QUILT INDEX RECORD

25-21-13

Who documented this quilt?

Texas Sesquicentennial Quilt Association, Texas Quilt Search

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin

Texas Quilt Search Number:

tqs_0052

Person filling out this form is:

Blood relative of quiltmaker; Quilt owner; Other

Source of the information on this quilt:

This quilt was identified and reviewed during the Texas Sesquicentennial Quilt Association's Texas Quilt Search, 1983-1985. Karey Bresenhan served as quilt historian.

When was the form filled out?

1983-1985

Choose the best description of the source to the quilt:

Quilt owner

If you are the quilt owner, how did you acquire this quilt?

Inherited

Describe the relationship to the quilt's maker:

The present owner of this quilt is the granddaughter of the quiltmaker.

This is a:

Finished quilt

Describe the item:

novelty quilt

Owner's name for quilt:

Target Quilt

Names for quilt's pattern in common use:

Quill Quilt

How wide is the quilt?

70 in.

How long is the quilt?

78 in.

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Straight

What color is the quilt?

Beige or Tan; Black; Blue or Navy; Brown; Red

Overall color scheme:

Multicolor

Quilt's condition:

Very good/almost new

Describe the damage:

Band across top edge may be a repair or for stabilzing edge.

Notes on condition, damage, or repairs:

In 1985, as part of the preparations for the “Lone Stars: A Legacy of Texas Quilts, 1836-1936” exhibit in the Texas Capitol Rotunda, the Texas Sesquicentennial Quilt Association sponsored a Quilt Conservation Seminar. Part of the seminar was a two-day intensive hands-on laboratory attended by quilt experts who stabilized, backed, or otherwise prepared the quilts, including this one, for this exhibition.

Time period:

1901-1929

When was the quilt started?

ca. 1896

When was the quilt finished?

ca. 1910

Family/owner's date for quilt:

1896-1910

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

ca. 1910

Who estimated the quilt's date?

Karey Bresenhan

Further information concerning dates:

Family history states that this quilt took about fifteen years to make: the quiltmaker began it when she was about sixteen and finished it after her fourth child was born.

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Number of quilt blocks:

9 full; 3 half

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Side by side

Number of different block patterns used in the quilt:

1

What is the shape of the quilt blocks?

Squares

Number of borders:

1

Describe the borders:

single light brown strip at top

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Print; Solid/plain

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Foundation Piecing; Hand Piecing

Can you feel or see paper on the quilt that was used as a construction aid?

no

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton

Description of the back:

cretonne brown with rose and green

What color is the back of the quilt?

Brown

Describe the back:

Print; Same fabric used throughout

Materials used in the quilt binding:

Cotton

How is the binding made?

Back turned to front

What is the width of the binding (measure on the top only)?

less than a half inch

What kind of filling is used in the quilt?

No filling

Describe the quilt filling:

no filling; foundation quilting

How are the layers held together?

Not quilted

Features or notes about the quilt's appearance, materials, or construction:

This is a novelty quilt composed of an estimated 42,000 hand-pieced tiny triangles of multi-colored scraps hand sewn in concentric circles of overlapping rows completely covering squares of foundation fabric. Each target is made up of 40 concentric rows with a black bullseye; quilt is very heavy. Back is floral cretonne. There is no quilting on this quilt; the folded triangles are stitched down only at the base, so the points of the half-inch pieces are loose and may be ruffled by passing a hand across them. The center black bull's eye provides focus for this detailed and dynamic design.

Quilt top made by:

Clark, Lorah Sasser

Where the quilt was made, city:

Nancy Prairie or Whitesboro

Where the quilt was made, county:

Grayson

Where the quilt was made, state:

Texas (TX)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

How was this quilt acquired?

Inheritance

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

The present owner of this quilt, Dorris Peeler Saunders, inherited it from her mother, the daughter of the quiltmaker. According to Mrs. Saunders, her grandmother, the quiltmaker, had "started my needlework instructions when I was fice years old and my mother felt she would want me to have the quilt."

Describe anything about the history of the quilt that wasn't already recorded in a previous field:

Lorah Sasser was born in Whitesboro, Texas, in 1879. She married James Milton Clark in 1898, and the couple had five children. Lorah started her Target quilt when she was sixteen; she used many fabrics that date from the last quarter of the 19th century, which suggests she kept a well-stocked scrap bag. As a young woman, Lorah worked as a seamstress, sewing linings for the coffins her father built in Whitesboro. Later she worked as a nurse and midwife in Saddler and Hopesville, Texas, work she continued throughout her life. Lorah also sewed all the family clothing and tended a vegetable and flower garden. Her granddaughter notes that Lorah Clark often was asked to supply flowers for weddings and funerals, and that she canned and preserved most of the family food. Unfortunately, she suffered a stroke in about 1910. Although she lost her speech and the stroke kept her in bed for several months, she eventually recovered fully. Karey Bresenhan speculates that she may have finished her Target Quilt during this period. Lorah Clark's philosophy of life is reflected in three mottoes she often repeated: "Where there's a will, there's a way"; If at first you don't succeed, try, try again"; and If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing well."

Why was the quilt made?

Art or personal expression

The quilt was made to be used for:

Bedding, special occasion

Quilt is presently used as:

Keepsake/memento

Where did the maker get their materials?

Sewing scraps

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Original to maker

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

One of 62 Texas quilts exhibited in “Lone Stars: A Legacy of Texas Quilts, 1836-1936,” Texas State Capitol Rotunda, Austin, Texas, April 19-21, 1986.

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

Texas Sesquicentennial Quilt Association’s Texas Quilt Search Archives

Publications (including web sites) where this quilt or maker was featured:

Bresenhan, Karoline Patterson and Nancy O'Bryant Puentes, Lone Stars: A Legacy of Texas Quilts, Vol. 1, 1836-1936 (Austin: University of Texas Press), p. 126-127.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Dorris Peeler Saunders

Quilt owner's state:

Texas (TX)

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Sasser, Lorah

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's birth date:

12/16/1879

Quiltmaker's birthplace, city:

Whitesboro, Grayson County

Quiltmaker's birthplace, state:

Texas

Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:

United States

Quiltmaker's date and place of death:

02/07/1954

Quiltmaker's occupation:

homemaker, nurse, seamstress

In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?

Rural

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

Justice of the Peace

Number of children:

5

How many of the quiltmaker's children were girls?

at least 2

How did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

Self-Taught

When did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

Age 11-19

Why does the quiltmaker quilt?

Necessity; Pleasure

Who photographed this quilt?

Sharon Risedorph

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Assistant Director Winedale

Details

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