Natchez By Design :Architectural Motifs in Stitchery from Nine Natchez Mansions

In designing the quilt called ‘Stitches. . . Time. . . Natchez. . . Nine,’ it seemed to me fitting that an octagon shape representing eight-sided, breathtaking Longwood should be the centerpiece," said Laura Bailey Parks, pictured above with her award-winning textile in front of Longwood in Natchez, Mississippi. “Radiating from each of the eight sides of the central octagon would be architectural designs from eight additional mansions," she said. Longwood contributed not only the inspiration and centerpiece of the quilt but also two other architectural designs. “One is a column capital of acanthus leaves, and the other is a dainty sawn decoration of an overhanging roof cornice," Laura Parks said. Longwood, begun in 1860 and never completed on the interior, is the largest octagonal house in America and a National Historic Landmark. The other eight famous Natchez mansions from which interior and exterior designs were taken for the quilt are Auburn, D’Evereux, Dunleith, Elms Court, Magnolia Hall, Melrose, Rosalie, and Stanton Hall.