Black Uncle Sam pieced miniature quilt
date: label: Date
content: 1986
name: label: Created by
content: Stephen Blumrich, German American, 1941 - 2015
notes: label: Description
content: This miniature quilt or wall hanging made by Stephen Blumrich of Pea Ridge Purties features twelve (12) pieced Black Uncle Sam blocks separated by sashing. The quilt consists of the pieced top layer, a thin layer of batting, and a plain muslin backing. The layers are tied together with red thread, each tie corresponding to make a button at the center chest of the shirt of the pieced figural blocks. Each figure wears a red and white striped top hat with a blue brim and has his arms outstretched. The faces and hands are made from plain black cotton. Yellow eyes and a red mouth are embroidered on each face. All of the figures wear red and white striped pants matching the hats, but each figure's shirt is made from a different printed cotton. The background of the figural blocks is made from a plain muslin that appears to have been dyed with tea or coffee to appear aged. The blocks are set with sashing made from a navy cotton with small floral sprig design, with a yellow fabric in the sashing corners that is fussy cut so that a five-pointed star is at the center of the squares. The top is surrounded by a thin border made from plain red cotton. The backing of the quilt is made from a single piece of the same plain muslin dyed with coffee or tea that is used in the background of the figural blocks. Stamped in the lower right corner of the back is a rectangle in dark brown with uncolored text inside reading "PEA RIDGE / PURTIES." Text stamped in dark brown below the box reads "COPYRIGHT 1986 / STEPHEN BLUMRICH".
place: label: Place made
content: Tullahoma, Coffee County, Tennessee, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Craftsmanship
label: Topic
content: Design
label: Topic
content: Folklife
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Textiles and Quilts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Collection of James M. Caselli and Jonathan Mark Scharer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2007.7.263
objectType: label: Type
content: quilts
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Unknown - Restrictions Possible
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: cotton
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 30 × 21 7/8 × 1/4 in. (76.2 × 55.6 × 0.6 cm)