Marjorie K. Rawlings Quilt?

Tragic Ending For a Quilt

On our Spring Break trip we made a side trip to the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings State Park.  We might not have even noticed the small sign except that Little S's school is named for her. It was out in the middle of nowhere but worth it to see how excited Little S was to be there.  

Unfortunately it was not a day for inside tours but we were able to poke around and explore outside. Look what we found covering the chicken coop!

What a sad ending for a completely hand stitched quilt - covering a chicken coop. The coop already had a roof so it was unclear what the purpose of the quilt was. Maybe to cover the sides at night but it didn't appear to be big enough for that.  The greenish fabric under & next to the quilt appeared to be a table cloth and was in much better shape.

At first I thought the extreme difference in colors was fade or the back folded over the front, but it was just very different fabrics. Some of the stripes were completely shredded up to the seams.  I was tempted to take it off and spread it out to photograph flat but I was afraid it would fall apart even more. It was raining while we were there and it had obviously been rained on many times already. 

The girls asked why I didn't take the quilt and rescue it from its fate.  Even they recognized that this was not the proper use of a quilt. I do wonder if it had belonged to Marjorie Rawlings or was from the caretakers. Either way, what a shame. 

Note: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (August 8, 1896 – December 14, 1953) was an American author who lived in rural Florida and wrote novels with rural themes and settings.  Probably best known for The Yearling which was made into a movie starring Gregory Peck.