September 27 – 30, 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:
- Blue and White Temperance Quilts — A discussion of the WCTU and Temperance movement’s possible influence on the popularity of blue-and-white quilts, with members sharing family quilts and citing published sources. (see the article on temperance quilts)
- Verbal vs. Written Quilt Appraisals — Nancy Kirk explains why lower-cost ‘verbal’ appraisals are offered alongside formal written ones at conferences and in her shop. (see the article on quilt appraisers)
- Does Febreeze Damage Antique Fabric? — A cautionary report of color change on a vintage quilt treated with a fabric freshener spurs a broader debate on using modern deodorizing products on antique textiles.
- An Oregon Quilt Pattern and a New Website — Members announce new quilt-history websites and discuss a specific Oregon-origin quilt pattern.
- A Vintage Quilt Kit Box and Handmade Pins — Members share and identify inherited sewing notions, including a cardboard quilt-kit box and antique straight pins.
- Remembering a Fellow List Member — A brief note lets members know of the passing of someone known to several on the list.
- Shipshewana Quilt Shop Recommendations — A member shares favorite quilt-shop stops for anyone visiting the Shipshewana, Indiana area.
Date: Mon, 27 Sep 1999 19:14:15 -0700 | From: Julie Silber <quiltcomplex@
Hi All, Re: Blue&White and Temperance:
From “Hearts and Hands: The Influence of Women and Quilts on American Society” (1991), Page 87:
“…and, of course innumerable quilts, still extant, made by individual women show their temperance sympathies through the use of the W.C.T.U.’s (Women’s Christian Temperance Union’s) official colors of blue and white and through patterns such as Drrunlard’s Path.”
Caption of illustration of blue and white Drunkard’s path quilt on Page 84: “Drunkard’s Path quilts show up in great numbers at the end of the nineteenth century (sometimes with W.C.T.U. signatures and inscriptions), suggesting a humor and wit not usually associated with the high moral tone of the W.C.T.U. Often these quilts are blue and white, the official colors of the organization.”
Julie Silber
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 07:37:28 -0400 (EDT) | From: JOCELYNM@
Can’t say as I’d put it on an antique quilt….but Febreeze really does perform as advertised. It does remove the dreaded Eau de Cat. <G>
Jocelyn
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 07:37:32 -0400 (EDT) | From: JOCELYNM@
Darwin,
How about a sign on top of the linen goods? Something to the effect of: ‘Our sales depend upon our merchandise staying in un-wrinkled condition. You’re welcome to look…but please don’t deprive us of a future sale by wadding the linens up. If you don’t want to re-fold them, please give them to us to re-fold.’
Jocelyn
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 08:16:23 EDT | From: ZegrtQuilt@
There are a few spaces still available for any of you who would like to be trained on Thursday during quilt Festival for the short,object focused interviews that will be begun in Houston.. a project of the Alliance and hosted by Quilts Inc.. This is a model that can be used at any guild meeting ,festival, fair to train interviewers to gather a broad daytabase of interviews of living quiltmakers quickly.For more information on the project Contact Marsha Edington at Quilts Inc 713-781-6864 ext 116.Hope to see you there. Shelly Zegart
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 08:46:23 -0700 | From: Marilyn Maddalena <marilyn@>
I have inherited a navy blue and white Drunkard’s Path quilt from my maternal great-grandmothers. My family was very involved in the WCTU, and the story has been passed down through the family that this quilt was made to show my family’s belief in, and support of, the WCTU. Some quilts were auctioned to raise money for the WCTU. Mine evidently was just displayed in the home to show support of that organization. The navy blue has tiny white stars in it. The story is that the Drunkard’s Path pattern was used because if you drank liquor, this was the way you’d walk — you couldn’t walk a straight line!
My research has shown this color combination and pattern to be traditional for WCTU quilts — at least in the Midwest, where my family lived at that time. MM
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 11:59:46 EDT | From: JQuilt@
i wonder if the blue in the wctu was picked because it is said to be Mary’s color and she epitomized purity?…
jean
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 13:06:58 -0700 | From: “pepper cory” <pepcory@>
For a long time I didn’t think this rumored association between WCTU and the Drunkard’s Path pattern was true. When doing research for Happy Trails (my book about the Drunkard’s Path-) I actively looked for WCTU quilts and contacted their headquarters in Evanston, IL to ask about quilts. I concluded–mistakenly–that this Drunkard’s Path/WCTU subject was a myth, so I said so in my book. The very month after it was published I was in LA and saw a great red and white Drunkard’s Path quilt, embroidered with names and emblazoned “WCTU.” So much for my research! I have yet to see a blue and white DP with a documented WCTU connection. Anyone out there got/see one?
Still learning-
Pepper Cory
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 13:13:00 -0700 | From: “pepper cory” <pepcory@>
Thanks Marilyn for sharing your family quilt’s history. The blue I usually associate with the Temperance movement is a medium blue, what you might call a Dutch or sky blue. Isn’t that also the color for the suffragette movement or am I off-base? Would appreciate knowledgeable voices here.
Ever learning-
Pepper Cory
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 13:54:15 PDT | From: “Anne Copeland” <anneappraiser@>
Hi Jerry,
Very good question for all us appraisers out here. A verbal evaluation is just that. Sometimes the owner of the quilt wants to have an idea of the date, the name of the quilt and sometimes also a general value. An evaluation is generally a general value representing a range of values for that type of quilt in that type of condition. We also sometimes give care tips, restoration information, etc. along with the evaluation. The fee is generally less than for a written appraisal.
A written appraisal is a very comprehensive documentation of the quilt, and a much more exact value for that specific quilt. We do several types of written appraisals: Insurance appraisals, used to get insurance that would cover replacing the quilt with “like and kind.” This means the overall type, the quality of the quilt, condition, workmanship, and even in certain instances, color could be important (for example, if you had a quilt collection of orange quilts, it would not be replacing it with like and kind to replace it with a red quilt or a blue one). We also do donation appraisals that are sometimes written for someone who intends to donate a quilt to some charity, museum, etc. We do estate appraisals that are intended to help gain a total picture of the estate so it can be divided up fairly. And there are fair market values for people wanting to sell a quilt. These are useful also to quilt artists who may just be getting started in their selling and do not have a real established selling value yet. This type of appraisal helps the seller place an accurate value on the quilt assists the seller in providing documentation for the quilt lest the buyer has questions. The fair market value does not ensure that the quilt will sell for that amount, but it is an amount based on the appraiser’s evaluation of the existing market(s) for that type of quilt. A quilt must always have a willing seller and a willing buyer. Today’s market is quite complex, and a quilt that will sell quickly in one market for a fair market value, may take longer to sell in say, Podunk, Iowa, though Podunk may perhaps have a better quilt market than Irvine, California. I am sure other of our appraisers will also add some words of wisdom about quilt appraisals versus evaluations. Think of it the way it is when you perhaps first go to the car repair place. The mechanic first gives you an evaluation of the work he (or she) thinks must be done and the cost. But that cost is an estimate. Later, when the mechanic actually starts working on the car, perhaps there is more work to be done, or you want something additional done, and then you will get a more specific cost based on more specific factors. That is about it in a nutshell. Thank you for your intelligent question. I was the one who wrote that original e-mail. Sincerely, Anne Copeland
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 15:30:24 PDT | From: “Anne Copeland” <anneappraiser@>
Blue and white definitely appears in some Temperance quilts but that does not necessarily mean that all Temperance quilts were blue and white. I think it was perhaps widely used for those quilts from what I have seen, but there are many Double T quilts and Upside-down Goblet quilts (funny how we always see them hung with the goblets up) that I have also seen that were simply made in the colors of the turn of the century. Anne
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 16:27:13 -0700 | From: Denise Clausen <nadyne@>
Denise Clausen wrote:
> Hi friends
I am doing a research project, for the Latimer Quilt and Textile
> Center, on indigo blue. I’ve found several articles in magazines and books. I did hear that Threads (???) did a whole issue on indigo…. does anyone know if that is true and if so which month? I’d also solicit other resource suggestions.
Was the blue in the “blue and white temperance quilts” indigo?
> Thanks much
> Denise
PS Have you seen the Sanitary Fair quilt that we have put up on
> our WEB page? Poor photo I know, but I won’t take another photo until it is taken out of storage again. Don’t want to handle it any more than necessary.
> http://www.oregoncoast.com/latimertextile
> Anne Copeland wrote:
>> Blue and white definitely appears in some Temperance quilts but that does not necessarily mean that all Temperance quilts were blue and white. I think it was perhaps widely used for those quilts from what I have seen,
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 20:05:39 EDT | From: AlineMcK@
<annoying pedant>
Actually, both written and spoken evaluations are “verbal” (unless you use pictographs). A spoken one is “oral.”
</annoying pedant>
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 19:33:34 -0500 | From: “Kirk Collection” <kirkcoll3@
Just a note of the “why” of verbal evaluations.
We have AQS appraisers at the Quilt Restoration Conference and the Crazy Quilt Conference who do verbal “appraisals” for a lower fee — usually $10. It’s a great way for casual collectors or people with family pieces to get an idea of their worth — then if they have some significant value they usually convert the verbals to written appraisals.
We offer the same service in our shop. Many people are just looking for a general idea, so they can decide if they want to keep a quilt, sell it or donate it to charity. Some use the verbals on lower end quilts to establish the value for a tax deduction for an in-kind donation below the limit where a written appraisal is required.
There are many more quilts out there in the $100-$500 range than higher priced ones needing written appraisals for insurance purposes. We get quite a few estate appraisals where the goal is just to divide the personal property equitably — they don’t need to insure it, it doesn’t have any significant tax consequences and there is no donation involved, so a written appraisal is often not needed.
It’s also a great way to educate collectors about the “why’s” of written appraisals.
Nancy Kirk
The Kirk Collection
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 22:04:14 EDT | From: SaraLMcN@
Just a warning about “Febreeze” and the other similar products. I have seen one Quilt that apparently had its colors “adjusted” by the addition of Febreeze. The vegetable dyed green showed dots of fading that the owner said wasn’t present before, and the fading did appear to be consistent with a mist/spray pattern. The quilt smelled good though!
I worry about how these products interact with the older fabrics and dyes, I am not sure that when they were declared safe for fabric that the maker was thinking of the fabrics we come into contact with. Would be a good question to ask them though?
Sara
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 23:01:29 EDT | From: Kittencat3@
In a message dated 9/28/99 8:58:10 PM EST, QHL-Digest-request@ writes:
<<
i wonder if the blue in the wctu was picked because it is said to be Mary’s color and she epitomized purity?…
jean
*Very* unlikely, IMHO. The WCTU was a Protestant (and, I believe, originally Southern) organization. Marian imagery and devotion would have been considered sacrilegious by virtually all Protestants except Oxford Movement Episcopalians. And since most Episcopalians at the time were upper class, educated, East Coast whites in places like New York or Boston, I would lay odds that most had no particular objection to wine, and thus would not have been likely to join the WCTU.
It’s a lovely idea, but I don’t think it quite fits the cultural milieu….
Lisa Evans
Date: Wed, 29 Sep 1999 03:17:44 -0400 | From: “sue reich” <mreich@>
A friend of mine used to spray her dog’s bedding with Febreeze daily. About 4 months ago, she read a warning about the fumes or residue causing death to pets. I think this product should be used with extreme caution. Sue Reich – Connecticut –
Date: Wed, 29 Sep 1999 06:06:30 -0400 | From: Debby Kratovil <kratovil@>
>From: “pepper cory” <pepcory@>
>Subject: QHL: Temperance blue
>Thanks Marilyn for sharing your family quilt’s history. The blue I usually associate with the Temperance movement is a medium blue, what you might call a Dutch or sky blue. Isn’t that also the color for the suffragette movement or am I off-base? Would appreciate knowledgeable voices here. Ever learning-
>Pepper Cory
Pepper and all. I have done some research into the early “mothers” of the WCTU and Frances Williard was one of the most influential. Here are a few paragraphs about her and her SUPPORT of the suffragette movement:
******
Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard, the second and most influential president of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.), was swept into the movement with the wave of temperance fever that rolled across the Midwest from New York in 1873-1874. Frances Willard was independent minded and pursued a career in education as a school teacher and eventually as president of Evanston College for Ladies.
Miss Willard pressed for the advocacy of women’s rights and suffrage, but her early attempts were rebuffed. Under Frances Willard’s leadership, the W.C.T.U. expanded its social and political causes and activities in an attempt to “do everything” and addressed issues of prostitution, labor reform, age of consent, prison reform, tobacco and drug addiction, pacifism, and morality as well as regional concerns.
Miss Willard’s vision of the W.C.T.U. was not universally shared by the membership in spite of her success and long tenure. Her embrace of Susan B. Anthony’s National Woman Suffrage Association prompted a walkout by conservatives at the 1881 convention.
Date: Wed, 29 Sep 1999 11:10:53 EDT | From: AZquilter9@
Hi Marilyn, Pepper and other QHLers,
In looking into Temperence Quilts and the WCTU, have you found any documentation of the Temperence Tree with any connection to WCTU? I have been trying to either verify or put at rest this connection. In my contact with the archivist at WCTU, he could not document the connection. Carrie Hall and others named a variation of the traditional pine tree/tree of life the Temperence Tree, but was it actually used to show support of the WCTU?
Anyone have any references for me?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Marilyn, see you in Houston!
Lois Arnold
Date: Wed, 29 Sep 1999 09:47:27 -0600 | From: Brooke Flynn <brookeflynn@
Hello all – we have a cardboard quilt kit box marked “World’s Fair” that shows Double Wedding Ring as “The Quilt of 50 Years 1883” It also shows Flower Garden as “The Quilt of 100 Years 1833” and Bear’s Paw as “The Quilt of 75 Years 1858”. It also shows a “Feathered Star” as Grand Prize Winner of the Sears National Quilting Exhibit. Wish we had the contents of the kit box! Fun to see, and not sure what the dates mean or where they got the dates.
Brooke
Flynn Quilt Frame Company
Date: Wed, 29 Sep 1999 09:20:27 -0700 | From: Marilyn Maddalena <marilyn@
I have inherited three straight pins, two handmade and one machine made, brass, from my grandmother. There is a note with them, written by my grandmother, dated May 29, 1938, which talks about the pins and who made them and who they belonged to in our family. I doubt if they would be of much interest to the researcher you mentioned, though, since they don’t go back 200 years, but they probably go back about 150 years. He’s welcome to contact me directly if he wants me to quote the handwritten note for him. It would be interesting to do more research on them. Perhaps the names would be of interest, at least. MM
At 06:55 PM 9/25/99 -0700, you wrote:
Date: Wed, 29 Sep 1999 10:27:47 -0700 (PDT) | From: Elaine Baglo <elainb@>
Just a short note to let those of you who knew or wrote to Brenda Mulvihill, she passed away yesterday without ever regaining conciousness. Her funeral will be held on Saturday in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The world has lost yet another great quilter!
Elaine elainb@
Date: Wed, 29 Sep 1999 16:16:19 -0600 | From: Sharon Harleman Tandy <harleman@
Hi QHLers,
When I see the TVcommercial with the B&B couple Febreezing their antique quilts my teeth grind! I agree the product was probably not tested on the kinds of textiles we generally see. Sharon.
Date: Wed, 29 Sep 1999 20:53:43 -0400 | From: “Phyllis Twigg” <ptwigg@>
Hi!
Judi Gunter and I have finally gotten our joint web page up and running. You can visit it at:
Thanks,
Phyllis Twigg
Date: [date unknown] | From: Sewut@
I called Proctor and Gamble makers of Fabreeze and there information states that it is made of a modified cornstarch, water, alcohol and perfume. It does seem to good to be true that something could take out the smells and not do anything else. Sent me a coupon for the inquiry.
I am new to the list but not to some of you. I was on staff at the last two Restoration Conferences in Omaha put on by the Quilt Heritage Foundation. Have just moved to the Washington DC area curtesy of DH job. Worked for Nancy Kirk doing restoration the past couple of years.
Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 09:33:49 +0200 | From: “Tilde Binger” <binger.hougaard@>
Hi
Coming (shortly) out of lurkdom.
Has anyone tried the “oldfashioned” methods of making potpourri-bags and store the quilts with those ?
A mixture of Amber and Lavender not only smells wonderful, it is abhorrent to most bugs, including moths ! And it will (given time) overrule the initial smell.
Just a suggestion.
Tilde in Copenhagen (crawling back 🙂
Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 11:50:54 EDT | From: CWaiss4459@
Dear Janes:
Nebraska Quilters:
QHL:
Chris Jane of Omaha is now Country ChrisJane. We are here in East Chatham, NY, living in the woods and loving it. Forgive me for sending this to three maillists, but, besides an update of our move to NY, I wanted to give any list members, who are planning on driving to the AQSG Seminar in Michigan this fall an opportunity to stop at Shipshewana, Indiana. My sister and I drove from Omaha to East Chatham, and left the interstate after Gary, IN and discovered the wonderful world of the Largest Flea Market in the USA, according to our triple AAA tour book. It is not very far off the interstate and worth the trip if you are traveling on either Tuesday or Wednesday.
The Flea Market has several rows of produce and plants and the rest of the Flea Market is a mix of new items, crafts, both nice and tacky, vintage — second hand items. It is something to see. The best part is every Wednesday except Christmas and New Year’s Day. Up to 12 rings of auctioneers selling at once in a 80′ by 200′ heated building. Now that was something to see as we were traveling on a Wednesday. The little flyer I took also gives a website (www.shipshewanafleamarket.com). Now I’m sure a lot of you already know about this fascinating auction and Flea Market, but it was new to me and I thought I would share. The auctions were awesome but you need to come early and stay all day to bid. Imagine all those little auctions going on at the same time. We only spent a few hours, including eating lunch, but I’m glad we took the opportunity to check it out.
I am in the midst of setting up my sewing space and looking forward to designing my serious sewing studio, it needs completion although the building is up the interior is still raw space. All needs doing including booking time with a contractor to do the walls and ceiling and the floor. We (DH) Stan and I will try to do some of the work ourselves. Hopefully it will be finished by next spring. Now all my unpacked boxes live there and I am into unpacking the last of them and consolidating Christmas decorations and all sew studio items into storage boxes.
Living in the country, here in NY has been wonderful and fall has arrived with all the beautiful leaf colors. I do miss Omaha and working at The Kirk Collection, but, being here is a good thing. DJ boxes with my blocks have been found and now are organized and will give me hand sewing work to do all winter. Take care and Oh, by the way my quilt repair business has a new name I am now The New York State Quilt Repair company, officially registered in Columbia County and New York State. That means of course now I have to get to work and repair the quilts I have in my possession.
Good-bye for now – Country ChrisJane
Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 12:46:55 -0700 | From: “pepper cory” <pepcory@>
While in Shipshe, do go ‘uptown’ on Morton Street and visit Rebecca Haarer’s beautiful antique shop. She always has antique quilts and her shop is a delight. And if you’re throwing culinary caution aside, have a piece of old-fashion cream pie at the Auction Barn restaurant. Flavored with vanilla and nutmeg, that pie is a sinful wonderful dish. It makes me think of Dolly Parton’s saying for truly delightful things –“If I had a tail I’d wag it.”
Pepper Cory (who is on a diet)
Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 19:39:46 EDT | From: Hazelmacc@
I was off line when the 7-pointed star conversation began but always smile when I heard the topic discussed. When I was teaching quilting, a student was so frustrated that the four corner blocks would not fit in her star – and she was not convinced that the problem was she had only seven diamonds in her star.
I am presently reading Margaret Rolfe’s Australian Quilt Heritage. She shows a quilt with 7-pointed stars on it and explains: “Each star has seven points, which is intereesting because the 7-p. star was adopted for the stars on the official Australian flag after Federation. The large 7-p star on the flag represents the six states and the Federal Territories that united in Federation to become the Commonwealth of Australia.” The flag stars were adopted in 1908 and the quilt was made in 1806, so she questions if the 7-p stars were by accident. The stars on the quilt appear to be appliqued.
Interesting?!?!
Hazel in No.Va
