Cindy's Antique Quilts has this quilt for sale. It's from the 1930s (the
fabrics are orange and green) and
made in Texas.
See it here:
I remembered the pattern from the Quilts of Tennessee files at the Quilt Index.
Bets Ramsey and Merikay Waldvogel found an almost identical pattern in their Tennessee project.
Job's Trouble quilt made by Lizzie Nelson Burks (1852-1909)
of Rutherford County, Tennessee
There is some question about the date. It was entered in a Texas fair
in 1910 so that was assumed to be the time it was made but it is
too fancy to be 1910 and Lizzie Burks died in 1909.
The stuffed work quilting in this quilt is exceptional. I would
think it was quilted before 1875 when Lizzie was in her twenties or so.
See it here:
These are the only two examples of the pattern I've seen. It's in my Encyclopedia of Applique as #16.63---drawn from Lizzie's example. I called it Cockscomb and Currants and it is related to this design popular after 1840.
I wonder if the Texas quilt was made after seeing Lizzie's at the 1910 Texas fair?
Note how the coloring is the same down to the two orange circles at the base of the floral.
When Lizzie's family brought the quilt in to be documented they called it Job's Troubles---perhaps referring to all those berries.
I found a little information about Lizzie. Her husband was Thomas Benton Burks. They are buried near Burks' Cave and Burks Hill Road in Rutherford County in the Burks Cemetery. Rutherford County is in middle Tennessee, southeast of Nashville.
Thomas Benton Burks's stone
Born June ? 1830?
The photographer who found T.B. Burks stone couldn't find Lizzie's but gave her dates as March 29, 1852 – April 4, 1909.
Print this out 8" wide and you'll have one-fourth of a block
about 16"
Such pretty quilts, thanks for sharing this. Lots of Tennesseans moved to Texas, my own relatives among them. It doesn't surprise me that two almost identical quilts would turn up in the two states.
ReplyDeleteI love Cindy's quilts. I used to see her at shows a lot, and I've bought quite a few quilts from her, ones I love and which live in my pie safe. I miss going to those shows!