Date Range : 1930-1950

Fabric Type and Color: Cotton prints and solids in blue, pink, lavender, teal, and white. Backing is red floral print--loosely woven yardage, not a printed sack.

Quilt Size : 64" x 73"

Block Size : 13" x 13"

Construction : Pieced by hand. Quilted in parallel lines all over at 9 stitches to the inch showing on the surface. Binding is bias tape. Embroidered names and dates

Quiltmaker : Unknown

Locale : Smokemont Area, NC (now the Great Smoky Mountains National Park)

History/Comments: According to Jerri Beck, "My father grew up on land that is now part of the GSMNP. When the government dispossessed those folks, my grandfather helped negotiate the agreement involving the relocation of the Tow String Church (Baptist?). This church was taken apart, moved and rebuilt board by board in its newly designated location. As a going away present for the pastor, the women of the church pieced him a quilt top, including embroidering names of their family members onto their patches. At least one patch carries the date of April 1937. The church was no longer allowed to be used except for a once a year homecoming in August. When the pastor later died, his widow sent the quilt top to my father, feeling it would mean more to a Tow String descendant than to her family. One of my great aunts completed the quilt by stitching it to a single-piece back."