QUILT INDEX RECORD

25-21-361

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_0026

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 present owner of this quilt is the granddaughter of the quiltmaker.

This is a:

Finished quilt

Owner's name for quilt:

Vase of Roses and Cherries

Names for quilt's pattern in common use:

President's Wreath, Rose of Sharon, Wreath of Roses

How wide is the quilt?

84 in.

How long is the quilt?

84 in.

Shape of edge:

Straight

Shape of corners:

Rounded

What color is the quilt?

Green; Orange; Pink; Red; White

Overall color scheme:

Bright or primary colors

Quilt's condition:

Good/moderate use

Damage:

Discoloration or dyes ran; Fold marks or creases; Stains

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.

Type of inscription:

Date; Initials

What is inscribed on the quilt?

JPD Sept 18 1876

Method used to make the inscription:

In the quilting

Describe the method used to inscribe the quilt:

quilted in

Location of inscription:

on block

Time period:

1876-1900

When was the quilt finished?

1876

Family/owner's date for quilt:

1876

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

1876

Who estimated the quilt's date?

Karey Bresenhan

Further information concerning dates:

inscription dated

Describe the quilt's layout:

Block pattern

Number of quilt blocks:

6

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Side by side

Describe the quilt setting:

two pots with flower are thrust between each pair of floral wreaths

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:

thin trailing vine with buds and leaves, which turns corners

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:

Solid/plain

Applique techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Applique

Embellishment techniques used to make the quilt top:

Embroidery

Describe the techniques used to make the quilt top:

embroidery stitches create cherry stems

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

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

Width between quilting lines:

1/4 in. or less in some places

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

no

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Double parallel lines; Grid/crosshatch; Triple parallel lines

Quilting designs used, decorative motifs:

Wreaths

Describe the quilting designs used:

Five-pointed stars quilted into the centers of elaborately quilted wreaths. The border is quilted with feathers that turn the corner. Most of quilting is double quilting. Heavily quilted, a tiny grid work flattens the surface behind the cherries and roses, and a curved center wreath is quilted in the center of the four circular motifs.

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

Original design and in some respects overdone--reviewer Karey Brsenhan wonders why the quilter crowded two extra pots, each with a single rose, between the large wreaths. Dark blue, rather than green, fabric is used for the center of two of the four large flowers. A six-pointed star is appliqued into the enter of every pot.

Quilt top made by:

Davidson, Josie

Quilted by:

Davidson, Josie

Where the quilt was made, state:

Virginia (VA)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

How was this quilt acquired?

Inheritance

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

Josie Davidson came from Sweden as a young child. Little is known about her, though she may have been born in the 1840s or 1850s. This may be a wedding quilt. She apparently died one week after giving birth to a fifth son. Her husband, also from Sweden, was a farmer and started a sawmill in Gate City, Virginia. The family home was in an area called "Poor Valley," which is near the Tennessee-Virginia border. In 1905 the five sons, and presumably the quilt, came to Texas "to get rich laying track" for the railroad. The quilt has been handed down in the family to the present owner, a granddaughter of the quiltmaker.

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?

Original to maker; Public domain/traditional 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. 74-75.

Ownership of this quilt is:

Private

Quilt owner's name:

Ryan, Dixie Davidson

Quilt owner's state:

Texas (TX)

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's birthplace, country:

Sweden

Quiltmaker's date and place of death:

1898

Quiltmaker's occupation:

homemaker

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

Davidson, [unknown]

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

farmer, sawmill owner

Number of children:

5

How many of the quiltmaker's children were boys?

5

Why does the quiltmaker quilt?

Gifts; Necessity; Pleasure

Who photographed this quilt?

Sharon Risedorph

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

Assistant Director Winedale

Details

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