard work and few resources. The Hunters were tenant farmers who grew cotton and corn, tended a vegetable garden, and raised hogs, chicken and cattle. They lived in a simple, two-room house that had no running water, electricity or central heat. The outside world came to them through a battery-powered radio and a wind-up phonograph. Though the Hunters didn’t have much in the way of material goods or the latest 20th century technology, they never went hungry, raising much of their own food. And, in a place where people had to walk most everywhere they wanted to go and where nobody had telephones, close personal ties to family and community enriched the Hunter family’s lives. Quilter Susana Hunter turned the “fabric” of everyday life into eye-catching quilts with an abstract, asymmetrical and often modern feel. Represented in the fabrics that make up Susana Hunter’s quilts are work clothes worn from the family’s toil in the fields, sacks from the cotton seed they planted each spring, scraps from the clothes Susana sewed for her family, and bulk sugar sacks from the food staples the Hunters bought at the local general store. Susana’s quilts warmed her family during chilly Alabama winters in the inadequately heated home. They added splashes of color to the unadorned living space—a cheerful kaleidoscope of vivid pattern and design against newspaper-covered walls. Susana very rarely bought new fabric for her quilts; she used what was at hand. Yet the lack of materials didn’t restrict this resourceful quilter’s creativity. Susana Hunter could cast her artistic eye over her pile of worn clothing, dress scraps, and left-over feed and fertilizer sacks—and envision her next quilt.
When was the form filled out?
2013
Quilt top made by:
Hunter, Susana Allen
Quilted by:
Hunter, Susana Allen
If you are the quilt owner, how did you acquire this quilt?
Purchased the quilt
Where the quilt was made, county:
Wilcox County
Where the quilt was made, state:
Alabama (AL)
Where the quilt was made, country:
United States
Time period:
1950-1975
When was the quilt finished?
1965-1970
Date estimated by an antique dealer, quilt historian or appraiser:
1965-1970
Quilt is presently used as:
Museum collection
Quiltmaker's gender:
Female
Quiltmaker's county:
Wilcox
Quiltmaker's state:
Alabama (AL)
Quiltmaker's country:
United States
Quiltmaker's maiden name:
Allen
Quiltmaker's birth date:
02-14-1912
Quiltmaker's birthplace, city:
Ackerville
Quiltmaker's birthplace, state:
Alabama
Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:
United States
In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?
Rural
Quiltmaker's date and place of death:
11-11-2005
Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:
African American
Quiltmaker's occupation:
Tenant Farmer
Quiltmaker's father's name:
Allen, Tobe
Quiltmaker's father's birthplace:
Alabama
Quiltmaker's mother's name:
Allen, Mary Richardson
Quiltmaker's mother's birthplace:
Alabama
Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and /or partner's/partners' name(s):
Hunter, Julius
Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and/or partner's/partners' occupation:
Tenant Farmer
Estimated number of quilts made by this quiltmaker:
more than 50
This is a:
Finished quilt
How wide is the quilt?
70.063 in
How long is the quilt?
78 in
Shape of edge:
Straight
Shape of corners:
Straight
What color is the quilt?
Beige or Tan; Blue; Green; Navy; Red
Overall color scheme:
Dark colors
Quilt's condition:
Fair/worn
Type of inscription:
Other
What is inscribed on the quilt?
100 LBS. NET SPECIAL/ MANUFACTURED BY/ COTHRAN FEED CO./ SELMA, ALA.
Method used to make the inscription:
Printed in the fabric
Describe the quilt's layout:
Vertical strip
Fiber types used to make the quilt top:
Cotton
Fabric types used to make the quilt top:
Flannel; Other
Fabric styles used in the quilt top:
Plaid; Solid/plain
Describe the fibers or fabrics in the quilt top:
Denim
Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:
Hand Piecing
Materials used to make the back:
Cotton
What color is the back of the quilt?
Cream
Number of pieces of fabric in the quilt back:
8
Describe the back:
Same fabric used throughout; Hand sewn; Print; Solid/plain
Materials used in the quilt binding:
Cotton
Fabric structure of the binding:
Plain weave
How is the binding made?
Back turned to front
What is the width of the binding (measure on the top only)?
half inch - one inch
What kind of filling is used in the quilt?
Cotton
How thick is the quilt?
Thick
How are the layers held together?
Hand quilting
Thread type used for the quilting:
Cotton
Color of thread used in the quilting:
White
Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 1:
4 stitches per inch
Width between quilting lines:
1-1.5 in
Quilting designs used, overall motifs:
All-over-design; Single parallel lines
Quilting designs used, background fills:
Parallel lines
Features or notes about the quilt's appearance, materials, or construction:
Created from the 1930s to the 1970s, Susana Hunter’s quilts reflect her life in rural Wilcox County, Alabama—one of the poorest counties in the United States. The quilts are pieced in a design-as-you-go improvisational style found among both blacks and whites in poorer, more isolated pockets of the rural South. Making an improvisational quilt top required a continual stream of creativity during the entire process, as the quilter made hundreds of design decisions on the fly, fashioning an attractive whole out of whatever materials—including fabric scraps, feed sacks, and worn clothing—were at hand. Overall visual impact mattered most. Size and shape was determined by the scraps available at the time. This type of creative recycling was more than a means of survival. For many rural quilters, it was also a matter of pride to be able to “make something pretty out of nothing.” Susana Hunter wanted all of her quilts to be different. Some designs have a warm, homey feel. Many resemble abstract art. Other quilts pulsate with the visual energy created by many small, irregular pieces of vividly-colored fabric sewn together. Still others incorporate flour or rice sacks, often reserved for quilt backing, as part of the design of the carefully pieced quilt top.
Where did the maker get their materials?
Feed or flour sacks; Old clothes
Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:
Quilting Genius II: The Improvisational Quilts of Susana Allen Hunter, 2008. Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, Michigan. The Improvisational Quilts of Susana Allen Hunter, 2013. Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids Michigan.
Person filling out this form is:
Quilt owner
Source of the information on this quilt:
Museum Representative
Ownership of this quilt is:
Private- Nonprofit Organization
Quilt owner's name:
The Henry Ford
Quilt owner's city:
Dearborn
Quilt owner's county:
Wayne
Quilt owner's state:
Michigan (MI)
Quilt owner's country:
United States
How was this quilt acquired?
Purchase
Access and copyright information:
Restricted
How did the quiltmaker participate in the creation of the quilt?
Made entire quilt
The quilt was made to be used for:
Bedding, daily use
Who photographed this quilt?
The Henry Ford
Copyright holder:
The Henry Ford
Cite this Quilt
Hunter, Susana Alle. Strip Quilt. 1965-1970. From Michigan State University Museum, Michigan Quilt Project; The Henry Ford Collection; Black Diaspora Quilt History Project. Published in The Quilt Index, https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=fullrec&kid=12-8-6126. Accessed: 04/27/24