February 3 – 7, 1999
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:
- “Civil War” Fabrics and Textile History — An extended thread debates the accuracy of calling modern reproduction prints ‘Civil War fabrics,’ with members sharing research on actual wartime textile production in the North and South. (see the article on a Civil War quilt)
- Recording Quilters’ Oral Histories — Members urge each other to tape-record elderly relatives’ quilting stories before they are lost, with personal anecdotes about what was and wasn’t preserved.
- Children and Quilting — Discussion of young children making quilts, from a 13-year-old grandmother’s first quilt to a 6-year-old’s mini-4-H project, plus parallels to historical needlework samplers.
- Ken Burns Civil War Documentary — Recommendations for the documentary as a visual companion to textile-history discussions, with an Australian member noting its broadcast there.
- Underground Railroad Quilt Signals — A newcomer asks for help finding information about quilts used as signals on the Underground Railroad for a school play. (see the article on Underground Railroad quilts)
- Smithsonian Textile Seminar Announcement — Details of the upcoming March 1999 Smithsonian symposium ‘Common Threads: Creating a Cloth for Empowerment.’
- Redwork Quilts and History — A member shares a redwork quilt find and another recommends Willa Barnowski’s historical research on the subject. (see the article on redwork and outline embroidery)
- Regional Quilt History Resources — Book recommendations including Old Nova Scotian Quilts and Canadian references, plus discussion of kit quilts and the Warren Textile Company.
Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1999 07:50:53 EST | From: Kittencat3 [at] aol [dot] com
Sally –
If you can find it, Ken Burns’s documentary series =The Civil War= is a superb (if long) account of our great national tragedy. A fictionalized version of the climactic battle of the Civil War, Gettsburg, is the movie of the same name – very accurate, very literate, and beautifully acted and cast. *All* the extras were members of Civil War re-enactment groups, and their uniforms and equipment are completely accurate.
As for a movie about Native Americans…my vote goes to =Last of the Mohicans,= set during the French & Indian War (aka the Seven Years War). Native American activist Russell Means plays Chingachgook, the Mohican chief, and *all* the Native American extras were actually members of local tribes. The props, sets and costumes were again quite accurate (although I have some trouble with Daniel Day-Lewis’s hair, as gorgeous and charismatic as he is). The movie itself is about as romantic as it’s possible to get…and yes, the Appalachian mountains *do* look like that.
I can’t think of any good documentaries about the Revolution, although Burns made a terrific film about Thomas Jefferson a few years ago. It came out before the DNA evidence connecting him to Sally Hemings’s children, though.
Good luck – I’ll try to think of more.
Lisa Evans
Date: Sat, 06 Feb 1999 20:30:38 -0600 | From: Matti2000 [at] aol [dot] com
Hello quilters…I am brand new to this list and I have a question…I am working on a play about the Underground RR that will be presented to elementary schools in NY state and PA…I need to find info about quilts being used as signals…Any suggestions?
Date: Sat, 6 Feb 1999 21:40:35 EST | From: KareQuilt [at] aol [dot] com
Dear QHL readers,
Have you heard about the Smithsonian seminar March 19-20? Sounds like a real treat. I just got my announcement Friday. The title is : “Common Threads:
Creating A Cloth For Empowerment.”
“An International Symposium: The Role of Textile Collectives in Women’s Empowerment And Recent Research on African-American Quilters.” The Group for Cultural Documentation (TGCD) is co-sponsoring it with the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies, and the Smithsonians’ Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture. The flyer reads:
“We will bring together an international group of representatives of women’s groups that have coalesced around textile work…Included groups and their work…Alabama Freedom Quilting Bee, Mississippi Cultural Crossroads Quilters, Cabin Creek Quilters, Tierra Wools, Native American quilting groups, and Hmong textile groups, Africa (including Zamani Soweto Sisters of South Africa and Liberia’s Arthington Women’s Self-Help Quilting Group), Latin America (Chilean,Columbian and Peruvian groups), Eastern Europe, Asia, and Australia. The common thread among these groups across th globe is that quilting, weaving, and the creation of similar tapestry works plays a central role in their efforts to empower women….
Recent research on African-American quilts…A panel is anticiapted to include Cuesta Benberry [1983 Quilters Hall of Fame Honoree], Raymond Dobard, Roland L. Freeman, and Carolyn Mazloomi.
To pre-register ($10) make check out to TGCD and mail to 117 Ingraham St., NW, Washington, DC 20011. PH: (202) 882-7764; FAX: (202) 829-6814. Their mailing also includes a list of those representing each ethnic group and one page on Roland Freeman’s book and national exhibtion schedule.
I saw Mr. Freeman’s exhibit, ” A Communion of Spirits: African-American Quilters, Preservers, and Their Stories” a coupl of weeks ago at the Smithsonian. I loved his book, which I read some time ago, and found the exhibit very exciting. Just today I registered for the Common Threads seminar.
Karen Alexander
Research Focus: Quilts of the Shenandoah Valley
Member of AQSG since 1981
Date: Sat, 06 Feb 1999 20:54:41 -0600 | From: KAREN BUSH <Birdsong [at] worldnet [dot] att [dot] net
Not to mention, on this documentary, you can listen to Shelby Foote narrate…what a voice… West Virginia drawal like smoooooth molasses……got the whole set and watch and listen to it all the time while I’m quilting….aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh….:) kb
— if you can find it, Ken Burns’s documentary series =The Civil War= is a superb
> (if long) account of our great national tragedy. A fictionalized version of
Date: Sun, 07 Feb 1999 18:32:52 +1100 | From: nomad1 <nomad1 [at] ibm [dot] net
Dear Debbie, Lisa and All,
Over here in Oz guess what I watched and recorded last night? Gettysburg! Lisa thanks so much for giving that added info about the costumes etc being accurate. I was thrilled as my 11 yr son John Frederick watched it with me and commented on the sadness of war. Needless to say I have a million answered questions now! Debbie, in regards to prices of fabrics during the civil war and your comment:
” At almost $20 a yard the south was suffering. It was written that a woman in the South saw a piece of cotton for $20 a yard and bought 5 yards just because she could not stand to be with out such nice fabric anymore.”
It might interest you all to know that here in Australia, this or even $22 is what we are paying for the Civil War fabrics, as well as other great quilting fabrics e.g Shelburne museum collection, Moda’s, Hoffman’s etc ! And exactly, as that lady in the South mentioned, at times we do buy a lot and spend huge amounts as at times we just feel we cannot do without a particular fabric! Imagine the guilt we go through with UFO’s at this price!!
TTFN, Hiranya :> from Sydney, Australia
P.S. Re Diane Leon’s wonderful quilts for sale, I want to contact a museum here so that, that c.1880Aussie quilt hopefully can be purchased and brought home as we have such a minuscule quantity of such Aussie Quilt treasures.
Date: Sun, 07 Feb 1999 08:52:30 -0500 | From: “jawhite [at] courant [dot] infi [dot] net” <jawhite [at] courant [dot] infi [dot] net>
I sounds like you have done extensive research into this subject; however, $20.00 a yard for cotton fabric is a hefty price today. I can’t imagine a Southern lady, particularly during the end time of the Civil War, paying $20.00 a yard for fabric, let alone $100.00 for five yards. Just an observation.
Judy White – CT
Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 09:41:22 EST | From: QuiltFixer [at] aol [dot] com
Just had to share that I just purchased a very interesting Redwork Quilt that has all the blocks from the 1901 Pan American Exposition in Brooklyn, NY What an exciting addition to my Redwork Program and collection. It has the most marvelous buildings that were built just for the exposition. Sadly, it is also remembered for being the place where President McKinley was shot. It has the President and his wife, Vice President Teddy Roosevelt and his wife, and the building where McKinley was shot. I owe a great big thank you to our member, Eileen Trestain, (who, by the way is the author of “Dating Fabrics.”) Eileen alerted me about the quilt and I finally chased it down in Illinois. This really ties in with my Program Title which is “Redwork, History Revisited.” Just had to share this little bit of happiness and excitement with you.
Toni Baumgard
QuiltFixer [at] aol [dot] com
Date: Sun, 07 Feb 1999 10:01:56 +0400 | From: Xenia Cord <xecord [at] netusa1 [dot] net
For those of us who are building libraries of quilt history books, may I recomment Old Nova Scotian Quilts (1995), a museum catalog by Scott Robson and Sharon MacDonald. It is based on the collection of the Nova Scotia Museum (Robson is a curator), with some additions. Seems well researched (MacDonald) and beautifully photographed, with lots of additional historical and biographical data, photos, diagrams and so on – a nice look at Nova Scotian quilting life and history. A printed endorsement from Nancy Cameron Armstrong on the back cover. Because of NS’s geographic, social, and political connections in history, the quilts show relationships to British quilts as well as to those of New England. And those ties are noted and discussed. I got my copy through Dave McGee, at http://www.angelfire.com/ns/books I have just emailed him and he reports that there are only a few copies available, and that the museum has only a few and no plans at present ot reprint. Back cover shows a price of $24.95; 112 pages with extensive endnotes, bibliography of primary and secondary sources, and index. No association, just a satisfied customer who is happy to add this book to a growing library.
Xenia
Date: Sun, 07 Feb 1999 07:55:23 -0800 | From: “Julia D. Zgliniec” <rzglini1 [at] san [dot] rr [dot] com>
Dear Debbie and All,
I can recommend an excellent book that discusses textile production in the south and addresses the Civil War Era. It is:
Mississippi Homespun – Nineteenth Century Textiles and the Women Who Made Them. Mary Edna Lohrenz and Anita Miller Stamper. 1989. Mississippi Department of Archives and History. ISBN 0-938896-56-3
Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 11:36:46 EST | From: Cml791 [at] aol [dot] com
While researching family history in Marion Co., AL I came across some information about a thread manufacturer that was rebuilt in 1868, the original having been burned during the Civil War. About 30 people worked on its spindle outlay as cotton fiber was woven into thread. The thread was peddled all over Alabama by ox cart. The name was Allen’s Factory. The article said it was a thriving factory for many years but I don’t know if that was pre- or post-civil war or a combination.
Carolyn in spring-like Texas
Date: Sun, 07 Feb 1999 10:41:32 -0600 | From: Laura Hobby Syler <texas_quilt.co [at] mail [dot] airmail [dot] net
I too have to add a comment here. My grandmother turned 94 this past September and it just so happened that my 12 YO DD had to do a “Gift of Age” interview…with someoneover the age of “50” for her language class. Her teacher is a sweet *young* thing of 22 <G>…..anyway we started the interview at Susie Violet’s birthday party with my mother and aunt present and finished it up 2 weeks later at my grandmothers residence at Juliet Fowler Home for the Aged……we found that she never had a drivers license, but she did drive the car once, 12 miles to visit her parents when my grandfather was working at Ft. Hood in Killeen…she was born in Texas, lived in Temple or around Central Texas and never visited the Capitol building in Austin until last year when my mother took her and my daughters to see the renovation. She also never had seen the ocean until my mother and aunt took her for her first plane ride to Galveston on her 90th birthday …..she had all kinds of wonderful stories to tell about growing up on the farm, picking cotton and making quilts, pictures of the log house that they live in for a year or so in 1913 in Kingsville in South Texas (where the wolf came in and licked her on the face and when she woke, jumped back out the window…..)
I transcribed it and we color copied all of the old photos that were applicable to the text and Kaitlyn made a 110 on the project. Her teacher copied it as an example of what they were looking for for future classes……Unfortunately, my other grandparents (My GF worked for the Agriculture department and traveled all over the world, and to Russia and stayed with Kruchev at his “palace” back in the 40’s or 50’s…see I dont’even know exactly when) they passed away when I was in high school and didn’t appreciate or understand the importance of their experiences…..I’m thoroughly convinced that God created us backwards, when we have the energy to do things we don’t have the wisdom to see the opportunity. When we have the wisdom we don’t have the energy or the opprotunity is gone…….
Laura
.At 04:58 PM 2/6/99 -0500, you wrote:
>I just want to reiterate what Heather said about getting your stories down on tape from the elderly about quilts, genealogy or anything else and make transcripts. My grandmother died at the age of 85 this past October. I was in the process of typing up everything she ever told me, doing scrapbooks on genealogy, information on quilting, etc. I thought I had a ton of information. Ever since she passed on I keep wondering “why wasn’t I listening? how come I didn’t think to get more information?” As Heather so aptly put it, “Ask now or regret later!”
>Rachel Greco
>Grandma’s Attic Sewing Emporium, Inc.
>155 SW Court Street
>Dallas, OR 97338
>1-503-623-0451 e-mail: GrandmasAttic [at] compuserve [dot] com
Date: Sun, 07 Feb 1999 10:42:43 -0600 | From: Russell-Hill <russhill [at] ctesc [dot] net
Yes it is true. I have to say that having grown up and lived up North most of my life I never realized how much the South suffered. Now that I live in TX and learn of the atrostities that happened to many who lived in my town during the War and having talked with many Southern folk who reenact and have researched the war in the South I am learning more. Think about it. CT really never had a battle fought there. MA where I am from never had to suffer a battle of the CW. We were not refugees like so many from the South. We didn’t have soldiers coming into our homes and stealing any of our goods reither we were black or white. I could go on, I am beginning to understand why the South well some of the South feels the way it does over this horrible time. we go out there on Weekends and play but we are also trying to educate the public as to the horrors of that war and to not let it happen again. We are part of a medical unit and if we can look out over the crowd as we do our senerios and watch the faces and find one or two with tears in their eyes or see terror in their eyes we have done our “job”. The more people we can touch the better and we are getting our message across. I will get off my soap box for now.
Debbie
Date: Sun, 07 Feb 1999 11:48:52 -0500 | From: “jawhite [at] courant [dot] infi [dot] net” <jawhite [at] courant [dot] infi [dot] net>
I just want to add a little note to this thread. Both of my parents are still living and in their 80’s and the last time I went home, I asked my dad to write down everything he could remember about his relatives (he is the surviving member of 8 children.) So he did that for me, but when I got back to New England, I had many questions because I realized that a lot of what he wrote down was different from what he had told me orally over the years. This precipitated many phone calls. The point is when you finally get the information, whether on tape or on paper, don’t put it away until a later date. Please look at it immediately because I guarantee you will probably have a lot of questions that require more answers.
Another thing – I’m sure we all have boxes and albums of pictures of people in our family and our parents have these same boxes and albums of people that we don’t even know. Ask them to put the names of the people on the pictures and a date, at leastthe year the picture was taken. The longer they wait to do this, the less they remember who some of these people are in the photographs and that information will be lost to us forever. In my case, I am an only child so I have no one else to ask who may remember.
Judy White
Date: Sun, 07 Feb 1999 12:29:10 +0400 | From: Xenia Cord <xecord [at] netusa1 [dot] net
As a sidebar to the discussion on recording your family histories, are you all aware of a project called “Boxes Under the Bed”? It is a national movement to record – at the grass roots level – the personal histories of quilters, and to analyze the boxes of quilt ephemera we all have, and that we use for inspiration and patterns. The project was begun by the Alliance for American Quilts (remember the Smithsonian quilt controversy?) and the Library of Congress National Folklife Center. They have embarked on an ambitious plan to teach quilters at the local level to interview themselves and their friends, to archive the collected interviews at the local level, and to use those materials in a meaningful way. They provide professional instructions, handouts, and interview examples at the sessions they teach.
I do have an interest in this. A session of Boxes Under the Bed will be offered at Quilt America in July, and will be led by Merikay Waldvogel. Shelly Zegart (Alliance member) will introduce the session, Indiana University folklorist Dr. Susanne Ridlen will demonstrate interviewing techniques while interviewing a long-time quilter, and Merikay will be facilitator, analyze the ephemera shared by those attending, and share her expertise on our place in our own quilt history. This session will be offered on Saturday, July 10, all day (9-12, 2-5). I think it is a great chance for all of us to share with our guilds and quilting groups the importance of documenting ourselves. Anyone interested can email me privately.
Xenia
Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 10:43:25 -0700 | From: Elaine Baglo <elainb [at] pinc [dot] com
I’d like to add my .02 cents worth in here too. Like in Australia, the fabric prices in Canada are outrageous too. Here in Victoria, the prices start around $17.98 a metre and go up. If you want to buy some of the Japanese fabrics, the prices are sometimes as high as $26. a metre. Needless to say, a lot of quilters make do with fq’s of fabric rather than buying yardage. Believe me, it’s bad enough paying $5.00 for a fq.
Elaine elainb [at] pinc [dot] com in Victoria, B.C., where we actually have some blue sky and sunshine today!
Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 18:41:40 EST | From: JBQUILTOK [at] aol [dot] com
Willa Barnowski did a lot of research into red work quilts & wrote Historical Penny Squares that was published by AQS a few years ago. Her research started in Western New York, where, as you can imagine, quilts made from the Pan Am Expo are more common. I’ve seen several examples when I’ve been able to get to quilt shows in that part of the country.
Also, I’ve never needed benefit of a tape recorder to remember my grandmother telling about her memories of THAT event. They were planning to take the train into Buffalo from a town about 20 miles away the next day. Then they heard about McKinley having been shot & all the trains shut down so they couldn’t go. Gee, I might have had some of the original penny squares if she’d been able to go. Instead, the only mystery needle work I have from her is a square with several names written on it & about 1/2 of them have had embroidery done over them. Can’t place any of the names, so can’t figure out how old she was when it was done.
Janet
Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 19:19:43 -0600 | From: “Brian/Jen Schmidt” <brian_jen [at] prodigy [dot] net>
>May I inject an historical note about the current fad for “Civil War” fabrics?
>Bottom line? We probably should not be talking about “Civil War” fabrics, but rather “C.W.-era” cotton prints, pre-1861, and in the latter years of the 1860s, as production and manufacturing were haltingly resumed. What do the rest of you think?
As a novice to quilt history, I’ve found this latest thread to be particularly interesting because my small quilting group is beginning a row-by-row round robin, and I have requested that only “Civil War” reproduction fabrics be used for my project. I had been ignorant of the difficulties many women had in obtaining cotton fabric. Now I have a new appreciation for the reproduction fabric I’ve come to favor lately.
Also, as a novice to quilt history in general and fabric history in particular, I consider myself a “layman” on this list. My profession or reputation doesn’t require me to distinguish between “Civil War” and “Civil War era” labels for this type of reproduction fabric. Likewise, I don’t usually refer to the reproductions of 1920s, 30’s, or 40s fabrics as “Pre-/Mid-/Post-Depression” repro. fabrics. My quilting friends understand me when I say “Depression” or “Depression Era” fabrics. So, as I’ve been explaining what kinds of fabrics I’d like for my round robin project, I’ve been referring to them as “Civil War” fabrics. My small group gets the idea of the colors, texture, and tone of fabric I want; and they do understand that all that kind of fabric wasn’t necessarily produced during the Civil War. The term “Civil War”, being such a major event in U.S. history, has come to represent more years in many quilters’ minds than the four years the actual war lasted.
My point is (and I do have one) that the finer distinctions (such as “pre-1861”, “latter 1860s” or even a decade before or after) aren’t necessary for me to describe that kind of fabric. But, as I mentioned before, it could be important to do so for professional textile historians whose reputations are based on the finer distinctions. And it does, indeed, make for an interesting history lesson. Thanks.
Jennifer
Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 21:37:22 EST | From: SadieRose [at] aol [dot] com
Hello,
I have found the discussion on Civil War era fabrics interesting…following is a post I sent to the Dear Jane e-mail list last summer, when we had a discussion of what fabrics were “appropriate” to that time period. Thought it might be of interest to QHL as well. Although my comments are directed to the Dear Jane quilt (from the book by Brenda Papadakis – the original quilt was made by Jane Stickle & completed in 1863), I think most of them are pertinent to any reproduction piece.
<<Date: Thu, 6 Aug 1998 20:29:14 EDT
To: dearjane-list [at] dearjane [dot] com
Subject: DJ Period Fabrics
Greetings, everyone!!
Have read several posts about fabrics appropriate to the Civil War era, etc. Textile history is one of the facets of quiltmaking that really fascinates me! I think we have to keep in mind, that any “sampler” quilt, such as Jane’s, probably contained fabrics that were manufactured over a period of years. I am making quilts in 1998, but my fabric stash contains fabrics I have collected since the early 1970’s. When I make a scrap quilt, there are going to be fabrics in it from quite a time span. I’m sure that was true of Jane’s quilt, too. Certainly there are colors & designs that can give us a clue to the vintage of the fabric, but it is an “educated guess” at best.
If you read the printed information available on the current repro collections, it is really interesting. I have a 8 page brochure put out by RJR Fabrics with info on “The Ann Robinson Collection”.
Did you know that of the 13 patterns in this collection, only 4 are actually taken from the Ann Robinson quilt? Here is a quote from the brochure “To give more variety to the collection, additional patterns were recreated from other quilts, garments and bedcovers from the late 18th century and early 19th century.” Ann’s quilt was made in “3 months and 26 days” starting on Oct. 1, 1813. Ann’s quilt, with hundreds of appliqued leaves, is surely made up of fabrics that were manufactured prior to 1813….but some of them could have been 20 years old, too! Four more of the patterns in the RJR “Ann Robinson Collection” are taken from a “nine patch scrap quilt made by Abbey Hall in the early 19th century”. This quilt must not be quite as photogenic, as it was not selected to be the “poster child” for this collection….but it contributed an equal number of fabric motifs.
Another one of the fabrics, the “Plume”, was taken from a handsewn child’s dress from the 1830’s, which is in the Shelburne Museum’s collection. Two more patterns were taken from a block printed Indian Palampore!
So, within the “Ann Robinson Collection” you have designs from a wide variety of sources, and a one hundred year time span!!
Good, bad or indifferent?? If you think you can use fabrics from one (or more) of these “collections” and be “safe” because they all were from the same quilt, therefore the same time period… you can’t. Also, as Janet mentioned…they may do one coloration that is similar to the original…but then there are other colorways which may be chosen more for their appeal to quilters of today, than for their historical accuracy.
If you are trying to be “historically accurate” with the colors & designs you choose for your quilts, it will take a lot of (fun) research…you can’t rely on the fabric companies to do that for you. I am using some reproduction prints, as well as other fabrics (woven plaids, for example) that would be appropriate, but aren’t represented in the current repro collections. My quilt is just that….MY QUILT. I am using colors and fabrics I want… just as Jane used colors & fabrics that she liked, that were available to her. I would say that my quilt will be “inspired by” or “in the style of” Jane Stickle’s quilt. We each can choose how we want our quilts to look… just be aware that if you are really trying to use fabric motifs & colors to make a “Civil War era” quilt, it isn’t quite as easy as just buying from certain collections.
Another thing to consider, is the color choices WE make…there are chartreuse fabrics out there today, but you won’t find any of them making their way into MY quilts 🙂
I’m sure that each quilter, of any generation, has likes & dislikes in color & pattern…that would affect the appearance of her quilt. Also, most antique fabrics have undergone some color change, due to the dyes or mordants used, or the effect of light on the fabric (fading or color changes can both be caused by light).
So, learn as much as you can….but don’t let it spoil the enjoyment you get out of making YOUR quilt!!
If you want to learn more about fabric history, “Clues in the Calico” by Barbara Brackman is a must. Happy Stitching!! Karan (aka SadieRose) >> Since I wrote this, Eileen Trestain’s book “Dating Fabrics – A Color Guide 1800-1960″ has been published, and I would definitely include this as a resource, too.
Karan from sunny Iowa
