History:
Though the exact date of this quilt is unknown, the usage of feed sack cloth in the quilt top places this around the 1930s-1950s. Where the quilt is heavily worn, the batting shows. Unlike most quilts in the Foxfire collection which have wool blankets or carded wool for the lining, this particular quilt has cotton batting. Cotton was a common batting during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but was fairly uncommon in the mountains as cotton did not grow at higher elevations. However, cotton mills were common throughout the rest of Georgia, and gins would have days where women could come and salvage the remnants for batting. Families who grew cotton would card or beat leftover bolls into batting for quilts. This particular quilt still has fragments of the boll casing attached to the cotton fibers, suggesting that the cotton came from a local farm or gin, rather than a manufacturer.
Description:
A heavily worn quilt made from printed feed sack scraps. The quilt pattern is made up of circles and four pointed stars. Each block has four stars, one near each corner, and surround a circle. The sashing is made from red cotton. The back of quilt is from plain white cotton. The batting consists of raw cotton, with some pieces of boll remaining throughout. The quilting is hand-stitched and appears to be a variation of elbow stitching mixed with curved lines. Some ink marks visible on upper right hand corner of quilt back; illegible, but appears to read 01825. The lower right hand corner of quilt back has faded inked writing that is also fairly illegible but appears to read 5454.
