QUILT INDEX RECORD

25-21-334

Description of quilt:

This quilt is pictured and described in Bresenhan, Karoline Patterson, and Nancy O'Bryant Puentes, Lone Stars: A Legacy of Texas Quilts, 1836-1936 , Vol. I (Austin: University of Texas Press: 1986). Karey and Nancy selected this quilt for Lone Stars, Vol. I from quilts analyzed during the three-year Texas Quilt Search sponsored by the non-profit Texas Sesquicentennial Quilt Association, which they founded in 1980 along with Suzanne Yabsley.

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_0002

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 present owner of this quilt is the great great great granddaughter of its maker.

This is a:

Finished quilt

Owner's name for quilt:

Rising Sun

Names for quilt's pattern in common use:

Georgetown Circle

How wide is the quilt?

100 in.

How long is the quilt?

88 in.

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Rounded

What color is the quilt?

Green; Red; Yellow

Overall color scheme:

Multicolor

Quilt's condition:

Very good/almost new

Damage:

Disintegration of fabric; Stains

Describe the damage:

In the red calico, the black design is beginning to deteriorate because of dye.

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:

1800-1849

Family/owner's date for quilt:

ca. 1825

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

ca. 1825

Who estimated the quilt's date?

Karey Bresenhan

Further information concerning dates:

Family tradition holds that this quilt was made ca. 1825.

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Number of quilt blocks:

12 full blocks, 4 half blocks at pillow top.

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Separated by cornerstones or connecting blocks sashing (different fabric in intersection); 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

Number of borders:

1

Describe the borders:

sashing serves as border; green print with gold squares at corners and along sides

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:

calicoes

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Piecing

Describe the techniques used to make the quilt top:

Row of half suns at top for pillows. Twelve full red, green, and white whirling disks are edged with tiny red and yellow triangles and contained within a strong grid of green. Two of the twelve full whirling disks are pieced so that the motif appears to rotate counter clockwise; all others, including the four half disks at the top, rotate clockwise.

Can you feel or see paper on the quilt that was used as a construction aid?

no

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton; Woven or homespun

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

How is the binding made?

Hand 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

Describe the quilt filling:

batting is cotton, hand-carded by quiltmaker

How are the layers held together?

Hand quilting

Thread type used for the quilting:

cotton

Color of thread used in the quilting:

contrast quilting; green and white

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Outline

Quilting designs used, decorative motifs:

Floral; Vines; Other

Describe the quilting designs used:

Karey Bresenhan describes this quilt as "beautifully quilted." It contains tiny baskets of flowers and floral vines in the while muslin corners of each block. Outline quilting in whirling disks.

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

The quilter used green thread on the green border and sashing so that the color would not compete with the pattern. Quilting in green is clearly visible on white back. Fabrics are likely to have been imported. Back is homespun. The half circles at top are to cover the pillow area.

Quilt top made by:

Barrow, Mrs. Josiah

Quilted by:

Barrow, Mrs. Josiah

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:

Family genealogy indicates that this quilt was made ca. 1825 by Mrs. Josiah Barrow. She gave the quilt to her daughter, Harriet E. Barrow (born ca. 1831- in Alabama). Harriet married Albert Gray (born 1826), and the couple moved to Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, in 1854. Harriet Gray passed the quilt on to her daughter Mattie E. Gray (1857-1918). Mattie married William Thomas Gibson (born 1853), and the couple moved to Hillsboro, Texas, in 1900. They purchased a farm in Benjamin, Knox County, Texas, in 1907. Mattie gave the quilt to her son Paul Gibson shortly before her death in 1918. Paul passed the quilt on to his son Derwood R. Gibson in 1965. The quilt then was passed from Derwood Gibson to his daughter, owner Mary Paul Gibson Braswell in 1973.

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

Another member of this family owns a quilt made by Harriet E. Barrow Gray (the daughter of the maker of the Rising Sun quilt). Although its pattern is not a Rising Sun, the owner states that appears to be made of the same yellow-green calico that was used in the Rising Sun quilt.

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:

Bedding, daily use; Keepsake/memento

Where did the maker get their materials?

Purchased new

Describe the sources of the quilt's materials:

some fabrics imported

Where did the maker find their pattern?

Public domain/traditional pattern

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

Backing is homespun; batting is all hand carded;part of fabric is imported.

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: 1986), p. 26-27.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Braswell, Mary Paul Gibson

Quilt owner's state:

Texas (TX)

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:

United States

Quiltmaker's state:

Alabama (AL)

Quiltmaker's country:

United States

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

Barrow, Josiah

How many of the quiltmaker's children were girls?

1

Who photographed this quilt?

Sharon Risedorph

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Assistant Director Winedale

Details

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