QUILT INDEX RECORD

25-21-341

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_0009

Person filling out this form is:

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?

Other

Describe the relationship to the quilt's maker:

This quilt's owner acquired the quilt in a drawing for family treasures. The quilt was made by her great grandmother's housekeeper.

This is a:

Finished quilt

Owner's name for quilt:

Mississippi Beauty; Prairie Flower

Names for quilt's pattern in common use:

Mississippi Beauty, Mississippi Rose, Rose Tree, Mississippi Beauty

How wide is the quilt?

93 in.

How long is the quilt?

99 in.

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Rounded

What color is the quilt?

Gold; Green; Red; White

Overall color scheme:

Bright or primary colors

Quilt's condition:

Fair/worn

Damage:

Quilting thread broken or ties missing; Stains

Notes on condition, damage, or repairs:

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:

Date; Message; Signature

What is inscribed on the quilt?

Mississippi Beauty / Judith Connor's Quilt / Persented [sic] by / Jane Shelby / Feb. 10, 1855

What is the date inscribed on the quilt?

February 10, 1855

Method used to make the inscription:

Attached label; Ink

Location of inscription:

on back

Time period:

1850-1875

Family/owner's date for quilt:

1855

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

1855

Who estimated the quilt's date?

Karey Bresenhan

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Number of quilt blocks:

9

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Other

Describe the quilt setting:

three lines of flowers and urns are separated by horizontal appliqued patter sashing

Number of borders:

1

Describe the borders:

Green vine and red bud border pattern on each side, with eight-point red and green star in each corner and two along each side , but not top and bottom.

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:

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

How is the binding made?

Hand sewn

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

less than a half inch

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, green

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Grid/crosshatch; Outline

Describe the quilting designs used:

Allover grid pattern on the white muslin; outline quilting in the urns, leaves, ans stems. Contrast quilting: white thread on white muslin and green thread in the urns, leaves, and stems.

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

The vines and buds pattern on the sashing do not "grow" completely across the width of the quilt; rather, in each sash there is a break one third of the way towards the center from the left side. This was apparently a conscious decision on the part of the quiltmaker, since all the vining was appliqued in a number of equal lengths, then assembled for sashing and border. It is likely that the outer petals of the roses were once a different color, probably a green; they have faded to a pale tan. The buds of the central rose are pieced similarly to the Rose of LeMoyne or Mrs. Harris' Colonial Rose and emerge from a single branch of leaves that form a candelabra.

Quilt top made by:

Shelby, Jane

Quilted by:

Shelby, Jane

Where the quilt was made, state:

Mississippi (MS)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

How was this quilt acquired?

Inheritance

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

Jane Shelby made this quilt for Judith Worsley Connor, the present owner's great grandmother. The quilt remained in the Connor family, and about 1940 the present owner, Zue Connor Gibbons, acquired it in a drawing for family treasures.

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

This quilt was made in Mississippi by Jane Shelby, the housekeeper for William Mayo Connor, the bachelor brother-in-law of the present owner's great granddaughter. Judith Worsley Connor, who lived in the Daingerfield, Texas area in 1849. Mr. Connor and the quiltmaker moved to Daingerfield around 1857 Jane Shelby died in 1861.

Why was the quilt made?

Gift or presentation

The quilt was made to be used for:

Bedding, daily use

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; Traditional pattern variation

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. 40-41.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Gibbons, Zue Connor

Quilt owner's state:

Texas (TX)

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Shelby, Jane

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's birth date:

ca. 1813

Quiltmaker's date and place of death:

11/15/1861

Quiltmaker's occupation:

housekeeper

Who photographed this quilt?

Sharon Risedorph

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Assistant Director Winedale

Details

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