QUILT INDEX RECORD
25-21-5
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_0045
Person filling out this form is:
Blood relative of quiltmaker; 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?
Inherited
Describe the relationship to the quilt's maker:
The quiltmaker was the great grandmoter of the quilt's present owner.
This is a:
Finished quilt
Owner's name for quilt:
Diamondback Rattlesnake
Names for quilt's pattern in common use:
Rattlesnake
How wide is the quilt?
70 in.
How long is the quilt?
73 in.
Shape of edge:
Straight
Shape of corners:
Straight
What color is the quilt?
Beige or Tan; Brown; Gray; Turquoise or Teal; White
Overall color scheme:
Multicolor
Quilt's condition:
Fair/worn
Damage:
Fading; Fold marks or creases; Stains; Tears or holes; Wear to edge or binding
Describe the damage:
general staining and wear throughout
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. 1895
Who estimated the quilt's date?
Karey Bresenhan
Describe the quilt's layout:
Block pattern
Number of quilt blocks:
9
Arrangement of quilt blocks:
Straight
Spacing of quilt blocks:
Side by side
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:
narrow teal blue border on all sides
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:
Hand-dyed; Print; Solid/plain
Describe the fibers or fabrics in the quilt top:
coarsely woven cotton
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?
Beige or Tan
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
Quilting designs used, overall motifs:
Grid square; Other
Describe the quilting designs used:
Quilting design resembles the distinctive, lateral looping motion the sidewinder uses to move across the ground. Quilting around snake design follows curves; ripple quilting. Six blocks feature grid quilting; three feature denser quilting. Heavily quilted overall.
Features or notes about the quilt's appearance, materials, or construction:
Quilt is an excellent example of fabric color choice matching design subject, superb manipulation of fabric, and amazing piecing of many small triangles. Quiltmaker has chosen drab, earth-colored fabrics to suggest a snake's environment and done intricate piecing to suggest sensuous curve of a sidewinder.
Quilt top made by:
Bristol, Jemima Elvira Johnson
Quilted by:
Bristol, Jemima Elvira Johnson
Where the quilt was made, city:
McKinney
Where the quilt was made, county:
Collin
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:
Jemima Bristol was born in North Carolina. She married William Bristol in 1859; the couple moved to Texas in 1873. They raised nine children, but lost five before they reached adulthood. Only one daughter, Myrtle Law Bristol, survived, and the Rattlesnake quilt was passed on to her. She passed the quilt on to her granddaughter, the present owner, Marguerite Houston Brock, who also makes quilts.
Describe anything about the history of the quilt that wasn't already recorded in a previous field:
As the mother of nine children, Jemima Bristol made clothes for her family as well as straw mattresses for family to sleep on. She raised chickens, pigs, and cows and kept a garden that included beans, potatoes, "and everything else [she] could to help feed the family." Her husband William built a cotton gin and worked it fourteen to sixteen hours a day. Jemima Bristol died in 1909 at age 67; her husband lived to be 103 years old.
Why was the quilt made?
Art or personal expression
The quilt was made to be used for:
Bedding, daily use
Quilt is presently used as:
Keepsake/memento
Where did the maker get their materials?
Purchased new
Describe the sources of the quilt's materials:
careful choice of colors suggests fabrics were purchased new specifically for this quilt
Where did the maker find their 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. 112-113.
Ownership of this quilt is:
Private
Quilt owner's name:
Marguerite Houston Brock
Quilt owner's state:
Texas (TX)
Quilt owner's country:
United States
Quiltmaker's maiden name:
Johnson, Jemima Elvira
Quiltmaker's gender:
Female
Quiltmaker's birth date:
10/19/1840
Quiltmaker's birthplace, state:
North Carolina
Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:
United States
Quiltmaker's marriage date(s):
02/08/1859
Quiltmaker's date and place of death:
1909
Quiltmaker's occupation:
homemaker
In which kind of environment did the quiltmaker live?
Rural
Quiltmaker's father's name:
Johnson, Peter
Quiltmaker's father's birthplace:
Virginia
Quiltmaker's mother's name:
Collins, Selina
Quiltmaker's mother's birthplace:
North Carolina
Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and /or partner's/partners' name(s):
Bristol, William H.
Quiltmaker's spouse's/spouses' and/or partner's/partners' occupation:
cotton gin owner
Number of children:
9
How many of the quiltmaker's children were girls?
2
How many of the quiltmaker's children were boys?
7
Who photographed this quilt?
Sharon Risedorph
Access and copyright information:
Restricted
Copyright holder:
Assistant Director Winedale
Cite this Quilt
Bristol, Jemima Elvira Johnso. Diamondback Rattlesnake. 1876-1900. 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=25-21-5. Accessed: 07/27/24