Harvest Sun
Attributed to Hattie Mitchell (1877-1974)
Barnwell County, SC
ca. 1900
Gift of Frances Grilliland
McKissick Museum Collection 6.2104
Hand-pieced, block-style quilt with chintz sashing between the blocks and chintz border. The star is outline quilted with the background and borders quilted in parallel lines. Harvest Sun pattern is also known as Prairie Star and Star of Bethlehem and is one of the most difficult patterns to cut and piece. Each red-and-green-pieced calico star consists of seventy-two pieces of fabric. The pattern came into vogue during the third quarter of the 19th century.
Coxcomb Variation
Ellen Aycock Jones (1836-1920)
York County, SC
1880
Log Cabin Variation
Carol Zimmerman Cleveland (1848-1899)
Spartanburg County, SC
1870
Hattie Mitchell Grubbs (1877-1974) 6.2104
Hattie Mitchell was born in Barnwell County, SC. She was the daughter of Asa and Emma Mitchell. A farmer, her father died in 1888. Twelve years later, her mother Emma was listed on the 1900 Census as a farmer and widow with four children – Hattie, Kittie, Patrick, and Maggie. By 1920, Emma was living with her son Patrick and his family on their farm in the Barnwell County town of Rosemary.
In 1901, Hattie married Arthur Creighton Grubbs, a prominent local farmer. They had three children: Clydie, Nadeene, and Harvard. Tragically, Arthur was shot and killed during a confrontation with an Augusta, Georgia police officer in August of 1910. He was 27 years old. In December of 1912, Hattie married Walter Mitchell, who was also a farmer from Barnwell County. She passed away one month after her 97th birthday and is buried in the family cemetery in Barnwell County.