Rose of Sharon quilt, Rena Coon Thomas

Exhibition Label:
"Quilts: Flora Botanica," Jun-2008, Barbara Brackman and Susan Earle
About 1930, Minnie Moodie, first curator at the University of Kansas’s art museum, donated this quilt to the Thayer Museum, as it was then known. She called it Rose of Sharon, a metaphor from the King James Version of the Bible.

“I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.” (Solomon 2:1)

The pattern relies on several design conventions typical of Germanic folk arts. Cookie-cutter shaped roses bloom in triplicate, growing from a vase here abstracted to a tiny triangle. The smaller flowers viewed in profile might be buds, but are often seen as lilies or tulips.

The red and green palette was a standard color scheme for quilts, also popular in German traditional arts. Quilters were willing to pay extra for Turkey-red cotton because it did not bleed or fade. However, the colorfast dye was hard on the fibers. Use and washing over the years can cause it to shred.