Preview
Photo Credit
Autumn Blaylock, Collections Intern, University of Arkansas Museum
Object Date
1963, Mrs. D.O. Atteberry
Description
“Groups of unmarried women at quilting bees used to shake up a cat in the newly completed
quilt, and then stand in a big circle as the animal is suddenly released...”
The practice of quilting and quilting bees are a unique tradition and even possess heirloom value within the hills of the Ozarks. While quilts have a variety of practical functions, quilting bees served as a method of fellowship traditionally between women.7 In this context, the sewing practice of quilting is woven within folklore. Randolph’s research describes the ritual as nearly synonymous with that of fortune telling. The ritual commences as follows: when a quilt was completed, groups of unmarried women stood in a circle each pulling an edge of the quilt
taut while a cat was placed in the middle. The cat was briefly shaken and then released8The procedure maintains that whomever the cat landed on afterward would be the next to be married. Created by Mrs. D.O. Atteberry in the Summer of 1963, this double wedding ring quilt block is an example of what each member of the quilting bee might have contributed to the completed project. Atteberry’s quilt block was collected by Margaret Frazier and documented by Mary Celestia Parler’s folklore class in 1965.
7 Vogelsang, Willem. “Quilting Bee.” Quilting Bee, September 19, 2016. https://trc-leiden.nl/trc- needles/organisations-and-movements/clubs-and-societies/quilting-bee.
Object Dimensions
17 1/2" diameter
Object Housed
University of Arkansas Museum
Object Accession Number
0065-0009-0002c
