QUILT INDEX RECORD

25-21-342

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_0010

Person filling out this form is:

Blood 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

If you are the quilt owner, how did you acquire this quilt?

Inherited

Describe the relationship to the quilt's maker:

This quilt is owned by the quiltmaker's great great granddaughter.

This is a:

Finished quilt

Owner's name for quilt:

Whig's Defeat

Names for quilt's pattern in common use:

Sunflower, Broken Circle, Indian Summer

How wide is the quilt?

74 in.

How long is the quilt?

80 in.

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Straight

What color is the quilt?

Beige or Tan; Green; Orange; Red; White

Overall color scheme:

Multicolor

Quilt's condition:

Good/moderate use

Damage:

Fading; Stains

Notes on condition, damage, or repairs:

Quilt has never been 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

When was the quilt started?

ca. 1855

When was the quilt finished?

1856

Family/owner's date for quilt:

ca. 1855

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

ca. 1855

Who estimated the quilt's date?

Karey Bresenhan

Further information concerning dates:

The quitmaker was married in 1855 and the quilt top was pieced for her wedding. It was finish a year later, the year her first child was born.

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Number of quilt blocks:

9

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Separated by inner only sashing (no sashing along outer edge of outer blocks)

Describe the quilt setting:

the two vertical sashes run the length of the quilt border to border and cross over the two horizontal sashes

Number of different block patterns used in the quilt:

1

What is the shape of the quilt blocks?

Squares

Number of borders:

2

Describe the borders:

One border, at top and bottom, is a larger version of the green and tan diamond sash pattern; the other border, on each side, is a small sawtooth of brown and green print.

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:

Hand-dyed

Describe the fibers or fabrics in the quilt top:

Imported fabrics, most notably the green print used in background and for diamonds in sashing. Home dyed rosy beige is unusual and was probably obtained using red clay in quiltmaker's home state of Georgia.

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Piecing

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

no

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton

Description of the back:

muslin

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

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

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Clamshell

Describe the quilting designs used:

simple overall clamshell or rainbow quilting

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

Karey Bresenhan states that the warm terra-cotta centers of this quilt are its most unusual aspect and was likely obtained by home dyeing. Home dyeing using Georgia clay apparently continued for generations in the South following the Civil War.

Quilt top made by:

Worden, Gail C.

Quilted by:

Worden, Gail C.

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 was pieced in Georgia by quiltmaker Gail C. Worden (1840-1920?) probably about the time of her marriage in 1855 in Georgia to Joseph Worden. The couple moved to Texas, to Grayson or Hunt County, in 1856, and she finished the quilt that year, the same year her first child was born. The present owner is Anne Long Tuley, the quiltmaker's great great granddaughter. She inherited the quilt from Josephine Worden Long, the quiltmaker's daughter and her great grandmother, whom she knew personally, because she was interested in quilting.

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

Anne Long Tuley stated: "I believe this quilt was made for Gail's wedding with imported fabrics by or for her trip to Texas--It is obvious it was quilted later and I can imagine that she quilted it and thought about home. The quilting is not as fine as the piecing and perhaps that was all she could manage with her pioneer role." She also noted that the quiltmaker's daughter Josephine Worden Long was an avid quilter: "She was known to quilt with her neighbors many days as soon as they could 'clean up after breakfast' and as long as they could.

Why was the quilt made?

Wedding

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?

Feed or flour sacks

Describe the sources of the quilt's materials:

some imported fabrics

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), p. 42-43.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Tuley, Anne Long

Quilt owner's state:

Texas (TX)

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's birth date:

1840

Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:

United States

Quiltmaker's date and place of death:

1920s

Quiltmaker's occupation:

housewife

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' occupation:

farmer

How many of the quiltmaker's children were girls?

1

Who photographed this quilt?

Sharon Risedorph

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Assistant Director Winedale