December 31, 2004 – January 5, 2005
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:
- New Year’s Traditions and Superstitions — Members swap family customs for good luck in the new year, from black-eyed peas to silver coins in the window.
- “Dyed in the Wool” and Metallic Cloth — A long etymology thread traces the phrase back to raw wool dyeing, then pivots into identifying old metallic/gold thread fabrics. (see the article on natural dyes)
- Fels Naptha Soap for Stain Removal — Members share where to still buy Fels Naptha and how they use it on grease and garden stains. (see the article on stain removal)
- Underground Railroad Quilt Code Myth — The recurring debate over the “secret code” quilt legend continues, including a mother’s letter to her daughter’s school about the curriculum. (see the article on Underground Railroad quilts)
- Chintz Fabric Research and Masonic Symbols — Xenia Cord’s chintz fabric findings and a member’s search for information on Masonic symbolism in quilts.
From: Gail Ingram
Dear Folks,
I need help. Bad.
Things got away from me today, and I did not eat even a single bite of peas, greens, and meat. Just snacky stuff.
I fully intended to quickly cook up some of the former two and eat leftover turkey before midnight, but guests arrived late and stayed late.
For the unsuperstitious, this turn of events offers no problems.
I am not among the unsuperstitious. This menu is an item of my religion. I have no doubt Our Lord wants us to have black-eyed or field peas, turnip or mustard greens (cabbage for the lazy), and probably backbones and spare ribs (yes I know about the Jewish thing about pork, but God is above ethnicity, I feel sure). I do not believe a New Year’s Day has passed that I have broken all three parts of this regimen. And I don’t like the feeling.
Now, here is the query: does anyone on the list know if there is a way to nullify the potential bad effects (poverty, lack of good and plenteous food on the table, and general bad luck)? Some ritual, some atonement?
If so, please let me know. And if you are a Southerner, ask around in your neighborhoods, churches, meat markets, and such to see if someone else knows a remedy.
I called my cleaning lady, who is Black and knows this kind of thing. It was 11:45 and no time to get the peas and greens cooked. She was astonished at my failure to observe this custom and at first thought I was joking. She does not believe there is a remedy. She advised me to pray about it, said she would ask around at church tomorrow and make a few calls, and told me NOT to break a mirror.
Teddy, Laurel, Lynn, you Texans and Georgians and Alabamians—any help? Pepper, your father was a minister as well as a Southerner: surely there must be something he would know. Or some Episcopalian of the older Southern order would know.
Lost in Louisiana, Gail
From: Judy Kelius
Oh dear Gail, now you have me worried too! I did not eat my pork and sauerkraut (the PA German equivalent of black-eyed peas, etc.) – even though I bought it, I never cooked it since I was having too much fun playing with quilts. I wonder if I made a quilt with a large plate of these NY’s goodies in the center if that would appease the gods? If 2005 is a rotten year, I certainly will know why <GR>!
Dear Gail, you sweet southren thing, you! Since reading your post, I feel so relieved! Why? Well, it is good to know that my husband is not the only one who is fretting and frantic about impending doom in his life in the coming year just because he forgot to eat his “Hoppin’ John” dish with black eyed peas, and rice, and greens on New Year’s Day.
He had worked a 12 1/2 hr. shift yesterday and came home, saying that he was sure that he had forgotten something and it was really bugging him. Well, he remembered at 11 p.m. It is a wonder that he didn’t rush to the kitchen to fulfill this duty, and also a surprise that the poor boy got any rest last night.
If you do happen to hear of a remedy, PLEASE rush to your computer and do let us know. You would be helping to save the sanity of countless others in the same predicament. Meanwhile, I will be praying that all will go well for you, (and him), and that neither of you will get bitten by a Black Widow spider, or step on a snake, or have any other weird or atrocious accident or illness strike you in the coming year.
In spite of this bad start, Gail, I wish you and everyone else on the list, a very Happy New Year!!
Pat Cummings
From: “sue reich
I did have my pork and sauerkraut. I just had to have it. I was raised on pork and sauerkraut for New Year’s Day. It is a bit of a sacrilege in my family not to serve this combination of the first day of the New Year. sue reich p.s. The sauerkraut was particularly yummy. ——
From: Karen Evans
My folks didn’t have any New Year’s superstitions except putting a silver coin in each window. I did that. God willing, 2005 will be better than 2004, which was an annus horribilis in many ways.
God bless us all, and a happy 2005 to all!
Karen Evans
From: “jhorsey” <jhorsey@>
Dear Gail and Pat, Living in Newnan, Ga I can fully appreciate your plight! I asked DH, and he quipped,”The only thing I know is to wait til next year!”. His aunts, who are more practical, can be consulted, but not til they get back from church. Perhaps you’ll want to stay in bed til you hear more, just to be on the safe side <g>. Happy New Year- Jo, in Newnan
From: “Julia D. Zgliniec”
Dear Gail and QHL,
I have the solution to your problem. People have traditionaly gotten subs or others to act on their behalf “by Proxy”.
I am not Southern – I was raised in Michigan – I guess I am southern now – as in Southern California. Our family has Corned Beef and Cabbage for New Year’s. I don’t know what made me do it this year – I served Black Eyed Peas this year too. This is not a tradition for us at all!!! I just wanted to eat them and think about all my fun southern friends eating them too – my friends from QHL and all the others quilting has brought into my life.
Consider yourself “saved” by my unexplained act – which I now dedicate to you – on your behalf, peas have been eaten for New Years.
Regards to all,
Julia Zgliniec, Poway CA
From: “Pepper Cory”
> My Mom told me she remembered standing on a stool by the wringer washer (she > would have been about 6 or 7) and hand-grating Fels Naptha for her Mom’s > washing. She thought it was a great grown-up privilege! She always loved the > smell of Fels Naptha but swore that the scent slightly changed in the > 1970’s. She had a nose like a bloodhound and could tell you exactly what > seasoning you used in a dish or the floral oils used in famous perfumes. My > best scent memory? “Femme” by Rochas perfume, my Mom’s favorite. I can’t > wear the scent myself but it has good associations for me. She started to > wear Femme when Dad brought her some back from Paris when he came home in > 1945. He said that perfume makers had hidden some of their stock from the > Nazis and when Paris was liberated, they told the GI’s to bring a container > to the perfume plant. All Dad had was a metal canteen. He went to the House > of Rochas and filled the canteen with Femme. It lasted her for years! > Happy New Year everybody. > Pepper Cory >
From: “J. G. Row”
Hooray for me! I am saved! DH and I went to an open house yesterday and of all the items on the buffet, the only one I chose to eat was the dish of saurkraut and hot dogs.
Uh oh! I’m thinking, what if the hot dogs were Kosher, or turkey? There’s no way to tell. Oh dear. Now I am worried too.
Judy, aka the Ringoes Kid judygrow@
From: Xenia Cord
In my laundry room I have two soap graters hanging on the wall. They look like those knuckle-busters for grating cheese or vegetables: flat chromed tin with a wire handle at one end and extruded holes along the flat surface. One of the graters says “Sunny Morning Soap Saver, Saves Soap and Money” and the other says “Use Fels Naptha Soap.” These messages are impressed in the surface. The holes in the Sunny Morning grater look like quarter moons, and the other has round holes about the diameter of a pencil.
Xenia
From: “Christine Thresh”
My father owned a printing plant in the 1950s and Fels Naphtha was the only soap in the restrooms. It removed printing ink from hands very well. Even thinking about now I can remember the odor.
Christine Thresh http://www.winnowing.com
From: Karen Alexander
I caught When Harry Met Sally on TV again yesterday. Hadn’t seen it in years. I couldn’t believe I didn’t recall the quilt on Sally’s bed — Marie Webster’s Wind Blown Tulips — or at least a very close variation of it. Hard to tell unless I could see all the borders clearly.
Karen Alexander Though chilly, the sun is shining in the San Juans today!
From: Gail Ingram
Dear, dear Miz ZeeClinic,
Bingo!
And I’m glad you tossed in those black-eyed peas. I’m going to send you a recipe or two for these which will make them forever a part of your diet—here, we freeze “field peas” in summer, but once they were dried, of course. A wonderful dip can be made from them.
Proxy! Yipee!
Bless you, my child, Gail
From: “Marcia Kaylakie”
And “You’ve Got Mail ” was on and there is a pinwheel quilt on the bed in that scene. Hmmm.perhaps Meg Ryan likes to have quilts in her movies? Just a thought….Marcia —–
From: “Anita G. Solomon”
I’ve been lusting for Xenia’s Bannister Hall line of fabrics that I spied on the Free Spirit Fabrics website. They produce lovely goods. http://www.freespiritfabric.com
Tonight I see parts of the collection offered at ReproductionFabrics.com
Scrumptious. Congtratulations Xenia!
Anita/NYC
From: Karen Alexander
It is so exciting to finally view the results of Xenia Cord=s many years of hard work researching chintz fabrics now reflected in her new Bannister Hal l Collection now up on the FreeSpirit website! I hope many of you are planning to enter The Quilters Hall of Fame 2005 quilt contest using this new line of fabric. Both FreeSpirit and Quilters Newsletter Magazine are co-sponsors of our contest this year. You can find an entry form on both the QHF website and FreeSpirit=s website. This year== s contest calls for wall hanging size quilts =AD 225 inches OR LESS is the all around required measurement =AD using at least 50% of your choice of fabric from the Bannister Hall Collection (in the top) so there is plenty of time to get one done by mid-May. Photos of your entry are due by May 16. You will be notified of acceptance into the contest by June 13. The quilts will hang in Marion, Indiana, July 5-17. Check out the websites!
http://www.freespiritfabric.com/ http://www.quiltershalloffame.org/
Karen Alexander Press Secretary The Quilters Hall of Fame
From: Judy Schwender
I worked at Patchworks (precursor to reproductionfabrics.com) in Bozeman, Montana in the late 1980s-1991. Meg Ryan was still married to Dennis Quaid then, and they had a place over the hill in Paradise Valley. Colleen Brophy, who also worked at the shop, had made a quilt with a bucking bronco panel on it, and Meg & Dennis bought it. I waited on her once when she was in just looking around. I think she just likes quilts.
And “You’ve Got Mail ” was on and there is a pinwheel quilt on the bed in that scene. Hmmm.perhaps Meg Ryan likes to have quilts in her movies? Just a thought….Marcia
From: Judy Schwender
If you ship by either UPS or FedEx and require a signature and the package is left on the doorstep, write the local office and file a complaint. Or, write to the corporate office. For FedEx it is:
FedEx Customer Relations 3875 Airways, Module H3 Department 4634 Memphis, TN 38116
For UPS, you can get the local service center address at:
http://www.ups.com/dropoff?loc=en_US
Be sure to state that in the future you do not want ANY package requiring a signature left on your doorstep. The local FedEx here told me leaving packages is SOP during severe weather and the Christmas mailing period unless signature required is noted. And for FedEx, signature required costs nothing extra.
From: “Lucinda Cawley” <lrcawley@>
I had a note from the DAR curator that they are short-staffed this week and have not been able to fill orders that came via email. If this means you, call the gift shop at 202-879-3208 between 9:30 and 4 EST or wait until next week and try again by email. Cinda on the Eastern Shore
From: Palampore@
Gail & all others who messed up! I was riding along Sunday in my car and saw an advertisement on the local Piggly Wiggly billboard—- hog jowls, collards, and black eyed peas…… I gasped!!! My daughter who is 13 asked what in the world was wrong with me. I told her that I had forgotten on New Year’s Day to eat pork, black eyed peas, and collards. I assured her that it was the 1st time in my life I had been so negligent! We were on the rode traveling home from a big celebration of the New Year at Universal Studios in Orlando, and I just plain forgot. I was relieved when I realized that I would at least not be poor all year long, because I was positive I had had change in my pockets all day due to all of the quick mart stops. Yep, it could be a tough year for all of us. However the day did get much better when my husband came in from a flea market bearing gifts. He bought a wonderful 1880’s quilt for me. It has ALL of the typical colors for that time period, and a fabulous black paisley type fabric as the backing. He also purchased a card table for my Featherweights. It needs refinishing on the top. Any suggestions for success with this project? And he gave me a stack of CDV’s of women and children from 1860-1880. I think I will keep him…..
This is not a quilt question, but you might be able to help. I purchased last summer a textile that I can’t seem to identify. It is a large throw/shawl made of a metal mesh. The metal is not silver for it isn’t tarnished. It is very heavy so I think it would drap over something rather than be worn. It is very Art Deco-ish appearing. Thanks for any help. Lynn Lancaster Gorges New Bern, NC
From: Gail Ingram
Dear Miz Julia ZeeClinic,
Could you grandmother Lynn Gorges in with your proxy eating on New Year’s Day? We’ve got this Southern Quilt Conference to put together and I do not wish for everyone involved in it to be loaded with bad luck.
I am sincerely hoping that Lynn’s and my oversights do not foretell early (who am I kidding?) onset of Old Timers Disease.
I know Lynn would be most grateful, as am I.
Listening to “Alice’s Restaurant” for the second time tonight, Gail Ingram
From: laurel@
Well, Gail, since you asked, I guess if I were you I’d just try to make the best of the situation, however you define that. Maybe you could give yourself till the tenth of the month to fulfill the tradition. (My sister’s birthday is December 1, and she often joked about giving us until the tenth to send her a card or gift.) I’d for sure go out and get the ingredients and do them up.
We participated in an afternoon pot-luck dinner on the first, but they served the peas plain. The New Year just didn’t seem complete without hoppin’ john, so I came home and made up a big batch. My recipe includes black-eyed peas, rice, bits of ham, onion, and celery. We’ll eat a lot of it this week, which reminds us of the new year’s blessings, and I’ll put some in the freezer for some future comfort-food craving. Also, I like to steam my collards in water with a little soy sauce instead of fatback. The pork goes in with the peas. I generally serve cornbread alongside. I don’t think the formal tradition includes it, but it just seems right.
Growing up in Kentucky, my family didn’t have any New Year’s foodways. It wasn’t until I moved to North Carolina over 30 years ago that I’d ever heard of them, and it took a few more years until I adopted them. Now, like Gail, I would feel something terribly amiss if I didn’t practice this custom.
Laurel Seneca, South Carolina
From: “paandma
I also am interested in an article discussing the symbols of the masons. I am a lurker from Kansas, just recently began receiving information from this quilt history site and find it very interesting. Thankyou from Kansas —– Original
I hate to say it, but at least one of the packages left on my doorstep was Registered Mail! Yes, believe it or not. But today I put this huge note out by the door for the delivery services not to leave ANY packages outside. They didn’t, and I had a bunch of pickup sheets and a notice that they left one of my packages at my next door neighbor’s house. I didn’t want to bother him earlier because he is 87 years old, and I thought that would be all he would need would be package delivering companies ringing his doorbell all day long. So it is all resolved. But I honestly do have a Registered Mail package here with the sheet right on it, and yes, I absolutely did call and complain about it and all the services got the word. Peace and blessings, Annie
I often chuckled whenever I watched Little House on the Prairie because they always had quilts on the beds, and lots of 1930s quilts showed up. Also, when they were on the prairie out in the middle of noplace, the wife always had these neatly starched white blouses. I can’t even get my clothes THAT white! But it was fun to see them anyway.
Every now and then a quilt shows up on a bed or in the background in some film. I know I have seen others but can’t remember them at the moment. Peace and blessings, Annie
From: Anne Copeland
I have not forgotten anyone who wants a copy of the Masonic Symbol article and I will send it as soon as I have time to look for it again. I am entirely swamped right now getting ready for the first exhibit of Myths and Legends on February 3rd. I hang the exhibit January 29th and I have a million things to do before then, so I will get it as quickly as I am able to. Peace and blessings, Annie
From: “Linda Heminway
One can still purchase Fels Naptha soap at The Vermont Country Store catalog web site: http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/jump.jsp?itemType=CATEGORY&itemID=214 Linda Heminway Plaistow NH
Is THAT what has been wrong with my life, and I didn’t even know it?? I grew up in the midwest and other places and never knew about black-eyed peas, collard greens, and change in my pocket on New Years. You suthren folk have kept those secrets to yourselves. Well, I’ll just keep a low profile and slide along until Jan 1 2006 when I can do it *right*. 🙂 Laura in Seattle, keeping fingers crossed in the meanwhile.
From: “Marcia Kaylakie”
Well, in searching through my books, recently catalogued, I discovered I cannot find the book Quilting Makes The Quilt! does anyone remember this book, the correct title, author, etc? Marcia in Austin, where it is raining again today! Marcia Kaylakie, AQS Certified Appraiser Austin, TX
From: Kathie Holland
that is the correct name and the author is Lee Cleland . Kathie in NJ >
From: “Julia D. Zgliniec”
Dear Gail and All,
Well sure!!! The original intent to eat these blackeye peas was in honor of my Southern friends – Lynn would qualify by virtue of this list.
Tell her not to worry.
Your conference will be wonderful – I wish I could attend.
Julia
From: Joan Kiplinger <jkip@>
Lynn — possibly a name for your shawl might be metallic cloth, a fabric woven of silk which has gold, silver, tinsel or other metal threads interspered throughout the motif. Lamé is one form of such fabric. I remember reading that during the 20s and 30s tinsel was used as a substitute for metallic threads.
From: Barbara Burnham
Lynn, Years ago, I worked the summer at a Medieval Fair. My horse and I dressed as knight and steed and we jousted other knights with cardboard lances. (My job was to be defeated and fall off, because my horse was the only one that could be trusted not to run off and leave me.) Eventually a group of serfs would carry me away. Anyway, the costumes we wore were like chainmail, and quite heavy. We wore heavy silver tights, silver boots and gloves, a metal hood, there was evan a metal-like shawl. Even the horses had costumes. Oh, it was great fun! Earlier that day I was a maid-in-waiting riding side-saddle in a flowing gown. Thanks for reminding me of the memories. Barbara Burnham Ellicott City, MD
> Palampore@ wrote:
a large throw/shawl made of a metal mesh … very heavy
From: “Lucinda Cawley”
Jumping on the topic late I’d like to add the Irish take on New Year’s customs straight from my father (born January 1, 1904) whose family function was to be the fair haired boy (sometimes called the white headed boy) who brought good luck by being the first to knock at the door of relatives and friends on New Year’s Day. Dad also recalled his intense embarrassment at mass each New Year’s when my County Sligo born grandfather refused to put money in the collection because “If you spend money on New Year’s Day you’ll spend it all year.” Neither Dad nor Gramps ever met a black eyed pea, but each lived long and prospered. Cinda on the Eastern Shore
What Cinda described is also known as First Footing and is very common in Scotland as well as Ireland. Most Scottish traditions hold that the best luck comes from a dark haired, dark eyed man being first across the threshold, while a redhaired woman means disaster.
The custom in my mother’s family (pure Bavarian) was to put a silver coin in each window of the house to attract prosperity. And being superstitious (and having just come off a lousy year), I went around just before my New Year’s party putting quarters in every window of the house, including the garage….
Karen Evans
From: mopalka
Gayle,
Oh my goodness! And I was feeling badly about having butter beans instead of black eyed peas. My Oklahoma Grandma would feel she didn’t raise me right. Now I don’t feel quite so amiss since so many of you have confessed. We did have the left overs and bone of a honey baked Georgia ham(hand carried back to Alaska with me), butter beans, and cornbread. I thought cornbread was part of the designated New Year’s Day meal. It certainly was in my neck of the woods.
Quilty hugs and laughs,
Susan(in Alaska, a transplanted “dyed in the wool” Southerner) Hm-m-m, I wonder where that phrase came from?
From: Patricia L Cummings
Susan signed off with “Susan(in Alaska, a transplanted “dyed in the wool” Southerner) Hm-m-m, I wonder where that phrase came from?”
Dear Susan:
When wool is processed into yarn, it can be dyed in a dye pot. This is a way of allowing the dye to totally penetrate all of the fibers completely. You could say of the resulting textiles that it was dyed while still “in the wool” because it had not yet been spun and woven.
On the other hand, the raw wool could be undergo all the processes for finishing (carding, combing, etc), be made into a garment or other textile, and then dyed after completion. This would result in a more superficial “dye job”.
“Dyed in the wool” as a phrase has come to mean “totally, thoroughly, and from the get-go”, such as the statement, “He is a dyed in the wool fundamentalist”. That means that “he” is completely committed to a certain belief system.
I hope my assessment on this is correct. A spinner/weaver/dyer friend of mine had given me this explanation years ago. If someone has a different spin on it, I’m sure we will find out. (very big grin).
Pat Cummings www.quiltersmuse.com
Date: Wed, 05 Jan | From: Joan Kiplinger <jkip@>
Dyed in the wool — woolen stock dyed before blending, carding, oiling, greasing, spinning is the most popular method for dyeing wool fabrics. Also known as stock dyeing. Died is the wool is another term for pulled wool, fleece retrieved from sheep which have died before fleecing. Used for cheap wool products.
From: Judy Knorr <jknorr@>
I buy a bar of Fels Naptha soap at my local grocery store every spring and use it when I’m gardening during the season. Washing with it immediately when I come back in the house helps me to avoid allergies to plants as well as poison ivy! I asked for it in the drug store (they didn’t have it!) and one of the clerks there told me she bought it at the supermarket next door. Sure enough! There it was! Just like I remembered from when my grandmother had it at her house. Judy Knorr
From: Patricia L Cummings
My friend had a huge open kettle with a white enamel lining and used it on her kitchen stove, exclusively for dyeing. When I was visiting her one day, she was cooking up a batch of raw wool mixed with Grape Kool-Aid. She achieved the most interesting effects with this. I knew nothing of dyeing then, and little more now, but I was impressed with the results of her work.
I can’t remember if she was dyeing unspun wool strands, or loose wool (not sure of the technical name for that), is it roving??
She was a master spinner and had spun all sorts of fibers including alpaca and rabbit fur, and even the hair from a Newfoundland show dog. She used the resulting yarn to knit a sweater for the owner of the dog so that he could wear it for competitions.
Like quilting, dyeing is an art in itself.
Pat Cummings
From: Judy Schwender
“She was a master spinner and had spun all sorts of fibers including …the hair from a Newfoundland show dog.”
My Samoyed would shed like crazy. When I brushed her I’d end up with a paper grocery bag full of hair. She lost her coat completely when she had a litter. Samoyeds do not have that “doggy stink” when wet, and their hair is often spun into yarn for just that reason.
From: “Susan Wildemuth”
This is a little off-topic — as it is not a history question, but does have to do with quilts. Recently an 86 year on lady from Kewanee, Illinois e-mailed me and asked if I knew a source for Trapunto/Shadow Trapunto patterns. She says she knows about the Conway (??) patterns, but is hoping to find other sources. If anyone knows of any patterns sources would you e-mail me? I know she would appreciate it. She also shared that she took one of her finished quilts with her on a trip to Florida with her daughter where Teddy Pruett (SP???) appraised her work. Teddy, she remembers you with great fondness.
Thanks, Sue in Illinois
From: Patricia L Cummings
In the New Oxford American Dictionary, there is this definition of dyed in the wool:
unchanging in a particular belief or opinion; inveterate: /she’s a dyed-in-the-wool conservative/ (origin: with allusion to the fact that yarn was dyed in the raw state, producing a more even and permanent color).
For this explanation, I have my son to thank. He gave me this dictionary for Christmas.
Pat Cummings
