QUILT INDEX RECORD
25-21-345
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_0013
Person filling out this form is:
Quilt owner; Relative of quiltmaker
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 present owner of the quilt is the great great granddaughter of the quilt's maker.
This is a:
Finished quilt
Owner's name for quilt:
Rambling Rose
Names for quilt's pattern in common use:
Rose of Sharon variation; Rose Tree; Prairie Flower
How wide is the quilt?
105 in.
How long is the quilt?
96 in.
Shape of edge:
Straight
Shape of corners:
Rounded
What color is the quilt?
Beige or Tan; Green; Orange; Red
Antique colors:
Cheddar Orange or Antimony or Chrome Orange
Overall color scheme:
Bright or primary colors
Quilt's condition:
Good/moderate use
Damage:
Fading; Fold marks or creases
Describe the damage:
general discoloration due to aging;
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.
Time period:
1850-1875
Family/owner's date for quilt:
1860
Date estimated by an antique dealer, quilt historian or appraiser:
ca. 1860
Who estimated the quilt's date?
Karey Bresenhan
Further information concerning dates:
Made for quiltmaker's eldest daughter at the time of her wedding.
Describe the quilt's layout:
One patch or allover
Describe the quilt setting:
12 appliqued wandering roses springing from primary rose motif
Number of borders:
3
Describe the borders:
three thin borders; two green, one red.
Fiber types used to make the quilt top:
Cotton
Fabric styles used in the quilt top:
Print; Solid/plain
Describe the fibers or fabrics in the quilt top:
Center of some roses appears to be very tiny print fabric rather than solid
Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:
Hand Piecing
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
Describe the binding:
thin red binding
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
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; some contrasting thread
Quilting designs used, overall motifs:
Outline; Triple parallel lines
Describe the quilting designs used:
Triple-grid quilting to give heavily textured effect. Leaves are triple quilted, and some contrast quilting is used. Outline quilting around all appliqued designs
Features or notes about the quilt's appearance, materials, or construction:
Beautifully appliqued; two of flowers are reverse; leaves are triple quilted. Quiltmaker created each of the 12 rose arrangements freehand, so there are many difference block to block. Some stems do not connect to central rose; some stems terminate in a bud, others in a full bloom. The three motif on right side have two stems coming from central motif; all others have a single stem.
Quilt top made by:
McClanahan, Dorothea Keyes
Quilted by:
McClanahan, Dorothea Keyes
Where the quilt was made, city:
Lexington
Where the quilt was made, county:
Burleson (now Lee)
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:
Dorothea (Dolly) McClanahan made this quilt for her eldest daughter, Nancy McClanahan, for her marriage to Sam Pinckney Peebles in 1860. The quiltmaker intended it to be handed down in the family to the oldest child in each generation, and this tradition has been followed. The quilt was first left to Nancy and Sam's son Eugene, then passed to Eugene's son Sam, and later to Sam's daughter Rosa Eugenia Peebles Lewis, the present owner. It was Rosa's son Raymond who brought this quilt to the Quilt Day in Corpus Christi, saying "I knew I needed to bring this. Mom would want to share it." The present owner is the great great granddaughter of the quiltmaker.
Describe anything about the history of the quilt that wasn't already recorded in a previous field:
Dolly McClanahan was born in 1802 in Georgia. She moved with her family to Tennessee, then to Alabama in 1820. In 1846 she and her husband Milton moved to Texas with their eight children. The journey was by covered wagon and took six weeks. Milton, a former Alabama state senator, settled his family on String Prairie in Burleson, now Lee, County, near Lexington. This land is still in the family. The family owned twenty slaves at the time of Milton's death in 1861. All the sons fought in the Confederate army during the Civil War; after Reconstruction, one son, John, served in the Texas Legislature. Dorothea, the quiltmaker, died in 1892 at age ninety.
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; 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. 48-49.
Ownership of this quilt is:
Private
Quilt owner's name:
Lewis, Rosa Eugenia Peebles
Quilt owner's state:
Texas (TX)
Quilt owner's country:
United States
Quiltmaker's maiden name:
Keyes, Dorothea
Quiltmaker's gender:
Female
Quiltmaker's birth date:
03/14/1802
Quiltmaker's birthplace, state:
Georgia
Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:
United States
Quiltmaker's date and place of death:
1892
In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?
Rural
Quiltmaker's father's name:
Keyes, George
Quiltmaker's mother's name:
Keyes, Elizabeth
Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and/or partner's/partners' occupation:
legislator, rancher
Number of children:
8
How many of the quiltmaker's children were girls?
4
How many of the quiltmaker's children were boys?
4
Who photographed this quilt?
Sharon Risedorph
Access and copyright information:
Restricted
Copyright holder:
Assistant Director Winedale
Details
Cite this Quilt
McClanahan, Dorothea Keye. Rambling Rose. 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=25-21-345. Accessed: 03/28/24