July 22 – 25, 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:
- How Families Set Up Quilting Frames — Members compare how their mothers and grandmothers basted and set up quilts on frames, including John Flynn frame use today.
- Aftermath of the UGRR Myth Dispute — Continued support and commentary follow the earlier confrontation over the Underground Railroad quilt-myth. (see the article on quilt folklore)
- Antique Needlecases and Sewing Tools — A side discussion on collecting antique needlecases and other sewing notions.
- Regional Material Culture and Museum Collecting — Gail Ingram raises questions about whether the finest regional textile examples should be kept locally or collected elsewhere. (see the article on quilt museums)
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 07:22:58 -0600 | From: “Vernon Farms” <vernonfarms@>
My mother and everyone in the neighborhood where I grew up put the quilt on the frame. First the backing was tacked, then the batting was added and finally the top was tacked on. The quilts were and still are beautiful. Just because some people do it one way does not make it wrong. We need more open-minds here.
Su Vernon
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 08:47:31 -0500 | From: amdresner <amdresner@>
Ditto Su, Same way my mother and her mother did it and taught me to do it. I love the process of thinking with an open mind also. So much more to learn than I can possible do in a life time. Well I am 64 so don’t have life time to learn but am doing my best to beat the odds. <smile> Aren’t quilters the greatest!!!
At 07:22 AM 7/23/2004 -0600, you wrote: <<My mother and everyone in the neighborhood where I grew up put the quilt on the frame. …………….. Just because some people do it one way does not make it wrong. We need more open-minds here. Su Vernon>>>
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 08:53:30 -0500 | From: “Sehoy L Welshofer” <slw4quilts@>
From Jennifer: If those kids are never exposed to quilting again, they will always incorrectly assume that quilts are put together on the frame, instead of layed out smoothly, basted by thread or pins and then put into the frames. **************************************************** Jennifer – If this person had a Zook frame as I do, that’s exactly the way to put a quilt together. The frame is made to be loaded with 3 separate layers which then roll together to be quilted. It’s a great frame, and keeps all three layers with even tension. Sehoy
http://www.Welshofer.com/WebThreads The newsletter for the Net savvy quilter…
“All email scanned by Norton AntiVirus”
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 10:23:24 EDT | From: Midnitelaptop@
pat, i feel really badly about the written abuse you received concerning your trying to prove logically the impossibility of there being coded quilts…..unfortunately it has now become an hysterical/racial issue…..and i think rather than face the facts about the impossibility of the truth in the coded quilts…the subject will become the immorality of slavery……then again maybe there’s a need to find a heartwarming tale about a terrible time… there was an entire civilization of people who believed that: Zeus transformed himself into a swan to seduce the lovely mortal Leda. … you can read about it in greek mythology… jeanL
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 10:28:50 EDT | From: Ivory22986@
Got to love Jim ((hug)) As a person I would rather know fact then fiction about our past it sounds like this person knows that it was all fiction…Which is fine But to let others think that it is a fact is just like telling them Fairy Tales about their peoples past….I bet that person does not repeat The Old Sambo story As far as being silent…. I guess as a long as agree you with them You can say what ever you want too Ivory
No, this particular issue (September 2004) is brand new. I received a copy in yesterday’s mail and it is just now becoming available to the general public.
The article is four pages long and has blocks that I made for purposes of illustration, as well as some antique blocks. The tone and information is somewhat the same, but additional information has been included.
Thanks for all of you who have written in response to my posting. When I ran out into the yard to tell Jim that someone thinks I should be silenced, from his ladder where he was painting, he called down, “Good luck to them! It would be a first. People have been trying to get you to shut up for years”. Lovingly said, of course! Humor is what gets us through.
Pat
Sonny & Carly, Live Long & Prosper, Together Forever #’ 4
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 17:32:47 +0100 | From: “Sally Ward” <sallytatters@>
My mother was fond of quotations and left me with a many sayings in my head that I can’t attribute. The pertinent one on this occasion goes: ‘it is impossible to reason a man out of a thing he was not reasoned into’.
Sally W
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 12:53:22 -0400 | From: “Jan Drechsler” <quiltdoc@>
Pat,
Think of it this way. How exciting it is that people respond to your articles with passion, rather than indifference.
We should re-read this sad letter written to you as a reminder to keep an open mind about all subjects, forming our opinions after researching and considering facts and alternative opinions, and not before. Especially important when every day the media brings us ‘facts’ which we need to sift through for the truth.
This woman is a good example of the ‘Ready, fire, aim’ personality. My sense is that this woman is not the type of person I would choose for a friend. Too emotionally out-of-control and hurtful. Sorry she ‘aimed’ at you.
We have a long-time friend, an amazing violinist, who is as sweet, well-loved, funny and WACKY as they come. My husband claims that she never lets reality get in her way. It works for some folks but others turn bitter and hostile. This Speech Pathologist pushes aside reality.
Thank you for continuing your scholarship efforts in all aspects of quilt history.
Love, Jan
— Jan Drechsler in Vermont Quilt Restoration; Quilting teacher www.sover.net/~bobmills
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 19:08:28 +0000 | From: “jocelynm@” <jocelynm@>
On July 23, 2004, Ivory22986@ wrote:
> As a person I would rather know fact then fiction about our past > it sounds like this person knows that it was all fiction…Which is fine > That’s the saddest part of this whole mess: how many people are clinging to the myth, apparently in the belief that if they learned what really happen ed, it wouldn’t be half so good.
We KNOW that somehow, escaping slaves transmitted information to each other . That old grandmother- is it less heroic of her to teach songs or stories to the children, than to make a quilted picture of the information? No matt er how she did it, it still is a testimony to her ingenuity and courage. Th e medium is being confused with the message. I’m rereading HIPV right now, and I’m struck with how many ‘conclusions’ ar e actually worded as questions, and how many times they state one possible conclusion among many, as if that means that it is true. For example, they make much about the traditional use of the colors blue and white in one Afr ican tribe, without mentioning that the colors have the same symbolism in W estern European cultures. After all, no matter where you’re from, the sky i s still blue and clouds are still white! There’s no proof that the symbolis m came from that one tribe, as opposed to another, or opposed to WE culture s. Just because something COULD be the result of a particular influence doe sn’t prove it is… I’m also struck with how often they tell you to consult the colored photo section, and when you do, the ‘example’ is not linked tothe pages, nor does it precisely depict what they were saying. Just showin g a 9 patch block doesn’t ‘illustrate’ a story about how a 9-patch block is a map! And if they use ‘allude’ when they mean ‘elude’ one more time….<G>
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 14:15:31 -0700 | From: Julie Silber <quiltcomplex@>
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PLEASE NOTE ! NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS:
quiltcomplexdirecway.com
The remaining contact information remains the same:
Julie Silber The Quilt Complex PO Box 729 Albion, CA 95410 707-937-0739
THANKS!
–Boundary_(ID_vNZTSi6ASE4jsqq+rZA7xA)–
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 14:36:46 -0700 | From: Julie Silber <quiltcomplex@>
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Hello All,
We have been away and have had to change our internet servers, so I have missed a few weeks of QHL. I don’t know if there has been any conversation about Joe Cunningham’s exhibition in San Francisco: “The Life of a Quilt.” My partner Jean and I just saw it and want to recommend it to all of you!
What a treat! Joe-the-Quilter has done a really superb job of organizing about 25 quilts, old and new (his own), into a stunning, varied, and really fun display. It’s a gorgeous installation in a perfect space.
And food for thought…? Amazing. Joe has always had his VERY OWN ideas about quilts — which here he gets to express in several ways. In his own fabulous quilts, in his choice of older quilts that have inspired him and his work, and perhaps BEST OF ALL — Joe is THERE to take you through and “gas on” about the whole thing. Is there anyone as amusing and interesting as Mr. Joe Cunningham?
Joe is always at the TOP OF MY LIST of people-to-walk-through with at any quilt exhibition, but here, at his own — WOW! He is there every hour the show is open, until August 8! Great opportunity. If you’re anywhere in the neighborhood of the Presidio in San Francisco, GO! And even if you’re not in the neighborhood, you might want to GET THERE anyway — you won’t see a show quite like this anywhere else!
Julie Silber
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Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 17:49:00 EDT | From: Midnitelaptop@
if you go to http://www.joethequilter.com/ and click on gallery of quilts you can see a few of the quilts in the exhibit. jeanL
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 09:49:27 +1000 | From: “quiltstuff” <quiltstuff@>
Sally wrote > My mother was fond of quotations and left me with a many sayings in my head > that I can’t attribute. The pertinent one on this occasion goes: ‘it is > impossible to reason a man out of a thing he was not reasoned into’.
That is a quote from Jonathan Swift, English Novelist who died in 1745.. so it has been around a long time. VBG
According to the quotation pages it is actually >.It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into.>>
Although when looking it up, I did notice a quote attributed to Sydney Smith.. ( not that I know who that is) which was * Never try to reason the prejudice out of a man. It wasn’t reasoned into him, and cannot be reasoned out. — Sydney Smith>>
And I guess that quote has a lot of bearing about the whole issue of Slave codes, prejudice past and present and emotion and logic.
Suzy Atkins QUILTSTUFF Machine Quilting Service Brisbane 07 3378 0499 My Quilting Photos. http://community.webshots.com/user/quiltstuff
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 19:52:33 -0500 | From: Gail Ingram <gingram@>
Sydney Smith is a British literary critic, among other things, born in 19th century, long after Swift was in his grave. I think I know the specific source and will look it up.
Swift was not exactly a novelist, though “Gulliver’s Travels” is almost in that genre. He is know for his satiric essays, most famous among which is “A Modest Proposal” in which his thesis was that the English should consider using Irish babies and very young children as a foodstuff. Swift had been a cleric in Ireland (banished there for being too ornery and critical of the English church) and knew that in effect, that is what the English of the day were doing to the poor of Ireland. Yet, of course, he was being satiric. So realistic was his argument, however, and, we must assume, so close to it the attitude of certain Brits, that he was savagely attacked in papers, pulpits, and broadsides for his barbarism.
Cynical about man’s natural tendencies, he wrote “Gulliver’s Travels,” in which he found horses to be more intelligent than men.
Oh, I’m sorry for getting off on Swift, but the power of his words and ideas obviously are potent. Witness Sally’s mother.
gay
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 21:16:27 EDT | From: AG32040@
TEDDY, In your book is there any mention of the Coconut Grove clubhouse ?It has historic designation .
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 23:50:11 -0400 | From: “J. G. Row” <JudyGrow@>
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2221&item=3738170333
<img align=”left” alt=”3738170333.jpg (125930 bytes)” border=”2″ height=”75″ src=”images/3738170333_small.jpg” width=”100″/>Read carefully; only the eagle center seems to be original. But a wonderful design, don’t you think? (click on the thumbnail)
I don’t know the seller and found it by accident.
Judy Ringo judygrow@
Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 23:52:41 -0500 | From: “Jennifer Van Haaften” <jasvanhaaften@>
Guess, there are all sorts of ways to put quilts together. I noticed Xenia quilts from center out, while Laurette mentions outside in. My mother might be considered a bit of a perfectionist; I can imagine she’d lay all the parts out so as to get even coverage everywhere on each layer, which is how I would feel most comfortable doing it (but maybe that’s because I grew up with that method). I can see how laying it directly on the frame would save a step as opposed to the basting elsewhere and then moving it to the frame.
Historically, were the basic techniques for putting the layers together as varied as what we mention here? If we were to do this as a demonstration at a museum, is laying it directly on the frame (instead of basting elsewhere first) more historically accurate, or is that a regional or cultural choice?
Jennifer V.
From: “Brenda & Roger Applegate” <rbappleg1@>
I have wondered about putting them in the frame as well. My personal frame is probably from around the 1950’s. My grandma did not baste her quilts before putting them in. As in contemporary frames, I have ratchets to tighten the tension.
I also have the 4 boards that are “C” clamped together. We have basted a quilt to put that one on and not sure if putting the long boards closer together and quilting from the center out was the historically correct way, but that is the way we did it. Some of the paintings look like the frame could have been quite large and it is hard to keep an even tension when the entire quilt is stretched out.
Brenda A.
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 22:52:16 -0600 | From: “Cindy Brick” <brickworks@>
RE how you do it — I use a John Flynn frame (which is wonderful, by the way) and that doesn’t require basting — just lay all three layers out, smooth everything, then wind onto the poles. Keeps the tension even while you quilt, and I can even hand quilt a bedquilt while sitting on the couch — either end of the arms rest on either arm of the couch. My grandma, who used a frame hoisted to the ceiling, would have been jealous.
A mention about basting. I pin-basted for years, but have found that if I hand-baste (as fast as I can, incidentally, with as large stitches as possible), my quilts don’t seem to have the puckers and folds pin-basting produced. Don’t know if anyone else has noticed this with their work.
I also seem to do a much better job on binding if I hand-apply the whole thing, instead of just the second seam. I almost always use a French (double-layer) binding: cut twice the size of the finished binding, plus 1/4″ — iron while folded over lengthwise, then stitch in place. This pesky handwork also seems to produce better results if putting in piping along the binding!
Not that anyone asked… 🙂 Cindy
BRICKWORKS www.cindybrick.com
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 23:56:28 -0500 | From: Gail Ingram <gingram@>
I have just returned from five remarkable days in New Jersey and Pennsylvania as the guest of the leader of the Ringo Gang, J. G. Row (aka Judy Ringo). Carolyn Miller bunked across the hall from me. And every now and then we would look at one another, Texan to Louisianian, and say, “Can you BELIEEEEVE this?!!!!”
Now both Carolyn and I have seen a quilt or two, but this was five days aswirl with wall-to-wall extraordinary Pennsylvania quilts. I can barely remember the names of the museums at this moment, but I remember this: they housed jewels.
And what hospitality. Sunday, Dana Balsamo (too young and smart to be true) came for a day of flea-marketing, which melted in a drenching rain. Not to be outdone, the fearless Ringo Kid took us home to dry out and then out we went to shops in the afternoon. I can’t even remember where the shops were located. It doesn’t matter. Dana kept calling her husband to tell him she would be later than she had told him the last time she called him because we were running late, because she was staying for supper, because she was staying for dessert, because we were laughing so much.
On Monday Judy took me and Carolyn to see the Burlington County Historical Society’s wonderful quilts. Along the way we picked up Barb Garrett who, of course, was on time, which we were not. We thought we could see no better, no more quilts so lovely. Then we visited Judy Roche in the afternoon. Judy G. called her husband to tell him we would be late. Then she called him again to tell him we would be later still. We were eating pie and talking quilts.
It was at Judy Roche’s that Carolyn turned to me and said, “Can you BElieve this? It’s like they maybe say to themselves, ‘Oh I am going to run to the grocery store to pick up some orange juice for breakfast. And I might stop by a shop and buy an 1820 chintz quilt while I’m about it.’ I just can’t beLIEVE there are so many quilts in one place. I mean NICE quilts. FINE quilts. Can you?” My answer was always the same: silence. What we were seeing was THAT fine!
I kept thinking of Shreve, Quentin Compson’s Canadian roommate, in “Absalom, Absalom!” by William Faulkner. Confronted by the complexity of Quentin’s southern history, the ahistorical Shreve said, ‘Tell me about the South. I mean, how do people LIVE there!” How, I wondered, would it be to live in a world with such constant quilt talk, with so many opportunities to see exceptional old quilts at every bend of the road?
We saw quilts Tuesday morning, but the real show was in the afternoon. By this time, Jan Dresher had joined our crew at The Kid’s and we had met the ever punctual Barb. Carolyn and I thought Southern women sighed and oohed and ahhed a lot, but we didn’t know what we were talking about until we saw the Studio Quilt Study Group in action at the Montgomery Historical Society that afternoon. Remember that scene from “When Harry Met Sally”—the one where another patron at the restaurant where Harry and Sally are dining tells the waiter, “I’ll have whatever she’s having”? Well, Sally paled by comparison with this group. We sat there, mouths agape. And the quilts that elicited the sounds that led the genalogical librarian to tiptoe in and close the door to our meeting room–well, who knew?
Wednesday, Barb, Judy, Jan, Carolyn and I were off to Lititz to see the stunning collection Judysue Kelius had brought together, thence to the museums at Lancaster City. By then, Carolyn nad I had our dialogue down pat: I would say, “Oh, Lord!” and she would respond with “Can you…..”
Alone together, driving to the airport, Carolyn and I tried to reflect on the exerience. We couldn’t. It defied our simple imaginations. But the thing that struck us, along with the incredible beauty that lurked in every corner we’d seen, was the shared passion for quilts, quiltmaking, history, and the women who had produced such beautiful quilts in a time when leisure was not commonplace. Not enthusiasm. But consuming passion. A passion that automatically made us part of a much larger group of women, many of whom had been only names to us before.
Flying home, I thought of something J. G. Row often remarks—how extraordinary the bond is between all of us on this list. I have encountered more people like myself on this list than I encounter in my daily life. Joined by the passion for quilts, we become more than students together. We become friends. That, I think, is how it was with the makers of the quilts that bring us together, except their worlds were geographically more limited.
How lucky we are that Kris took the time to establish this list and that she puts up with all of us.
How lucky we are to have AQSG, which helps discipline our studies.
I know from experience how daunting the thought of forming a local or regional quilt study group can be, but if you could have been with us Tuesday, everyone on QHL would be at work right now pulling such a group together. The quilts our foremothers made deserve study, and they exist—perhaps not in the same kind of beauty of the PA German quilts, but with characeristic beauty that speaks of the culture from which they came.
Still in visual overload, Gail
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 23:04:40 -0600 | From: Jennifer Hill <jennifer.hill@>
>Historically, were the basic techniques for putting the layers together as >varied as what we mention here? If we were to do this as a demonstration at >a museum, is laying it directly on the frame (instead of basting elsewhere >first) more historically accurate, or is that a regional or cultural choice?
Personally, I would say it depends most of the type of frame being used. I learned to quilt on a homemade frame made of planks with fabric tapes stapled to them to attach the layers, and the corners secured with C-clamps. We loaded the quilt one layer at a time. I had made at least a dozen quilts before I ever encountered the term “basting a quilt” and had no idea what it meant.
I have quilted most of my larger quilts on a modern Hinterberg frame, which has three poles to control tension, and the layers are loaded separately. Unfortunately, my family has banished it to the crawl space, since it sat unused for too long. I am currently quilting a large quilt in a lap hoop, and had to “baste” the layers together first (I use safety pins because it is wayyyyy faster than thread basting). However, a friend of mine who quilts for a living, uses a lap hoop and never bastes or pins. As I often preach in my classes, “There are many paths leading to the same destination.”
Jennifer Hill Calgary, AB
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 01:41:39 -0400 | From: “J. G. Row” <JudyGrow@>
Gail,
Thank you for once more writing so eloquently, and again echoing my thoughts. Of course I’ve had friends in my life before QHL and quilting, but I can’t remember ever having such a sympathetic relationship as I do with my quilting friends.
I do have one little bone to pick. What we saw at Burlington was NOT Penna. German. What we saw there was Delaware Valley Quaker and Baptist, and what we saw at Montgomery was also more aligned with the Delaware Valley English Quakers than with the Germanic traditions. I guess because your last day here, Wednesday, we were so immersed in Lancaster County quilts, those blues, pinks yellows, reds and greens have totally cleansed your memory of quilts that actually use white fabric.
Ya’ll come back, y’heah. And make it soon.
Judy Ringo judygrow@
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 08:25:12 +0100 | From: “Sally Ward” <sallytatters@>
Ah, thanks for finding me the author.
In actual fact, an amended version came to be used in the family that ‘it is impossible to reason our mother out of a thing she was never reasoned into’. She was known for strong opinions, as well as quotations <G>
The antiquity of its origin just shows that human nature never changes.
Sally W
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 07:22:36 -0400 | From: Judy Kelius <quilts@>
Look at the seller’s other auctions . . . body tattoos! That doesn’t give me a lot of confidence to bid a large amount on this piece. I wonder how the seller acquired it and where it originated.
Most interesting quilt, but it is hard to get a true feel for it. Anyone live near zip 89121 who is willing to contact the seller to see if she can examine it in person and report back to all of us? (My private jet is booked for the week, or I’d hop on it and do it myself <GR>!)
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 08:48:00 -0500 | From: Gail Ingram <gingram@>
Dear Ringo Kid and All Others:
I KNEW that–about the Burlington and Montgomery collections’ being primarily English, Quaker, Baptist (a whole churchfull) from Delaware Valley. Had just looked at the cds with those quilts of them last night. But like Carolyn’s, my mind is still ajumble.
And, to be honest, Lititz was still on my mind. For those not familiar with Lititz, as I was not before this week, the fine collection is housed in a unique structure, basically an old general store with living quarters above. Evidently it had been moved to its present site by a man who proposed to set up a top-flight museum collection of regional quilts. Judysue Kelius created and organized the collection currently hanging, I believe.
On our visit, the owner showed us at least 20 additional quilts he said he had purchased within the last 2 weeks, all exceptional. Just as I was thinking how good it was these quilts would be housed near where they were made and would not, like the ones in the former Esprit collection, have to spend a long sojourn outside their original contexts, the owner announced he was selling them to the Smithsonian, along with the General Store.
Knowing the Smithsonian’s display limitations and recent lack of a full textile curating staff, my heart sank. And, for good or for bad, it really is ‘the nation’s attic.’ But because I know something of the Smithsonian’s aquisition policies, I also somehow doubted the quilts would be part of the deal, though the General Store would be a real “find” for the institution.
Yet the thought of all those quilts, so carefully assembled and artfully displayed and bodying forth for future generations the history and cultural soul of the region, somehow really disturbed me.
It raised a question I’ve often considered—should the finest examples of a region’s material history remain in their natural context, which will illumine them for both residents of the region and visitors? Or should they be dissiminated so many people can see them?
It seems somehow wrong that an English scholar studying the works of Browning or Samuel Johnson must travel to the University of Texas or Yale University, for instance. And to have all the Faulkner papers in Oxford, MS, instead of Charlottesville, VA, seems more reasonable.
I understand that in the latter case, the author designated the site and as a student of his life and works, I can appreciate his motives, but I still think the person who hits the country roads outside Oxford and walks the streets of the town after the now-gussied up square has closed for the night would gain an appreciation for the works and their creator he cannot gain in Charlottesville.
And I know we would not have John Keats’ “Ode to a Grecian Urn” had Lord Elgin not “saved” tons of marble and pottery from Greece when it was at war with Turkey. But still, I wonder.
That said, I myself am delighted to own PA German quilts along with other PA quilts as well as representative pieces from other sections.
How do the rest of you feel about this? And how can we raise the consciousness of business and state funding agencies to act to retain representative collections of their regions’ unique material culture, especially textiles, which still get short shrift outside certain circles?
And should we do this?
Still woozy after all those quilts, Gail
From: Dana at Material Pleasures <danabalsamo@>
Gail, Oh, how you are rubbing salt in the wound! How I wish I could have joined you on Monday and Tuesday, but I did enjoy our day out on Sunday. Judy is the most gracious hostess: breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and lively conversation during and between. Although I had told my husband originally I’d be home to see the kiddies off to bed, he knew I wouldn’t…he just knows me too well, so he was expecting each and every phone call that day (and night). I do not have him trained as well as Judy has her husband (who can date fabrics with the best of us), but he knows how passionate I am about quilts and how they make me happy…which means he’ll be happy, so he is very understanding. He should only know it is going to get worse. I came home to a clean house and the children fed and tucked and asleep in bed. It was a wonderful day. Hugs, Dana
Material Pleasures Affordable Vintage Linens, Lace, Textiles, Buttons & More! www.material-pleasures.com
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 13:51:38 -0400 | From: Vivien Sayre <vsayrenesa.com>
Hello All,
I am looking for any information you might have about a company that manufactured the fabric used as a border in a quilt top I own. The fabric is a loosely woven cotton indigo with a horizontal white line formed by varying sized dots. These lines are spaced widely apart. I suspect it was manufactured in the first quarter of the 20th century judging from other fabrics in the top and its quality. My reason for asking is that pasted on this fabric is a paper label with the following printing, “Ceylon Indigo Blues”. Does this ring a bell for anyone?
Thanks, Vivien (In Hot, Humid Massachusetts)
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 13:23:24 -0500 (EST) | From: Teri Klassen <teresak@>
Donna, what a cool quilt, very interesting to see how that lightning effect was achieved by the piecing. i am sorry to hear it is an import. i would have liked to think of it as a mid-1800s red-and-white…i wouldn’t be surprised if the pattern is in the Brackman encyclopedia, but maybe not. thanks for sharing.
http://home.ptd.net/~vitale/quilt1.jpg
http://home.ptd.net/~vitale/quilt2.jpg
Teri Klassen, also catching my breath from QHF
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 16:21:21 -0500 | From: louise-b <vlbequetmcmsys.com>
Came home from a very wet auction today without knowing if I am going to be able to get a Century of Progress needle packet or not. Everything seemed to be in it when I looked and one small tear. Gave up on staying and a friend wanted the case so will wait to hear from her.
Are there many of these in existence?
Louise Bequette
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 18:41:00 -0500 | From: “Laurie Magee & Tom Blajeski” <woodmanvbe.com>
I collect needlecases and I have several of that variety. I must admit I’m not sure that they are complete. I am more interested in the exterior design. Laurie
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 16:50:03 -0700 | From: <chrisa@>
I have one Louise. I bought it at an antique store in CA about 2 or 3 years ago. Mine is like new, complete and unused. The black paper is still in it. It measures 4.5 by 6.5. The front and back covers have pictures of various buildings that look like watercolor postcards popular at that time. A Century of Progress is written on a slant, laying upon the colors of red and ague. It says made in Japan in the border.Was the one you saw like this?
Speaking of Chicago- I am going soon and would like to hear about the antique quilt exhibit currently at the Art Institute? Also,for purposes of planning my time, are there other quilts and textiles on display in the museum?
Thanks, Kim Wulfert www.antiquequiltdating.com
Came home from a very wet auction today without knowing if I am going to be able to get a Century of Progress needle packet or not. Everything seemed to be in it when I looked and one small tear. Gave up on staying and a friend wanted the case so will wait to hear from her.
Are there many of these in existence?
Louise Bequette
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 22:53:03 -0500 | From: “Jocelyn Martin” <jocelynm@>
Jennifer, My mother remembers her mother carding cotton to make batts, each ‘batt’ being a little bigger than the palm of her hand (and fingers). The quilt was laid directly into the frame, not rolled up on take-up reels, because the batts had such a tendency to shift until they were quilted down. With that method, I’m guessing that quilting had to go from the outside end, so that one would quilt an area before removing it from the frame to be able to reach to the middle (or maybe my grandmother had long arms, and could reach the center from one side or another! <G>) The frame itself was hung from the ceiling, and raised up again once the menfolk returned from the fields at night. 🙂
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 22:52:55 -0500 | From: “Jocelyn Martin” <jocelynm@>
> It raised a question I’ve often considered—should the finest examples of a > region’s material history remain in their natural context, which will > illumine them for both residents of the region and visitors? Or should they > be dissiminated so many people can see them? > > > Gail, > I’m not sure about the ‘finest’- but if we followed your rules strictly, no > one on the North American continent would get to see medieval or Renaissance > art, or the Impressionist masters. And the Louvre would have to give back > the Mona Karen and the Victoire de Samotrace. 🙂 > And what about the undiscovered artists that sell their work to a museum in > another area? > I guess that of greater concern to me are private collectors who don’t allow > their collections to be cataloged. >
For me, this is an unresolved question, and I understand that unbending rules would be difficult to apply to individual situations. There is also the issue of private ownership involved.
Yet many nations have laws regarding the placement or export of their national treasures. Greece, for instance, wants the Elgin Marbles back—enough to take legal action. Some limit strictly, others limit proportionally and based on individual merit.
I consider Browning and Samuel Johnson and Jonathan Swift, et al “national treasures” that were obtained bag and baggage by superior American wealth and that ought to be in England. Johnson, for one, would not rest easy knowing his papers were lodged in an American University, and i dare not think what Swift would say.
As always, I think the individual initiative of local communities and states will determine whether, 20 years from now, any state has enough of its material culture on its own soil to provide its citizens with a sense of their past. Our American consciousness and conscience needs to be raised about the issue. It should be discussed.
As for quilts, while they are important to us and to a segment of the public, I doubt their importance as aesthetic, historical, or cultural documents is widely understood. That is true of most “utility” objects.
There is the policy of long-term loans followed routinely by museums.
It merely seems to me that if thought is not given to this issue, we will someday regret it.
Gail
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2004 05:54:52 -0500 | From: patkyser <patkyser@>
Kim, I was in Chicago last fall and heard AFTER I got home that Marshall Fields has an 1885 crazy quilt in their Archive Collection at 111 N. State Street. They sell an imported quilt based on it for $129 now. I would love to have seen the original one, do have photos the curator sent me. Pat Kyser On Jul 24, 2004, at 11:00 PM, Quilt History List digest wrote:
> Speaking of Chicago- I am going soon and would like to hear about the > antique quilt exhibit currently at the Art Institute? Also,for > purposes of > planning my time, are there other quilts and textiles on display in the > museum?
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2004 08:06:09 -0400 | From: Patricia L Cummings <quiltersmuse@>
Dear friends at QHL:
So many of you have written to me, both privately and publicly. Thank you. I treasure you and all of your letters.
For the record, I feel the need to share a few things with you. A little background: I read the book, Hidden in Plain View when it first was published. I then followed all of the comments in this forum and also did a lot more reading on my own, about African and African-American history.
In January 2004, I was contacted by the editor of the newspaper in which I have a column related to antique quilts. She thought that a meeting she had heard about, which was happening in my home town which was about”quilts”, sounded interesting. She stated that she would go herself but she had other commitments that day and so, would I please consider “covering” the meeting. So, I put on my reporter’s hat and headed to the NH Historical Society to hear L’Merchie Frazier give a talk.
Drawing on my previous readings and study of the Underground Railroad and in consultation with my good friend, AQSG member, Sandra Munsey, who provided more suggested reading, I pulled together the article that is available now online. Gathering up some antique quilt blocks in my collection, I created others, for purposes of illustration.
This file was read by the Embroidery Editor of NeedleArts and she asked me if I would donate the article to the magazine for re-publication. In her hands, this became a 10 page article in the June 2004 issue.
At that point, the editor of The Quilter magazine offered me space if I would like to add anything else. The result of that request is the four page article in the September 2004 issue, just now on sale.
At no time, was I seeking to be on talk shows like Oprah, or to otherwise draw inordinate attention to myself. As a serious scholar, the goal was to share my thoughts in a public venue that would reach many people. My words have reached hundreds of thousands of people.
In almost seven months, I have received one, not so pleasant, but impassioned letter from someone who has a “different point of view”. I am thankful for that letter. Sadly, I have a distinct feeling that the thoughts and opinions voiced in Barbara’s letter reflect the same ideas of many others who have not spoken out.
Yesterday, I received a very kind invitation to speak publicly in a forum. I had to decline, for a number of reasons, the most compelling of which is that I do not care to get into confrontational, knock down, drag out, situations. My brain is taxed enough as it is. I have long since left this subject as an active research topic and have moved on to other areas about which I am currently writing. However, at the same time, my reading of Black American studies and slavery continue, as time permits.
My published writings seem to have spurred a renewed interest in the subject. Meetings are being planned from coast to coast to discuss this issu. For those of you who feel that in bringing up the topic, we are beating on an old dead horse, just wait. There are many people who have not even heard of this discussion, or the points that I and others, have made. So, as something new to them, they want to talk about it and they want to understand this all better.
Thank you all for your patience.
My involvement with the topic of UGRR issues has been from the standpoint of a scholarly investigation, but from an informed observer’s viewpoint. If anyone thinks that I don’t know what I’m talking about, I would invite them to study quilt history as thoroughly as I have for the last twenty years. Collect old quilts. Take a graduate course in the “History of Quilts”. I would suggest that they undergo the rigors of passing the master craftsman program, which for me took nine years; for someone else, fourteen. I would strongly urge them to pick up as many books, attend as many classes, and otherwise educate themselves, before telling me that I am all wet, not thinking clearly, or somehow violating a cultural heritage that did not exist in the first place. I’m an old gal, you know, and I’ve served my time, and gotten my education at the school of hard knocks and elsewhere.
At the University of Navarra in Pamplona, I had friends of many ethnic backgrounds and nationalities. I have always embraced other people, different than me. My roommate was Australian and I had friends from Nigeria, Germany, Puerto Rico, and Japan. So, you see, the “race card” does not work, in attacking me for my views. Anyone can take one look at my website and come to the swift assessment that I am “color blind”. I am interested in HISTORY, and that comes in all colors. 🙂
That’s my rant on this early Sunday morning. I guess Jim is right about it being an impossibility to silence me. Yak, yak, yak. Oh well, better than talking to myself! (very big grin).
Do something nice for someone day.
Pat
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2004 08:16:08 -0400 | From: Patricia L Cummings <quiltersmuse@>
The ending to the last letter should have read: “Do something nice for someone today”. Typos galore, too. Aargh….. I can’t win. It’s like trying to say something eloquent, while having a black char from the barbeque stuck in a front tooth.
Pat
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2004 07:54:39 -0500 | From: “Barbara Vlack” <cptvdeo@>
Kim mentioned that she was coming to Chicago and wondered about the current exhibit of “antique” quilts at the Art Institute.
The exhibit is called “Exploring Quilts: Art, History, and Craftsmanship.” There are many antique quilts, but there are some contemporary ones, too. There is a nice color printed free brochure for the exhibit that shows 18 examples of the quilts. One quilt is from Gee’s Bend.
The exhibit is on until September 12.
I can’t say about other textile exhibits at the Art Institute at this time. You have to take your chances about what’s out at the time of your visit. They rotate exhibits of textiles, so all are never on display at the same time.
Barb Vlack cptvdeo@
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2004 10:01:04 EDT | From: Litwinow@
Good Morning, Ahhh to be with the Ringo Gang (remembering Judy’s find in TX. last year at AQSG). Saturday, Aug 7, 2004, The Iowa/Illinois Quilt Study Group will be meeting for the 3rd time at the Kalona Historical Village-Quilt and Textile Museum. Hanging there will be fabulous Amish Quilts, many never seen by the public. The quilt show and share has been eye-poppingly super and this time will be no different. We will post pictures and words about our day. The willingness of sharing these family treasures make any gathering of quilt sisters a bit of heaven (Is this Heaven? No, It’s Iowa) (Dr. Kim if driving to Chicago I’m only 4 miles off I-80) Ours in quilt herstories.
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2004 11:02:15 -0400 | From: “Louise” <ltiemannstny.@>
Hello, I just got the first 8 issues of the Kansas City Star Quilts Shine Again, a self-published magazine from the early 1980’s, by James and Betty McAdams. The magazine provides the KCS quilt patterns alphabetically – redrafted in many cases to correct errors from the originals and to give the readers different size options. Has anyone out there heard of this publication? If so, did it ever complete the alphabet? In the 8 issues I have, she only got up to the “B’s”, so I am assuming there are many more issues out there. Thanks, Louise
