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Diamondback Rattlesnake; Rattlesnake

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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 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' 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: 03/28/24