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Wandering Foot. Quilt by Amedia Grimley Morris c.1852, Oregon City, Oregon. Image Quilt Index.
Superstitions around sewing and quilts have circulated for generations. From avoiding quilts with thirteen blocks, beginning a quilt on a Friday (you will never live to see it finished), stitching in a spider's web for good luck, to avoiding bad luck with giving away your first quilt, the lessons for do's and don'ts are numerous and sometimes quite complex. But how does a quilt get the reputation of being under a spell? One such quilt at the Museum of Texas Tech University seems to be a bit of a wanderer.
Legacy of a Thousand Stitches
By Marian Ann J. Montgomery, Ph.D.,
Curator of Clothing and Textiles, the Museum of Texas Tech University
In 2016 the Museum of Texas Tech University mounted the exhibit Legacy of aThousand Stitches which showcased 45 quilts from the Museum’s quilt collection, which was well received by the community and the local media.
The Devil’s Highway quilt mentioned in one of the segments has an interesting family history of never being slept under because the family thought it was jinxed. Family stories are recorded when objects come in, whether the curator thinks it was an accurate story or not. Well, in this case, the story just might have some merit.
Mrs. John Vaughn of Matador, Texas, string-pieced the top with hexagons but only finished the top. Her sister, who completed the quilt used home-dyed flour sack fabric from the Light Crust Flour Company as the backing. This particular quilt seems to have a mind of its own and has been found to be a bit restless. During the set-up process for the exhibition, the quilt was not in the designated storage area as would be standard for quilts in the collection. No one seemed to be able to locate its whereabouts. Day two, a second hunt took place, but despited valiant efforts by the staff, no quilt. Just before the opening, a third search revealed the quilt to be 'in the storage area' exactly where is should have been. No one could explain the mystery.
The museum staff does believe there is something to the story of this quilt having something unusual about it. Maybe, having never had an actual person sleeping under it, the quilt is seeking someone for comfort.
Devil’s Highway Quilt, Top 1890-1910, quilted 1946. Gift of Mrs. G. C. Keith, TTU-H1979-180.
Photo courtesy of the Museum of Texas Tech University.
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