Viewer Spotlight: (printed with permission)
Drive the Flower Route: A Three-Stop Guide through the Quilt Trail

Ashley D. Million
Advanced Composition
Travel Essay
December 14, 2006

If you are looking for a unique way to drive among some of the most beautiful countryside in East Tennessee, then this is a trail for you. The Quilt Trail is a project of the Appalachian Resource Conservation & Development Council, which consists of a growing number of heirloom quilt patterns permanently displayed on barns in the form of painted murals. These quilt murals are sparsely located throughout the farmlands of Carter, Greene, Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi, and Washington counties. The official website of the Quilt Trail reads:

Welcome to the Quilt Trail in Northeast Tennessee!
We invite you to take a trip back in time as you slow down and enjoy the scenic countryside of our region. For your pleasure we have displayed the artistry of the traditional quilt on a backdrop of historic and beautiful barns. Take your time, pack a lunch or better yet stop at a local country store or diner to enjoy some local flavors. You will find a variety of historic sites, produce stands, shops, galleries and other places to entertain you along the way.

***I have created a three-stop automobile journey. The quilt murals that mark the three stops are all related to flowers. The quilts Rose of Sharon, Grandmother’s Flower Garden, and Ohio Rose will be the trail markers. I have put some interesting information about each quilt along the way. This information is about the quilt pattern itself, not the actual (if any is available) quilt from which the mural was mirrored. I chose these specific stops because of their common theme of flowers, and because no historical information was given about these quilts on the Quilt Trail website.

As labeled on the map below:

A.     The first quilt trail stop is on Pickens Bridge Road, Gray TN.

B.     The second stop is on Boones Creek Road Jonesborough, TN.

C.     The third stop is on the 107 Highway, Jonesborough TN.

The map below shows the route to take after you have reached the first stop. This three-stop trail is 18 miles long (one way--Pickens Bridge Rd. to Hwy 107). The exact address to each farm are not given by the Quilt Trial’s website (www.quilttrail.org), but I think that the website was intentionally set up that way so that it will be more challenging for the traveler. Happy hunting!

 

First Stop: Rose of Sharon
Crouch Barn, Pickens Bridge Rd. Gray TN

The Rose of Sharon is one of the most beloved of all quilt blocks. In a will recorded at the Jonesborough courthouse (signed and dated in 1857) by Jacob Miller, Sr., a son of an early settler, it is written, “To my grand daughter, Mary Devault, I give and bequeath my…kitchen utensils, one feather and one straw bed…, and also my quilted quilt of the pattern known and called ‘Rose of Sharon’… (Ramsey / Waldvogel 9). Many Rose of Sharon quilts have survived because they were “best” quilts, used only for company or tucked away as items of value rather than everyday quilts (Quilt History). Barbara Ford and her sisters in Fordtown, Sullivan County, Tennessee (1849), made a similar “best” quilt called the Jefferson Rose. The quilt was made before Barbara’s marriage to Isaac Tunnell and was treasured so much that it was reportedly,  “never put on a bed unless the minister was coming to spend the night, and even on those nights the Jefferson Rose quilt was removed from the bed at bedtime and replaced with a plain quilt”(Ramsey/ Waldvogel 7).

Rose of Sharon is often seen in a pink and green color scheme and was usually given as an engagement or wedding quilt. The one thing that unifies all versions of the Rose of Sharon quilter’s block is its central scalloped circle, representing the rose. This circle is layered with two or three circles and there is an arrangement of buds and leaves around the circle (Quilt History).

 

 

 

 

Second Stop: Grandmother’s Flower Garden
Crumley Farm, Boones Creek Rd. Jonesborough, Tennessee

One of the best loved vintage quilts is the Grandmother’s Flower Garden. This quilt consists of tiny hexagons of bright pastel prints that can be found in antique shops, flea markets and attics but very few new ones are ever made. The reason for the lack of new production is that this specific quilt is a very labor-intensive quilt pattern, usually pieced and quilted by hand (Quilt History).

This labor-intensive task did not deter a quilter by the name of Eliza Benton Boyles Bagley. She undertook the ambitious project at the age of forty-five, in Fayetteville, Lincoln County, Tennessee (1860). Her quilt is named Martha Washington’s Flower Garden (more about the name change later). Mrs. Bagley pieced her quilt by the English template method and used 217 whole blocks and 45 half blocks set together with very small diamonds.

Eliza Bagley was known for her fine quiltmaking as well as her strong character. This fervent character of hers was exemplified when, “she rode horseback from Fayetteville to Chickamauga, Georgia, to move her son, injured in the War Between the States, to her sister’s home in Alabama for recovery”(Ramsey/ Waldvogel 24). Her quilted mosaic hexagon, Martha Washington’s Flower Garden, was and still is a popular English quilt pattern, but it became Americanized during the 1930’s and 1940’s.

In the late 1920s, an American quilt revival brought in a new color palette of pastel prints. Quilts made from these fabrics are sometimes referred to as Depression Quilts, since the styles and fabrics continued through the Great Depression. The 1830s Hexagon Mosaic pattern, Martha Washington’s Flower Garden (which consisted of dark colors), was revived with pastel colors in the 1920s and retiled Grandmother's Flower Garden, which, according to quilt historian Merikay Waldvogel, was the most popular pattern of this period and remains so even today. The more distinguished of these quilts, as seen here, display dynamic edges that model the contour of the floret pattern.

The colors changed from dark tones of black and red to more cheerful tones like pink and yellow. The color change took place to seemingly make the Great Depression era more bearable. These quilts would often brighten the room and the spirits of the household. Grandmother’s Flower Garden brings together bright, beautiful colors, while giving a reminder of the beauty and color of a flower garden.

Third Stop: Ohio Rose

Thompson Farm, Hwy. 107 Jonesborough, Tennessee

The Ohio Rose is one of the many quilts that have flowers and leaves for their subjects. The first two stops on this trail are perfect examples. The rose appears frequently in these flower-inspired quilts. Here are some common “Rose” quilt names: Whig Rose, Rose of Sharon, Jefferson Rose, Virginia Rose, Colonial Rose, Ohio Rose, and Rose Tree. The rose is a symbol for love, simplicity, purity, beauty, and bliss (Ramsey/ Waldvogel 45).

I tried to find some historical information about the Ohio Rose pattern or a quilt story form long ago, but I was unsuccessful. Instead, I am going to share some more current information that I came across during the search for the Ohio Rose. I found a blog on the internet about women starting a “50-state quilt project.” Each woman representing her state makes 50 blocks of a quilt pattern that represents her location, then she sends 49 of the blocks out to the other participants (she keeps one for herself). In the end, each participant from all 50 states will be able to make a quilt containing a piece of each state in America. For obvious reasons the Ohio Rose quilt block proudly represents the state of Ohio (All Too Quilty). 

One last interesting, but odd piece of information I have about an Ohio Rose quilt is from the website “Lost Quilt Come Home”. They actually have a website designed for the sole purpose of retrieving lost or stolen quilts. This pacific article about a missing Ohio Rose quilt reads:

Please be on the look out for this miniature Ohio Rose Quilt which was stolen from Kalona Kountry Kreations in Kalona, Iowa. Debbie Miller had the quilt on display at this quilt store and it was for sale. One morning in 1995 two ladies came in the store and the quilt was taken down from the wall so they could look at it up close. After they were finished the quilt was put back up on the wall. Later in the day it was discovered that the quilt was missing.

This article includes a full discretion and picture of the missing quilt. Some people might find this website amusing, I did at first, but after reading the information on this website about how and why quilts are stolen, I became aware of just how serious quilts really are.  

Quilts are very sentimental and valuable pieces of property. They are usually pasted down from several generations, and are treasure for their beauty and for the hands that made them. Heirloom quilts are so valued that family members fight over them during an estate sale, and these quilts are so expensive that thieves steal and sell them to antique shops. The three quilts represented on this flower quilt trail are only a portion of the legacy, history, and tradition that are embedded in quilts and there makers. The history that is behind each individual quilt usually makes that quilt a priceless possession.

Thompson Farm Barn Mural

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Bibliography

All Too Quilty. http://www.uncorked.org/alltooquilty/archives/2003/09/01/index.html
This is a blog about starting a “50-state quilt project”

Follow the Quilt Trail http://www.quilttrail.org
This website has the location of all the trail markers and pictures of the quilt murals.

Lost Quilt Come Home http://www.lostquilt.com/LostQuiltStats.html
This website has many entries of quilts that have been either stolen or lost, in an effort to retrieve them.

Quilt History: Excerpts from QuiltBee E-mail regarding Quilt History, page 2

Compiled and provided by Christina A. Aubin. Quilter’s Bee http://www.quiltersbee.com/qbqhist2.htm
Ramsey, Bets and Merikay Waldvogel The Quilts of Tennessee Rutledge Hill
Press, Inc. Nashville Tennessee 1986 Photography by David Luttrell

This book was a research project about quilts in Tennessee. It has beautiful pictures of quilts and interesting information about the makers of each quilt.