Quilt, Appliqued Poinsettias

Dateca. 1940

OriginAmerica, Mississippi, Claiborne County

MediumCotton, wool (batting)

Dimensions89 inches X 82 inches

Credit LineGift of The Children of Elizabeth Shaifer Hollingsworth - Allison Shaifer Hollingsworth Moxey, Ann Davidson Hollingsworth Weeden and Christopher Alton Hollingsworth, and The Children of Sanfrid Davidson Shaifer - Mary Laura Shaifer Bell, Jodie Stovall Shaifer Huddleston and Sanfrid Davidson Shaifer, Jr.

Object number2025.609.14

DescriptionRectangular quilt made from a commercial "Mountain Mist" pattern, appliqued with solid red, green, and yellow pointsettias. The quilt center features four red pointsettia blooms with pale yellow centers on a green oval. Eight potted pointsettias grow in on an angle from the four corners and from the side centers. The quilting outlines each floral and pot motif, with added feather circles, and angled diamonds worked in 4 to 5 running stitches per inch. The center oval has additional quilting penciled in and stitched, consisting of a leafy vine in a figure 8 shape and additional small 6-petal flowers. (The center penciled quilting appears to be an addition to the commercial pattern or designed by a different hand.) The batting is thick wool and the backing off-white cotton. All edges are bound with narrow off-white cotton cut on the bias and hand stitched.Label TextThis quilt is part of a large donation of quilts by the Shaifer family of Claiborne County, MS. These 46 quilts were made by women from four successive generations of the family, dating from the mid-1800s to the 1980s.

Dorothy Davidson Shaifer (1908-2005) worked this quilt alongside her mother and sister-in-law, Elizabeth Wheeless (1866-1953) and Laura Percy Shaifer (1892-1983). By the 1930s, the Shaifer women- like many other quilters- were quilting using published patterns and kits. This 'Poinsettia' quilt was made using a 1933 pattern and batting kit sold by the Stearns & Foster Company under the name 'Mountain Mist'. The company, which produced cotton batting, started releasing quilting patterns on batting wrappers ca. 1928 as a way to cater directly to the quilting community.Provenanceca. 1940, Quiltmakers Dorothy "Dot" Davidson (Mrs. Sanfrid) Shaifer [1908-2005], Elizabeth "Lizzie" Wheeless (Mrs. Percy Leon) Shaifer [1866-1953], and Laura Shaifer [1892-1983] (Claiborne County, MS); dates unknown, descended in family to Elizabeth "Libby" Shaifer (Mrs. Al) Hollingsworth [1933-2016] (Claiborne County, MS); 2025, gift of Shaifer Children via Al Hollingsworth to Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)