QUILT INDEX RECORD

25-21-17

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_0055

Person filling out this form is:

Quilt owner; Son of quiltmaker; 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 quiltmaker's youngest son is the present owner of this Red Cross quilt.

This is a:

Finished quilt

Owner's name for quilt:

Red Cross Quilt

Names for quilt's pattern in common use:

Friendship quilt, Commemorative quilt

How wide is the quilt?

85 in.

How long is the quilt?

78 in.

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Straight

What color is the quilt?

Blue or Navy; Red; White

Overall color scheme:

Bright or primary colors

Quilt's condition:

Very good/almost new

Damage:

Stains

Describe the damage:

light stains, iincluding ink stains from inscriiptions

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.

Type of inscription:

Message; Multiple Names

What is inscribed on the quilt?

This is a fund-raising quilt containing many names, plus following message: "This quilt was designed, made and given to the Red Cross by Mrs. G. W. Stanfield Route 5, Wichita Falls, Texas nee Clara Tate Sipe Springs Texas."

Method used to make the inscription:

Ink

Location of inscription:

multiple locations

Time period:

1901-1929

When was the quilt started?

January 1917

When was the quilt finished?

1918

Family/owner's date for quilt:

1918

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

ca. 1918

Who estimated the quilt's date?

Karey Bresenhan

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Number of quilt blocks:

20 full; 5 half

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Side by side

Describe the quilt setting:

white field behind wheels; blue five-pointed star between

Number of different block patterns used in the quilt:

1

What is the shape of the quilt blocks?

Squares

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Fabric types used to make the quilt top:

Muslin

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Solid/plain

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Piecing

Applique techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Applique; Reverse Applique

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

no

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton

What color is the back of the quilt?

White

Describe the back:

Same fabric used throughout; Solid/plain

Materials used in the quilt binding:

Cotton

How is the binding made?

Bias grain

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?

Cotton

How thick is the quilt?

Thin (Less than 3/16?)

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

Thread type used for the quilting:

cotton

Color of thread used in the quilting:

white

Can you see any knots on the front or back of the quilt?

no

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Echo; Outline; Single parallel lines; Triple parallel lines

Describe the quilting designs used:

single and triple quilting outlines wheels and stars; cutouts within each wheel are quilted at edge

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

The is a fund-raising quilt started in 1917 and finished in 1918 and designed to raise money for the Red Cross during World War I. Each wheel is a signature wheel created using reverse applique. Quiltmaker Anna Clare Stanfield accepted donations to add names to each of the wheels. Each donor had his signature carefully placed on separate blocks of muslin before the red fabric was trimmed around each name and appliqued in place. In all there are more than 500 names on this quilt, and the quilt raised over $300 for the Red Cross. The five-pointed stars are hand pieced and appliqued over the block seam junctures. Additional names were also written around the edge of each wheel. Some of these are company names, with the names of employees within the wheel.

Quilt top made by:

Stanfield, Anna Clare Tate

Quilted by:

Stanfield, Anna Clare Tate

Where the quilt was made, city:

Wichita Falls

Where the quilt was made, county:

Wichita

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:

J. Tate Stanfield, the present owner of this quilt, inherited it from his mother, the quiltmaker, because she was pregnant with him when she made it.

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

Some of the names on this quilt are those of young men who were learning to fly at Call Field, located in Wichita Falls at a time when army aviation was in its infancy. Once Mrs. Stanfield added all the names to this quilt, she donated it to the Red Cross to be sold at auction. The high bidder was a Dr. Parnell, who then returned the quilt to Mrs. Stanfield in appreciation for her work. When Dr. Parnell learned that Mrs. Stanfield was a seamstress he asked her to do sewing for his wife. Her skills at turning the doctor's cuffs and collars led her into tailoring for "dozens of professional men, including a federal judge for more than twenty years." She did all her work on a Singer Treadle Machine. When the machine was later converted with a electric motor she claimed it "slowed her down." Mrs. Stanfield's sewing skills saw her four children through high school and one through college. Her youngest son and owner of this Red Cross quilt remembers being one of the best dressed boys in school because of the clothes his mother sewed for him--he wore his first store-bought tie and shirt on the day he graduated from high school. Anna Clare and her husband George Washington Stanfield raised four children and for a time ran a general store in Gorman, Texas. The couple made overnight trips in two peddler's wagons out to the country to trade staples, hardware, and notions for eggs, chickens, butter, and other items.

Why was the quilt made?

Fundraising

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?

Purchased new

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. I, 1836-1936 (Austin: University of Texas Press), p. 132-133; quilt featured on the cover of Texas Homes, March 1986.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

J. Tate Stanfield

Quilt owner's state:

Texas (TX)

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Tate, Anna Clare

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's birth date:

03/01/1878

Quiltmaker's birthplace, city:

Sipe Springs, Comanche

Quiltmaker's birthplace, state:

Texas

Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:

United States

Quiltmaker's marriage date(s):

01/03/1902

Quiltmaker's date and place of death:

04/24/1961

Quiltmaker's educational background:

attended Howard Payne college between 1898 and 1899

Quiltmaker's occupation:

seamstress, store owner, homemaker

In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?

Rural

Quiltmaker's father's name:

Tate, Alford Allen

Quiltmaker's father's birthplace:

Dallas County, Arkansas

Quiltmaker's mother's name:

Key, Sarah Smith

Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and /or partner's/partners' name(s):

Stanfield, George Washington

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

store owner

Number of children:

4

How many of the quiltmaker's children were boys?

at least 1

Who photographed this quilt?

Sharon Risedorph

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Assistant Director Winedale

Details

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