1860 - 1864 Martha Loud's Parlor Throw

Martha Mehetable Loud pieced the top of this parlor throw in a hexagon or mosaic pattern. Her grandmother, Lucena Beardley Kile, lined and finished it after Martha's death at age fifteen. Black silk hexagons set off rosettes composed of pieced 1¼-inch hexagons of plain, striped, moiré, plaid, printed, ribbed, brocaded, and pattern-woven silks. Three sides are edged with a narrow black ribbon and a pleated 1 inch red-violet wool braid. The lining is constructed of nine pieces of dark green and white striped silk. The parlor throw is not quilted but tied every two inches with pink and dark green silk thread. From the middle of the nineteenth century, patchwork made of silks and velvets, such as this parlor throw, were a popular means to display needlework and artistic skills.

Martha Mehetable Loud was born January 24, 1849 and lived in Huntsburg, Geauga, Ohio, until her early death in 1864. Her grandmother, Lucena Beardley Kile, was born in Connecticut about 1800 and also lived in Huntsburg, Geauga, Ohio. She died in 1886. The quilt was donated to the Museum in 1969 by Mrs. Charles Bittinger who was the daughter of Martha Loud's sister.

Currently not on view