Hortense Beck made this quilt in 1998.  It is a reproduction of a quilt made in the last half of the 19th century by Jane Batson, born into slavery in Virginia.

Ex-slaves told WPA interviewers about regular quiltings in the slave quarters, receiving scraps and fabrics from mistresses, spinning yarn, weaving, and quilting at night for the master’s family after their fieldwork was complete, hiring out to do needlework for other families, and about how they continued this work after they were freed.