Quilt, Pieced Star of Bethlehem and Le Moyne Star

Date1850-1870

MediumRoller-printed and solid cottons

Dimensions90" x 104" (width varies from 88 to 90-inches; length varies from 103-104-inches.) (229 x 264 cm)

Credit LineGift of Thomas R. Terry in honor of Lulie Greenhow Jones Terry

Object number2002.609.1

DescriptionThis is a rectangular quilt pieced from roller-printed and solid cottons. The design consists of ten eight-pointed pieced stars, nine half-stars and two quarter-stars, all set within a diamond grid formed by blue printed cotton sashing with yellow printed cotton pieces at the intersections. Each large diamond formed by the grid has the pieced star at the center and four smaller eight-pointed stars filling in the corners. The bedcover is quilted in 6-7 running stitches per inch using blue, brown, and cream thread in a pattern of parallel lines following the piecing and a single curving leaf or feather in the white areas. It has a thin batting and is bound in the same yellow printed cotton found in the intersections of the sashing. The quilt is backed in white plain-woven cotton.
Label TextThe precise piecing and vibrant fabrics give this quilt its visual appeal. The design consists of ten eight-pointed stars, nine half stars, and two quarter-stars, all set within a diamond grid formed by bold blue printed cotton sashing or bands with yellow printed cotton pieces at the intersections. Each large diamond formed by the sashing has a centered pieced star with four smaller eight-pointed stars filling in the corners. The quilt descended in the Jones and Terry families of Virginia.
ProvenanceAccording to the donor (e-mail correspondence to Linda Baumgarten, November 20, 2002): "The quilt that I sent you via Barbara Luck belonged to my Aunt Lulie Greenhow Jones Terry (Mrs. George A. Terry). I believe that she received it from her mother Lulie Greenhow Johnston Jones (Mrs. William ap Catesby Jones). They lived in Richmond."