QUILT INDEX RECORD

25-21-355

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_0021

Person filling out this form is:

Quilt owner; 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:

The quiltmaker was the great grandmother of the present owner of this quilt.

This is a:

Finished quilt

Owner's name for quilt:

Sugar Loaf

How wide is the quilt?

67 in.

How long is the quilt?

83 in.

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Straight

What color is the quilt?

Gold; Pink; Turquoise or Teal

Overall color scheme:

Bright or primary colors

Quilt's condition:

Good/moderate use

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

When was the quilt started?

1872

When was the quilt finished?

1873

Family/owner's date for quilt:

1873

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

ca. 1873

Who estimated the quilt's date?

Karey Bresenhan

Further information concerning dates:

Present owner spoke with the quiltmaker and learned her history. She states that the quiltmaker quilted this piece while carrying her second child, the owner's grandmother.

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Number of quilt blocks:

64

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Separated by plain sashing; Separated by inner and outer sashing (sashing surrounds all sides of all blocks)

Number of different block patterns used in the quilt:

1

What is the shape of the quilt blocks?

Squares

Describe the borders:

sashing is border

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

Describe the back:

Same fabric used throughout; Solid/plain

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

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

Can you see any knots on the front or back of the quilt?

no

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Outline; Single parallel lines

Describe the quilting designs used:

Quilting is uneven; quilted by the piece.

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

Piecing is very precise, but imprecise quilting suggests quilter, then pregnant with her second child, was pressed for time. Still bright. Pink set is very pale.

Quilt top made by:

Askey, Annie Dorothea Walker Folmer

Quilted by:

Askey, Annie Dorothea Walker Folmar

Where the quilt was made, state:

Alabama (AL)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

How was this quilt acquired?

Inheritance

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

The quiltmaker pieced this quilt in Alabama in 1873, then quilted it in 1873 when she was pregnant with her second child. She and her husband James B. Folmar moved to Larue, Henderson County, Texas, in 1879. Mr. Folmer died in 1884, and the quiltmaker remarried the same year, to J. D. Askew. The couple moved to Anderson County, Texas, where she lived until her death in 1943 at age ninety-three. The quilt was intended to remain in the family; it is now owned by a fourth generation of the family. The present owner is the quiltmaker's great grandson.

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

According to the owner, the quiltmaker did not work outside the home, and was known as an outstanding homemaker (she scrubbed her white hickory floors with sand) and cook. She made clothing and quilts, she spun cotton and wool thread, crocheted, tatted, weaved, knit, and embroidered. She taught her daughters and grandchildren needlework. It is said that Annie Dorothea Askey was so small that in a regular chair her feet did not touch the ground.

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), p. 64-65.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Westbrook, James Harmon and Frankie Lee

Quilt owner's state:

Texas (TX)

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Walker, Annie Dorothea

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's birth date:

1850

Quiltmaker's birthplace, state:

Alabama

Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:

United States

Quiltmaker's marriage date(s):

1869; 1884

Quiltmaker's date and place of death:

1943

Quiltmaker's occupation:

homemaker

In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?

Rural

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

Askew, J. D.; Folmar, James B.

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

farmers

Number of children:

at least 2

When did the quiltmaker learn to quilt?

Age 11-19

Why does the quiltmaker quilt?

Necessity; Pleasure

Who photographed this quilt?

Sharon Risedorph

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Assistant Director Winedale