In her 1976 book Kentucky Quilts and Their Makers Mary Washington Clarke showed a black and white detail of a "Civil War Memorial Quilt" dated 1866. The credit line is Kentucky Museum, gift of Henry Porter Brown
Apparently the velvet hexagons have held up better than the satins and taffetas.
I was struck by the similarity in the embroidery styles between this quilt and one in the collection of the Museum of the Confederacy, made for Jefferson Davis, shown in the color photos.
Read the post here.
At first I thought they were the same quilt.
But they are two different though similar quilts.
The only photo Clarke showed was the central area with the signature and date,
"Vic W.S./A.D. 1866"
Above is the center hexagon in the Museum of the Confederacy's quilt,
It looks to be shattered satin with a flower perhaps.
"six-pointed star pieced in hexagon blocks of the Flower Garden type,
central hexagon of black velvet... embroidered in gold threads...names...appear in the outer rim of black hexagons in this central block...embroidered in one of these outer pieces is Gens of C.S.A. [the block shown.]...six points of the large overall star show similar constellations [with embroidered names]
I can find no other record of this star quilt made of hexagons.
Clarke identifies it as a Memorial Quilt in the Kentucky Museum (fig 32) ....worn almost to tatters and its maker is unidentified. The donor thought it was from the Porter family and it was "Found in a drawer after mother died."
Where is this quilt today?