QUILT INDEX RECORD

25-21-336

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_0004

Person filling out this form is:

Quilt owner; Relative 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; Other

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 granddaughter of its maker.

This is a:

Finished quilt

Owner's name for quilt:

Lotus Flower

How wide is the quilt?

86 1/2 in.

How long is the quilt?

101 in.

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Straight

What color is the quilt?

Green; Red; White

Overall color scheme:

Bright or primary colors

Quilt's condition:

Good/moderate use

Damage:

Fading; Stains; Wear to edge or binding

Describe the damage:

Fading on green; badly stained.

Notes on condition, damage, or repairs:

Blue-yellow dyes used to make green are fading, especially yellow, giving green a blue cast. 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:

Signature; Other

What is inscribed on the quilt?

A single large red X appears on one vase only; some thought that this was a signature mark.

Location of inscription:

on block

Time period:

1800-1849

Family/owner's date for quilt:

ca. 1835

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

ca. 1835

Who estimated the quilt's date?

Karey Bresenhan

Further information concerning dates:

Current owner knows that quiltmaker, her great grandmother, made the quilt sometime around the time Red River County, Texas, was organized in 1837.

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Subject of the quilt:

Lotus flower

Number of quilt blocks:

6

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Side by side

Describe the quilt setting:

flower motifs oriented inward toward quilt center line.

Number of different block patterns used in the quilt:

1

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:

Solid/plain

Applique techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Applique

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

less than a half inch

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

Thread type used for the quilting:

cotton

Color of thread used in the quilting:

white

Width between quilting lines:

1/4 inch

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Outline

Quilting designs used, decorative motifs:

Vines

Describe the quilting designs used:

Center portion of quilt is embellished with decorative vining feather quilting design, which is repeated as borders. All have a variation of the Lotus Flower between the feathers. Ripple quilting follows the outline of the design element is used to fill in border area.

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

Knots appear on back. Karey Bresenhan speculates that this may indicate quilter was using recycled thread of such short lengths that she was unable to hide her knots.

Where the quilt was made, city:

Bagwell area

Where the quilt was made, county:

Red River

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 the quilt Ruby Mars does not known the name of the quiltmaker, only that it was her great grandmother. It is possible the quiltmaker's family lived in Bagwell, Texas, a small town in northeastern Texas, where one son worked as a blacksmith. The couple's daughter inherited the quilt, which was then passed on to a niece, Mrs. Mars.

Why was the quilt made?

Unknown

Quilt is presently used as:

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. 30-31.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Mars, Ruby

Quilt owner's state:

Texas (TX)

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's state:

Texas (TX)

Who photographed this quilt?

Sharon Risedorph

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Assistant Director Winedale