QUILT INDEX RECORD

25-21-344

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_0012

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?

Purchased the quilt

Describe the relationship to the quilt's maker:

This quilt was purchased by the present owners, mother and daughter, after the Parkey estate was divided about 1970.

This is a:

Finished quilt

Owner's name for quilt:

Sawtooth Star

How wide is the quilt?

61 in.

How long is the quilt?

81 1/2 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:

Very good/almost new

Describe the damage:

very few spots

Notes on condition, damage, or repairs:

Karey Bresenhan noted that this quilt was "in exceptionally good condition." 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. 1859

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

ca. 1859

Who estimated the quilt's date?

Karey Bresenhan

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Number of quilt blocks:

30 (15 pieces; 15 plain)

Size of quilt blocks:

11 1/2 in. x 12 in.

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Alternating with plain squares; Side by side

Number of different block patterns used in the quilt:

2

What is the shape of the quilt blocks?

Squares

Number of borders:

1

Describe the borders:

Red sawtooth border that does not turn the corner; rather it ends abruptly and "mid sawtooth" on each side.

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Solid/plain

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

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?

Straight grain

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

less than a half inch

What kind of filling is used in the quilt?

Cotton

Describe the quilt filling:

Hand-carded cotton batting; when quilt is held to the light, it is easy to see hundreds of cottonseeds.

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, decorative motifs:

Other

Quilting designs used, background fills:

Grid/crosshatch

Describe the quilting designs used:

Exceptional quilting, with five different quilting patterns in plain blocks, including hearts and flowers. Also tulips on border, stars, double-quilting, cross hatching.

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

The piecing is not perfect on this quilt, though this lends to the gaiety of the appearance. Some sawtooth points are cut off, the green square patches are not very square, and the border sawtooth line does not turn the corner. Some thought that with the heart-pattern quilting that this was a wedding quilt.

Quilt top made by:

Parkey, Ruthie Fugate

Quilted by:

Parkey, Ruthie Fugate

Where the quilt was made, county:

Claiborne

Where the quilt was made, state:

Tennessee (TN)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

How was this quilt acquired?

Purchase

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

The present owners purchased this quilt from dealers some years after the Parkey estate was divided and sold.

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

Quiltmaker Ruthie Fugate Parkey made this quilt in Claiborne County, Tennessee, probably for her wedding, which was in 1859. She married Milton Green Parkey, and the couple had seven children, five of which were sons, between 1860 and 1873. In 1884, Mr. Parkey and two sons came to Texas to homestead, settling in Mankins, Archer County. Mrs. Parkey and another son joined them in Texas in 1888, leaving the two older sons in Tennessee to care for the family farm. Part of her journey to Texas included travel by river flatboat. Mrs. Parkey lived in a dugout while the family built a brick house. The family was very successful over the years: by 1900 the family owned 5,000 acres; by 1939 their ranch had grown to 30,000 acres, and by 1957 the Parkey family owned three ranches in three Texas counties: Archer, Baylor, and Erath. Mrs. Parkey died in 1926 at age eighty-six. The current owners of the quilt purchased it from dealers some years after the estate was divided in about 1970.

Why was the quilt made?

Wedding

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:

Information about this quilt and associated family history was assembled by the quilt owners from personal interviews with the Tennessee relatives of Ruthie Fugate Parkey, from the pamphlet "Archer County, Texas Centennial" (privately published), and from the J. W. Williams, "Big Ranch Country," (1954); see also, 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. 46-47.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Jones, Ebb Kelly; Puder, Judy Jones

Quilt owner's state:

Texas (TX)

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Fugate, Ruthie

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's birth date:

05/31/1840

Quiltmaker's birthplace, city:

Claiborne

Quiltmaker's birthplace, state:

Tennessee

Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:

United States

Quiltmaker's marriage date(s):

04/16/1859

Quiltmaker's date and place of death:

05/26/1926

Quiltmaker's occupation:

ranch wife

In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?

Rural

Quiltmaker's father's name:

Fugate, William

Quiltmaker's mother's name:

Fugate, Nancy Riley

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

Parkey, Milton Green

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

farmer, rancher

Number of children:

7

How many of the quiltmaker's children were girls?

1

How many of the quiltmaker's children were boys?

6

When did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

Age 11-19

Any other notes or stories about the quiltmaker:

According to the quilt owners, "One of the main reasons this quilt is in such good condition is that the long-time housekeepers aired the quilts often and refolded them to avoid folding them along the same creases."

Who photographed this quilt?

Sharon Risedorph

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Assistant Director Winedale