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Crown of Thorns; New York Beauty, Rocky Mountain Road

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QUILT INDEX RECORD

25-21-359

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_0025

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 grandmother of the quilt's present owner's husband.

This is a:

Finished quilt

Owner's name for quilt:

Crown of Thorns

Names for quilt's pattern in common use:

New York Beauty, Rocky Mountain Road

How wide is the quilt?

72 in.

How long is the quilt?

81 in.

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Rounded

What color is the quilt?

Green; Red; White; Yellow

Overall color scheme:

Bright or primary colors

Quilt's condition:

Excellent/like new

Describe the damage:

very slight discoloration

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:

ca. 1876

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

ca. 1875

Who estimated the quilt's date?

Karey Bresenhan

Further information concerning dates:

Owner believes quilt was made close to the time of the quiltmaker's marriage, which was in 1876.

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Number of quilt blocks:

six full blocks, six half blocks, two quarter blocks

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Separated by cornerstones or connecting blocks sashing (different fabric in intersection); Separated by inner only sashing (no sashing along outer edge of outer blocks)

Number of different block patterns used in the quilt:

1

What is the shape of the quilt blocks?

Squares

Number of borders:

0

Describe the borders:

quarter circles with rays and sashing at top do not extend all the way to the edge, creating a bit of border at top. This is created by machine sewn binding at top.

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:

Print; Solid/plain

Describe the fibers or fabrics in the quilt top:

small pink print fabric binding

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Piecing; Machine Piecing

Describe the techniques used to make the quilt top:

binding and white strip at top are machine pieced; all else is hand pieced

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

Describe the binding:

Print pink binding is machine sewn on. Karey Bresenhan notes that this strawberry print fabric is widely available at this time which is why it is seen in so many quilts where no other pink is found.

How is the binding made?

Machine sewn

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

Width between quilting lines:

1 in.

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Grid/crosshatch; Other

Describe the quilting designs used:

concentric circles in the fan-shaped corners of each blocks; quadruple quilting in set; half-inch grid elsewhere

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

Quilt features exceptional curved-seam piecing, tiny pieced rays, and two exquisite twelve-pointed pieced stars. There are eleven red rays and twelve white ones, all hand pieced. The white strip in the sashing is pieced in, not appliqued. Quilt remains bright and crisp and is in excellent condition.

Quilt top made by:

Griffin, Virginia Catherine Sears

Quilted by:

Griffin, Virginia Catherine Sears

Where the quilt was made, city:

Whitewright

Where the quilt was made, county:

Grayson

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:

Quiltmaker Virginia Catherine Sears was born in 1860 near Whitewright, Texas. She made this quilt when she was sixteen, the year she married. The quilt was passed on to her daughter, who in turn passed it on to her son, Morris Biffle, the present owner's husband.

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

Virginia Catherine, known as Kate, grew up in Whitewright, Texas, which is where her parents settled in 1855, having moved from Alabama by oxcart. Their daughter Kate married John Griffin in 1876. The couple lived in or near Whitewright or Gainseville all their married lives. Kate died tragically in 1937 in an automobile accident.

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:

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. 72-73.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Biffle, Dorothy G.

Quilt owner's state:

Texas (TX)

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Sears, Virginia Catherine

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's birth date:

06/11/1860

Quiltmaker's birthplace, state:

Texas

Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:

United States

Quiltmaker's date and place of death:

09/17/1937

Quiltmaker's occupation:

homemaker

In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?

Rural

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

farmer, store owner

Number of children:

1

How many of the quiltmaker's children were girls?

1

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

Details

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Cite this Quilt

Griffin, Virginia Catherine Sear. Crown of Thorns. 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=25-21-359. Accessed: 03/28/24

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