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Bleeding Heart

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quilt

QUILT INDEX RECORD

25-21-339

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_0007

Person filling out this form is:

Blood relative of quiltmaker; Quilt owner; 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 owner of this quilt is the granddaughter of its maker.

This is a:

Finished quilt

Owner's name for quilt:

Bleeding Heart

How wide is the quilt?

102 in.

How long is the quilt?

86 in.

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Straight

What color is the quilt?

Green; Pink; Red; Yellow

Overall color scheme:

Bright or primary colors

Quilt's condition:

Fair/worn

Damage:

Fading; Fold marks or creases; Quilting thread broken or ties missing; Stains; Wear to edge or binding

Describe the damage:

considerable water stains

Notes on condition, damage, or repairs:

Applique and fabric in unusually good condition for age; never washed. 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.

Time period:

1850-1875

Family/owner's date for quilt:

ca. 1850

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

ca. 1850

Who estimated the quilt's date?

Karey Bresenhan

Further information concerning dates:

Quilt was made for quiltmaker's trousseau; she was married in 1853.

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Subject of the quilt:

Bleeding Hearts; Tree of Life

Number of quilt blocks:

9

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

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

Applique techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Applique

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

no

Materials used to make the back:

Other

Description of the back:

muslin; put on in 1985 by professional

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

Describe the binding:

Red piping inserted between quilt top and backing, which has been brought around, folded, and stitched.

How is the binding made?

Back turned to front

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:

1/2 in.

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Grid/crosshatch

Describe the quilting designs used:

heavily quilted with an overall crosshatch pattern forming a 1/2 inch grid

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

Karey Bresenhan noted: "Instead of signing her quilt with a cross-stitch name or using a stencil especially made for her, this quiltmaker has chosen a much more subtle method of leaving her mark for years to come. Very carefully and deliberately, she has quilted over the crosshatching in one place with her own personal symbol, clamshells. There is no other reason for this intrusion into her perfect quilt except that she was leaving a message." The Bleeding Heart is a variation of the flowering tree or Tree of Life motif found in forms of needlework showing Eastern influence. The edge has red piping inserted between the quilt top and the back, which is brought around, folded, and stitched.

Quilt top made by:

Beck, Elizabeth Winfrey Harrison Denton

Quilted by:

Beck, Elizabeth Winfrey Harrison Denton

Where the quilt was made, county:

Clinton

Where the quilt was made, state:

Kentucky (KY)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

How was this quilt acquired?

Inheritance

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

The current quilt owner inherited this quilt from her father, who was the son of the quiltmaker.

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

The quilt owner stated that this quilt was made by her grandmother for her trousseau and that "It was so beautifully made no one could have done it with little ones underfoot." Quiltmaker Elizabeth Winfrey Harrison married twice and had seven children. When she died in 1871 at age forty-one, her second husband, the Reverend Francis E. Beck, moved from Kentucky to Paris, Texas, where he raised the children alone. One of the sons, charley Clinton Beck, married and moved with his wife and family from Paris to Hanford County in 1903. The couple had three more children, including quilt owner Ollie Beck Jarvis. Mrs. Jarvis noted how she inherited the quilt: "My father asked me if I would like to have 'His Quilt'--and I said 'Yes.'"

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:

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. 36-37.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Jarvis, Ollie Beck

Quilt owner's state:

Texas (TX)

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Harrison, Elizabeth Winfrey

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's birth date:

06/30/1829

Quiltmaker's birthplace, state:

Kentucky

Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:

United States

Quiltmaker's date and place of death:

11/30/1871

Quiltmaker's state:

Kentucky (KY)

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

minister

Number of children:

7

How many of the quiltmaker's children were girls?

4

How many of the quiltmaker's children were boys?

3

Who photographed this quilt?

Sharon Risedorph

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Assistant Director Winedale

Details

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Cite this Quilt

Beck, Elizabeth Winfrey Harrison Dento. Bleeding Heart. 1850-1875. From Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin, Texas Sesquicentennial Quilt Association, Texas Quilt Search. Published in The Quilt Index, https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=fullrec&kid=25-21-339. Accessed: 03/28/24