Rising Sun
Alice Elizabeth Hardman
Alabama
c1870
96" x 96"
7585.2
Photo by Fumio Ichikawa, all rights reserved Michigan State University Museum

Alice Elizabeth Hardman made this quilt in Alabama. Her initials "A.E.H." are embroidered in red cross-stitch and "1853" is written in faded ink on the back of the quilt. The donor purchased the quilt at an antique show. Attached to the quilt was a card that stated Alice was married on February 21, 1873, so possible this was her wedding quilt. The curved piecing and pieced triangles on the outer edge of the circle are the work of a skilled needle worker.

The Florida quilt documentation lists two "Rising Sun" quilts, one from 1878 and one from 1864. The Texas quilt documentation project lists one "Rising Sun" quilt from 1825. All three of these quilts were made by quiltmakers in Alabama and passed down through their families. The fact that all these quilts were handed down with the makers' names and hometowns are evidence they were considered family heirlooms.

By Beth Donaldson, excerpted from American Quilts from Michigan State University Museum.