February 17 - 21, 2005 - QuiltHistory

Oral History & Documentation, Quilt History Resources, Restoration & Conservation

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:

Conservation-Grade Sheers: Tetex, Stabiltex & Crepeline — Members compare thin conservation fabrics used to stabilize and protect fragile antique quilts and textiles. (see the article on repair, restore, or conserve)
Kit Quilt Experts and Esther O’Neill Pattern Dating — A discussion of researchers specializing in kit quilts and clues, like leaflet address changes, for dating Esther O’Neill’s patterns. (see the article on dating quilts)
“Thrilled to Pieces” Multi-Block Quilt Exhibition — Members discuss a New York exhibition of intricately pieced quilts.
The Underground Railroad Quilt-Code Myth in Schools — A school librarian’s encounter with the debunked “quilt code” myth being taught to students sparks renewed pushback from list members. (see the article on Underground Railroad quilts)
Early American Quilt Guild History — A member asks when the first formally organized quilt guild was founded. (see the article on early American quilts)

From: Xenia Cord <xenia@>

Hi, Sue – I got into my Esther O’Neill folder, and there is one other clue to age: the address on the leaflets. Earlier leaflets have “205 State Life Bldg” as the address, and there are several variations in the printing of leaflets with this address, too. There are also leaflets with a “1627 North Alabama St.,” address, which was her home in later years (and now in a neighborhood one wouldn’t visit without a bodyguard and a gun).

O’Neill quilts have sometimes been identified as Webster designed quilts, especially on eBay. I have done some preliminary research on O’Neill; a short paper is waiting somewhere in the future <g>. I am going to save your email to her folder, and perhaps I might contact you if/when I write about her?

Xenia

From: Susan Wildemuth

Hi Xenia,

These have the North Alabma Street address on them. Her quilt pattern designs are very similar to the patterns in the Marie Webster’s pamphlets. A fellow quilt history friend just met with someone who has one of Marie Webster’s pattern/kits, but are there any actual examples of Esther O’Neill’s patterns/kits out there?

Wish there was a book devoted to the history of kit quilts — I do not collect them, but I would be interested in reading more about the subject.

Thanks– Sue

From: Dana Balsamo

Hi Sue, Babara Brackman has a book out called “Women of Design: Quilts in the Newspaper”, not exactly about quilts, but lots of rudimentary info about women (and men) and their patterns in newspapers and ‘cottage industries’, selling patterns from catalogs from their home. Ester O’Neill in not included, though. It’s a half pattern/half history book. My best, Dana

Susan Wildemuth <ksandbcw@> wrote: Hi Xenia,

Wish there was a book devoted to the history of kit quilts — I do not collect them, but I would be interested in reading more about the subject.

Thanks– Sue

Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 | From: Palampore@

Tetex is 100% polyester, and it is fine to use on quilts because it isn’t abrasive. It is a soft luxurious feeling material and the threads in it are more fine than human hair. But it is a pain to work with because of that. It ravels like crazy, and really does best if it is cut with a soldering iron. And that is not a fun, nor an easy task. I only use it when I absolutely HAVE to. Recently I used it to encapsulate cotton pockets inside a Civil War coat because the cotton was rotting away. This at least kept it in place and put less stress on it. I too prefer crepeline for use on quilts if a covering is necessary. I prefer it because it is much easier to work with than Tetex and cheaper. Off to my studio to work on a silk banner. Lynn in New Bern, NC

From: Xenia Cord <xenia@>

Am I correct that tetex is a finely woven fabric, and crepeline and other sheers like it are actually heated at the points where threads cross, creating a microscopic bead? I had heard that these beads could be abrasive to the conserved fabric over time.

Interested in knowing more –

Xenia

From: Joan Kiplinger <jkip@>

It would be nice to hear from museum persons and other conservators on this list as to the preservative cloth they use and why. There seems to be some differences among conservators in all fields as which is the best to use. Some museums still use nylon to sandwich; some disavow nylon and use crepeline; others don’t like crepeline and use a fine poly whose name I never did learn, and now there is tetex. Is this latter fabric relatively new and possibly an improvement upon all others? So far it’s somewhat confusing to the lay person.

Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 11:41:11 -0500 | From: Patricia L Cummings <quiltersmuse@>

Stabiltex is another fabric used to “stabilize” weak areas. It can be used to travel over the edges of a garment or quilt, and with the application of heat, actually fused in place without sewing. I saw this used on an 18th century silk garment.

Patricia L.Cummings Concord, NH

From: Judy Schwender <sister3603@>

Dr. Margaret Ordonez taught a 1 week seminar at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2003 titled Quilts: Repair and Stabilization. We used polyester chiffon for stabilizing areas of deterioration. Very soft, no bead from fusing, many colors are available, and it is easily found. It can ravel like crazy, but since you cut the piece bigger than the area to stabilize and place it so that the grain is kittywompus, and then trim after basting, it’s not too bad to work with. My practice piece was a red and black plaid on black ground. The red chiffon and black chiffon were hard to locate once applied; they blended in exceptionally well.

From: Joan Kiplinger <jkip@>

I wonder if this the product Pat Cummings described in her previous post, Stabiltex. As it is poly, it may be the poly I’ve heard other conservators mention but whose name I couldn’t recall. So there are crepeline, tetex and Stabiltex as stabilizing options plus nylon and poly net or tulle.

From: Dana Balsamo <danabalsamo@>

I understant that stabiltex and tetex are the same. http://nt.bnt.com/talas/menu.html?category=133&start_index=6

I am interested in knowing more about the poly chiffon…is this sheer like crepeline, or denser?

My best, Dana

Joan Kiplinger <jkip@> wrote: I wonder if this the product Pat Cummings described in her previous post, Stabiltex. As it is poly, it may be the poly I’ve heard other conservators mention but whose name I couldn’t recall. So there are crepeline, tetex and Stabiltex as stabilizing options plus nylon and poly net or tulle.

Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 17:01:21 -0500 | From: Joan Kiplinger <jkip@>

Dana — what a great site and source for archival items. I discovered the leather selection which will come in handy for making antique doll shoes where kid gloves won’t suffice.

From: Judy Schwender <sister3603@>

Chiffon always makes me think of prom and bridal dresses from the 1960s and sheer, filmy curtains. We bought ours at JoAnn’s Fabrics, I believe. Look in the formal wear fabrics.

Judy

Found at:

http://www.textileconnexion.com/librarydictionary.asp

Chiffon: A lightweight , sheer, plain weave fabric with a dull surface, a soft hand , and good drape. It is made with fine high twisted yarns and has an even or close to even number of threads per inch in the warp and weft. Originally made in silk but now found in polyester and other man-made filament yarns. Used in dresses blouses, scarves, veils.

From: Dana Balsamo <danabalsamo@>

Cool, thanks Judy!

Judy Schwender <sister3603@> wrote: Chiffon always makes me think of prom and bridal dresses from the 1960s and sheer, filmy curtains. We bought ours at JoAnn’s Fabrics, I believe. Look in the formal wear fabrics.

Judy

Found at:

http://www.textileconnexion.com/librarydictionary.asp

From: Annette Gero

Has anyone seen the quilt exhibition put on by Laura Fisher called THRILLED TO PIECES at the New England Museum in Lowell? I am coming to the USA from Australia and want to know if its worth a special trip to see it . Can anyone tell me how many ARMY quilts there are in the exhibition

many thanks

Annette Gero Sydney Australia

From: Marilyn Maddalena Withrow

The two experts in the field of kit quilts, to my knowledge, are Anne Copeland and Bev Dunivent. Bev is recovering from surgery now, but I’m sure Annie would be of assistance. Her e-mail is anneappraiser1@

Marilyn Maddalena Withrow Professional Quilt Appraiser, Judge, Historian, Designer and Lecturer www.marilynquilts.com

Gail, Sorry to be responding late, but I’m just thrilled that I’ve finally gotten to FEBRUARY in my backlog of notes! <G>

Of course it seems natural that African elements would be passed down in ha ndicrafts and decorative design to the children of captured slaves. However , in HIPV, I saw many designs called ‘African’ that I know exist in other c ultures as well. Without provenance, it would be difficult to tell if a qui lt was designed by an African-American woman who chose to use traditional A frican designs, or one who copied design elements she saw in the home of he r owner, or those she copied from nature, or even those she thought up in h er fertile imagination. For any author to claim that ONLY African elements would be in a design created by an African, is certainly putting very strange borders on African cr aftsmen and craftswomen’s ability to observe, borrow and create their own d esigns! While a culture may have its preferred palette, any one individual within that culture can choose to borrow a palette from another culture, or make one up.

From: jocelynm@

On February 3, 2005, Lori Hudlow wrote:

> Just a thought. How do we know that just once a quilt chain was made to h elp a slave make their way to freedom?

Lori, How would it work, though? The problem I have is that the ‘code’ seems too simplistic. How many slaves would have to have a reminder to go North? At that time, people lived clos er to nature, but even as a child, I was taught to follow the North Star to head north at night, and follow moss on trees. Is it terribly likely that these brave, smart people wouldn’t be able to remember NORTH without a quil t block? I suspect that anyone who couldn’t just remember ‘head north’ wasn ‘t going to remember that this quilt block was called ‘north star’, anyway.= The slaves captured from Africa were quite familiar with moving about the countryside; they didn’t NEED to be told that they should pack supplies to take with them. So this is where the code starts to fall apart for me: is such a mneumonic really useful? After all, the quilt was left behind; the escapees had to me morize all its information.

Second, the quilt doesn’t convey anywhere near enough information to justif y the work that went into it. ‘Go north’ is a good general direction, but s laves had to be prepared to go east or west, too. Those who escaped success fully generally had help along the way.

But the biggest question I have is: Why would you make a map of an escape r oute, and keep teaching it to people, and keep sending people out on the ro ute- when you weren’t getting feedback that they were making it to safety? How did those quilters ‘know’ that the advice they were giving was useful, and not just leading people to the farm of a hateful Yankee who just shot t he escapees and tossed them in the river? The escaped slaves weren’t sendin g letters home. There might be some feedback if the escapees were caught an d returned, but to assume that this route worked because people were never heard of again- well, I think the slaves were all too smart to make that co nclusion. I bet they were entirely too familiar with black people disappear ing and never being heard from again, once they crossed Ol’ Massa.

From: jocelynm@

> One of my favorite preposition stories comes from a feisty colleague who was > reprimanded in a message sent through hapless child. The mother was a fri end > of mine but among the most “knowing” and “certain” individuals I’ve known. > She had proofed a paper her son had written and on which the teacher had not > marked a sentence that ended with a preposition. > > The boy reported, “My mother says a sentence cannot end with a propositio n.” > > My colleague snapped, “Tell your mother she doesn’t know what she’s talki ng > about.”

Gail, That is the sort of thing, up with which I will not put! <G>

From: jocelynm@

> That is the sort of thing, up with which I will not put! <G> Oops, guess I should have read further before responding! As a token of my remorse, I offer the following: I searched Snopes to see i f it really were Mr. Churchill who said this originally, and Snopes has no mention of it, either aye or nay. Sorry, folks. 🙂

Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2005 18:24:53 -0500 | From: Sharon in NC <patchworksecrets2@>

This is interesting.. http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/churchill.html

Sharon in NC

Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2005 19:41:09 -0600 | From: Gail Ingram <gingram@>

> > > Gail, > Sorry to be responding late, but I’m just thrilled that I’ve finally gotten to > FEBRUARY in my backlog of notes! <G> > > Of course it seems natural that African elements would be passed down in > handicrafts and decorative design to the children of captured slaves. However, > in HIPV, I saw many designs called ‘African’ that I know exist in other > cultures as well. Without provenance, it would be difficult to tell if a quilt > was designed by an African-American woman who chose to use traditional African > designs, or one who copied design elements she saw in the home of her owner, > or those she copied from nature, or even those she thought up in her fertile > imagination. > For any author to claim that ONLY African elements would be in a design > created by an African, is certainly putting very strange borders on African > craftsmen and craftswomen’s ability to observe, borrow and create their own > designs! While a culture may have its preferred palette, any one individual > within that culture can choose to borrow a palette from another culture, or > make one up.

> Jocelyn,

I hope I did not assert that the designs in Gee’s Bend quilts I saw ‘way back before Gee’s Bend was GEE’S BEND and before the Episcopal rector established marketing ties with New York galleries were African in their origin. As I recall, I merely said I had seen nothing like them in my own experience, and the first analogy that arose in my mind was with African woven textiles and beadwork. I had grown up among quilts, made by both whites and blacks, and I had recognized some apparent differences in color and design choices between the two, but I had seen nothing like those quilts.

What did I know about African textiles and beadwork at such an early date? Mainly what I had seen in National Geographic, museum houses, and the odd article in magazines. I didn’t claim expert status.

Yet—and I know this will seem silly, but so be it—I had REALLY looked at a lot of photographs in National Geographic. My grandmother had bookshelves full of them, and on rainy or cold Sunday afternoons, when our parents were drinking coffee and “visiting,” my cousin and I would pore over the issues that had articles on Africa, especially Central and Western Africa. Not, I’m sorry to say, for their art value or even their cultural value. In a world of always-fully-clothed people, we were trying to discover what grown-up men and women looked like in their Adam & Eve state. Especially grown-up men. In the process, I did pick up a certain taste for many of the designs we saw. Even now, I can picture a Kenyan warrior in full garb. I think it was among the first color issues of NG. But even in black and white, I could tell a lot about designs that struck me as really “pretty.”

So it was not exactly a completely untutored eye that saw those quilts in that Alabama community, but it was only a personal impression. No conclusion.

That said, I have to believe that adults transported to America as slaves, especially in the 19th century, would retain a taste for the designs they had seen as children. We know now that such preferences are built in even before age 5 or 6. They are linked in our subconscious mind with “home” and all that means. When I look at my own life, I think I have spent it trying to replicate my own home environment. As much as I love and admire the quilts of the 19th century, for instance, I wish I could work in the colorways and tastes of the Depression quilters, for those were the quilts women prized when I was growing up. Most were already “grandmother’s quilts.” The red and white quilts and the shirting quilts in the family struck me as decidedly “antique” and to be revered. But the Depression Quilts were the colors I would be were I a color or a quilt. If you know what I mean.

In a community like the one I saw, cut off from communication with most of the outside world (I don’t think I saw a single t.v. Antenna) and probably barely literate, the design sources would be the quilts they saw from the whites for whom they worked and their own memories, no doubt very fragile by then. In such communities, however, one sees designs carried on in many everyday ways—baskets, cornshuck hats, walking sticks, painted church windows and other decorative painting in public gathering places, altar cloths, clothing, etc. And in such isolation, those designs might just seem okay to use in other media. The African-American living in B’ham or Montgomery at that time would have been far more likely to have adopted the cultural preferences of the “superior” (read “more powerful” and “more monied”), white class.

But Gee’s Bend was in those days an end-of-the-world place.

When I look at ancestor’s letters or recall the voices of elderly relatives now gone, I recognize phrases that I use daily, especially metaphors. The same thing for stories and cooking and sewing techniques and superstitions (NEVER cut anything out on Friday!!!, for instance). Folk ways are tenacious, I think, tagged to things deep within us.

Had I had the money, I probably would not have purchased a single quilt I saw that day. My own experience did not permit me to imagine them on a bed in any house I’d ever have. Moreover, I was into stitch-counting, something I’d picked up from the women in my family, and the quilts I saw that day did not exactly have a high ratio of stitches to inch of fabric. They still would not belong on a bed in the house I have. But some of them awakened my imagination, appealed to me.

All of this, simply to say I can imagine African-American quilts of a certain period reflecting African cultural choices, based on communal memory. I should think that documenting that influence would be a difficult task, and one might, as we do with so many thorny questions, be left with an inference that is strong but not fully supported by material trails.

Yet while a given symbol might be “universal,” in that it had been passed down since the earliest times, a cultural historian can generally pin down its variations. I should think it would be the same with colorways and complex designs.

I don’t for one minute think quilts were used as the HIPV story suggests. I find it hard for anyone who grew up in the South to believe that. Certainly no one born before the early sixties.

But Gee’s Ben and HIPV are two very different things.

Gail

Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2005 18:26:41 -0800 | From: Christine Thresh <christine@>

Gail’s essay struck a cord with me. Although she talked about Africans transported to a new country and retaining memories of home surroundings, she is right when she said, “…I have to believe that adults transported to America as slaves, especially in the 19th century, would retain a taste for the designs they had seen as children. We know now that such preferences are built in even before age 5 or 6. They are linked in our subconscious mind with ‘home’ and all that means. When I look at my own life, I think I have spent it trying to replicate my own home environment.”

Just this week I had an experience which with slipcovers (not quilts). I have a wing chair that has been in my family for over 100 years. I hired a lady to make a slipcover for it (she sewed in my home) and it turned out just right. After admiring it for a while I searched through some old black and white photos. I found a marvelous picture of my mother sitting in the same chair in 1941. The chair was slipcovered in a criss-crossed vine print. In the photo she was sitting next to a white painted bookshelf and her feet were on an oriental rug on a wood floor. Looking from the photo to my newly covered chair it dawned on me that I was recreating the past. My chair is sitting on a wood floor next to a white painted bookshelf and there is an oriental rug in front of it. The new slipcover has a criss-cross pattern (though not vines).

I said to my husband, “I don’t have an original bone in my body. I just re-created a scene I imprinted on as a two-year-old.”

Christine Thresh http://www.@

Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2005 23:17:04 -0600 | From: Gail Ingram <gingram@>

> > On February 18, 2005, jocelynm@ wrote: > > >> That is the sort of thing, up with which I will not put! <G> > > Oops, guess I should have read further before responding! > As a token of my remorse, I offer the following: I searched Snopes to see if > it really were Mr. Churchill who said this originally, and Snopes has no > mention of it, either aye or nay. Sorry, folks. 🙂

SNOPES doesn’t know everything. Churchill’s biographers repeat the story. Haven’t time to look it up right now, but will next week.

Churchill, who stuttered and was a poor student in public school days, was brilliant and known for his dinner table humor and repartee. Although aristocratic himself and proud of his lineage, he had little tolerance for prigs. Less for folks who misunderstood what he knew was the gusto of the English language.

Is anyone watching the series on PBS “Battlefields of England”? I think it is wonderful. I thought I knew everything about the invasion of the Spanish armada until I saw that installment, from number of ships on both sides to commanders to Elizabeth’s purported speech and depth of water. But this past week’s episode on that event was one long piece of discovery for me. I recommend the series to all whose PBS stations are running it.

Gail

Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2005 20:37:43 -0500 | From: Barb Garrett <bgarrett421@>

This morning I received an email from a high school teacher and I wanted to share another case of “continuing the story” with you. This is what she wrote —

My students are doing a National History Day project on the Underground Railroad. The theme this year is Communication in History. They have been doing research and found that though slave songs were used as coded messages, the jury is still out on the use of quilts as a code. My question is….Are there any reproductions of fabric for some of the common slave quilt blocks, North star, bear claw, log cabin and Jacob’s Ladder? We need the type of fabric, colors and texture that would have been used in the 1860’s. Do you know of anyone that would sell examples of the fabric and maybe the blocks themselves.

I am so saddened that even though she says “the jury is still out”, it appears that she plans to present these “common slave quilt blocks” as though they are factual. I want to thank everyone who wrote to the Cape Cod newspaper — I saved your letters when they were published and used them in my (lengthy) reply to her. I hope she reads them, and the links to Giles Wright and others that were included. I asked her a few questions, so it will be interesting to see if I hear back from her.

Barb in southeastern PA

Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2005 22:26:12 -0500 | From: Monica MacDonald <jmacdon6@>

On a hopeful note – there is an ad-free magazine called Kids Discover that my daughters like to check out from the library. Each issue is dedicated to one specific topic, such as Rain Forests, Women’s Suffrage and so on. At the pediatrician’s office this week, I saw a new edition (I think it was April ’05) dedicated to the UGRR. I had enough time to go through it well enough I think to see that there was NO mention of quilts in the text or in the pictures before we were called in. Yahoo! I’ll give it a closer look next time we go to the library. Monica in Maine

Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2005 07:36:50 -0500 | From: Barb Garrett <bgarrett421@>

I wanted to let the list know that I received a very nice thank you note for my information about the quilt code from the high school teacher I mentioned yesterday. She said I sent “valuable information” and she will be using it with her students. She said the focus of the project is slave songs, but the students had shown an interest in the quilts and she wanted to find out more about the quilts for them. One small step at a time………

Barb in southeastern PA

Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2005 10:20:41 -0600 | From: Sylvia Adair <piecethepast@>

> Sadly, Cobblestone, another one of our school magazines (I’m a school > librarian) has a whole issue about Harriet Tubman, and the center > article has the quilt code story, with pictures of quilts, although with > a caveat that the quilt code is still a theory (or words to that > effect). And our local public television station had a 5 minute spot > about the quilt code as fact, which they ran after the Gees Bend program > on Saturday. I feel like the little Dutch boy trying to hold back the sea. > Sylvia Adair, Germantown, Wisconsin > > Monica MacDonald wrote: > >> On a hopeful note – there is an ad-free magazine called Kids Discover that >> my daughters like to check out from the library. Each issue is dedicated to >> one specific topic, such as Rain Forests, Women’s Suffrage and so on. At >> the pediatrician’s office this week, I saw a new edition (I think it was >> April ’05) dedicated to the UGRR. I had enough time to go through it well >> enough I think to see that there was NO mention of quilts in the text or in >> the pictures before we were called in. Yahoo! I’ll give it a closer look >> next time we go to the library. >> Monica in Maine >> >> Ever thought of COMPOSING ARTICLE (pardon the caps, please, but…) article for these two magazines? Writing the erring one, sending materials developed by Pat Cummings, www site of Kim Wulfert, etc?

Patience IS a virtue, especially when it is not passive.

Gail

Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2005 11:58:19 EST | From: Elpaninaro@

Good morning all,

Spent a lot of yesterday with my new rotary cutter getting pieces cut for a special project- a 3 generations quilt I will cut and piece, and that my mother and grandmother will quilt.

Got to cutting a diamond off a really neat piece of red calico I got some time ago- on eBay I think. In weight, texture, pattern and color tones it is very much like some 1940s material I got from Revival Fabrics a while ago, so my best guess is this piece is around that age as well.

Looking closely though, I see the red background has a fair amount of dull blurred blue in it. It is sporadic and looks to me like maybe the blue dye in there ran some or something. Possibly something else? There are no unusual odors or anything, so I cannot really imagine it is mold.

Here is a link to a photo. Hard to see it, but the sort of dark areas around some of the blue flowers and green leaves is not the photo- this is the damage I am speaking of. Also, it does not show from the underside of the fabric- only the top.

http://members.aol.com/elpaninaro/redcalico.jpg

Still looks quite nice (and since this is supposed to be a charm quilt in queen size I cannot afford to not put in everything I have in red, blue and yellow lol), but I am concerned about putting it in this quilt. When these older fabrics look like this, are they going to tend to be problematic in the wash? My big fear if this is a dye issue is whether or not it was something that eroded over time and might come out in the wash and ruin the quilt.

Thanks for any thoughts!

Take care,

Tom.

PS- Great UGRR discussion here. I have actually run into a couple of quilters at work who had heard some of the rumors and they appreciated some of the info I passed on to them from the comments here. So thank you all for the education- it is making a difference!

Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2005 16:58:39 -0500 | From: Kyra Hicks <khicks1@>

Hello! Hope you are doing well! I thought you might be interested in the info below. You might want to write a short bio or forward this to someone else. There’s folks in all walks: art, business, government, journalism, law etc.

Love, Kyra

—– Original Message —– From: “Alkalimat, Abdul” <AAlkali@> To: <H-AFRO-AMH-NET.@> Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 8:56 AM Subject: Re: African American National Biography, Call for Contributors

From: John Bollard

African American National Biography Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Editors

The editors are seeking contributors to write biographical entries for the African American National Biography, a joint project of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University and Oxford University Press. The African American National Biography will present history through the lives of 10,000 individuals, some known throughout the world and others all but forgotten, illuminating the abiding influence of African Americans on the life of this nation through the immediacy of individual experience. Our goal is to include not only great and famous African Americans, but a selection of lives that will be representative of the scope of African American experience.

We are commissioning articles on African Americans in all fields, from all periods of North American history, and from all stations of life. AANB entries are typically 500 to 1,500 words in length. Each article will be signed by the author and will include a brief bibliography. Authors will receive an honorarium, typically $50-$150, based on the contracted length of each entry.

Entry names and an application to write can be accessed on the AANB Web site, at <http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~aanb>www.fas.harvard.edu/~aanb. We also welcome suggestions for subjects whose names do not presently appear in our database.

The first publication of the project, African American Lives (Oxford University Press, 2004), a collection of 600 biographies of notable African Americans, was published last April.

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT THE WEB SITE OR CONTACT: Dr. John K. Bollard Executive Editor African American National Biography W.E.B. Du Bois Institute Harvard University 69 Dunster Street Cambridge, MA 02138 tel: 617-496-9547 www.fas.harvard.edu/~aanb

Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 11:20:22 +1000 | From: quiltstuff <quiltstuff@>

Sylvia wrote > I feel like the little Dutch boy trying to hold back the sea.>

I had to chuckle at that expression. I am Australian.. but whilst travelling in Europe met and married a Dutchman. he couldn’t understand it when so many people over here mentioned the little boy with his finger in the dyke. He had never heard the story at all. At least most people know Hans Brinker and his Silver skates are fiction. but actually believe there once was a boy with his finger in a dyke.

So found it amusing for it to be used in discussing how to stop a myth from spreading.

I did a talk to a quilt group on the weekend explaining some quilt myths using my antique quilts as examples…. I really enjoyed trying to debunk the UGRR one

Suzy

Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2005 18:57:16 -0700 | From: Judy Anne <anne_j@>

Does anyone know when the first formally organized quilt guild was established?

Judy Anne

Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2005 21:32:43 -0600 | From: Xenia Cord <xenia@>

There is a quilt guild in Indiana called the Americus quilters, near Battle Ground, Indiana. I believe they were founded in 1909 and are the second oldest guild in the country. The oldest is in Pennsylvania.

Xenia – (dredging this up from an increasingly faulty memory <g>)

Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2005 19:53:20 -0800 | From: Newbie Richardson <pastcrafts@>

The other name for this fabric is “Stable-Tex”. It is available from Talas in NY. It comes in about 6 colors. Lynnis correct – it is pain in the A to work with. I find that if I cut it on the bias, though, it does not ravel. Newbie Richardson

—–Original Message—– From: Palampore@ Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2005 7:07 AM To: Quilt History List Subject: [qhl] tetex

Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2005 19:54:29 -0800 | From: Newbie Richardson <pastcrafts@>

As far as I know, silk crepeline is not heated at the cross. Bridal illlusion veiling is. Newbie

—–Original Message—– From: Xenia Cord Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2005 8:28 AM To: Quilt History List Subject: [qhl] Re: tetex

Interested in knowing more –

Xenia

Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2005 19:59:40 -0800 | From: Newbie Richardson <pastcrafts@>

Polyester chiffon – that you get at the fabric store is not quite as sheer as Stable Tex. Winterthur uses mono-filament bobbinet imported from England – a nylon veiling that is knit and set with low het – so no beads at the crosses. Although nylon does not age well if exposed to UV light, items treated for conservation should not be exposed to light so the point is moot. Newbie

Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2005 11:25:19 -0800 (PST) | From: Judy White <whitey06029@>

I know that we have discussed this before, but at the time it didn’t apply to me so I didn’t really pay much attention; however, I have been asked to restore a quilt which is ca. 1930’s/40’s. It’s really a summer spread – no middle and no backing but it does have a binding. The top is Sunbonnet girls in swings and is in very good shape except it needs a middle, backing and a new binding. And it needs to be quilted. I am going to crosshatch it and there is my problem – how much to charge the client. I know I can’t charge her by the hour so do I charge by the yard of quilting, the spools of thread (I wouldn’t make much money that way) or what? I need the expertise of some of you who do great gobs of quilting for people. The quilting I have done for others has been mostly requilting what I have taken out while doing restoration work. Thanks for your help.

Judy White

From: Marilyn Maddalena Withrow

Interesting comment, Judy, about how to charge for restoration work — “I know I can’t charge her by the hour…..” — why not? Charging by the spool of thread is what ladies used to do, but that was a looonnnnnggg time ago. (My grandmother’s time, as I recall.) There are some quilters who charge by the size of the quilt for hand-quilting. I’ve done a lot of restoration work over the years, and I charge by the hour. I also use silk crepeline in instances where it’s called for, but typically not on cotton quilts — normally on crazy quilts in silks and satins. I don’t care for the other products. When I appraise, I have a set fee which is fairly standard for most appraisers. When I judge, the fees are set by the sponsoring organization. But if I’m going to do restoration work, I charge by the hour. Perhaps I’m missing something here. Anyone else have other suggestions?

Marilyn Maddalena Withrow Professional Quilt Appraiser, Judge, Historian, Designer and Lecturer www.marilynquilts.com

Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 09:48:24 -0800 | From: ikwlt@

i can always tell when february arrives because the talk once again turns to UGRR. altho i am not of the level of most on this group, i rely on your expertise to help me spread the information of the debate and research associated with the quilt code. i copied the letters to the cape cod paper and took them in to my quilt class and left them with the teacher for her other classes, explaining that the book is based on the story of one woman who was selling quilts and altho there has been much research, no documentation has been uncovered to prove that quilts were ever used as signals. i always try to sound impartial, but emphatic that there is controversy surrounding the ‘story’ and reminding people that a cute story which is unfounded should never romanticize the struggles of people who gambled everything to make a difference for their decendents. there are a few women in my class who are black and others that i know took a class to make the underground railroad quilt based on eleanor burns’ book. i mention that book specifically and applaud the introduction, asking them to read it themselves as eleanor burns does not give credence to the story. that’s the only good thing i can say about her decision to publish the book, and explain that of course i assume her goal was to make money not give a history lesson.

when i read <“I did a talk to a quilt group on the weekend explaining some quilt myths using my antique quilts as examples…. I really enjoyed trying to debunk the UGRR one. Suzy”> i realized that i often use similar wording as an introduction to what i say. i guess as impartial as i want to come across (don’t want to sound inflamatory), the fact that i use the word myth says it all. “myth — ficticious story” keep up the good work, and as more “ordinary” quilters become aware of the historic flaws in the story, the easier it will be for them to speak up when the subject turns to the quilt code. alot of quilters have kids in school and if/when it shows up being taught as fact they will have ammunition ready.

patti

Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 12:45:15 -0500 | From: Sharon in NC <patchworksecrets2@>

For hand quilting I charge the following Measure length times width to get square inches. 8 cents a square inch for quilting spaced no more than 1 inch apart. This is usually for echo and finely detailed designs. Straight line simple pattern 2-3 inches apart is 4.5 cents a sq inch Open straight line quilting that is spaced 4-6 inches apart is only 3.5 cents a square inch. I charge the actual cost of the batting and backings. $1.00 a running foot for bindings. That includes applying one side by machine and the other side by hand.

I ALWAYS do an estimate and give them a written estimate before starting the work. I never want to get stuck with someone saying “I didn’t know it would be that much” after spending a week on their quilt. So far I have never had a problem with any of my quotes. I have had people decide not to have some hand quilted due to the cost. But I am happy. I wouldn’t want to do it any cheaper and if they don’t want to pay then I am avoiding what could potentially be a problem situation. My time is worth as much as theirs is at their job. Besides they often come back and ask for a machine quote and have them done that way.

Sharon in NC

Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 15:31:24 -0500 | From: Julie <quiltappraiser@>

One of the staff from the New England Quilt Museum has asked for our help. In “Love of Quilts: A Treasury of Classic Quilting Stories” by Cuesta Ray Benberry, page 328, bottom right column from year 1897: “Katzenjammer Kids” the first US comic strip. (“Katzenjammer kids” quilt pattern, many years later in the 1930s, by Laura Wheeler, a needle work pattern syndicate)

She wants to see and get a copy of the quilt pattern. Can anyone help?

While doing some research, I found that cartoon strip is still in syndication. Not only the first but longest running.

Julie Crossland AQS Certified Quilt Appraiser Hudson, NH quiltappraiser@

Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 17:14:56 -0500 | From: Anne Datko <datkoa@>

I’d like to call attention to a just-published two volume book on coverlets by Helene Bress. I know nothing about coverlets but when I thumbed through this work at my quilt guild meeting on Thursday (Helene has taken up quilting!) I was just astounded.

Helene worked on it for 20 years, and it will surely be the bible of coverlets for years to come. Deserves to be in every textile reference library.

Here is info from the website: The Coverlet Book is a two-volume hardcover boxed set. The Coverlet Book is over 1,100 pages long and contains over 1,000 photographs, over 2,000 drawdowns and over 300 diagrams. Helene Bress is also the author of: Inkle Weaving, The Macramé Book and The Weaving Book.

Visit “The Coverlet Book” Web Site for many more details. www.TheCoverletBook.com

AnneD