April 5 – 7, 2004
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:
- Marion Cheever Whiteside Newton Research — A member researching designer Marion Cheever Whiteside Newton is pointed to a relevant paper in AQSG’s Uncoverings 1995.
- Underground Railroad Quilt-Code Debate — Giles Wright’s critique of Jacqueline Tobin and Raymond Dobard’s Hidden in Plain View sparks an extended, sometimes heated debate over scholarship, credentials, and the UGRR quilt-code claims. (see the article on Underground Railroad quilts)
- Mystery Sampler Figure Identified — Members work out that an embroidered figure on a vintage sampler depicts a Notre Dame football player kicking a field goal.
- Quilt Show and Appraisal Notes — A member searches for a Houston show stall holder, and others discuss an Antiques Roadshow appraiser’s reaction to a quilt. (see the article on quilt appraisers)
Date: Wed, | From: Patricia L Cummings <quiltersmuse@>
Jan wrote:
Meantime, Pat is in New Hampshire swallowing elephants (not a native animal to NH). Pat, that is a funny phrase. Is this common? Any clue to its origin? (Probably not biblical.)
Dear Jan:
I am sitting here chuckling (quietly) to myself, since it is 3:54 a.m. and I don’t want to wake anyone.
“Strain a gnat, swallow an elephant” is an amusing mental image, is it not? I always heard my mother say this, but I have no clue as to its origin. I will ask her if she remembers anything about the expression, next time I see her.
While I wouldn’t want to swallow an elephant, even one bite at a time (as is always the response to “How do you eat an elephant?”), there is a lot to be said for them. They are large, mostly gentle and docile creatures who can become militant and defensive when provoked. They are remarkable creatures, not unlike most of the mammals found on the African continent.
I certainly enjoyed paper piecing an elephant from a pattern that was in the book related to the movie, “How to Make An American Quilt”. That is the extent of my knowledge about elephants….except that they are not “natives to NH”, (very big grin). Oh, one more related quilt thing: elephant blocks are symbolic of the Republican party.
Pat
Date: Wed, 7 Apr 2004 | From: DDBSTUFF@
In a message dated 4/7/2004 12:18:37 AM Eastern Standard Time, qhl@ writes: Antique Road Show Quilt I saw the quilt on the Road Show and would bet my collection that it wasn’t anywhere near the age they were claiming. They were claiming it was made in the 1830s. I’d say it was more like 1880 at the earliest. Anyone agree?
Darwin
From: nomad1@
Dear All, I know this could be a huge ask but this is my last try in locating a stall holder at the Houston Quilt Fair last year. This lovely lady had some delumptious antique quilts that I went gaga over as they were in those fab poison green, pumpkin orange etc. I put a lay by on two quilts and feel a total rat as I have not sent her more funds. So please, please do help as I have misplaced her receipts etc amidst my hoard of all ‘ maybe useful someday ‘ bits and pieces! Glum face! The stall was called ” Old Quilts ” . Please do look up any saved catalogues of either quilt market or quilt Fest and please let me know contact details. Many thanks, Hiranya from Oz : >
From: Senopera@
I do have the catalogues from last year’s Houston events, and would be happy to look it up for you.
Alas, in about ten hours I am having my entire apartment recarpeted – and so everything is out of the shelves, bookcases, etc. and I can’t get to it. Once this is over (early next week) – if you still need the info – please let me know.
Sue
From: “Karan Flanscha”
Hiranya, Have you tried the website http://www.quilts.com/ which is the company that puts on the Houston show?? Maybe they would have a listing of vendors or you could e-mail them for info… Good luck!! Karan
From: “Pepper Cory” <pepcory@>
Darwin-I agree with you. The appraiser was fawning over the quilt, lovely as it was, and didn’t have enough knowledge to re-examine the facts as the quilt told them, not as oral history that people had attributed to it. I would have 1)examined the binding, 2) looked for machine stitching anywhere, 3) got up close with the fabric and pulled apart slightly the lighter fabric on the blocks on the right (bet they were the ‘poison green’ color that faded so badly), 4) looked up other examples of the Pine Burr pattern, 5)trusted my instincts. After the quilt was on, I looked at my husband and said, “When pigs fly!” This is not to say the estate’s inventory didn’t show the presence of quilts but did it show the presence of THIS quilt? By the way, I love the quilt! Pepper
From: “Christine Thresh” 9
Pepper said, “The appraiser was fawning over the quilt, lovely as it was, and didn’t have enough knowledge to re-examine the facts as the QUILT told them…” (emphasis added by me)
I loved the quilt, but it just didn’t ring true to me. Christine Thresh
Date: Wed, 7 Apr 2004 | From: “BOBBIE A AUG” <qwltpro@>
While I was recently traveling, a friend of my husband’s delivered a copy of the Albuquerque Journal, March 21-27, 2004 American Profile. This is like the “Parade” section of your newspaper. On the cover is Kris, daug hter Kelli, and husband John Driessen! Their Quilt Bus, A fabric store a nd sewing shop on wheels, is also pictured. Inside, there are several pa ges devoted to this family venture.
What a pleasant surprise!
Bobbie A. Aug Author, lecturer, teacher, AQS Certified Quilt Appraiser qwltpro@ www.BobbieAug.com P.O. Box 9654 Colorado Springs, CO 80932-0654
From: Bob
Dear Friends:
I wanted to make a correction and add a little information about the quilt print drawings being offered by The Alliance for American Quilts
at www.centerforthequilt.org.
The Alliance is holding the print drawings as a way of encouraging people to visit www.centerforthequilt.org and to ask what everyone thinks about The Alliance and the site. Someone asked me about where to register for the drawing—there is a button on the bottom left side of the page. All you need to do is press the button and fill out the form to enter.
The print is the creation of Judy Severson, whose name I managed to misspell in the last message! Judy designed the print, which she called “The Alliance Star,” exclusively for The Alliance for American Quilts, and you can see a photo of it on our site. The print was inspired by the Lone Star pattern. Judy worked her star in classic indigo and white, added appliquéd flowers to the corners, and completed her design with a border of embossed feathers. “The Alliance Star” is a limited edition of just 200, and it’s printed on pure rag paper with hand-torn edges. Each print is mounted on a blue 16 x 16 inch matte and is signed and numbered by Judy.
So please visit, enter the drawing, and send us your feedback. And please pass the word to friends who may not have discovered us yet!
Many thanks.
Bob Shaw Executive Director The Alliance for American Quilts Tel//fax: 802/985-0737 shaw.bob@ www.centerforthequilt.org
Date: Wed, 7 Apr 2004 | From: <chrisa@>
This is meant to help and not belabor the discussion,. Since some of you on the list are making statements without having read the interview, I have posted the part I think is in question by some of you here- it’s short. This is also intended to help those of you who are only reading the list and not commenting. Ignorance may be bliss to some, but knowledge is power to others.
I asked if there: Is there anything else you would like to share with this audience?
Giles: Yes there is. And here I would like to level most of my criticism at Tobin, for it was she who received the secret code from Ozella McDaniel Williams and bears the major responsibility for putting it forth in the form of HIPV. In so doing, I feel that she has evidenced little respect for the study of the African American past. By this I mean that her treatment of Williams’s story-her uncritical acceptance of it, is in a way offensive and insulting to all who take black history seriously, who believe you have to be properly trained to write a book or essay in this field. Tobin is bereft of training in African American history; teaching Women’s Studies hardly qualifies her to write about the Underground Railroad. Since Tobin lacked expertise in the field of black history, she clearly lacked the capacity to adequately assess or evaluate the authenticity of the oral testimony she had received from Williams. Tobin therefore would have been better served by turning to some black {my note here- Kim’s, this means the discipline of black history, not the color of the skin of the historian} historian for counsel on the plausibility of the folklore received from Williams. Implicit in her failure to do this must be her thinking that anyone, whether possessing the proper credentials in African American history or not, can write about this discipline. Would she have treated any other people’s history in such a way? The degree of hubris she has shown is astounding.
I feel strongly that Tobin and Dobard should cease dishonoring the precious heritage of the Underground Railroad and acknowledge that their claim-that Charleston slaves were induced by quilts with coded messages to runaway and head for Cleveland-is simply untenable. That the story offered in HIPV is untrue is grounded in the fact that it is in so many ways illogical, some of these ways having been identified by me. _________________________________________________________
The entire interview is worth reading and viewing the many links within it that tell the accurate facts about the underground railroad history. Additionally there is discussion about how the quilt code theory may have panned out if it were true- how it would have worked and what it’s ramifications may have been to the escaping slaves and to those who wanted to stop their flee. http://www.antiquequiltdating.com/ugrrwrightinterview.html __________________________________________________________________________ In case some of you are still reading here is another part in reference to the authors:
I ask Giles : Have you been contacted by Ms. Tobin or Dr. Dobard or have you tried to contact them, and if so, what happened?
Giles: I have not attempted to contact Tobin or Dobard. And I have not received personally any direct response from them regarding my critique of HIPV, preventing the kind of discourse that normally occurs when scholars hold opposing views on a subject. I don’t believe Tobin and Dobard have responded anywhere to any of my criticisms of their work as outlined in my critique. While I think this is unfortunate, given HIPV’s serious weaknesses and flaws, I can really understand their reluctance to address the points raised in my critique. In fact, I don’t think they can adequately refute my charges. For example, you certainly can’t argue the existence of a Charleston-Cleveland migration route for black people at anytime in our history. I should point out, however, that what Tobin has done is to engage in a kind of an ad hominem attack, asserting that I had been prompted by others to prepare my critique of HIPV, and simultaneously injecting the matter of race into the debate over HIPV. Here I refer to a conversation Tobin had with a reporter last year during which she claimed that the only people who had questioned HIPV were “angry white quilters.” When my name was offered as a critic who obviously didn’t fit this category, she responded by saying that these “angry white quilters” prompted me to write my critique. Nothing could be further from the truth. My critique was prepared in 2000 as a handout for New Jersey audiences attending my lectures on the UGRR. At one such lecture, given in 2001 in Camden, New Jersey, for the Camden County Historical Society, a person in the audience received my handout and subsequently, with my permission, posted it on the society’s Web site, allowing it to be read by a much wider audience. In fact, I believe that it was through this Web site that you-Kim-came across my critique and shortly thereafter initiated contact with me. I find Tobin’s charge that some white quilters persuaded me to criticize HIPV wholly consistent with her practice, as evidenced in HIPV, of making unverifiable claims and assertions. ______________________________________________
Kim Wulfert www.antiquequiltdating.com
Date: Wed, 7 Apr | From: MargaretFahey@
Kim,
Excellent interview. Thank you. A careful reading of the text in NO WAY suggests that Giles says one needs to be Black to study/write about Black History. He is addressing the process of the historian of integrity.
Sometimes we “read” what we expect to see written, rather than what is written. More telling of the reader than the writer I fear.
Margaret
From: “Wanda”
Hiranya, God has been so GOOD to me today…I found my catalogue!!!!…I think you are looking for Old Quilts, POBox 688, Mathews, VA 23109, Phone number 804-725-9368…email address drydok@ (email add might not be correct as I have a 2002 book) but I think this is who you are looking for…they have been there several years in a row now…If you need more info, just ask. Hope this helps Wanda in Wet Texas
