April 29 – May 11, 2000
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:
- DAR’s New Mary Simon Pattern Divides Opinion — Members react to the DAR Museum’s second heritage applique pattern release, with praise from some and disappointment over quality and price from others, sparking a transatlantic back-and-forth between a New Zealand and an Israeli subscriber.
- Tracing and Copying Antique Quilting Designs — A member asks whether pin-pricking or tracing paper is safer for lifting a design off an antique quilt, prompting suggestions ranging from chalk-pencil pouncing to using home computer drawing programs as a substitute for quilt-design software.
- Mounting and Adhesive Risks for Textile Conservation — A framer and a museum conservator both warn against using any adhesive, even acid-free, to mount antique quilt blocks, recommending sewing the block to muslin and stretching it over an acid-free board instead. (see the article on repair, restore, or conserve)
- Debating the Underground Railroad Quilt-Code Legend — A heated exchange over whether black-centered quilt blocks were used as secret signals on the Underground Railroad leads, a week later, to a forwarded email from researcher Roland Freeman calling the whole theory an unsubstantiated folktale. (see the article on Underground Railroad quilts)
- New Job, New Exhibit at a County Historical Center — A member returning to the list after a lapse shares that she’s landed a conservation job at a county historical museum and has just mounted its first-ever exhibit of some thirty rediscovered quilts.
- Dating Costumes and Textiles by Reference Book — A member cataloguing a historical society’s vintage clothing collection asks for the best reference books on dating costume styles, prompting a detailed reading list from a fellow textile cataloguer. (see the article on dating quilts)
- Coverlet Conference Recap from Omaha — Two attendees recap a three-day coverlet conference covering fiber identification, dye history, and dating techniques for pre-1870s coverlets, praising the organizer’s hospitality.
- Identifying Feedsacks, Swatches, and Redwork Fabric — Members trade tips on identifying old feedsack pillowcases and building a reference swatch collection, alongside a spotted redwork fabric bolt and a Wurzburg kit quilt up for auction. (see the article on redwork and outline embroidery)
- Candlewicking Mystery and Coverlet Deterioration — One member seeks help confirming whether a tufted 1880-dated textile is genuine candlewicking, while another asks about unexplained fabric wear on an 1868 coverlet, drawing restoration suggestions involving bridal illusion netting.
- Doreen Speckman Memorial Fabric Sale Announcement — A last-minute, list-forwarded announcement alerts members to a Wisconsin sale of the late Doreen Speckman’s extensive fabric collection, with proceeds benefiting a battered women’s shelter.
Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2000 13:58:42 -0400 | From: “J. G. Row” <Judygrow@>
The DAR Museum has just released its 2nd heritage applique quilt pattern. It is a reproduction of the Mary Simon Quilt, a Baltimore Album style quilt. There are full size black and white drawings of each block (lots of them), plus a large color photo and some history of the quilt. It costs $25.00 plus #.50 for postage. You can reach the DAR Museum at museum@, fax is 202-628-0820.
(I do not believe they have online ordering, but you can send them a fax with your credit card info). The museum is located in Washington DC, at 1776 D Street.
This is the second heritage quilt pattern they have published, the other is a quilt by Mary Mannakee.
Judy in Ringoes, NJ judygrow@
Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2000 13:38:15 -0500 | From: Laura Hobby Syler <texas_quilt.co@>
I’ll jump in here…….
Years ago, back in the quilt shop owner days I had a wonderful lone star that had exquesite quilting patterns in the corners and triangles. It was on consignment…..unbenounced to the owner of the quilt (grand daughter was cleaning out her gm’s house to move her to a retirement community) When GM found out that the quilt was gone she called me and rushed over to retrieve her quilt. She said that it had been made for her as a wedding present in the 30’s by a famous quilter from Kansas…never would give me the name…… I kept looking at that feathered plume knowing that I should KNOW what it was….. We laid sheets of craft paper on the carpet (the good 45″ wide stuff) and using straight pins pierced enough of the pattern to be able to connect the dots and decifer the pattern. The next week I received copies of Kretsingers Romance of the Patchwork Quilt…..with her signature feathered plume right inside the frontpage of the book! I have that pattern safely tucked away and show it during my advanced hand quilting classes when we discuss “acquiring patterns”.
I do not recommend doing this when the fabric is brittle, as Bobbie questioned. At that time I take a chalk pencil and using Pelon’s Tace-A- Pattern lightly sketch the design on to the pelon. The chalk may dust the quilt a little but nothing to worry about.
Laura
Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2000 08:43:23 +0200 | From: Ady Hirsch <adamroni@>
Hi everyone
How about taking close, detailed photographs of Durham quilts, having them scanned, then tracing from scans? With a good scanner one can get excellent results, even with relativelt small pictures. it worked for me when I wanted to trace the quilting design on a 19th century quilt in one of the State Project books. I enlarged the photo, had it scanned, then enlarged the scan 200%, traced the quilting pattern and started playing with the photocopier to get the right size. This way’ you’re playing with paper’ not an antique quilt, and minimizing potential damage. As to DAR pattern – I got it last week, and it’s quite a disappointment. Two years ago I made the Mary Mannakee quilt based on the DAR pattern, which was excellent. This one is inferior in quality, the patterns are clumsily drawn, and quite frankly, for $25 they could have arranged for something better than a plastic bag to stuff the whole lot in. It’s a sheaf of amateurishly drawn patterns stuck in a plastic bag, and the photo is quite small, so very difficult to decide on original coloring for reproducing this quilt. Seems like I’ll have to turn again to my faithful scanner <G> BTW, I’ve just been to Quilt Expo in Strasbourg (pretty disappointing), and visited the Textile museum in Mullhouse. An absolute must – it’s a modern, beautifully done museum, with great permanent exhibits, and the Cabanel collection of antique French quilts and boutis was breath-taking. Judy, as to Ms. Berenson’s doubts concerning the use of pieces of shawls to border quilts – I saw there at least one quilt that had borders pieced together from borders of older shawls.
Happy quilting
Ady in Israel
Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2000 15:34:39 -0400 | From: “Phyllis Twigg” <ptwigg@>
I just heard from Diane Shink that she has PASSED the American Quilter’s Society certified appraiser exams. Congratulations, Diane, way up there in Canada!
Phyllis
Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2000 17:13:17 -0500 | From: Jocelyn <Jocelynm@>
> I have been working on that Gettysburg quilt for some time & still am a > ways from being done with it. My daughter & I have come up > with some questions in the quilting area & wondered if any one could > help us out. She is working on a log cabin quilt (all by hand > too) & had heard the story that the black square in the middle meant the > house was a safe place for runaway slaves. Is there any > documentation for this story? Now she just heard from a friend that the > only way to get the black fabric was from a slave as they > were the only ones that knew how to dye fabric black.
Oh, dear! The only way to get black fabric was from a slave? Nonsense! Black was used in Europe LONG before there were slaves in the New World! Think about all the monks and nuns during the Middle Ages, not to mention the Spanish Court of Ferdinand and Isabella.
My thought on the black center is: How close would you have to be to a quilt to be able to differentiate black from navy blue, dark brown, grey, maroon or purple? If you were running for your life, would you leave cover every time you saw a log cabin quilt, to get that close, just to see the color of the center block?
Also, we know quilters ‘copy’ from each other. What would keep a woman from making a black-centered quilt because she saw it hanging on someone else’s fence, without knowing the significance?
And if all these families used the same signal, why ISN’T there documentation? Surely someone would have kept a journal, saved the quilt, passed the story down. But I’ve never found any source that had a specific quilt with it’s documented history…only a caption attached to a black-centered quilt that it might have been one of the ‘UGRR’ quilts. IMO, if quilts were used as signals, they were used in a small way. For example, slaves could be told to leave one station and go on to the next, and if the coast were clear, there’d be a green quilt hanging on the line. Something that would be visible for a hundred yards, not something you’d have to be well out of cover before you could see it! Or, since we know that ‘conductors’ sometimes drove slaves on in haywagons, quilts could have been signals to the drivers. A particular color or style of quilt could be a signal to the driver that slavecatchers were in the house, a warning for him to pretend he was just passing by and stopped for a drink or to say howdy, and to stop him from unloading his wagon. Because ‘women’s work’ was not of particular interest to men, a woman or child could switch quilts on the line, after the slavecatchers came up, under the pretense of continuing on with the household chores. Quilts were commonly aired daily, so seeing quilts on the line would be a ‘normal’ sight.
Now, this is my construct of the story- that it’s possible that quilts were used. IMO, it’s a workable method, whereas the tiny-centered log cabin story just would have too many potential disaster spots to be used as a wide-spread method. Not to mention the question of whether the log cabin pattern even existed during the UGRR times.
Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2000 18:34:52 EDT | From: JQuilt@
today i was in Joanns buying some fabric for summer jumpers(bought some linen/cotton @1/2 price)…..and guess what was in the calico for $2.49 @ yard bins?…a fabric with… Faye Liverman Brugos for Marcus Brothers, printed on the selvedge…it’s a white cotton with an overall design of about 5 redwork patterns..a little boy pouring milk for a kitty, a little girl feeding a bunny and 3 flower patterns…there was very little fabric on the bolt…i bought some and left a some for another redworker….i plan to teadye it and use it for backing for my redwork …..
jean
Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2000 21:20:08 EDT | From: Roeders2@
This is my first time to post. I will soon be moving to West Point Military Academy, NY. My husband will be stationed there. I am interested in identifying any blocks or quilts known to have been created by wives of West Point graduates or instructors – specifically during the civil war period. Any help or direction would be appreciated. Susan
Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2000 21:34:31 EDT | From: @aol.com
<< Now she just heard from a friend that the
> only way to get the black fabric was from a slave as they were the only ones that knew how to dye fabric black.
Actually, black is one of the easiest dyes to formulate (if one of the most corrosive) – you boil oak galls or some other leafy material to get tannin, then add rust. You get gallotannic black. A variation produces black ink. Both techniques were known for centuries before the American slave trade; Jocelyn is right about Spanish black in the Renaissance. Dominicans and Benedictines wore black robes, and of course there’s blackwork embroidery. In the slave owning period, black was the mourning color, and widows were often expected to wear black for life.
I recently dyed a pair of canvas sneakers a dark gray using exactly this recipe (I used sumac leaves for the tannin and non-soap SOS pads for the iron). It still works just fine 🙂
Karen Evans
Date: Mon, 01 May 2000 16:36:48 -0700 | From: Anne Scott <nzquilterxtra.co.nz>
Ady posted her disappointment at the latest DAR pattern featuring designs for the Mary Simon Quilt Top. Mine too arrived in New Zealand, this very morning and I was delighted. I feel our modern Baltimore renditions lose something in the translation – the patterns are too perfect, too crisp and sanitised, showing little of the soul of the quiltmaker that we so admire and value in the older quilts. I for one love the “wonky” leaves and not quite straight flowers of the old Baltimores we see in books and Museum collections. The Mary Simon quilt patterns have been traced from the original and yes, they are not perfect. But isn’t that some of the charm? And as for price, 25 complex blocks for US$25 isn’t a bad deal in my book. After all, how much would we pay if we were drip fed the patterns in a block of the month format – maybe as much as ten times per block?
Just one kiwi’s humble opinion.
Cheers
Anne Scott www.nzquilter.com
Wellington, New Zealand
Date: Mon, 1 May 2000 09:20:03 EDT | From: Mercynun
In a message dated 4/28/2000 105930 PM Central Daylight Time,
Judygrowblast.net writes
> I am wondering which would be the more likely to damage a quilt — doing it with tracing paper and pencil, or, the following…….
> Put your copy paper UNDER the quilt on a soft surface. Then use a straight pin and go through the quilt, through the quilting lines, or along the edge of the applique to puncture holes in your paper, therefore getting the design onto the paper.
What would conservators think about that method? It would be like sewing, > but without thread. Inquiring minds want to know.
If the stitching shows up at all, a really good photographer with proper lighting might could get a close up picture of the various sections and designs with rulers lined up on two sides so you can see the scale of the pattern. Then it is a matter of taking the photograph with the rulers and hand drawing the design onto graph paper to get a pattern of sorts. I know my friends who research historical Civil War textiles (mostly dresses) from museums aren’t allowed to even touch the dresses without gloves and they photograph them this way (if allowed) and take extensive notes to back up the photographs so they can reproduce them. It is amazing the amount of detail a good photographer can get – no autofocus cameras for this job!!!
Cindy Lambert
Date: Mon, 1 May 2000 11:45:40 EDT | From: Palampore
In doing conservation or restoration of quilts I always draw the quilt on graph paper and then note the areas of damage. It is often very time consuming. Right now I am working on a quilt which is 50 million (slightly exaggerated) 1 inch squares set on point. I keep putting off the drawing of the quilt because I dread making all of those tiny squares. It hit me that I might be doing some work that could be easier done with my computer. If I had Electric Quilt or something similar could that do this task for me???
I know absolutely nothing about these programs so this could be a pointless question, but if not I would be a very happy woman. I know there has to be a wealth of knowledge on this subject. How can these programs help quilt restorers? Thanks in advance.
As for the card protector sheets for fabric samples—-just make sure the package says achival and you will be fine. My 15 yr. old son has a sports card & comics business (cardsncomics.com) and he uses them all the time. If they were unsafe something would have been done about them immediately for the cards are often extremely valuable. I just wish they would produce a sheet the proper size to hold CDV’s (early cardboard photos). They are about an inch too tall. Or do they and I just don’t know it?
It has been so rainy in NC that I am fighting ants today. They have been flooded out of their underground homes so they have decided to move into my kitchen….. This happens periodically.
I have recently washed some things I got out of a very filthy attic. The most interesting items are decorative trims tied as a fishing net would be tied. I am assuming that one item is a valence to go around a 4 poster bed. (Have seen similar repros for sale in antique mags.) One item says “table ——- made by hand 75 years ago by —– Henderson” The cloth note which is sewn on is probably at least 100 years old. What is this form of knot tying called and if anyone knows something about it please email me privately since it isn’t a quilt question. I am a former macrame teacher from the 70’s, so I love knots too! The other items I got out of there were mainly clothing and drapes from the turn of the century. Most were extremely moth eaten. What is going on with Sharon Tandy? I sent her a letter a while back and never heard from her. She hasn’t posted in ages. Know she was due to have more knee surgery. Is that keeping her away?
Thanks for any help you might have to offer.
Lynn Lancaster Gorges (New Bern, NC – Historic Textiles Studio)
Date: Mon, 01 May 2000 11:04:28 -0500 | From: Laura Hobby Syler <texas_quilt.co>
Hi all, For those of you that missed it back around Thanksgiving…..Just got a call from HGTV. They will be airing Quilts Threads of our Heritage again . Air date is June 21 (one day only) at 100 AM EDT (for those of you who are up late quilting<G>) and again at 1000 PM EDT. Fellow AQS appraiser Cindy Brick is featured in the first 10 minute segment. My Quilt Detective segment is the third, I believe (I’ve slept since I saw it last).
Laura
Date: Mon, 1 May 2000 21:21:37 -0400 | From: “J. G. Row” <Judygrow>
The following came to me privately. I am sending my answer on to the list as well because I think it will be of general interest. > Do you see anything wrong with using acid-free adhesive mounting boards when framing old quilt blocks?
Yes, I do see something wrong with using ANY adhesive on the antique quilting blocks. Acid free means only that there is no acid in the mounting board to harm the art. It says nothing about the damage any adhesive can do. If you use an adhesive, a chemical, it has to be totally reversible, without doing any damage. We don’t know anyhing about the damage chemical adhesives can do in the long term. Most adhesives that I know of change with time — try to remove masking tape after 6 months and see what happens. The only adhesive I know that is inert enough not to any damage (itself) would be a wheat or rice paste. However bugs like both of those adhesives. If you want to mount your blocks to foamcore (acid-free) sew them to the board (through the board) around the outside edge. This is a totally reversible process and if done properly should not impose any negative impact on the blocks, and the stitching will be hidden behind the lip of the frame.
Remember not to smush the blocks directly against the glass (mold and mildew problems from trapped moisture), but separate them by at least 1/8th inch from the glass.
Judy in Ringoes, NJ
21 years professional picture framer judygrowblast.net
Date: Mon, 01 May 2000 19:46:01 -0700 | From: “Julia D. Zgliniec” <rzglini1>
Dear QHL,
Most adhesives off-gas formaldehyde which can cause problems with items in storage. I purchased an excellent book on the subject several years ago at the Spencer Museum in KS at the museum bookstore. It strikes a good balance between technical information and practical concerns and is easy to read. Conservation Concerns A Guide for Collectors and Curators.
Konstanze Bachmann, Editor
Cooper-Hewitt National Museum of Design
Smithsonian Institution
New York c. 1992
ISBN 1-56098-174-1
Regards,
Julia Zgliniec, Poway, CA ( low humidity )
Date: Mon, 1 May 2000 23:56:21 -0400 | From: “J. G. Row” <Judygrow>
Conservation Online http://palimpsest.stanford.edu
The address above has links to all sorts of conservation sites on the internet. Some even have to do with textiles. I can spend days just clicking around from there
Judy in Ringoes, NJ=20
Date: Tue, 02 May 2000 07:47:07 +0200 | From: Ady Hirsch <adamroninetvision.net.il>
Hi, Anne
I think if you re-read my post you’ll see I was NOT complaining about the original quilt or it’s designs. On the contrary, I have made the Mary Mannakee from the DAR pattern, and when you compare the two patterns, the new one is sadly lacking. I’m not looking for “sanitized” versions of antique quilts. In fact, when making the mary Mannakee quilt I actually enlarged the photo of the ORIGINAL quilt, rather than the new reproduction, and included all the original maker’s little idiosyncracies thah were “ironed out” in the drafted pattern. However, I think the “soul” of the maker has nothing to do with bad workmanship as displayed in this pattern. With all due respect, $25 is the price of a nice quilt history book – and when I buy books I don’t havre to pay the $25 airnail shipping the DAR insists on using, which brings the total to $50!. For this kind of money, I expect patterns that do not look as though they’ve been drawn by a (not particularly talented) 10 year old – my 5th grade daugher could have come up with something better! If I can go to a graphic artist, have a quilt photo enlarge and scanned, then draft a professional-looking pattern, so can the DAR, and believe me, my patterns (which I make for myself, not for sale) look a sight better than these. Another point – if you have the mary Mannakee pattern, you know it came in a nice handy cardboard box, with a photo of the reproduced quilt on the cover, and another photo, of the original inside. The new pattern was simply stuffed into a plastic bag. And as for the picture – these patterns are sold to people aiming to reproduce those marvelous quilts. Don’t you think that for $25 they could have come up with something better than a 6″ photo that barely enables one to see the original colors and prints used in the quilt?
And how about giving us more than a paltry single sheet with information about this quilt and other BA quilts? Don’t you think we could have done with more of that, and less of the blurb on the DAR (one page) and a whole page of acknowledgements?
My complaints had nothing to do with the nature of the orignal quilt – I don’t really like the “modernized”, “Sienkiewicz-ized” versions that do indeed look sterile and contrived. However, I certainly expect value for money, and my feeling is the DAR was simply exploiting the current BA craze, and thus invested very little in producing this pattern, knowing us quilters will buy it no matter how shoddy the work. The pattern is usable, barely – it’s the bad taste it leaves I don’t like.
Sincerely,
Ady Hirsch
Date: Tue, 2 May 2000 10:25:23 +1000 | From: “Suzy Atkins” <satkinspowerup.com.au>
Thought this was an interesting ebay lot including patterns. The ‘redwork’ pattern seems to be done in black.
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=319196869 Suzy
Date: Tue, 2 May 2000 09:30:07 -0400 | From: Debby Kratovil <kratovilhis.com>
>Date Mon, 1 May 2000 114540 EDT
>From Palamporeaol.com
>In doing conservation or restoration of quilts I always draw the quilt on graph paper and then note the areas of damage. It is often very time consuming. Right now I am working on a quilt which is 50 million
(slightly
>exaggerated) 1 inch squares set on point. I keep putting off the drawing
of
>the quilt because I dread making all of those tiny squares. It hit me
that I
>might be doing some work that could be easier done with my computer. If I had Electric Quilt or something similar could that do this task for me???
I
>know absolutely nothing about these programs so this could be a pointless question, but if not I would be a very happy woman.
I have “test driven” most of these computer programs (Electric Quilt, Quilt Pro, a few smaller quilt-specific programs), as well as the high end graphics programs I must use for our magazine work (Adobe Illustrator). But I find that using the simple draw programs that usually come bundled with our computers when we buy them (I’m a Macintosh user so AppleWorks/ClarisWorks is mine) are a snap and an easy substitute for the quilt-specific programs. Perhaps you have MicrosoftWorks? There is a drawing module which usually is pretty simple to master, with drawing tools (lines, polygons, circles, arcs, etc) which execute simple shapes which can be copied and pasted quickly to replicate repeating designs. Check out your computer and then hunt down that owner’s manual. There is usually online help that comes with the program. And of course, practice makes perfect!
Debby Kratovil
Paper Piecing Patterns & More!
http://www.his.com/queenb kratovilhis.com
Date: Tue, 02 May 2000 16:16:42 -0400 | From: Newbie Richardson <pastcrafts>
Lynn,
All kinds of knotted fringes were in style from the 1840’s on – getting more and more elaborate as the century progressed. There are two very good reproduced sewing manuals with all the directions and drawings you will ever need
The Complete Encyclopaedia of Needlework by Therese de Dillmont c. 1885 and reprinted by Dover (I think) that is my bible. It has been in print since it first came out!
The Dictionary of Needlework by Caulfield and Seward, 1882 – facsimile edition published by Arno Press/ Crown. I know it is still available, I’ve seen it in “complete” bookstores.
I just got back from spending glorious days in Omaha with Sharon as my roomie. We soaked up lots of knowledge at Rabbit Goody’s Coverlet Institute hosted by our own Nancy Kirk. Kudos all around – I still have mental indigestion from all that I learned and am still trying to digest!
Sharon was in a world of hurt and on extremely serious pain meds. She had VERY major back surgery yesterday (May 1) and will be at St. Alphonsius Hospital in Boise for at least 2 weeks. While there she will attempt to unaddict herself from some of the meds that allowed her to move while waiting for the surgery to be scheduled. (Got to love those HMO’s!) She figures that she will be “non compus” ’til Friday. But then she will welcome any news.
I’ve been having major ant problems, too. I did not connect it to the monsoon conditions here in VA. HMMMM
Cheers,
Newbie
Date: Wed, 03 May 2000 07:31:22 -0400 | From: Carole Spencer <spencerbgnet.bgsu.edu>
Hello Everyone,
I’ve been off the list for quite a while. Bowling Green State University got a new server system last summer and, well, it took them a while to get it working properly and I was booted off the list for too many undeliverable messages.
In regards to mounting quilt blocks on foamcore (even acid free) with an adhesive — don’t do it! One technique is to sew the block to a larger (well washed and rinsed) square of muslin and attach that to a frame or acid free barrier board. That way you don’t have to worry about turning the edges of the square around the frame or mounting board or putting too much stress on the fabric during the mounting process. And as Judy recommends, keep at least 1/8″ of space between the textile and the glass. Anyway, I’m bursting at the seams with a quilt project. My story I recently got a job at the Wood County (Ohio) Historical Center, the museum of the Wood County Historical Society (WCHS). My duties are conservation and preservation of the collections and curatorial stuff. I noticed a few quilts on beds and the backs of wheelchairs (it was once the county “poor farm” and later the infirmary), but was too busy learning the job to concentrate on them. At any rate, as I explored the collections, I started pulling out the quilts. We’ve only recently “computerized,” so I had to wade through 20 or so years of hardcopy records and look in boxes, bags, corners, and otherwise unlikely places for more quilts. So far I’ve found about 30 quilts and a variety of quilted pillow tops and unassembled squares.
So, as a result of all this exploration, I put together the first exhibit of the WCHS quilt collection! I was amazed at the diversity of the collection. We have a fairly broad representation of quilts, from utility to (one) masterpiece quilts. The oldest dates from the 1860s, and the most recent is just a few years old. There are a variety of everyday guilts, fundraising signature quilts, crazy quilts, and nicely worked pieced quilts. A good thing is that all the quilts are in relatively good condition and there is (in many cases) some information on the quiltmakers. The best thing is that I am getting to do a lot of research on quilt patterns, dating quilts (which I’m a relative novice at), and research on the women who made the quilts.
I’m so excited about presenting these quilts to the public for the first time. Some of the quilts have their own idiocyncracies. For example, one quilt has an embroidery transfer (unworked) of a dog on the lower edge of the quilt (0nly in one block). Was this a beloved pet that passed away, or the idea of incorporating dogs into this quilt? We have three other quilts by the same maker that are otherwise well executed and creative, but do not have this more personal touch. Another quilt (actually a set of 16 blocks) has the signatures on the wrong side of the blocks. If worked in embroidery, the names would be backwards. There is also an in-process crazy quilt block with names written on scraps of paper and basted to some the pieces.
The exhibit will run through the end of October. If any of you are in Northwest Ohio (Bowling Green is about 18 miles south of Toledo off I75), or will be passing nearby over the summer, drop me an email or give me a call and I’ll give you a special tour.
Carole Spencer
Wood County Historical Center
13660 County Home Road
Bowling Green, Ohio 43402
419-352-0967 spencerbgnet.bgsu.edu
Date: Wed, 3 May 2000 09:47:11 -0400 | From: “John Cawley” <cawleygoeaston.net>
I’ve just started to help with inventory of the collection of the Talbot
County Historical Society. Naturally I got dibs on the textiles. I know there must be quilts, but we haven’t found any yet. What we are seeing are wonderful costumes vintage clothing like you wouldn’t believe from the 1830s to 1950s. My favorite items so far are a child’s dress of rainbow stripes c. 1840 and child’s wool coat embroidered with flowers and vines and lined with exquisitely quilted pink silk from about the same time, I think. We’ve found boxes of wedding dresses dating from 1830 up to the 1920s. Evening dresses that look like they would have been perfect for the Titanic (one has a Worth label).
What I want QHL to tell me is the best reference book for clothing. I need to be able to recognize and date various styles. Help me out here, please. This is really fun!
Cinda on the Eastern Shore
Date: Wed, 3 May 2000 06:54:54 -0700 | From: “nms” <nmsjps.net>
Hi everyone,
I too, like Newbie, just returned from the Coverlet Conference in Omaha.
It was three days of solid information on textile history, fiber identification, dyes, weave structure, patterns, dating techniques, and condition/appraisal evaluations regarding pre 1870’s coverlets. Rabbit conveyed the information in an organized manner that made it possible to understand the complexity as well as the myths surrounding coverlets. Thanks to Nancy Kirk, we were all well taken care of. Of all the conferences I attend during the course of a year, Nancy goes the extra mile to make everyone feel welcome and take care of “creature comforts.” Again, thanks Nancy.
Nance Searle
International Society of Appraisers
Date: Wed, 3 May 2000 10:42:36 EDT | From: Chyral
In a message dated 5/3/00 94332 AM Eastern Daylight Time, cawleygoeaston.net writes
> What I want QHL to tell me is the best reference book for clothing. I need to be able to recognize and date various styles.
A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to participate in the re-cataloging of (and mounting of several exhibits from) our local historical association’s substantial textile collection. The objects included costume items dating from the mid 18th century through the 1950s, dozens of samplers, and around 80 quilts; some of the references I found to be useful in cataloguing clothing were
Dressed for the Photographer Ordinary American & Fashion, 1840-1900, Joan Severa, published by Kent State University Press (If I could only have one costume book in my library, it would probably be this one…..) Costume in Detail 1730-1930, Nancy Bradfield, published by Costume &
Fashion
Press (covers women’s clothing only, and devotes almost half of its pages to the pre-1835 period, but is absolutely unparalleled in the information it gives concerning the “fiddly bits”, like the piping and tucking and ruching and the like…..)
With Grace & Favor Victorian & Edwardian Fashion in America, Otto C. Theme et al. Published by the Cincinnati Art Museum.
History of American Costume, Elizabeth McClellan. (This one is an older “standard reference”)
Some other books I wouldn’t be without are
Costume Language, A Dictionary of Dress Terms, by Stephanie Davies. (Like Montgomery’s Textiles in America, only with costume terminology…… the Montgomery is really good to have on hand as well, for that matter…..) Costume & Fashion, James Laver, published by Thames and Hudson. (Good concise “timeline”)
American Victorian Costume in Early Photographs, Priscilla H. Dalrymple, and
Victorian and Edwardian Fashion, a Photographic Survey, Allison Gernsheim, both published by Dover Books. (Dover also has a lot of fashion catalogue and period fashion plate reprint volumes that are very useful.) and if you really have money to burn, the two Janet Arnold Patterns of Fashion books are nice to have. 😉
Thinking that was probably more information on a non-quilt topic than anyone wanted,
Cheryl (who will try to redeem herself later, by posting about using EQ4 to document a damaged quilt)
Date: Wed, 03 May 2000 08:13:39 PDT | From: “Anne Copeland” <anneappraiser>
I saw a neater way to do it today on Simply Quilts. You use upholstery plastic (soft plastic that comes in different weights). They used 8 gauge (that is the weight). They cut the piece the size of the block to be done, and traced the pattern on top of the plastic with an appropriate marking pen. Also, this is good for placement later on the block you are making. You position the pieces under the plastic, and move them around (they used a pick of some sort–probably a chopstick would do) to move them into position, then pin, and you are ready to go. Pretty neat, and it would not damage the original quilt at all. Cheers, Annie
Date: Wed, 3 May 2000 12:26:22 EDT | From: MPErdle
Good-day everyone,
I am a new subscriber and am looking for some background information on two Kansas blocks. First, the Kansas Troubles block and second the Kansas Dugout.
Also, does anyone have a suggestion for a good reference book on quilt block history. I have found many books for the Northeast and the Northwest.
What about the states in the middle? Thanks for your time Sincerely, Tamara Erdle mperdlecs.com
Date: Wed, 3 May 2000 14:00:53 -0400 | From: marialostquilt.com (Maria Elkins)
Regarding vintage (and current) swatches, I REALLY want to start collecting them so I can start a swatch library for reference. Unfortunately, I don’t have lots of time to go poking around in antique stores and swap meets to find these. Is there anywhere on the net or through mail order to get collections of these for a “reasonable” price? At this point, I think many small swatches would suit my purposes better that a few large pieces.
Thanks for any info you can give me )
Maria marialostquilt.com http://www.lostquilt.com/
Date: Wed, 03 May 2000 19:22:49 -0400 | From: “Kris Driessen, Hickory Hill Quilts” <oldquilt>
I would like to ask about candlewick quilts. While I was getting ready for a show this weekend, I started washing some of the junk I bought in the auction a couple of weeks ago. I discovered that a textile I thought was a cheap chenille bedspread has the date January 1880 tufted in what I thought was chenille. Now that I look at it, I realize I was wrong and I think it is probably candlewicking. Can anyone shed more light on this? I know that candlewicking is a form of whitework embroidery, named candlewick because the thread used looked like candlewicks. The tufting is done by cutting threads, sorta like making a rug, I would think. This is going into my lecture collection, so I really would like to be sure it is candlewicking. The tufting is over a nice quality white fabric, with treadle stitched hems. How common are these and what might the value be? Two of the other bedspreads turned out to be Marsailles coverlets – nice pieces, bleached to a bright white. I haven’t tried to clean the 1840’s quilt with the bad water stain, but I have been trying to clean a heavily quilted civil war piece with bad water stains. That is my practice quilt-)) So far,
I have been able to lighten the stain without damaging the fabric, but I haven’t gotten rid of them yet. Someone in my guild suggested “goop”, the stuff mechanics use to clean their hands. Has anyone had any success with this?
The scarlet fabric that caused all the heartache faded to a pale pink when I washed a test piece. I washed another test piece in Retayne and the fading was less, but the fabric is no longer scarlet. I think I won’t do any more, this fabric is pretty, pretty the way it is.
Kris
Date: Wed, 03 May 2000 20:31:45 -0500 | From: Mary Waller <mswalleriw.net>
Cindy Brick is going to speak on patriotic quilts at my local museum while visiting me and we’re going to hang some quilts for a week or two.
Is there a faster way to attach hanging sleeves to quilts in good condition than spending hours sewing them on by hand? How close do the stitches attaching sleeves need to be?
Cindy will do her talk “Romping Through the Ages” Tuesday evening, May 16 at Four Seasons Fabric in Yankton, South Dakota and “God Bless the USA – Patriotism in Cloth” Wednesday evening, May 17 in Vermillion, SD. No cost for either talk! Cindy will do appraisals at both places. For more information see http://www.cindybrick.com or
http://www.fourseasonsfabric.com or contact me.
Mary Waller, Vermillion SD
Date: Thu, 04 May 2000 16:35:13 -0700 | From: Anne Scott <nzquilterxtra.co.nz>
I need to photograph many quilts which often don’t have sleeves attached.
These are all new quilts, I have no experience with antique or heritage
textiles.
I have a lot of “portable” sleeves. I make these from cotton fabric –
muslin usually. Cut this 10″ wide and very long. Using a serger, I seam
them lengthwise. Using a long needle (straw needles work well) and long
piece of thread, I tack them to the quilt just below the top binding and
again along the bottom of the sleeve allowing a little “slackness” in
the sleeve to accommodate the pole without distorting the quilt top. My
stitches are big – maybe an inch – but it still serves to support the
quilt evenly and distribute the weight. Be careful the stitches don’t
show through to the front of the quilt
When you need to remove the sleeve, it comes off very quickly.
This is not a long term solution, but it works well for hanging quilts
for a short time.
Anne Scott
www.nzquilter.com
Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 01:11:34 EDT | From: EllynLK
I’ve enjoyed reading all the great ideas everyone has posted about copying
old patterns.
There is also another option… if you go to the local art store, you can
find pads (just like drawing pads, 8 � inches by 11 inches) of clear
acetate sheets that are used for inking transparencies (I use them for silk
screen designs; a pad costs about four dollars). One side of the acetate is
usually a little rough for taking ink. You can use a fine marker (probably a
soft felt tip would be better than the “roller ball” type or if you’re really
goofy like me, you use India Ink and an old dip pin. You can simply “dot”
the acetate with the ink/pen of your choice while preserving your pattern.
Back the finished acetate with white paper and take it to the copy place for
paper copies and you’re home free to go on and re-create the pattern.
I was working on an 1890’s quilt top… there were a couple of really great
fabrics that I thought I might like to duplicate someday. I simply laid the
acetate sheets over the sections and traced the printed fabric patterns. I
was using a dip pen with a sharper-than-a-felt-tip marker and filling in the
dark spaces (I spread the fabric on glass and put the acetate on the top of
that) and there was no damage done to the fabric pieces. I now have some
patterns to develop into silk screens to print some new fabric with old
designs. But it’s the ability of this acetate to take the ink that makes it
good for tracing things or “dotting” it gently with a pen.
(BTW, you can also take any drawn design to a copy place and have it
photocopied onto a transparent sheet (like for an overhead projector) to use
for a pattern also).
My two cents!
Lauri Klobas
Pacific PaKarendes California where the flowers are blooming like crazy!
Date: Thu, 04 May 2000 08:52:13 -0400 | From: Kitty <basyefeltonshol.com>
I have at least two or three of what I believe to be feedsack materials
which my mother in law used for pillowcases. they are faded, I think,
but still whole or mostly so. are these worth saving? should I pick
them apart? how should I treat them?
Thanks, Kitty
—
Kitty in Somerset, Pennsylvania, USA
mail
Date: Thu, 04 May 2000 08:43:53 -0500 | From: Laura Hobby Syler <texas_quilt.co>
>>Be careful the stitches don’t
>show through to the front of the quilt
>When you need to remove the sleeve, it comes off very quickly.
Dear Anne and all,
Actually, you’ll do better by the quilt if the stitches go all the way
through to the front of the quilt. I do my temp casings on the sewing
machine with a very long tailor’s tacking stitch. Over the last 20 years
of sewing on casings I’ve discovered that if the stitches are just on the
back, oftentimes the weight of the quilt pulls forward and puts all the
stress on the backing. If you have fragile fabric on the back it can rip.
(first hand experience here)
It may sound horrific to stitch all the way through, and worse on the
machine but if you use a matching thread or a nice neutral charcoal gray
you’ll be surprised how invisible it becomes. Don’t get talked into using
nylon invisible thread on the bobbin (front) even for a short time….
And removal is a snap! Be careful to knot the ends if you are leaving on for
long term.
My .02 worth.
Laura
Date: Thu, 04 May 2000 11:20:08 -0400 | From: Newbie Richardson <pastcrafts>
Cinda,
Oh lucky you! But WHAT a job! There are 4 “useful” books that will
help:
for the best written, most informative overview that also puts fashion
into the context of other material cultures subjects get
Dressed For the Photographer, Ordinary Americans and Fashion 1840 –
1900, by Joan Severa, Kent State Univ. Press. Expensive but worth every
penny!
For info that will allow you to evaluate the clothes as you are
actually seeing them now (as opposed to what they looked like in
lithographs and over the correct under wear):
Victorian and Edwardian Fashions for Women 1840 – 1919 by Kristina
Harris – Schiffer Pub. Paperback, cheap, current
Collectors Guide to Vintage Fashions, identifications and values by
Kristina Harris, Collector Books
Antique and Vintage Clothing: a guide to dating and valuation, 1850 –
1940 by Diane Snyder-Haug, Collector Books
These last three are usually available at big antique markets/ fairs
where there are booksellers. Don’t believe the “values”, the authors are
dealers so have a bit of a skewed view, besides things have changed a lot
over the last 2 years in the antique clothing market.
There is gold in them thar threads! You might be able to get the
funding for a much needed conservation project by selectively
deassesioning a FEW pieces (like the Worth outfit). I recommend this
course of action to many of the small house museums I consult to who do
not have the where with all to do a proper storage/ conservation job for
all their textiles. Needless to say it is up to the board and to the
stipulations of the bequest. However, many institutions just do not
have the means to maintain all of their goodies – and recognize the
value of “placing” them in an environment which will care for them,
while at the same time gaining much needed funding for a capitol project
such as climate control or UV filtering window treatments.
I teach a day long conservation workshop designed for volunteers and
staff of small historic houses. I usually give a presentation in the
morning and then go through the collection in the afternoon doing
“triage” and giving the staff the battle plan for future conservation
work. Trust me, fully 75% of our textile heritage is either still
“under the bed” or in our small, impoverished historic house museums.
These things were too personal for people to give to the more impersonal
museums. There was great sentiment – as there should be – so they
wanted them closer to home.
Good luck, if you want to come into Alexandria, my library is at your
service and I make a mean chicken sandwich!
Best,
Newbie Richardson
Past Crafts Studios
Alexandria, Va.
703-684-0863
Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 12:39:34 EDT | From: JBaumg5539
Hi !
Talking of Mary Manakee’s quilt ,I wish you could all have seen the wonderful
Mary Manakee quilt our QHL friend Ady in Tel Aviv made and showed me when she was in Paris last month !!!!!! It is STUNNING ! ( and all the quilts
she makes are …..)
Daniele in Paris
Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 20:33:39 EDT | From: SSQuilt
Hi,
For those of you that keep track of kit quilts for identification, there is
one made from a Wurzburg kit currently up for auction on Ebay. It’s only the
second of their quilts that I’ve ever seen.
The quilt is from kit #3601 Bachelor Button
The quilt appears to be quilted like the original model that appears in the
sample books but because the kit number is over #3600 I’d date it in the
1930’s rather than 1910-20’s.
Date: Sat, 06 May 2000 11:59:13 -0300 | From: Barbara Robson <robsonbhdbis.ns.ca>
Hi Everybody,
I am posting this for my friend Polly, who taught me to quilt 27 years ago.
She is preparing to give a talk on quilting at the Settlers Museum in
Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. We were talking about the actual quilting stitch
and the lack of information in books about the history of it. Polly learned
to quilt from her Mother who is now in her 90’s. Her Mother learned as a
child in rural New Hampshire I believe. The quilting stitch we use is the
stab stitch, not the running stitch, this was the way her Mother was taught
back in the early 1900’s. There is lots of information about the history of
all the patterns but not on the stitch. Does anyone have any ideas or
references?
Many thanks,
Barbara Robson
in sunny, warm Nova Scotia
Date: Sat, 6 May 2000 11:27:20 -0400 | From: “Restoration Services” <quiltpro>
Uh-oh. The original posting by the researcher desiring info on “whisker guards” or “beard protectors” I deleted. Just today ran across a photo with explanation of an example of same on page 161 of A People and Their Quilts by John Rice Irwin, published by Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1469 Morstein Road, West Chester, Pennsylvania 19380 in 1984. It is a large, softcover book that originally cost $19.95. Hope this helps you.
Quiltpro
Date: Sun, 7 May 2000 15:07:42 EDT | From: Cml791
Just received the advertisement for the new exhibit at the “People’s Place Quilt Museum” in Intercourse, PA. It shows a log cabin on loan from the Buxton National Historic Site in Buxton, Ontario, c. 1840. It states “one of the 10 patterns thought to be part of the UR quilt code”. This quilt has RED centers. If anyone on this list has seen this quilt in person could you comment, please?
Date: Mon, 08 May 2000 12:20:37 +0400 | From: Xenia Cord <xecordnetusa1.net>
I am forwarding a message received privately – with the sender’s permission-
Xenia
<Pete and Megan Speckman have organized a Doreen Speckman Quilt Show and Fabric Sale to be held at the Glenwood Moravian Church at 725 Glimore Street, Madison Wisconsin (across from Dudgeon School on Monroe Street)
on Friday May 12th from 9am to 8PM and Saturday May 13th from 9am to 5pm.
Doreen’s extensive collection of fabric will be sold by the piece (I hear there are 64 large packing boxes of it). Proceeds will go to Doreen’s favorite charity : The Battered Women’s Shelter in Madison) – Plus you will get to see a large display of her personally made quilts! If you have questions you can call (608) 231-1563 (I think this is the church’s number).
Sorry about the last minute warning, but I just found out about this on
Saturday night. Don’t hesitate to pass this along to your other quilting friends. They have not had a lot of time to let the word filter out to us in the Chicago area. It has only been announced at some local (Madison)
guilds, because some local shop owners got upset over the event being held at all, thinking that it would cut into their fabric sales.
Just imagine how many new quilts will be made from her collection of fabric with titles like: “This one is for Doreen”.>
Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 08:41:10 -0700 | From: quilter
As a recent member to this list, I read with interest the discussion on the aegir and hip book when i first joined. it’s nice to know that people are looking for factual information based on historical evidence. so it was with great interest that i attended an exhibit at balboa park in san diego to see the display called “a communion of the spirits” which is currated by dr. roland l. freeman, also the author of a book by the same name. there were wonderful pictures of women (and a few men) along with their quilts handed down from family, along with a few placards describing the relationship dr. freeman had with these quilters as it relates to black history. of particular interest was a quilt that had been commissioned by him and had the following information beside it:
“The Underground Railroad” is a story quilt which depicts through its pictures, text, and patterns the African American flight from slavery into the American north to freedom. The pattern in the center of the quilt is called “The Underground Railroad” and is a variation on the one known as “Jacob s Ladder.” The history of this pattern was researched by Dr. Raymond Dobard, an art professor at Howard Univeristy and a member of the “Daughters of Dorcas and Sons” In Washington DC. It is believed to date back to the 1830s, the formative years of the abolitionist movement when women were most active. As quilts with this pattern were often hung outside to indicate a safe-house for slaves who were liberating themselves, the pattern was not publicly named “The Underground Railroad” until after the Civil War. Its strong directional motif may well have been used as a map and conceiveably also provided approximate mileage to the next station. Pictures around the border are from famous prints and paintings and Freeman received permission for their use from several museums. i’m anxious to borrow my friend’s book to see what else might be said as far as quilts being used to show the way for escaping slaves, but until then i’ll just submit this information to those who are more knowledgeable than i. there is a website at http://sandiegohistory.org/mainpages/exhibits.htm but it gives little more than a contemporary quilt and some info, most notably the name “award-winning photojournalist and folklorist Roland L.Freeman.”
patti, san diego
Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 20:29:17 -0400 | From: “Marlene O’Bryant-Seabrook” <marlobsawod.com>
With Roland Freeman’s permission, I am forwarding the e-mail that he sent to me in response to QHL Volume 00, Issue #129 topic UGRR From: patti, San Diego
Dated May 9, 2000
Marlene O’Bryant-Seabrook
>*********************************************************** In the early 90’s I set out to design a picture/story quilt about the
UGRR.
> My objective was to present the story in such a way that if someone knew nothing about the UGRR this quilt would provide a mini history. When I
was
> doing the research for this picture/story quilt I sought the advice of Dr. Raymond Dobard, who had been one of my colleagues while I was at Howard University’s Institute for the Arts & Humanities, and who is an excellent quilter. I asked Dr. Dobard to make a few squares based on one of the patterns he found in his research on the UGRR, and he made “Jacob’s
Ladder”
> for me. These blocks were put into a picture/story quilt called “Escape
from
> Slavery through the Underground Railroad” that has copies of factual and historical illustrations of the UGRR printed on it. This quilt can be
found
> in my book, A Communion of the Spirits: African-American Quilters, Preservers, and Their Stories, which was published in October of 1996.
This
> quilt also travels with my six year national touring exhibit of the same
name
> that started in January 1997.
> Dr. Raymond Dobard’s book, Hidden in Plain View, came out in 1998. I have followed, with great interest, the academic debate over his book. I’m extremely happy for him that the book is doing so well. It’s amazing how this story has captured the public’s imagination. The caption that you
saw
> at the San Diego Venue will be changed to read that the use of quilts on
the
> UGRR is an unsubstantiated folktale, and like most folktales, there may be
an
> element of truth in it. I want to be sure that hence forth I am not a validating source for this folktale.
> The next stop for the national tour is the Buffalo Museum of Science in Buffalo, New York. It opens June 24th with an opening reception on the
same
> day from 3-5pm. In connection with the Buffalo opening there will be a
panel
> on Afro-Caribbean and Ontario Afro-Canadian quilt-makers from 10:30am to 3:00pm that runs into the opening reception that starts at 3:00.
> Based on my recent research among Ontario Afro-Canadian quilters and
various
> history museums, the topic of the use of quilts on the UGRR will not be addressed at this symposium.
> Roland
Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 15:08:37 -0400 | From: denise nordberg <quiltdiva@>
Thank you to the QHL for advice on washing my Baltimore style quilt which I’ve been working on for the past 15 years. What finally did the trick was to wash it in VERY hot water – in a washing machine – with a generous 2 tablespoons of Synthrapol by Pro Chemical and including 2 dye magnets- these look like white face cloths. The dye magnets came out red and the quilt came out white (the first time, without synthrapol there was significant bleeding….). It looks beautiful. As I said, thank you to all who helped.
Denise in NE Pa where it is hot…
Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 16:41:58 -0400 | From: Judith Knorr <jknorr@>
I’ve been lurking for a while, enjoying all the discussions and absorbing an amazing amount of information. My husband and I recently unpacked an old trunk which we brought from his Mother’s house about 20 years ago. It contained an old scrapbook compiled by Mother’s maiden aunt around 1873-75. Her passion was poetry and she cut poems from newspapers and glued them on the pages of Smith’s Illustrated Pattern Bazaar. I was delighted with the illustrations and information in the magazine from Spring, 1873. Thought you might be interested in their current price list. Here are some of the entries:
Black Gros-grain silk, $2.50.
Striped and checked silks, 75 cts. to 1.75.
Foulard, 75 cts. to 1.50.
Black alpaca, 50 cts. to $1.25.
Real camel’s hair cloth, 1 1-4 yards wide, $4.00.
Spring cashmere, all colors, 90 cts. to $1.50.
French poplin, 85 cts.
Wash poplins, silk and wool pongee, plaid and striped mozambique, crepe armure, mohair, etc. 25 cts, upward.
Fine white pique, 45 cts to 1.50.
French nansook, 50 cts to $2.00.
French organdie, striped, 35 cts. to 75 cts.
Figured Swiss, polka dot, 42 inches wide, $1.50.
White flannel, 60 cts to $1.
Domestic prints, 12 1/2 cts. French prints, 37 1/2 cts.
Wamsutta muslin, 18 cts.;
N.Y. Mills, 20 cts;
Utica, 18 cts;
Lonsdale, 17 cts.;
Lonsdale cambric, 23 cts.;
Laconia sheeting, 2 yards wide, 23 1/2 cts.
Androscoggin, 2 1/4 wide, 38 cts.
Laconia, 2 1/2 yards wide, 42 1/2cts.,
Androscoggin, 2 1/2 yds. wide, 47 1/2 cts.
There are prices for other things like lace, Ladies pleated linen undersleeves, ribbons, neck tabs etc. Very interesting to me and I hope of some interest to some of you.
Judy
Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 18:39:34 +0100 | From: “Celia Eddy” <celia@>
Has anyone any answers to the mysterious behaviour of the fabrics described the article,now on my Website,(www.quilt.co.uk)? In it,I describe a coverlet dated 1868 which has suffered wear in a way which is inexplicable – to me! Is there a textile person out there who can make any suggestions?
Thanks in advance,
Celia
<http://www.quilt.co.uk>
<http://www.quiltstudy.org.uk>
Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 11:47:44 -0700 (PDT) | From: Kris Driessen <krisdriessen@>
Celia asked for comments on her article at http://www.quilt.co.uk/heritage/BQtrads.htm
In it she tells the story of a textile found in Northern England. It has a treadle pieced top and is treadle quilted with no batting, signed and dated 1868 on the back in Indian ink. She is calling it a coverlet, but I personally would call it a summer quilt. I tend to think of coverlets as being woven.
Assuming the inscription to be the date the quilt was made, that is an early date for a treadle! I am not surprised at the treadle quilting, though. If you were wealthy enough to have one of the first sewing machines, you weren’t about to hide the stitches proving this to be the case. I guess it would be like having an embroidery machine now.
Celia commented on the deterioration of the fabric. She thinks it may be a double purple faded to brown, the disintegration caused by the iron mordant in the dye. I would agree with her. I wonder if it is possible to see the color of the fabric in the seam underneath? Instead of washing it, Celia plans to vacuum it through muslin. Vacuuming it through screening would work, too.
In reference to restoration, I am not sure this should be restored under netting. The fabric will continue to deteriorate, even under crepeline, which is wildly expensive anyway. It will hold in the dust of the remaining fabrics, though! Bridal illusion might be a better idea. Celia said she didn’t want to use modern fabrics when doing restoration and since it was treadle quilting she really can’t cut the quilt down and use the fabric. How about FineFuse? That is a really fine fusible netting that will hold all the pieces together without adding bulk.
I would be interested to see what others have to say about this piece!
Kris
