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Strip Quilt

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QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-6134

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:

13.0108

If this quilt is owned by a museum, enter the accession number:

2006.79.30

Owner's name for the quilt:

Strip Quilt

Subject of the quilt:

Improvisational

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?

1950-1965

Date estimated by an antique dealer, quilt historian or appraiser:

1950-1965

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' occupation:

Tenant Farmer

Estimated number of quilts made by this quiltmaker:

more than 50

This is a:

Finished quilt

How wide is the quilt?

70.625 in

How long is the quilt?

84.75 in

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Straight

What color is the quilt?

Beige or Tan; Blue; Cream; Gold; Green; Lavender; Pink; Red

Overall color scheme:

Multicolor

Quilt's condition:

Good/moderate use

Describe the quilt's layout:

Vertical strip

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Describe the quilt setting:

6 Strips

Number of borders:

1

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton; Polyester

Fabric types used to make the quilt top:

Flannel; Other

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Floral; Paisley; Print; Solid/plain; Striped

Describe the fibers or fabrics in the quilt top:

Seersucker

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:

4

Describe the back:

Same fabric used throughout; Hand sewn; 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; Front turned to back

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?

Other

How thick is the quilt?

Thin

Describe the quilt filling:

Pieced Fabrics

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 1:

4 stitches per inch

Width between quilting lines:

1.5-2 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?

Old clothes; Unknown

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

Details

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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. 1950-1965. 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=12-8-6134. Accessed: 03/28/24