QUILT INDEX RECORD

25-21-374

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_0040

Person filling out this form is:

Quilt owner; Relative of quiltmaker; Other

Source of the information on this quilt:

This quilt was reviewed and documented 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 this quilt is the great niece by marriage of the quilt's maker.

This is a:

Finished quilt

Owner's name for quilt:

String Star

How wide is the quilt?

72 in.

How long is the quilt?

80 in.

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Straight

What color is the quilt?

Green; Pink; Red; White

Overall color scheme:

Multicolor; Bright or primary colors

Quilt's condition:

Good/moderate use

Damage:

Fading; Stains; Wear to edge or binding

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:

1876-1900

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

ca. 1890

Who estimated the quilt's date?

Karey Bresenhan

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Number of quilt blocks:

12: 9 full and 3 half

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Separated by plain sashing; 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:

1

Describe the borders:

plain red border on all sides; red fabric same as in sashes; green print blocks in each corner

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

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

How is the binding made?

Front turned to back

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

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Grid square

Describe the quilting designs used:

quilting is a simple grid

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

This quilt contains twelve blocks of hand-pieced stars, three of which are half stars across the top, the part visible under bed pillows. The green print eight-pointed stars are pieced with a band at the tip either in plain red or strawberry pink print; a red or pink circle is pieced into the green star center. In the three top half stars the pieced band and circle are in pink; among the nine stars below, three are in pink, all others in red. The position of the pink pieces is not uniform, perhaps an example of a "deliberate error" by the maker.

Quilt top made by:

Turner, Mary P.

Quilted by:

Turner, Mary P.

Where the quilt was made, city:

Marble Falls

Where the quilt was made, county:

Burnet

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:

The present owner acquired this quilt through the family estate. The quiltmaker, Mary P. Turner, was the great aunt by marriage of the present owner Alice D. Cheavens. Mrs. Cheavens was executrix of the estate of her cousin Nellie Penelope Turner, granddaughter of the Turners and their sole heir.

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

Mary P. Turner was born in Georgia in 1828; she married George Turner in 1848. Her husband, a veteran of the Mexican War, was later a purchasing agent for the Confederacy. The couple settled for a time in Columbus, Colorado County, and also lived in Austin and Burnet, where Mary Turner made this quilt. The Turners prospered; George Turner was well known in business, finance, and ranching circles during the second half of the 19th century. Mary Turner was a devoted wife and mother. Tragically, she lost both of her sons, though one left a daughter, Nellie P. Turner, who became the sole heir to her grandparents' estate. The present owner of the quilt notes that Mary Turner and her daughter-in-law Laura Clarke Turner did a "great deal of beautiful handwork--embroidery, lace making, crochet, needlepoint." She adds, "I am the happy owner of bedspreads, drapery with crochet panels as well as 2 needlepoint chairs that were made by these two before W.W. I."

Why was the quilt made?

Art or personal expression

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. 102-103.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Alice Dawson Cheavens

Quilt owner's state:

Texas (TX)

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Clarke, Mary P.

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's birth date:

1828

Quiltmaker's birthplace, state:

Georgia

Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:

United States

Quiltmaker's date and place of death:

1912

Quiltmaker's occupation:

homemaker

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

rancher, businessman

Number of children:

2

How many of the quiltmaker's children were boys?

2

Who photographed this quilt?

Sharon Risedorph

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Assistant Director Winedale