McHaney Rose Mosaic Quilt on display at Dunklin County Museum

Thursday, June 26, 2008
Trina Bell

Photo provided The McHaney Rose Mosaic Quilt, a historic and rare collectible, is on display at the Dunklin County Museum in Kennett, Mo.
[Click to enlarge]

Sandy Brown, director of the Dunklin County Museum at Kennett is pleased to announce that the museum will exhibit what some believe to be a rare collectible, referred to as the "McHaney Rose Mosaic Quilt.

This heirloom quilt, stitched back in the late 1800's will be on display for quilt lovers and history buffs to view.

Gulf Breeze resident Lenn Jackson's family heirloom has dropped quite a few jaws around various antique and craft shows.

Jackson first noticed "The Rose Quilt, sewn by her great-great-grandmother, while visiting her mother in Tuscaloosa, Ala., in 2001. Her mother had inherited the quilt many years before.

According to the family's history, the quilt, made in 1900 by Louisa Henry McHaney, who was 69-years-old at the time, it was decided years ago that the quilt would be passed down to the oldest daughter.

What makes this rare item such a spectacular piece of art is the fact that McHaney's quilt, containing 12,772 pieces and a total of 804,636 stitches, counted by the maker's husband, William Crutchfield McHaney, displays a bouquet of roses that she copied from a pattern that she saw in New Orleans during the 1884 Cotton Exposition.

The quilt, which took McHaney 12 months and 12 days to stitch, is referred to as a postage stamp quilt because of its very small 5/8 inch pieces that are very similar to the size of a postage stamp.

McHaney's family has taken turns showing the quilt at antique shows and various markets around the United States. In 1904 it was put on display at the World's Fair in St. Louis and at the Marshall Fields Department Store in Chicago. It has also been exhibited at the Blytheville Woman's Club Hobby Show in Blytheville, Ark., in 1949, the Kentucky Arts Festival in Tuscaloosa, Ala., in 1981, and at the Sully Plantation Quilt Show in Chantilly, Va., in 2001.

Though Jackson could rightfully pass down the quilt to her daughter Karen Jackson Blair, she felt it was only right to donate the quilt to a museum so that others may view and enjoy the unique piece of art that has impressed so many.

From Wednesday, June 25, 2008, to Wednesday, Aug. 6, from 1-5 p.m., on Wednesdays and from 1-4 p.m., Saturday's, the McHaney Rose Mosaic Quilt will be on display at the Dunklin County Museum, located at 122 College St., in Kennett, Mo.

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I enjoyed the article about my quilt...thank you! She made the quilt in 1889 - the article said 1900, I just wanted to point that out. Also, Louisa was grandmother to Louise McHaney Moore, wife of Lenn Howard Moore, who lived in Kennett in the 50's.

Our family had a great reunion in Kennett last weekend in honor of the quilt. I encourage all your readers to visit the museum, it contains a wealth of history.

Lenn Jackson

-- Posted by Lily on Fri, Jun 27, 2008, at 8:34 AM