September 3 - 7, 1998 - QuiltHistory

Fabric Identification, Quilt Dating, Quilt History Resources, Quiltmaking Techniques & Construction, Regional Quilt History

These restored messages come from the Quilt History List, an online forum where quilt historians, collectors, researchers, appraisers, and enthusiasts discussed antique quilts and related textiles. The archive dates from 1996 through approximately 2016 and is being restored gradually. Sign up in the form at the bottom of the page if you want to know when a new page is added. Original spelling, opinions, formatting, and inactive links may remain unchanged.

Primary topics of this QHL Digest:

Selvedge vs. Selvage Spelling — A lively thread on whether ‘selvedge’ or ‘selvage’ is correct, with members citing regional and historical usage on both sides of the Atlantic.
Cloth of Gold Company and Textile History — Continued research into the Cloth of Gold fabric company, its Greenwood, SC origins, and what its selvedge markings indicate about fabric dating.
Purple Dye and Historical Dye Chemistry — Kath Balfour shares a reference to purple paper dye and other ‘cheap dye stuffs’ used in 19th-century textile coloring, prompting discussion of early synthetic dyes. (see the article on double purple)
The Color Congress and Fashion Trend-Setting — Members debate whether a ‘Color Congress’ secretly determines each season’s fashionable colors, with Rachel and Sally Ward offering perspectives on how color trends are set in the fashion industry.
Quilt Book Accuracy and Library Cataloguing — Mary Cross raises concerns about factual errors in published quilt books, and members discuss how libraries acquire and catalogue quilt-related titles.
Textile Book Hunting and Rare Book Sources — Susan LK recommends ABE (Advanced Book Exchange) and other used-book clearinghouses for finding out-of-print textile reference books at reasonable prices.
‘Quilt Police’ Term and Humor — A lighthearted exchange on the origin and meaning of the term ‘quilt police’ within the quilting community.
QRS Conference Report and Announcements — A member shares highlights from last year’s QRS conference in Omaha, and new members introduce themselves to the list.

Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 22:11:38 EDT | From: Feathrwate [at] aol [dot] com

Xenia, isn’t Cloth of Gold originally from Greenwood, SC? They have an outlet store in Spartanburg, which was recently moved from Hendersonville, NC. I bet Georgia Bonesteel knows where Cloth of Gold was manufactured Linda

Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 21:52:21 -0500 (EST) | From: “Joanna E. Evans” <jevans [at] bluemarble [dot] net

Hello friends,

I’ve just agreed (gulp) to serve as the only judge of a tiny quilt show (probably 30 or so quilts of varying quality). It will be an open judging, so I’m practicing my tactful and constructive criticism. If any of you have any experience with this sort of thing, please email me privately with any tips or suggestions. Thanks for your indulgence in a slightly off-topic request.
Joanna Evans
Bloomington, IN

Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1998 17:10:57 +0800 | From: Kath Balfour <balfourk [at] echidna [dot] id [dot] au>

I found a reference to the purple paper dye and other “cheap dye stuffs” quoted from an old book, The American Frugal Housewife Dedicated to those who are not ashamed of economy by Mrs. Child, 1833. pages 38-40: “The purple paper, which comes on loaf sugar, boiled in cider, or vinegar, with a small bit of alum, makes a fine purple slate color. Done in iron”
It was on this FASCINATING page,
http://www.cobweb.net/~ryn/dyebook.html

which was on this WONDERFUL site called Kathryn of the Hills (Kathy Wells, Textile Artist). Do check it out!
http://www.cobweb.net/~ryn/index.html
no affiliation!
_____________________________
Kath Balfour
Western Australia e-mail: balfourk [at] echidna [dot] id [dot] au

Date: Fri, 04 Sep 1998 21:48:07 -0600 | From: Sven Olsson <sven [at] pnc [dot] com [dot] au>

Kath Balfour wrote:

> I found a reference to the purple paper dye and other “cheap dye stuffs” quoted from an old book, The American Frugal Housewife Dedicated to those who are not ashamed of economy by Mrs. Child, 1833. pages 38-40:

> “The purple paper, which comes on loaf sugar, boiled in cider, or vinegar, with a small bit of alum, makes a fine purple slate color. Done in iron”

> It was on this FASCINATING page,
> http://www.cobweb.net/~ryn/dyebook.html

Thank you Kath,

It is indeed a fascinating site, and so close to home too.
Lorraine Olsson in Oz

Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1998 11:22:42 -0400 | From: “Kelchner, Alan” <Alan.Kelchner [at] stdreg [dot] com>

Laura, would you go back over the gold standard story? I cannot remember why y’all came to the decision Roberta’s quilt may be one, other than the fact that it has a piece of yellow fabric (in and of itself a rather weak indication). Where was the quilt from? What history about it do we know? Tired and unremembering minds want to know!
Alan

Date: Fri, 04 Sep 1998 11:58:47 -0400 | From: Nancy Roberts <robertsn [at] norwich [dot] net>

FYI: If you are within range, there’s a seminar “Fabrics of Their Lives: Collectng and Caring for Historic Textiles” offered at the Cooperstown Graduate Program (for museum staff) in Cooperstown, NY on Friday, Sept. 25. The fee is $45 + $20 materials fee. A box lunch is provided and the workshop runs from 10-4. Find out more by contacting the college at Oneonta raddatc [at] oneonta [dot] edu or 607-547-2586. I plan to attend and will post a report on any interesting topics. Class size is limited to 12 and I believe there is space available. At least there was when I called to register. Nancy Roberts

Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1998 13:44:30 -0500 | From: “Sehoy L. Welshofer” <sw4quilt [at] bellsouth [dot] net>

Bizmark – hope I can explain this – it’s one of those things that really is a visual technique. When you come to a point in your quilting where you want to move to another spot and start again, if the distance isn’t too much longer than the length of your needle, you can “travel” with the TN travel stitch.

Pass the needle from your ending spot through the batting, point first -allow the point of the needle to come out of the fabric,, and grab the point of the needle, turn it so that now you’re leading through the batting with the eye of the needle. Advance a bit, let the eye surface, grab it, turn again and let the point of the needle come out in the spot where you want to start quilting again.

Hope that makes sense to you. It’s not meant to “travel” long distances, but it’s great for something like the feather designs, when the distance you’re “traveling” is relatively short.
Sehoy
Sehoy L. Welshofer
[slw4quilts [at] bellsouth [dot] net]

Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1998 15:36:58 -0400 | From: “susanlk” <susanlk [at] erols [dot] com>

Is there a new word “selvedge” out there? I know “selvage” as the finished edge along the length of woven fabric, never heard of it spelled the other way. If it’s a new word, please someone, let me know; if not, I hope that this correction will be welcomed as a protection of our rapidly deteriorating language!!
SusanLK

Date: Fri, 04 Sep 1998 16:04:20 +0000 | From: Jocelyn <jocelynm [at] sw1 [dot] socwel [dot] ukans [dot] edu>

> Is there a new word “selvedge” out there? I know “selvage” as the finished edge along the length of woven fabric,

Susan,

Actually, it’s the old word! <G> Self-edge…..the edge of the fabric that’s made by the fabric itself…was the origination of the word ‘selvage’.

It’s one of those words I just can’t seem to spell, like vacuum. <G> One of my email programs doesn’t have a spellchecker, and the other program’s spellchecker doesn’t recognize such esoterical words as ‘selvage’! <G>
Jocelyn

Date: Fri, 04 Sep 1998 16:16:55 -0500 | From: Laura Hobby Syler <texas_quilt.co [at] mail [dot] airmail [dot] net>

susanlk <susanlk [at] erols [dot] com>
Subject: Re: QHL: Re: QHL-Digest Digest V98 #252

Message-Id: <3.0.3.32.19980904161655.006bb9dc [at] mail [dot] airmail [dot] net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset”us-ascii”

My mother always spelled it selvedge…and the first (and only) sewing teacher other than her, did so too….maybe it’s a new word like Email <G>….
Laura
At 04:04 PM 9/4/98 +0000, Jocelyn wrote:

>> Is there a new word “selvedge” out there? I know “selvage” as the finished edge along the length of woven fabric,
>Susan,

Actually, it’s the old word! <G> Self-edge…..the edge of the

>fabric that’s made by the fabric itself…was the origination of the word ‘selvage’.

It’s one of those words I just can’t seem to spell, like vacuum. <G>

>One of my email programs doesn’t have a spellchecker, and the other program’s spellchecker doesn’t recognize such esoterical words as ‘selvage’! <G>
>Jocelyn

Date: Fri, 04 Sep 1998 16:30:07 +0000 | From: Shirley McElderry <tigersoup [at] lisco [dot] net>

Hi to all: This is for the ones who asked about those little names printed on the selvedges of fabric.

“Honor” was a registered trademark of J.C Penny and perhaps the Honor Pure Finish was sold by Penny’s? (Later their trade name was “Rondo.”) The “Cloth of Gold” was a registered trademark from the Jackson &
Jackson Company of Tryon NC in 1926.

Quadriga was a registered brand name of the Ely Walker Co. in St. Louis. Have some of these little swatches with the printing of Honor, Cloth of Gold, Quadriga (Ely Walker), Peter Pan, Tinker Bell (Both of these were sold but I don’t think produced by the Henry Glass Co, NY), Tommy Tucker (produced by the Milldale Textile Corporation in NY), ABC (sold by the Arthur Bier & Co. in NYC), and Daisy Bell (not a clue!).
Shirley Mc.

Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1998 14:52:13 -0700 | From: “Mary Cross” <mbcquilt [at] web-ster [dot] com>

This is a request for the “quilt book police” to go into action. I visited my local library the other night and out of curiosity checked the card catalog for my book locations. Not surprisingly, I discovered my book Quilts and Women of the Mormon Migrations was cataloged under religion at 289.3082 C9515q. My Treasures in the Trunk was cataloged with the quilt books at 746.46 C95lt. I immediately talked to the staff who were surprised and could offer no explanation except that staff does find books mis-cataloged occasionally. I filed a “Dear Ginnie” note with the librarian and will hope she will change the number and the location. The book needs and deserves higher visibility. There was no cross-referencing to quilts either.

The solution to the problem resides with Rutledge Hill Press. I approached them over a year ago about it. But those of you aquainted with them know the situation. I am working with them and have received some support. Now, I’m asking for yours. If you show the librarian the two books, just the title of the second should help identify where it should be on their shelves. Then, show them the Library of Congress subject listings on the back of the title page, the librarians can see how and where the book should be located. It is not a book on religion or Utah. It is a book about quilts and the women who made them. The connection to the Church is they chose or the decision was chosen for them to join the Latter-day Saints and head west to the Intermountain West, not just Utah.

Thanks for your help. I look forward to hearing what reactions you received.
Mary

Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1998 18:52:57 EDT | From: Qltldy10 [at] aol [dot] com

A big long time ago (beginning of the summer), a lister was looking for some blue fabric with a chicken wire patern on it. I’m hoping this person found some, but if not, I did. I found 1/4 yd. in my stash, and would love to pass it on… is said lister still out there???
Beth in Maine qltldy10 [at] aol [dot] com

Date: Fri, 04 Sep 1998 17:50:04 -0600 | From: Sharon Harleman Tandy <harleman [at] micron [dot] net>

QHLers,

Believe it or not–I’ve found at least three spellings of the ‘tightly woven edges of textiles.’ selvage, selvegde, and selvage Since it comes from self + edge, kinda makes sense. Not ‘deteriorating’, just changing; something I say about myself as well. Sharon.

Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1998 21:01:40 -0400 | From: “Judy Grow” <Judygrow [at] blast [dot] net>

“Quilt Bee” <quiltbee [at] quilter [dot] com>,

“Quilt History List” <QHL [at] cuenet [dot] com>
Subject: QHL: small world

Message-ID: <000301bdd868$bf4042e0$91e8c6cf@judy-grow>
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset”iso-8859-1″
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

I was reminded of how close our cyberworld quilting community is today. A woman walked into my store today to buy a piece of glass for a picture frame. We chatted idly at the cash register and I found out she was newly arrived from Australia to work on her PhD at the Princeton Seminary nearby. It was obvious she noticed the quilt top I had hanging in back of the register area. She also perked up when she picked up the flyer for my guild’s quilt show that I had on the counter.

I asked if she was a quilter, and she said that she was, and in fact would probably have a couple of her ecclesiastical quilted stoles in the next iss ue of the big Australian quilting magazine.

She said she had stopped into the Kirk Collection in Omaha on her way East, and I told her I was just going there in a couple of days. I asked if she was on the internet, and whether she was subscribed to any of the quilting lists and she said she had just unsubscribed from Quiltbee while she was moving here.

Then we introduced ourselves and she told me she had saved and printed out my name and internet address before she moved, and had intended to call me when she got settled.
This is very spooky!

So any of you who know or are concerned about Raewynne from Australia, she has arrived safely in Princeton, but her stuff is still somewhere in transit.
Judy in Ringoes, NJ judygrow [at] blast [dot] net

Date: Fri, 04 Sep 1998 19:14:31 -0700 | From: Marilyn Maddalena <marilyn [at] crl [dot] com>

To: QHL [at] cuenet [dot] com
Subject: QHL: Re: QHL-Digest Digest V98 #253

Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19980904191431.007bbb80 [at] mail [dot] crl [dot] com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset”us-ascii”

For Joanna: If you’re going to start judging, please do yourself a favor — and everyone whose quilts you’ll be judging — and contact NQA for information on their judging program. The ethics taught in that program, as well as terminology and myriad other things, make it well worth your while. I’m a beginning judge, and I’m So Glad I had the class from Klaudeen Hansen and Anita Shackleford. It makes all the difference in the world! The sad thing is, those who haven’t had the course don’t realize what they’re doing wrong — and set a bad example for other judges.
Marilyn in Sacramento

Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1998 22:54:34 EDT | From: Kittencat3 [at] aol [dot] com

In a message dated 9/4/98 9:49:54 PM Eastern Daylight Time, QHL-Digest- request [at] cue [dot] com writes:
<<

I’ve usually seen it as “selvedge.” Both seem to be correct.
Lisa Evans

Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1998 22:57:29 EDT | From: Kittencat3 [at] aol [dot] com

Mary – I hate to tell you this, but most libraries receive their catalogue cards pre-printed, and most librarians are too busy to check every single book. Letting your local library know was a good idea, but writing to the Library of Congress, ultimate source of the cards, will probably do more good in the long run….:)
Lisa Evans

Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1998 03:00:28 -0400 | From: “susanlk” <susanlk [at] erols [dot] com>

RE: textile books. First of all, PLEASE check ABE, Advanced Book Exchange. A world wide clearinghouse of used/rare books. I got FLorence MOntgomery from a dealer on ABE for $225 and I had a choice of dealers from whom to buy. Amazon is good for new books and they will search for OOP books for you, but you must give a credit card. I understand why, but I’m not going to do it.
You can put a

“want” on ABE and they’ll notify you if someone gets it. I found ABE to be so professional and easy to use, it’s wonderful. Amazon is good too, but for new books I will patronize my local store whenever possible because they are THERe and they maintain an inventory I can browse. ABE is ONLY for out-of-print and rare books and many of their dealers specialize so you often see certain names over and over for certain categories of books. And you can build a relationship with some of these dealers; it’s more than just a business for most of them.In fact, I bought BOTH

Florence Montgomery books from that dealer when I searched for Printed Textiles and found he had the other one as well. And because there are MANY dealers, the prices are competitive and often, especially if you buy more than one book, you may be able to get a better deal. One book I sought was available at exactly ONE dealer, in Australia. The price was $60US plus $40US for shipping!!!!

For ex., On ABE there are CURRENTLY five copies of Robinson’s Printed Textiles for prices between $40 and $50 plus shipping, so it looks like there’s enough for several people to get one!! And there are SIX copies of “Printed Textiles” by Montgomery for between $200 and $300 right now. $750? Did someone make a Typo????) Contact me if anyone has a problem finding these books on ABE; I’m Such a big fan, I’ll be glad to do the search for you and send you the names of the appropriate dealers. DO yourself a HUGE favor and check out ABE; the site is www.abebooks.com
Good luck!
SusanLK

Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1998 08:32:37 -0400 | From: debatqps [at] juno [dot] com

A lady came into my shop yesterday to give me a good portion of her mother’s quilt pattern collection, one of my customers told her I would give them a good home! All of it is from the 30s and 40s, based on the dates on some of the things and the postage on some of the envelopes, etc. On one pattern from the Stearns & Foster Company for a kit to make a Potholder it states:

“Cloth of Gold” is the brand name of the sample squares of cloth which are sent to you with the compliments of the manufacturer. Any questions concerning it should be addressed to Cloth of Gold Products, 40 Worth Street, New York City.

There is no date anywhere on the pattern but the prices for batting are: $1.00 for the 81×96, or $1.10 for the 81×108 and this is postpaid . . . .
Debbie from QPs in NJ il.

Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]

Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 16:46:03 -0600 | From: Kathy Gaul <katquilt [at] n-gate [dot] com>

Just a thought – what about contacting the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, MA for information about selvage printing. They have a lot of history on New England Mills and someone there might be knowledgeable! Phone 978-441-0400 –Kat

Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1998 15:51:31 EDT | From: BrickWks1 [at] aol [dot] com

Just puzzling…the Western mining states were particularly affected by the devaluation of silver in the late 19th century. Many Colorado millionaires, Horace Tabor included, found themselves penniless in comparison after silver fell off the standard, and in some ways, Colorado never recovered from the blow. (William Jennings Bryan, whose speeches urged that silver-owners should not be “crucified on a cross of gold,” was very popular in this area, and made at least two triumphal tours.)

Yet I have never seen any evidence of such quilts out here in my research, nor have any of my Colorado antique quilt buddies mentioned such a theme. Obviously I need to check it through some more…but could it be that the “gold standard quilts” were a regional trend?

Off to QRS for the conference, but a million things to do beforehand. Wish you all were coming… Cindy B.

Date: Sun, 6 Sep 1998 07:57:39 +0800 | From: Kath Balfour <balfourk [at] echidna [dot] id [dot] au>

My fellow Australians!

Take note the Lifestyle Channel (cable/satellite) is screening the 1992 series “The Great American Quilt” on Saturdays & Sundays at 9.30 am, 5.30 pm, and 1.30 am.

I’ve only seen one episode, but it looks quite promising, even if it is 6 years old. I note that QHL contributor Nancy Crow made an appearance. I have phoned the channel a couple of times to request quilting shows, but I have no idea what might be available. (I read somewhere recently that 73% of US homes have cable/satellite TV, and Australia has about 10%…) Any suggestions from non-Aussie subscribers about what shows to specifically ask for that focus on quilt heritage?
Cheers!
Kath Balfour
Western Australia e-mail: balfourk [at] echidna [dot] id [dot] au

Date: Sun, 06 Sep 1998 14:36:59 -0400 | From: Kathy D <DeSchuit [at] ix [dot] netcom [dot] com>

To: quilterpat [at] pressroom [dot] com
CC: QHL [at] cuenet [dot] com
Subject: Re: QHL: Quilt list

Message-ID: <35F2D64B.71AD [at] ix [dot] netcom [dot] com> Content-Type: text/plain; charsetus-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

These are the sights I had bookmarked with quilt related links. I am not sure if they all are still available but they are here for you to give a try.
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/3721/anita.htm

http://www.vintagevogue.com/html/favorite_links.html
http://www.linearlinks.com/quilting/
http://www.oscoda.net/kayewood/links.html#A
http://community.net/~lindab/qplinks.html
http://www.lydias.com/sewing.html
—
Kathy in NH
🙂 DeSchuit [at] ix [dot] netcom [dot] com

“Families are like quilts: lives pieced together, stitched with smiles and tears, colored with memories, bound with LOVE.”

Date: Sun, 6 Sep 1998 13:32:23 -0800 | From: ayjones [at] tacoma [dot] nwrain [dot] net (Yvonne Jones)

I first heard the term quilt police on the quilt art digest. Another way of putting it could be a person that critiqued a quilt or judged a quilt.I enjoy seeing quality work but keep my opinions in my head as much as possible but they slip out so I guess we all could be called quilt police in different degrees.On a less serious note, that question brought to mind 4 stories that stuck in my mind for one reason or another. When my last child was only 6 weeks old she was taken to her first quilt show and has been to many ever since that day.When she was about 4 my DH & I were at a local quilt show, as we were walking around the show we noticed a quilt from a distance that we thought was wonderful.As we got closer our daughter got quite close, turned to us and said “euuuuuw, it’s machine quilted”.It drew quite a chuckle!

Once when I was at a judged quilt display at the State Fair three ladies were looking at a particular quilt that was very well designed and heavily quilted.The person that made the quilt is well know for great prize winning work and is published. One of the 3 ladies turned to the others and said with authority “some people do not like all that stitching (hand quilting) because it reminds them of a mattress pad”.

I also recall a story about a friend of mine. She was just making a joke about a quilt that was hanging in a quilt show, but I was in hopes that the quilt maker was not near us.It was a 4 patch quilt, and would not lay flat if you tried.She said “I wonder if I could ask her for that pattern?” Now I will try to bring this subject so it is QHL related.My quilt guild always seemed to enjoy it when I would bring in an antique quilt for show and tell. One day I showed 3 beautiful 30’s quilts and they seemed very well received. At the break I over heard a conversation that was not meant for my ears when one of the members said to the other “I wouldn’t want someone’s OLD used quilt”.I also have a friend that is very blunt and has similar feelings about “old quilts” or often refered to as antique quilts<grin>.Have other list members run across others that feel antique quilts are icky or of no value?

To the person that asked about judging.My friend J. and I read all we can about judging so we can do our best work. I see a relationship in the subject quilt police and judging, after all every time we put a quilt in a quilt show we set our quilts up to be judged.It is just a coincidence that my friend just went through many old quilt magazines and copied everything she found on judging. She sent me copies of everything that she felt was worth keeping.Unfortunately not all of them show what magazine they came from but I will still list them and I could find out if someone wanted very much to find an article.They are:

Loose Threads by Helen Kelly, article is called PSEUDO ME The article examine Dos and don’ts and “Who says?”
Judging the Quilt Contest, by Martha Waterman
Quilting Today – Issue 32
The Judge’s Dilemma by Carter Houck
Patchwork Quilts
Quilt Lovers’ Forum, Breaking the Rules by Cindy V. Davis – QNM
Quilt Lovers’ Forum, To Enter or Not to Enter:
How to Beat The Rejection Blues
By Elizabeth A. Busch – QNM

Coming to Terms, An Open Letter to Readers from Gerald E. Roy, American Quilter, Spring 1991 page 16

A Record of National Quilt Contests, by Cuesta Benberry QNM June 89

Date: Sun, 6 Sep 1998 22:18:13 EDT | From: Kittencat3 [at] aol [dot] com

To: QHL [at] cuenet [dot] com
Subject: QHL: Mystery solved!

Message-ID: <b071947c.35f34265 [at] aol [dot] com>
Content-type: text/plain; charsetUS-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

About four years ago I bought an applique piece for $50. It’s about 45″ square, done in typical Middle Eastern motifs, with something in Arabic appliqued about the central medallion. There’s what appears to be an ink stain (much faded) on the medallion, but it’s otherwise in good shape. The dealer told me that another person had almost bought it but decided not to “because he was afraid the writing was an invocation to Satan.” I’m not sure whether the dealer was serious or not, but it shows just how paranoid some people are…..:(

I showed it to a professor of mine at Hartford Seminary, who told me that the Arabic writing a) is something flowery about “the king, to whom all honor is owed,” and b) *not* a quotation from the Qur’an. Beyond that, he couldn’t tell me much, being a theologian and not a textile historian. 🙂 I took it to Antiques Roadshow in Hartford a few weeks ago (waited nearly five hours in line – unless you’re willing to get there at 6:00 a.m., I’d advise against going), and I *finally* found out what it is! According to their expert (I think she was from Christie’s), it’s – get this – an Egyptian table cloth, probably made for a desk (thus the ink stain). They usually have flowery sayings on them, are pretty common in the Middle East (but not in America), and are still being made in various sizes.

Mine is a decent example from the turn of the century and is worth a few hundred dollars. Not bad for a $50 pick up!
Lisa Evans

Date: Sun, 06 Sep 1998 23:57:59 -0400 (EDT) | From: JOCELYNM [at] delphi [dot] com

On 6-SEP-1998 17:24:39.0 ayjones said to JOCELYNM

> I first heard the term quilt police on the quilt art digest. Another way of putting it could be a person that critiqued a quilt or judged

To me, the Quilt Police are people who try to spoil someone else’s enjoyment of quilts, by trying to enforce ‘the rules’. Not just a critique…but an attempt to influence someone else to do things their way.

>seemed very well received. At the break I over heard a conversation that was not meant for my ears when one of the members said to the other “I wouldn’t want someone’s OLD used quilt”.I also have a

It amuses me that there are people who are shocked at the idea of one buying household linens secondhand, but who think absolutely nothing about staying in hotels! Do they really believe that the hotel puts out brand-new linen for each guest? <G>
Jocelyn

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 08:31:12 -0400 | From: Th Schott Family <fschott [at] ix [dot] netcom [dot] com>

Has anyone ever heard of the Color Congress?

Several years ago I took a class about color in quilts, and the instructor mentioned that there is a group of men who meet in a secret location every couple of years to decide what colors will be in vogue in clothing and fabric. Has anyone else ever heard of this? How long have they been meeting?
Nancy Schott

Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1998 10:19:34 EDT | From: JBQUILTOK [at] aol [dot] com

In a message dated 98-09-06 23:58:53 EDT, you write:

<< To me, the Quilt Police are people who try to spoil someone else’s enjoyment of quilts, by trying to enforce ‘the rules’. Not just a critique…but an attempt to influence someone else to do things their way. >> The Quilt Police I’ve run into appear to be insecure people who are attempting to establish themselves as most knowledgeable about something. I realized one night that a local Q.P. struggled with reading when she was cornered into reading aloud at a meeting. I steer clear of them when I can & play ‘Good Cop’ to their ‘Bad Cop’ when I find them tearing down someone else.

Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1998 11:22:17 EDT | From: Regentof [at] aol [dot] com

In a message dated 9/7/98 8:40:52 AM, fschott [at] ix [dot] netcom [dot] com wrote: <<Several years ago I took a class about color in quilts, and the instructor mentioned that there is a group of men who meet in a secret location every couple of years to decide what colors will be in vogue in clothing and fabric. Has anyone else ever heard of this? How long have they been meeting?>>

I did not know that Ted Baxter was teaching color classes for quilters. Several years ago, I heard him talk about females in secret meetings in women’s restrooms, as they plot their schemes.

Sounds like some very valuable lessons your teacher divulged. What else did you learn there?
The Regent of Dorothy

Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1998 13:09:37 -0700 | From: “August, Rachel” <papillon [at] alaskalife [dot] net>

While the idea of men or women meeting in secret to determine which colors will be in vogue may seem rather far-fetched at first reading, I suppose it could happen. After alll, designers dictate fashion trends. ~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
Rachel August papillon [at] alaskalife [dot] net
Please remember to smile whenever you think of me.

Y2K Quilt List… http://www.onelist.com/archives.cgi/Y2Kquilts ~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~

Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1998 16:52:12 -0500 (CDT) | From: Nancy Evans <nevans [at] nebnet [dot] net>

Oops, meant to send this to the list – thought several might be interested!
Nancy

>Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 16:25:31

>To: “August, Rachel” <papillon [at] alaskalife [dot] net> From: Nancy Evans <nevans [at] nebnet [dot] net> Subject: Re: QHL: Color Congress

>Secret meetings?? I don’t know if that is true, but there is a group of

design and color professionals who forecast and track color and design trends. They have a website, so it’s not TOO secret!:

>www.colormarketing.org

>It’s a very interesting site to visit, and there are some press releases

you can read/print to help you know what colors are coming up in the next couple of years. I found out about this group in “Make Your Quilting Pay for Itself” by Sylvia Landman. It, also, is an interesting book for anyone making a living/life in quilts.

>Nancy Evans

Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1998 23:12:45 +0100 | From: “Sally Ward” <sward [at] t-ward [dot] demon [dot] co [dot] uk>

I don’t know about the Colour Congress, but I do recall a teacher telling me 30 years ago that the mystical ‘they’ would deliberately ‘starve’ consumers of a colour one year so that when it magically reappeared the next we would all be longing to buy it.
Sally, UK

Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1998 21:15:10 EDT | From: Quiltinjil [at] aol [dot] com

Last year’s QRS confrence in Omaha was exciting and the beginning of many friendships. As I drove back to Ohio, dancing details and textile theories twirled in my head, and much of which I have put into practice or investigated further.

This QRS information-packed event spawned many discussions. “Gold Standard” was one of the topics raised when Barbara Brackman was examing a quilt top composed of many tiny pieced squares, “postage stamp” style, with only one yellow or gold-colored cotton square in the entire top. During the break that followed, I mentioned to Terry Clothier Thompson that during my research and work on exhibitions at McKinley Museum (as a volunteer), I had seen a crazy- quilt political pillow that commemorated William McKinley with name and motto (ca.1897) and it had gold satin pieced into it. Terry encouraged me to say something to the group, so following the short conference break, I stated to the group, that I had seen a quilt at the McKinley Museum that had a gold patch, too.

FYI: McKinley’s Republican presidental campaign promoted the Gold Standard, and “Sound Money” clubs, which bridged the political groups including Democrats and Populists, sprang up around the country . Many nation-wide supporters traveled to Canton, OH to partake in McKinley’s Front Porch Campaign. Delegates donned the popular “Gold Bug” lapel pins that ranged from the size and shape of a tiny honey bee to huge 2″-3″ oval gold-colored metal (brass) badges, in addition to gold-colored ribbon badges with slogans imprinted on them.

Anyway, I agreed with Barbara’s idea that the quilt we were viewing may have been a political statement, since it seemed plausable and fell into place with what I had recently seen and researched.

That was nearly a year ago, folks, and since then, I have yet to find anything else to support this “Gold Standard theory.”
BUT… upon my return from the

QRS conference, I re-examined the crazy-quilt pillow top and there are not one, but a few gold patches on the pillow, including two gold satin pieces to the right and left of the black central slogan patch embroidered with the words “Protection, Sound Money, Prosperity. Wm McKinley.” I think the gold fabric was intentionally placed because other fabric in this crazy quilt piece was strategically arranged. Directly above and below the black slogan patch are groups of three pieces of red, white, and blue satin that were also embroidered, but with asteric-looking stars. Those embroidered stars were not repeated anywhere else on the pillow although the remaining patches were embroidered in typical crazy quilt designs.

Now, what do you think? In my opinion, the McKinley pillow top is definitely a political statement crafted by a turn-of-the-century needlewoman who strategically placed the red, white, and blue satins as well as the gold. The quilt top at the QRS conference is a far reach (literally, now, because Roberta has it in Australia!), but we can’t ignore the possibility. This type of speculating sparks the search for facts which in turn lays the foundation for research papers, articles, and books. Nearly 1 1/2 years ago, I submitted a magazine article about my factual research on the McKinley textiles and quilts. The magazine was interested, but no date for publication yet. (Maybe I need to send a wake-up letter!)

The Gold Standard theory needs more research and nation-wide networking to see what develops. I love mysteries!

Some QHLers may be a little confused, but, yes, I am currently writing/researching Ruby McKim (magazine articles & working on Ruby’s biography). My McKim paper in AQSG’s Uncoverings 1996 lead me to volunteer research work for the McKinley Museum to document their textiles. This quilt- stuff blazed a trail to QHL and then on to QRS & Omaha last year. Who knows where the future quilted path will take me!!!

Sorry about this delayed lengthy response. My summer disappeared due to family medical problems. A few e-mails prompted me to take a breather and I decided to present some facts to clear the air! Hope this helps. Jill Sutton Filo, Quiltinjil [at] aol [dot] com

Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 20:03:57 -0500 | From: quilts.r.me [at] MCI2000 [dot] com (Cindy Wall)

Hi everyone,

I hope you’ve had a great Labor Day weekend. I’ve just got my new quilt site up & running. Please stop by!
Cindy Wall, Auburn, Alabama, USA quilts.r.me [at] mci2000 [dot] com
My Web Site:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Woods/7581

A diamond is just a chunk of coal that made good under pressure.