Quilt, Pieced North Carolina

Dateca. 1900

Maker Member of the James Paschal McCarter Family

OriginAmerica, North Carolina, Yadkin County, Union Grove

MediumPlain and Printed Cottons

DimensionsOH: 76 1/2 in.; OW: 65 1/2 in.

Credit LineGift of Linda R. Baumgarten

Object number2017.609.5

DescriptionThis is a rectangular pieced cotton quilt consisting of thirty alternating blocks set on point of solid red cotton and multicolored blocks. The large blocks measure 7 ½” square. Each multicolored block is made up of 36 small squares measuring 1 1/4” and each consisting of two triangles of different patterned fabric. The colors of the various cottons are black, blue, brown, cream, gold, green, maroon, purple, red, and white. Patterns of the fabric include solid, plaids, floral, geometrics, and stripes. There is an inner 2” border of black, a middle 2” border of red, and an outer 2” border of black. The quilt is backed in brown cotton of 13 pieces of various qualities. It is trimmed in a folded 1” green cotton and quilted in a wave/fan pattern, 5 stitches per inch.
Label TextThis vibrant pieced quilt was created by a member of the James Paschal McCarter family of Yadkin County, North Carolina. The quilt is one of at least twenty-five quilts that were cherished and saved by the family. Pieced quilt tops were made of small bits of fabric, carefully cut to size and shape and stitched together in predetermined patterns. This quilt consists of thirty alternating blocks set on point of solid bright red cotton and multicolored blocks. Each multicolored block is made up of 36 tiny squares measuring 1 ¼” that are precisely pieced and arranged by color in such a way as to create a three-dimensional quality to the design. The ca. 1900 pieced quilt speaks to the importance of quilt making and quilt keeping in North Carolina during the early twentieth century.
ProvenanceThe quilt is one of twenty-five quilts that descended in the family of James Paschal McCarter (1863-1942) of Union Grove, Yadkin County, North Carolina. Because his household was home to a number of women including two unmarried sisters, two wives, and four daughters, it is not known who created the quilts. The household goods of James P. McCarter passed to his great-grandson, William James Winston McCarter (1959-) and his wife Charlotte. William James recalled that the quilts were always stored on a table in a spare room and never used. Charlotte saved fifteen quilts for her family; the rest were sold, including this one, which was purchased by Linda Baumgarten in 1997. The quilts were documented by Ann Smart Martin in September of 1997.