1825 - 1850 Gardner/Garner Families Appliqued Quilt
date: label: date made
content: 1825-1850
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: “I am the owner of an antique quilt made back when American settlers first landed which was almost 200 years ago . . .” wrote Eva A. Warren, when this quilt was donated to the Collection in 1970. Eva’s grandmother, Flora Garner, was born about 1800 as a slave on the Gardner plantation. At a later date one of the Gardeners (Elizabeth) left all her property to those formerly enslaved by the Gardners and their families.
label: Description
content: The arrangement of “Princess Feather” plumes emanating from a star, made from one printed fabric, is appliqued on the 40-inch center panel. The same printed fabric was used to frame the center; a 6-inch inner border separated by an 8 ½-inch white border appliqued with fruit and flowers cut from the printed fabric, and, an outer 3 ½” border. It is quilted, 7 stitches per inch, and bound with a straight strip of white cotton. The quilt exemplifies an ingenious use of one printed fabric appliqued to a white ground to create an overall cohesive design.
label: Description
content: Further information was provided by the donor in regard to the family history. “They planted cotton, but they had no cotton gins to make cloth, so they had to make the cloth they needed by hand. The cotton was picked from the seed by fingers and they had a flax wheel and a spinning wheel, so they made cloth and put into the cloth lovely colors. The household linen was very pretty and in abundance.”
label: Description
content: Olive Martin Gardner was born in 1780 and died on July 29, 1856. Her daughter was Elizabeth Gardener. When Elizabeth died she left her estate to formerly enslaved individuals and their families. One of them, Flora Garner, was the donor’s grandmother. Possibly it was she who made the quilt. Flora’s daughter, Emma Lilly, married Bill Schenck and it was their daughter, Eva Alice born in 1898, who donated the quilt. Eva Alice Warren wrote a book (<I> Watch What is Lacking in Negro Progress</I> Carlton Press, 1973) that contains information about the Schenck and Gardner/Garner families as well as about her own life growing up in North Carolina.
label: Description
content: The quilt was made on the Gardner/Garner family plantation in Shelby, North Carolina. The family’s history in the area goes back to the late 18th century. This early 19th century quilt too, has a long history.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: North Carolina
topic: label: Subject
content: Quilting
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
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content: Textiles
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content: Domestic Furnishings
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content: Quilts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Mrs. Eva A. Warren
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.T15144
label: catalog number
content: T15144
label: accession number
content: 288868
objectType: label: Object Name
content: quilt
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: fabric, cotton (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: thread, cotton (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: filling, cotton (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 77 in x 81 in; 196 cm x 206 cm