QUILT INDEX RECORD

25-21-335

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_0003

Person filling out this form is:

Quilt owner; Relative of quiltmaker

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 great great granddaughter of its maker.

This is a:

Finished quilt

Owner's name for quilt:

Basket of Flowers Chintz Applique

How wide is the quilt?

87 in.

How long is the quilt?

87 in.

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Straight

What color is the quilt?

Blue or Navy; Brown; Red; White

Overall color scheme:

Multicolor

Quilt's condition:

Good/moderate use

Damage:

Disintegration of fabric; Stains; Wear to edge or binding

Repairs:

Stabilized with netting

Notes on condition, damage, or repairs:

Crepeline used to stabilize basket and to reinforce binding. 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 exhibition.

Time period:

1850-1875

When was the quilt started?

1828

When was the quilt finished?

1868

Family/owner's date for quilt:

1828 and 1868

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

1828, 1868

Who estimated the quilt's date?

Karey Bresenhan

Describe the quilt's layout:

Wholecloth

Describe the quilt setting:

broderie perse

Number of borders:

1

Describe the borders:

10-inch flower chintz border on four sides

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Fabric types used to make the quilt top:

Chintz

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Floral; Print; Solid/plain

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Piecing

Applique techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Applique

Describe the techniques used to make the quilt top:

Chintz applique quilt constructed using broderie perse technique.

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:

Hand sewn; Same fabric used throughout; Solid/plain

Materials used in the quilt binding:

Cotton

What kind of filling is used in the quilt?

Cannot tell

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

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Clamshell

Describe the quilting designs used:

Fine quilting using a chain effect connected vertically with curves that resemble the curve of a teacup or of clamshell quilting.

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

The appliqued shapes surrounding the basket of flowering branches are not randomly placed; the eight largest shapes are mirror images of each other, cut from folded fabric. The four mid-sized shapes are a perfect match, and the remaining four smaller motifs were cut freehand from the remaining scraps. The small pieces left were used to form the basket. Flowering branches of a printed chintz have been cut out as units and appliqued down in general outlines using a blind stitch. The flowering branches flowing from the central basket motif suggest a Tree of Life design. The basket is formed from narrow strips of chintz appliqued. The quilt is in exceptionally good condition for its age.

Quilt top made by:

Prothro, Mary Ridley Mims

Quilted by:

McPherson, Emily Ann Prothro; Prothro, Mary Ridley Mims

Where the quilt was made, state:

Georgia (GA)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

How was this quilt acquired?

Inheritance

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

This quilt top was appliqued in 1828 by Mary Ridley Mims Prothro (1804-1889), the great great grandmother of the present owner Ruth Eleanor Young Huddle. The quiltmaker began the applique when her daughter Emily Ann Prothro was three weeks old. The Prothro family moved to Randolph County, Alabama in 1836. Sometime during these years the quilt top was set aside. In 1844, the Prothros moved to the Republic of Texas, to Rusk County, now part of Gregg County, Texas. In 1868, on the occasion of Emily Ann's fortieth birthday, three generations of Prothro women quilted this quilt, presumably including the original maker Mary Prothro. Two years later, in 1870, the family moved to Hallsville, in Harrison County, Texas, where the family lived for six generations.

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

The present quilt owner, Ruth Eleanor Young Huddle, recalls first seeing this quilt when she was thirteen years old; it was 1927, the year of her grandmother's death. The quilt was left to her aunt, who in turn handed it down to her as a symbol of the perseverance of the women in the family.

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:

Bedding, special occasion; Keepsake/memento

Where did the maker get their materials?

Unknown

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Public domain/traditional pattern

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: 1986), p. 28-29.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Huddle, Ruth Eleanor Young

Quilt owner's state:

Texas (TX)

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Mims, Mary Ridley

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's birth date:

07/24/1804

Quiltmaker's birthplace, state:

South Carolina

Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:

United States

Quiltmaker's marriage date(s):

1824

Quiltmaker's date and place of death:

08/28/1889

In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?

Rural

Quiltmaker's state:

Texas (TX)

Quiltmaker's country:

United States

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

Prothro, James

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

planter

Number of children:

9

How many of the quiltmaker's children were girls?

3

How many of the quiltmaker's children were boys?

6

When did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

Age 11-19

Who photographed this quilt?

Sharon Risedorph

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Assistant Director Winedale

Details

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