Lena T. Leigh, a seamstress in Warrenton, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., assembled this quilt top in the early part of the 20th century. One-inch hexagons of a wide variety of print and solid cottons were pieced into 5½-inch rosettes, each separated by a single row of red cotton hexagons. Perhaps the many examples of period cottons were scraps from her dressmaking business.
Lena Malorn was born in Fauquier County, Virginia in 1878. In 1900, she married Thomas Leigh, born in England in 1876. She died March 26, 1946 and is buried in Arlington Cemetery, Virginia.
Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.
If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.