National Quilt Collection

"Quilt": A cover or garment made by putting wool, cotton or other substance between two cloths and sewing them together. An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, LL.D., New York 1828. 

The National Quilt Collection incorporates quilts from various ethnic groups and social classes, for quilts are not the domain of a specific race or class, but can be a part of anyone’s heritage and treasured as such. Whether of rich or humble fabrics, large in size or small, expertly crafted or not, well-worn or pristine, quilts in the National Quilt Collection provide a textile narrative that contributes to America’s complex and diverse history. The variety and scope of the collection provides a rich resource for researchers, artists, quilt-makers and others. 

Part of the Division of Home and Community Life textiles collection, the National Quilt Collection had its beginnings in the 1890s. Three quilts were included in a larger collection of 18th- and 19th-century household and costume items donated by John Brenton Copp of Stonington, Connecticut. From this early beginning, the collection has grown to more than 500 quilts and quilt-related items, mainly of American origin, with examples from many states, including Alaska and Hawaii. Most of the contributions have come to the Museum as gifts, and many of those are from the quilt-makers’ families. The collection illustrates needlework techniques, materials, fabric designs and processes, styles and patterns used for quilt-making in the past 250 years. The collection also documents the work of specific quilt-makers and commemorates events in American history. 

Learn more about the quilt collection and step behind the scenes with a video tour.

The uncomplicated quilting and simple tulip motifs rendered in red and green make this a striking example of mid-19th century quilting.
Description
The uncomplicated quilting and simple tulip motifs rendered in red and green make this a striking example of mid-19th century quilting. The quilt is from donor Mary Newman's family, long-time residents of Somerset, Kentucky.
The pieced tulips are appliquéd on 16 ½-inch blocks, which are set diagonally. They alternate with plain white blocks of the same dimensions. The tulips are quilted with close parallel lines, filling the shape and following the outlines. The background is 3/8-inch straight grid quilting.
The “Tulip” quilt came to the Museum in 1936. At the time Edith B. Newman wrote, “I have a very beautiful [quilt] . . . early handmade and very artistic . . . which I inherited from my husband’s family. . . . I am growing old and have no immediate heirs who might appreciate it. . . . [It should] bear the name of my deceased husband’s sister [Mary] as its donor.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840-1860
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T07886
accession number
141830
catalog number
T07886
Fannie Gatewood Grimes pieced nine 21-inch examples of the “Harvest Sun” pattern (also known as “Prairie Star” or “Star of Bethlehem”) to fashion this wool quilt in the third quarter of the nineteenth century.
Description
Fannie Gatewood Grimes pieced nine 21-inch examples of the “Harvest Sun” pattern (also known as “Prairie Star” or “Star of Bethlehem”) to fashion this wool quilt in the third quarter of the nineteenth century. In 1988 it was donated to the Smithsonian by her granddaughter, Mary Harding Renshaw.
The “Harvest Sun” blocks were pieced with wool fabrics and set with a 6-inch dark green wool sashing. Contributing to the overall design, the 3½-inch borders are made with the same red wool that was used as a background for the pieced blocks. The lining is black twill-woven cotton. The quilting patterns consist of outline and diagonal grid, quilted 7 stitches per inch.
Frances (Fannie) Price Gatewood was the daughter of Fielding Gatewood (1787-1833?) and Nancy Williams Gatewood (b. 1791). She was born March 22, 1822 in Logan County, Kentucky, one of four children. Fannie married James T. Grimes (about 1814–1869) on December 19, 1840. They lived in Logan County where James was a sheriff and a farmer. Of their eight children, two died in childhood. Family information described James as a tall, red-headed Irishman with a temper, and Fannie as liking nothing more than smoking a pipe filled with cherry leaves. On the 1880 census, Fannie is head-of-household, keeping house in Keysburg, Logan County, for her son and daughter, their spouses, a granddaughter and her mother, Nancy, age 89. Her son is listed as a leaf tobacco dealer and her son-in-law as a distiller. Fannie died on December 11, 1914, at age 92, and is buried in the Grimes Cemetery in Logan County.
In 1993, Fannie’s “Harvest Sun” wool quilt was reproduced under license to Cabin Creek, a West Virginian quilting cooperative and sold through the Land’s End Catalog. This was in response to an outcry by American quilters who were concerned about the sale of Chinese reproductions of American quilts from the Smithsonian Collection. The reproduction “Harvest Sun” quilt was made by American hand quilters with cotton fabrics that were purchased from American mills.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1875
maker
Grimes, Fannie Gatewood
ID Number
TE.T13540
catalog number
T13540
accession number
257664
In the late 1880s, track for the Cumberland Valley Branch of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad was being laid near the Siler, Kentucky, home of Mary Frances Steele Harris. It was one of many short lines that carried coal down the mountains to connect with the main line.
Description
In the late 1880s, track for the Cumberland Valley Branch of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad was being laid near the Siler, Kentucky, home of Mary Frances Steele Harris. It was one of many short lines that carried coal down the mountains to connect with the main line. According to family members, Mary Harris sold butter, eggs, and milk to the railway workers, which enabled her to purchase fabrics for making quilts. In this cotton quilt, she combined variations of “Carpenter’s Wheel” and “Crown of Thorns,” pieced patterns with quilted arcs and squares.
The quilt is comprised of twenty 10 ½-inch blocks and saw-toothed connecting arcs. The fabrics Mary used to create her pattern were plain-weave red, white, and green (now tan) cottons. Quilted arcs, parallel lines, and grids, 7 or 8 stitches per inch, completed the quilt.
Mary Francis Steele was born in Siler, Knox County, Kentucky, in 1861. Her father was Harrison Holmes Steele, her mother ( ? Barton) died when Mary was a young child. On November 30th, 1882, Mary married William Harvey Harris at the Harrison Steele home. By 1894 they had three children. Frances B. Steele is noted on the tombstone of her husband as wife of William Harvey Harris (1867-1927), but no dates were given for her. Mary’s “Butter and Eggs” quilt is a reminder of the ingenuity of rural women to use their entrepreneurial skills to obtain the materials to create objects of beauty for their homes.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1885-1895
maker
Harris, Mary Frances Steele
ID Number
1991.0358.01
accession number
1991.0358
catalog number
1991.0358.01
After its adoption in 1782, the Great Seal of the United States became a popular design motif. An adaptation of the eagle design centers the top of this hand-woven cotton quilt that was block-printed in the early 19th century for a Mrs. Farris of Kentucky. Mrs.
Description
After its adoption in 1782, the Great Seal of the United States became a popular design motif. An adaptation of the eagle design centers the top of this hand-woven cotton quilt that was block-printed in the early 19th century for a Mrs. Farris of Kentucky. Mrs. Farris’s daughter, Elizabeth C. Nunn, lined and interlined the top with cotton and stitched the layers together in a diamond quilting pattern.
Blocks for printing such bedcovers were of crudely carved wood, with individual motifs that could be arranged in a variety of designs. The color on this example, probably originally printed with Prussian blue, has faded from washings.
Elizabeth C. born in 1783 in Virginia, married William Nunn (1783-1822) in March 1805. Elizabeth died in Kentucky in 1871.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1800-1825
maker
Nunn, Elizabeth C.
ID Number
TE.T15294
catalog number
T15294
accession number
292230
Margaret Langford pieced this version of “Star of Bethlehem” also known as “Harvest Sun” or “Prairie Star” in the later part of the 19th century. The nine pieced blocks are set off by 14-inch and 7¼-inch plain white squares to create a dramatic overall design.
Description
Margaret Langford pieced this version of “Star of Bethlehem” also known as “Harvest Sun” or “Prairie Star” in the later part of the 19th century. The nine pieced blocks are set off by 14-inch and 7¼-inch plain white squares to create a dramatic overall design. It is quilted, 10 stitches per inch, with outline and diagonal grid patterns. Three sides have a 2½-inch printed cotton border.
Margaret O’Sullivan was born in 1852, to Jeremiah (1814-1884) and Elizabeth “Betty” Osburn (1824-1876) O’Sullivan in Spencer County, Kentucky. She married Larkin R. Langford on October 8, 1867. They lived in Anderson County, Kentucky. She died on April 13, 1894, in Spencer County, Kentucky. Another of her quilts, in the “Spider’s Web” pattern, is in the collection of the Kentucky Historical Society.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1870-1890
maker
Langford, Margaret O’Sullivan
ID Number
TE.T16320
accession number
302336
catalog number
T16320

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