QUILT INDEX RECORD

25-21-70

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_0103

Person filling out this form is:

Quiltmaker; Quilt owner; Other

Source of the information on this quilt:

This quilt was reviewed and documented during the Texas Sesquicentennial Quilt Association's Texas Quilt Search, 1983-1986, and/or during the Association's Phase II of the Texas Quilt Search, 1986-1989. Karey Bresenhan served as quilt historian.

When was the form filled out?

1986-1989

Choose the best description of the source to the quilt:

Quiltmaker; Quilt owner

How did the quiltmaker participate in the creation of the quilt?

Made entire quilt

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

Made the quilt

If the source helped design the quilt, describe their input:

Designed quilt motif; Designed the pattern

Describe the relationship to the quilt's maker:

This quilt is currently owned by the quiltmaker.

This is a:

Finished quilt

Quilt's title:

Longhorns on the Chisholm Trail

Owner's name for quilt:

Longhorns on the Chisholm Trail

How wide is the quilt?

70 in.

How long is the quilt?

92 in.

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Straight

What color is the quilt?

Beige or Tan; Brown; Green; Orange

Overall color scheme:

Dark colors

Quilt's condition:

Very good/almost new

Damage:

Fading

Type of inscription:

Date; Signature

What is inscribed on the quilt?

Helen Blackstone, 1979

Method used to make the inscription:

Embroidery

Location of inscription:

on block

Describe where the inscription was found:

lower right block

Time period:

1976-1999

When was the quilt finished?

1979

Family/owner's date for quilt:

1979

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Subject of the quilt:

Texas Longhorns

Size of quilt blocks:

14 1/2 in. x 14 in.

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?

Same block throughout; Squares

Sashing width:

2 in.

Number of borders:

1

Describe the borders:

5 in. green print fabric on all sides; squared corners

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton or polyester blend

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Print; Solid/plain

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Piecing

Embellishment techniques used to make the quilt top:

Other embellishment technique

Describe the techniques used to make the quilt top:

trapunto on Longhorn's horns

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

no

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton or polyester blend

Number of pieces of fabric in the quilt back:

3

Describe the back:

Same fabric used throughout; Solid/plain

Materials used in the quilt binding:

Cotton or polyester blend

How is the binding made?

Straight grain

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

greater than one inch

How wide is the binding (measure on the top only)?

burnt orange (the color of the University of Texas at Austin Longhorns--the university's football team, strainght binding sewed to front and turned to back

What kind of filling is used in the quilt?

Polyester

How thick is the quilt?

Medium (3/16?)

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 1:

6

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 2:

7

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

no

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Outline

Describe the quilting designs used:

outline quilting around each Longhorn and around blocks

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

According to the artist, the quilt's green print fabric represents the lush green grass on which the cattle were fattened along the trail; the rust-colored print represents the rocky areas of the trip and the wild flowers passed along the way; and the beige fabric suggests the clouds of dusk kicked up by passing herds. It seems likely that the choice of burnt orange as a color for the Longhorns' heads and the binding also is deliberate, since this is the team color for the University of Texas at Austin athletic teams, including The Longhorns, which is the football team. All the blocks feature a Longhorn with a tan body except for the Longhorn in the lower right block, where the Longhorn has a brown body and carries the inscription of the quiltmaker.

Quilt top made by:

Blackstone, Helen Gage

Quilted by:

Blackstone, Helen Gage

Where the quilt was made, city:

Austin

Where the quilt was made, county:

Travis

Where the quilt was made, state:

Texas (TX)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

How was this quilt acquired?

Made by owner

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

The inspiration for this quilt was a quilt contest held in Lockhart, Texas, celebrating the "Chisholm Trail Round-Up and the Battle of Plum Creek"--two historically important events in 19th century Texas. Mrs. Blackstone did not finish her quilt in time to enter it into this contest, mainly, she notes, because it "took half a year to design something that suited me." Part of her design efforts included her looking for cattle and other western symbols during a vacation in Montana with her husband.

Why was the quilt made?

Challenge or Contest entry

The quilt was made to be used for:

Artwork/wall hanging

Quilt is presently used as:

Artwork/wall hanging; Exhibit; Keepsake/memento

Where did the maker get their materials?

Purchased new

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Original to maker

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

The quiltmaker has stuffed the horns on her Longhorns to give them dimension and as a reminder of longhorns left on the Chisholm Trail after some cattle died or were killed on the long and difficult trail drives. Mrs. Blackstone has copyrighted her design.

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

"Great Texas Quilt RoundUp, Austin, Texas, 1986; Marin County Quilt and Needlework Show, San Raphael, California; Quilt exchange exhibit with South Australia Quilt Guild, Adelaide, Australia, 1988; “Lone Stars: A Legacy of Texas Quilts, 1936-1986,” 16th Annual International Quilt Festival, November, 1990, Houston, Texas.

Contests entered:

Marin County Quilt and Needlework Show, San Raphael, California; South/Southwest Quilt Association, Houston

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. II, 1936-1986 (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1990), p. 106-107; Yabsley, Suzanne, Texas Quilts, Texas Women (College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 1984), p. 64; appeared on back of Texas Highways Magazine, May 1980; article and photo in Quilters Newsletter Magazine January, 1981.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Helen Gage Blackstone

Quilt owner's state:

Texas (TX)

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Gage, Helen

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's birth date:

1913

Quiltmaker's birthplace, city:

Waco, McLennan County

Quiltmaker's birthplace, state:

Texas

Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:

United States

Quiltmaker's marriage date(s):

1936

Quiltmaker's educational background:

University of Texas at Austin MS in Education, 1953

Quiltmaker's occupation:

teacher

In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?

Urban

Quiltmaker's state:

Texas (TX)

Quiltmaker's country:

United States

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

Blackstone, [unknown]

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

worked for Texas Highway Patrol

Number of children:

5

How did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

From Class; From Relative; Self-Taught; Other

When did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

Age 20-29

Why does the quiltmaker quilt?

Gifts; Pleasure

Notes on how the quiltmaker learned, and how and why they quilt:

satisfaction of creating something beautiful

Does/did the quiltmaker belong to a group? Name of the group?

Austin Area Quilt Guild; Match-a-Patch Bee

Where does/did the group meet?

Austin, Texas

Estimated number of quilts made by this quiltmaker:

more than 50

Does/did the quiltmaker teach quilting?

only informally

Any other notes or stories about the quiltmaker:

Mrs. Blackstone was inspired to make quilts in about 1940-1941 when she read an article in Women's Day Magazine. Her first quilt was a Delectable Mountains quilt, which she started in 1941 and finished about "20 or 30 years later." Today Mrs. Blackstone makes about two to three quilts each year.

Who photographed this quilt?

Sharon Risedorph

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Assistant Director Winedale