QUILT INDEX RECORD

25-21-292

Who documented this quilt?

Winedale Quilt Collection

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin

Texas Quilt Search Number:

TMM1585-1

Alternate inventory control number:

W2h38.03

Person filling out this form is:

Blood relative of quiltmaker; Other

Source of the information on this quilt:

technical reviewer

When was the form filled out?

1959, 2007

Choose the best description of the source to the quilt:

Other

Describe the relationship to the quilt's maker:

donor, technical reviewer

This is a:

Finished quilt

Owner's name for quilt:

Open Wreath with Flower and Bud

Names for quilt's pattern in common use:

Prairie Flower Variation

Brackman # or other source & #:

44.2 similar

How wide is the quilt?

86 in.

How long is the quilt?

98 1/2 in.

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Rounded

What color is the quilt?

Green; Pink; Red; White

Overall color scheme:

Bright or primary colors

Quilt's condition:

Good/moderate use

Damage:

Stains; Tears or holes; Wear to edge or binding

Describe the damage:

Green print fabric is fading; stains are very light.

Repairs:

Patched with new fabrics

Notes on condition, damage, or repairs:

This quilt may have been repaired and/or stabilized in 1984-1985 when members of the Austin Area Quilt Guild helped a professional textile conservator repair and/or stabilize approximately thirty quilts then owned by the Texas Memorial Museum, University of Texas at Austin.

Time period:

1800-1849

Family/owner's date for quilt:

Family genealogy indicates this quilt was made before 1862, the year of the quiltmaker's death.

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

1840-1860

Who estimated the quilt's date?

Jan Tauber Wass

Describe the quilt's layout:

Wholecloth

Number of quilt blocks:

12 floral motifs; 13 indiviual flowers

Size of quilt blocks:

18 in. x 20 in.

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Other

Describe the quilt setting:

appliqued to whole cloth top

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Fabric types used to make the quilt top:

Broadcloth

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Print; Solid/plain

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Piecing

Applique techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Applique; Other 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

Number of pieces of fabric in the quilt back:

3

Width of pieces on the back:

28 1/2 in., 28 1/2 in., 29 in.

Describe the back:

Hand sewn; Same fabric used throughout; Solid/plain

Materials used in the quilt binding:

Cotton

Fabric structure of the binding:

Plain weave

How is the binding made?

Bias grain; Hand sewn; Home cut

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

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 1:

8

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 2:

10

Width between quilting lines:

1/2 in.

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

no

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Outline

Quilting designs used, decorative motifs:

Feathering; Wreaths

Describe the quilting designs used:

Small flowers are outline quilted between feathered wreaths and in each corner; small feathered circles in background, also 3/8 inch cross hatching.

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

Quilt combines pieced applique and embroidered elements. The fine points of the outer- most petals of the buds are long and short embroidery stitches in green thread.

Quilt top made by:

Miller, Susan Bell

Quilted by:

Miller, Susan Bell

Where the quilt was made, city:

Lockhart

Where the quilt was made, county:

Caldwell

Where the quilt was made, state:

Texas (TX)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

How was this quilt acquired?

Gift

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

According to family history, this quilt was made sometime in the 1850s by Sue Bell Tuttle Miller (1839-1862), who died in Lockhart, Texas. Her son Robert Brown Miller (1857-1955) inherited the quilt when he was five years old, at the time of his parents' death. He later passed the quilt on to his daughter, donor Margie Miller (Mrs. F. R. Anderson) of Miami, Florida. Mrs. Anderson donated the quilt to the Texas Memorial Museum on October 8, 1959.

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

This quilt is one of approximately forty-two quilts that the Texas Memorial Museum (TMM) at the University of Texas at Austin transferred to the University’s Center for American History (CAH) in April 2003 as part of TMM’s transfer of selected material culture objects from its collections to CAH and other research facilities on the UT-Austin campus. These TMM quilts are now part of CAH’s Winedale Quilt Collection. Information relating to each quilt’s provenance is based on documentation recorded by TMM staff at the time of acquisition, which began in the early 1940s and continued until 2003.

Quilt is presently used as:

Museum collection; Study or teaching aid

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

"From Our Hands: A Sesquicentennial Celebration of Quilts," February 16 - March 29, 1986, Texas Memorial Museum, University of Texas at Austin; annual quilt show, February 2004, February 2005, Winedale, Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.

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

Described in exhibition catalog for "From Our Hands: A Sesquicentennial Celebration of Quilts," Texas Memorial Museum, University of Texas at Austin, 1986.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Public Museum, Library or Institution

Quilt owner's name:

Winedale, Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin

Quilt owner's city:

Round Top

Quilt owner's county:

Fayette

Quilt owner's state:

Texas (TX)

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Bell, Susan

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's birth date:

September 29, 1839

Quiltmaker's birthplace, city:

Washington County

Quiltmaker's birthplace, state:

Arkansas

Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:

United States

Quiltmaker's marriage date(s):

May 26, 1856

Quiltmaker's date and place of death:

January 31, 1862

In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?

Rural

Quiltmaker's county:

Caldwell

Quiltmaker's state:

Texas (TX)

Quiltmaker's country:

United States

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

Miller, George W.

Number of children:

one son is known (Robert Brown Miller)

How many of the quiltmaker's children were boys?

1

Who photographed this quilt?

Billy Moore

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Assistant Director Winedale

Details

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