Bluegrass Treasures: A trio of excerpts from Into the Bluegrass: Art and Artistry of Kentucky’s Historic Icons Mel Stewart Hankla
Stitches of Sorrow – The Graveyard Quilt
Fig. 2. Mourning quilt by Elizabeth Roseberry Mitchell (1799–1857) and her two daughters, Sarah and Elizabeth, Lewis County, Kentucky, 1843. Cotton and paper, 85 by 81 inches. Widely known as the “Graveyard Quilt,” it is made of fabrics dyed brown using walnut hulls. The center depicts a graveyard containing several named coffins surrounded by a picket fence, with a trellis of climbing roses and sculpted columns at the corners. The border of the quilt is another picket fence with more coffins; many of the coffins retain scraps of paper inscribed with the names of family members.