September 18 - 26, 2006

Quilt Block History, Quilt Dating, Quilt History Resources

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:

A $3,000 Sampler Quilt Top on eBay — A 1930s sampler top with four inch blocks reaches about $3,000, and members debate its provenance, its measurements, and what appraisers should make of the price.
Researching an Antique Sewing Machine — A member asks about an American Buttonhole, Overseaming and Sewing Machine Company machine, and others supply company history, Smithsonian trade literature, and collector forums.
Winterthur Quilt Seminar Registration — Lucinda Cawley announces that registration is open for the March 2007 quilt seminar at Winterthur and shares how to sign up by phone when the website fails.
Redwork Sets and Free Block Patterns — A borrowed set of blue redwork blocks with Mother Goose and daily-life scenes prompts a question for British members, and free PDFs of tiny Midget blocks are offered online. (see the article on redwork and outline embroidery)
Hunting for a Smithsonian Publication — A European member asks how to get a publication mentioned on the list, and another member offers to mail pages from a recent Smithsonian magazine article on the quilts.
Fundraising Auctions and Symposia — Notes go out about Alliance for American Quilts eBay auctions and a November symposium in Litchfield, Connecticut on the myths we remember.

Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 10:46:59 -0400 | From: Lucinda Cawley (lrcawley)

http://www.winterthur.org/calendar/quilts_conference.asp#workshops_tours

Today is the first day to register for the quilt seminar at Winterthur March 31, 2007. I’ve already signed up. This is definitely going to be worth a trip. Check it out. Cinda on the Eastern Shore off to Bucks County tomorrow and then on to the Jewel of the Northeast (that’s Scranton for the uninitiated) to hear David McCollough (my hero)

Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 8:07:02 -0700 | From: suereich

Thanks Cinda for the heads up. I am good to go also. Fortunately, There is a printed catalog to accompany the exhibit. We will also have information at AQSG compliments of Linda Eaton. sue

Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 12:08:55 -0400 | From: Candace Perry (candace)

Cinda, I always get stymied by their website. How does one find out the $$$? is there online registration? Candace Perry

Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 16:49:46 +0000 | From: Lynn Miner Flynn (lmf032)

I hope this is the appropriate forum to ask this question. I am trying to find information about a vintage sewing machine/table I have. The plate on the machine reads “Manufactured by the American BHO & Sewing Machine Co., Phila. PA.” And the Serial number is #101163. I have done internet searching with little success except to learn that the full name of the company was the American Buttonhole Overstitch & Sewing Machine Company. I would like to determine how old this machine and table are, and whether it is worth having restored. The machine is complete – I even have the bobbin and needle! Thanks for any help you can provide.

Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 14:50:58 -0400 | From: Candace Perry (candace)

From website:http://www.sewitgoes.net/Victc/american/amindex.htm

The American Sewing Machine Company

The company was founded Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1869 as the American Buttonhole, Overseaming and Sewing Machine Company – producing a machine that was capable of performing those functions.

In 1874 the company began producing a vibrating shuttle machine that was unusual in that it utilized a round bobbin. The machine was called the New American. The company name was shortened to the American Sewing Machine Company.

The company introduced a new model sewing machine in the mid to late 1880s: the Model 7 pictured on the cards below. However, despite the introduction of the new machine, the company was out of business by the turn of the century. —–Original Message—– From: Lynn Miner Flynn Sent: Monday, September 18, 2006 12:50 PM To: Quilt History List Subject: [qhl] Sewing Machine Question

Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 14:42:57 EDT | From: RAGLADY

http://www.sil.si.edu/digitalcollections/trade-literature/sewing-machines/browse-lists/all-scanned.htm

Just a snippet more to add to the info that Candace posted. Unfortunately, perhaps due to recent updating on the site, the links for the two scans list do not work.

Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 15:36:15 -0500 | From: Angie Helman (a.helman)

On Sep 18, 2006, at 11:49 AM, Lynn Miner Flynn wrote:

> I would like to determine how old this machine and table are, and > whether it is worth having restored. The machine is complete – I > even have the bobbin and needle! > Thanks for any help you can provide.

In addition to the information posted by Candace Perry, I would like to point you to the Treadle On website and mail list. Treadle On is a group of folks who restore & use antique and vintage sewing machines. If you have a needle and a bobbin for your machine, and don’t mind doing a bit of cleaning and oiling, chances are the machine can be restored to sewing condition. The Treadle On website has lots of resources to help you out and the mail list is full of helpful people.

http://www.treadleon.net

Info about the mail list can be found on the website.

To keep this on-topic, quilt-making is a favorite activity of many Treadle On members… <g>

Angie Helman New Orleans, LA http://www.sewitgoes.net/stanne.html

Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 17:29:41 -0400 | From: Lucinda Cawley (lrcawley)

I ended up calling Winterthur because their website refused to take my credit card info. Call 1-800-448-3883 and ask for Tours and Information Office. The charge for each workshop (one and a half to two hours) is $75.00. They will be given Friday and Sunday at 10:30 and 2:30. I think this means that each will be offered four times. Cinda

From: SoldierGrrrl (soldier.grrrl)

But since there are soooo many smart folx around here…anyone have any opinions on the Brother Disney PE-270D machine? I got sniped on a Pfaff auction, and I’m just kinda browsing ebay. I really wanted the Pfaff for the IDT, but…ah well. Not having much luck there and I’d like to be able to make a somewhat informed decision.

Thanks!

From: nan adams

Check out www.needlebar.com for information on antique machines in the Forum section, and there are people at the Treadleon list at Quiltropolis who have American brand machines and may also give some more information to you. Nancy in Western Md

From: Ark Quilts

There is an interesting quilt on eBay item # 190031548517. It is a 1930’s (?) sampler quilt with 4″ blocks. I thought several people on the list serve might like to see it.

Connie Ark where Fall is in NW Ohio

From: Mitzioakes

Hi! I’m addressing this to you as you seem to be pretty up on quilting items and such, and I hope that ours on this list will read this too. I volunteer at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont as a quilt demo/live body person in their current quilt displays. Yesterday a lovely lady from Wales approached me and wondered if there were any books at all on the very basics of how to make quilt in the English language (that is United Kingdom wordings.) She wants to make a quilt for her new DIL but cannot understand the few books she had found in Wales (and she said there were no fabric shops like we know in Wales). Also she must be looking for a book that would have metric measurements – I am assuming that the metric method is used in Wales as it is in most of Europe. If any one could send me some places to look, I would dearly appreciate it – I am very willing to buy some of basic books and mail them to her – if only I could find some. Have always found great help on this list and my fingers are crossed now to continue that help. Mitzi from Vermont ps – this lady had never even looked a computer screen so that avenue for her was out. (her hubbie dear did play with electronics somewhat now and then.)

Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2006 15:05:44 -0500 | From: Barbara Vlack (cptvdeo)

Connie offered: <<There is an interesting quilt on eBay item # 190031548517. It is a 1930’s (?) sampler quilt with 4″ blocks. I thought several people on the list serve might like to see it.>>

I know a tiny bit about this quilt because I bid against the (now) seller when she bought it. Actually, she sniped me in the last 10 seconds of the auction. I was willing to go top dollar for this top, which was, in hindsight, very impulsive.

In a way I was relieved that I didn’t get it, though I had thought to use it as a sampler to publish. Well, the (then) buyer had the same idea. After she received the quilt from the seller, she photographed it and documented it. Then she had the gall to offer it back to me for the winning bid price. No, thank you.

It is this quilt that is up for auction now. I know, because I kept the eBay documentation for it from the auction I lost as a reminder to me that I don’t have to own every 30s quilt that catches my attention no matter how special it may seem to be. VBG

Note that this is a quilt TOP. The seller says she wants to recover her original cost from that “infamous” auction, so expect to pay a LOT more than what the bid is right now. I’ll be interested to see how high the bidding goes. It will be a testament to just how impulsive I was, yet someone else was moreso.

I have a smirky grin. Goes around and comes around sort of thing.

Barb Vlack cptvdeo I am proud to be participating in the Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilts auction. For more info, go to www.AlzQuilts.com .

Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2006 14:02:00 -0700 | From: suereich

On November 17, The Litchfield Historical Society, Litchfield, CT will host an interesting Symposium Called “Inventing Our Past: What, How, and Why We Remember.” Myths pervade our culture and influence perceptions. As museum professionals, educators, archivists, and curators, our work has served to both perpetuate and dispel those myths. Scholars are increasingly studying not only our past, but the changing ways in which we remember it. This symposium will explore that interest, and present varied perspective on memory. Subsequent talks will tale participants from the Revolutionary War to the colonial revival, from the antique show to the museum gallery, to learn about memory from the varied viewpoints of curators, professors, educators, and historians. http://www.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org/calendar/nov.html Just an fyi, sue reich

From: JLHfw

Dear Mitzi, Quiltmania magazine is available in both English and French now. Perhaps there might be quilts in one of their issues that would be appropriate for a beginner. Measurements are in meters and centimeters as well as inches. Hope this helps. Janet in Fort Worth

Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2006 07:41:06 -0500 | From: Barbara Vlack (cptvdeo)

I just checked the bidding, and I am amazed. It’s 7 a.m. CDST on Saturday. The bidding is up to $2999 and the reserve has just been met.

I didn’t think this would be possible. I’m eating crow. I KNEW what the reserve price was. There are now at least three of us that have been compulsive enough to go that high for that quilt TOP. I was stopped at this point the last time this quilt was offered and lost the quilt to a higher bidder, who is now the seller. There’s still a day to go, so is it possible it will fetch even more?????? I’m fascinated. This quilt top is turning out to more than pay for itself.

We’re talking about eBay item #190031548517.

The seller has documented this quilt and self-published a book of its patterns. She is offering a free block of the week from this quilt on her website and has just started the series. Only 186 blocks to go after this Week 1. If you can’t wait for the whole series, you can buy the book. Her website for what she is calling “Midget Blocks” is http://sentimentalstitches.net/free-stuff/midget-blocks/ Thank you, Irene, for helping me find this site.

I believe all of the blocks are from newspaper offerings in the 30s. They have all been published before and are available from many sources.

The charm of this quilt top is the size of the blocks (4 1/2″ finished); the intricacy of some of the piecing, which was done by hand; the many vintage 30s fabrics that were used; the labeling of each block with its embroidered name (or the pencil markings intended for embroidery), and the sheer impact of so many blocks in one quilt (not unlike a Dear Jane).

There appears to be a limited provenance for this quilt. It was found in a canning cupboard in someone’s basement in California. The maker is unknown.

If I owned this quilt, I would want publishing rights. I’m not sure, but they seem to be a bit cloudy, since this seller already published a book of patterns from this quilt. But the patterns are public domain. It’s the quilt top itself that is not.

What do appraisers make of this quilt top? What does the fact of a previous winning auction bid of $3000 do for the appraised value of this quilt top? I have a curious mind.

Barb Vlack cptvdeo I am proud to be participating in the Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilts auction. For more info, go to www.AlzQuilts.com .

From: Karen Musgrave

The Alliance for American Quilts (www.centerforthequilt.org) eBay auction ending tomorrow is a great one! You will find an incredible crazy quilt donated by Member Marilyn Woodin. I love the story behind it.We will also have The Poster Book of Quilts by Thomas Woodard and Blanche Greenstein, Quilts by Judy Wentworth, A Garden of Quilts by Mary Elizabeth Johnson and Always Remember: The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilts, all donated by Member Merikay Waldvogel. You may check the auction by going to http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZalliancequilts or by searching under the seller name (alliancequilts). Remember new items are available every week and these auctions are bringing in much needed funds.

Thanks, Karen Musgrave

Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2006 08:25:51 -0700 | From: Julia Zgliniec (rzglini1)

Dear QHL,

Barbara Vlack wrote:

What do appraisers make of this quilt top? What does the fact of a previous winning auction bid of $3000 do for the appraised value of this quilt top? I have a curious mind.

I’ll comment here. When unusual quilts come up on ebay, I “watch” the items and print or save the unformation to use for records of sale for comparable quilts. Auction records are ONE source for records of sale and the conditions of a particular auction always need to be considered. The fact that THIS quilt top has approached it’s previous sale price and may even surpass it this time suggests the market value for this quilt top. Disclaimer – I have not seen this item “in the cloth” nor gotten a feel of the goods – so I cannot comment further except to say that in my mind this top is a 20th century version of the Jane Stickle quilt as Barbara has pointed out and becuase patterns have been drafted and printed from the top, quilts made of “Midget Blocks” are sure to appear. This now becomes part of the provenance of this top – it is the prototype for patterns and a publication.

Regards to all, Julia Zgliniec, Appraiser, certified by the American Quilter’s Society and member of PAAQT ( Professional Assoc. of Appraisers- Quilted Textiles)

Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2006 10:23:15 -0700 (PDT) | From: Kris Driessen (krisdriessen)

I hope you don’t mind if I quickly interrupt this discussion – I promise I will be quick:-))

A local woman brought in a bunch of art quilt and embroidery books which she wanted me to Ebay for her. Before I do that, I thought I would give y’all first choice. They are at http://www.quiltweb.com/needlework.htm if you would like to take a look.

Just let me know if you want something, I will pull it out of the box.

Kris

Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2006 14:29:39 -0400 | From: Beth Davis (bethdan533)

Hi Barb, re: “The bidding is up to $2999 and the reserve has just been met. I didn’t think this would be possible. I’m eating crow. I KNEW what the reserve price was. There are now at least three of us that have been compulsive enough to go that high for that quilt TOP. I was stopped at this point the last time this quilt was offered and lost the quilt to a higher bidder, who is now the seller. There’s still a day to go, so is it possible it will fetch even more?????? I’m fascinated. This quilt top is turning out to more than pay for itself.”

-As Julia mentions, we tend to watch the auctions of unusual quilts, especially when the bidding goes so high. But if the auction price is out of sync with other similar quilts, I would question it.

What I find rather interesting on this quilt top, is that the highest bidder has only a short feedback history and none of them are quilts or textiles…. only what appears to be motorcycle parts. Also that the bid goes from $920 to $2999. Usually, doesn’t it show in bidding history, that there are multiple bids if a person bids yet don’t hit the reserve price? It just seems a large bid difference, if you are trying to put down the minimum bid yet feeling for that reserve price. I just find this odd.

Another question I have is, if you wrote a book on the particular quilt, publishing patterns, wouldn’t you want to keep the top as reference, or in case you are asked to present a class or lecture on the quilt pattern, to use to display?

Regards, Beth Davis AQS Certified Appraiser

Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2006 12:10:13 -0700 | From: suereich

I believe this quilt has been listed before on Ebay. I think it has actually doubled in price from the last time it was sold. If not the exact quilt then something very close to it with small 4″ blocks. During the 1930s, there were so many quilt blocks published in local papers across the U.S. The quiltmaker was keeping an amazing document for herself and for quilt researcher by embroidering the pattern names. sue reich

Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2006 21:42:05 -0800 | From: Gloria hanrahan (gloria)

I also noticed that except for one bidder, there were low numbers with the feedback. I do know that my husband found it easier to just use my account than to set up his own, which might account for someone bidding for a very different type of item. You would find lots of quilts in my feedback and all of the sudden a manual for a car would have appeared.

Could be? I’d still love to see this.

Gloria

Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2006 00:57:58 -0500 | From: Barbara Vlack (cptvdeo)

I have another question regarding this quilt and its provenance.

Julia wrote: <<Disclaimer – I have not seen this item “in the cloth” nor gotten a feel of the goods – so I cannot comment further except to say that in my mind this top is a 20th century version of the Jane Stickle quilt as Barbara has pointed out and because patterns have been drafted and printed from the top, quilts made of “Midget Blocks” are sure to appear. This now becomes part of the provenance of this top – it is the prototype for patterns and a publication. >>

Is this quilt really the prototype for patterns? Perhaps it is a prototype for the layout and for a publication. The patterns were already published in the 30s, as noted by the seller. ALL of the pieced block patterns, as far as I can recognize them from the photo, are in BlockBase2, the CD version of Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns.

I am most interested in Julia’s comment: <<The fact that THIS quilt top has approached it’s previous sale price and may even surpass it this time suggests the market value for this quilt top.>> I’m still amazed that it could draw the exorbitant (IMHO) price twice! And there was a jump of over $2000 between the current high bid and the recorded previous high bid. This could be one person bidding over and over in order to uncover the reserve price. Or one person who took a very big shot to uncover the reserve, and that’s the standing price as I write this.

Barb Vlack cptvdeo I am proud to be participating in the Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilts auction. For more info, go to www.AlzQuilts.com .

Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2006 09:36:05 -0700 | From: Julia Zgliniec (rzglini1)

Good Morning Barbara and QHL, Barbara – quite right, although the patterns have been published before, THIS top is the prototype, example, model, whatever word you want to use, for the publication of “Midget Blocks” . It is still provenance.

Barbara also wrote:

I’m still amazed that it could draw the exorbitant (IMHO) price twice!

Yes, me too. This situation illustrates perfectly why auction prices are only one factor taken into account when trying to place a value on a particular item. The circumstances of auctions differ – for example items sold at charity auctions may reflect a higher winning bid because of a desire to donate or raise money for that particular charity. I know this is not the case here. I am just giving an example of why an appraiser uses many sources for comparable values.

The appraiser also must be objective and not let his/her preferances interfere with a marketplace evaluation.

I hope others will join this dialog.

Julia Zgliniec

Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2006 14:35:33 -0500 | From: Gail Ingram (gingram)

Dear Friends,

I have new email address: gingram.

If we have exchanged personal emails before or you wish to be listed in my address book, please send me your email address. I shall be grateful.

No, this was not a simple “choice.” It resulted from crashed hard drive, first I’ve ever experienced since I purchased my first computer in 1993, and an ill-informed tech support person.

Traumatized, Gail Ingram

Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2006 22:01:32 -0400 | From: Teddy Pruett (aprayzer)

<<What do appraisers make of this quilt top? What does the fact of a previous winning auction bid of $3000 do for the appraised value of this quilt top?>>

Low supply – one known. PLUS High demand – I’d guess that 80% of the list would love to own that top – and I’m not even a fan of feedsacks. EQUALS – high value. Simple, ain’t it??

SOmeone e-mailed me about my tagline. SHe said the way to get out of the tormado was to land on a witch, but it’s pretty durn hard to land on oneself.

Teddy Pruett Dear Dorothy: How did you get out of the tornado? I can’t seem to find the secret! www.teddypruett.com

Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 13:21:53 +1000 | From: quiltstuff

In a way , the fact the owner chooses to sell the top may indicate some short sightedness. For instance, if she published a book using the top ..a la Dear Jane, then it would be good to retain the top if you got to travel and lecture on the book. Of course, you may either not have sold as many books as you thought or need the money for other reasons.

I used to fund my quilt collecting by writing up instructions for magazines using my ‘new’ old quilts. It worked very well. Suzy Atkins

From: “Julia Zgliniec” rzglini1

Barbara – quite right, although the patterns have been published before, THIS top is the prototype, example, model, whatever word you want to use, for the publication of “Midget Blocks” . It is still provenance.

Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 14:23:51 +1000 | From: Lorraine Olsson (sven)

The fact that this quilt was listed on Ebay at the same time as a book is to be released ……… Am I cynical, or is this a new marketing campaign? Was it a real sale? How many more people know about the new book now? I know for sure that if I had the quilt top, and had turned it into a book, I would not be letting the piece out of my grips.

I’ll go back into my box now

Cheers, Lorraine in Oz

Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 04:49:40 -0700 (PDT) | From: Ark Quilts (quiltarkmv)

I tried to contact Catherine Litwinow RE: her question about Smithsonian Controversy….her individual email addressed bounced. If she is on the list please contact me at quiltarkmv. I have some information for her. Connie Ark in NW Ohio

Note: forwarded message attached.

Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 00:18:14 -0500 | From: Jean Carlton (jeancarlton)

I know we’ve probably exhausted this top for discussion but I just looked at the end result and noticed something….How can the top measure 56″ x 83″ with eight 4″ blocks across and eleven down – and a sash that can’t be more than 1″ as it compares to the block size?

Jean

Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 22:34:48 +1000 | From: Lorraine Olsson (sven)

How can the top measure 56″ x 83″ with eight 4″ blocks across and eleven down – and a sash that can’t be more than 1″ as it compares to the block size?

The top is folded over in the first pic, scroll down and the full top is shown. I made the same mistake to start with.

Lorraine in Oz

Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 15:09:30 -0500 | From: Steve & Jean Loken (sandjloken)

To our British members, mainly, I have (borrowed) a set of redwork blocks (actually done in blue). There appear to be two series in the set. One is based on Mother Goose rhymes. The second set is of daily activities. That latter one makes me suspect they are British in origin, as several of the designs look it. One is called “foot ball” and shows two children kicking a clearly round ball. Another is called “sharing it up” and shows a girl with two bottles of milk under her arm and a cat beside her. None of us have never heard that particular phrase. The other subjects are “wash day”, “see saw”, “serenading”, ‘piano lesson”, “fishing”, “gold fish digger”, “before the mirror”, “taking her picture”, “at school” “going bye bye” and ‘playtime”. Most show animals in the activities. All the titles are upper case block letters. The Mother Goose blocks have the words in upper and lower case letters, and the costumes of the characters are very European in style, including short pants and often, pointed (conical) hats. There are about a dozen in each set. Does anyone recognize these series? We had set our LLQSG subject as series quilts and had many examples of them, but none of the indexed sets included designs like these. I can attempt to post then to the eboard if someone requests it. So far I haven’t photographed them, because they don’t belong to me, but I had sort of promised the owner that in exchange for showing them I would try to find out their origin. Thanks, Jean in MN

Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 18:16:02 EDT | From: Karen Evans

Received this day. Don’t know if anyone’s going to be around during this, but I’m considering going on the 21st.

Karen Evans

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 07:55:30 -0500 | From: Barbara Vlack (cptvdeo)

Funny (maybe), but I have records of this quilt labeled for my own amusement as “THAT sampler quilt,” and I remember exactly what I’m talking about.

Lorraine questioned whether this eBay sale might be a marketing ploy, and I think the story may have gotten a little confused (or else I am). I had written that there was a book of patterns of this quilt self-published by the seller. It is being sold on her web site, but I have not seen it offered elsewhere. I wouldn’t know about any future publishing release.

I just did a search on “Midget Blocks,” the title of her book, and came up with two links to her website and a bunch of other sites relating to miniature cars.

I’m curious about why there weren’t more bids for this item, first to get to the reserve and then to top it. There was a giant leap from the bid of $900-something to the end bid of $2999.

But all of that is just for the sake of discussion and curiosity. It is a very interesting quilt and it will be duplicated since the patterns are available. All I have to do is look at the collection of patterns in the quilt and I have them in my computer resources anyway — to any size I please! Before quilt designing software, all those patterns would have been drafted on paper, and that would have been quite a chore.

From the one block posted on the seller’s website, I’m pretty sure she’s using EQ software to generate her patterns. That’s fine and allowable. Nearly all the blocks are already in the BlockBase program. More power to her.

Barb Vlack cptvdeo I am proud to be participating in the Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilts auction. For more info, go to www.AlzQuilts.com .

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 15:03:08 +0200 | From: Margareta.Faust

Xenia, could you tell how to get this publication? I’ve tried to look for it on google, amazon etc. but no luck. Thanks, Margareta in Europe

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 10:32:59 EDT | From: RAGLADY

Hi folks Not only is Gayle making her book on “Midget” blocks available for purchase on her website, she is also making available *for free* PDFs of the block patterns on her site to all visitors/quilters. She plans to post one or two blocks each week for the entire series.

I do not personally know the lady, but do know that she owned a brick and mortar quilt store in MI for quite a number of years; it had an excellent reputation. Last year she decided to close the store. I wrote her to ask if it would be okay for my cyber-quilting bee list to use her “Midget” block patterns as a group project for my list members. She wrote back and said yes and in email exchanges she said she decided that she wanted to do more pattern designing and work on building her website and online store.

Very nice lady and I think it is terrific that she is freely sharing the quilt block patterns with the internet quilting community.

Gloria raglady Barb V wrote: Lorraine questioned whether this eBay sale might be a marketing ploy, and I think the story may have gotten a little confused (or else I am). I had written that there was a book of patterns of this quilt self-published by the seller. It is being sold on her web site, but I have not seen it offered elsewhere. I wouldn’t know about any future publishing release.

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 | From: Laura Fisher (laurafisherquilts)

Alright–I confess, even though one is not supposed to reveiw emails til late in the day, otherwise they distract and delay getting down to real work—I confess, I peeked. So what is the number of this much discussed quilt top already — the comments all mention it, but as far as I can see no one posted the ebay # !! Thanks. Laura Fisher

p,s, does anyone in the wool quilts roundtable want to swap. I made my requests too late, and………..

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 18:52:56 -0400 | From: joan kiplinger (jkip)

The latest issue of the Smithsonian has an article on these quilts with many large color photos. If anyone would like these pages for research, I would be glad to mail them to you.

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 20:48:18 EDT | From: JLHfw

Dear Laura, It is/was item # 190031548517 Janet in Fort Worth