September 23 – October 1, 2003
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:
- Confederate Quilt Names Debate Continues — The Stonewall Jackson/Robert E. Lee block-naming thread continues with corrections about Mary Custis Lee and a member’s extended computer-crash catch-up post.
- Irish Chain Pattern History — Members compare notes on the origin of the Irish Chain pattern name for a short article-in-progress.
- Underground Railroad Sampler Marketing — A commercial quilt-in-a-day book pairs the UGRR quilt-code legend with a sampler pattern, reviving the myth-versus-marketing discussion. (see the article on Underground Railroad quilts)
- Fabric Merchant Spam Warning — A member flags an unsolicited fabric-merchant email and others share what they know about the business.
- Wool Batting Questions Begin — A member new to New England quilting asks about antique quilts made with wool batting, opening the thread that continues into the next digest. (see the article on quilt batting)
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 08:46:31 -0400 | From: Beth Donaldson <quilts@>
Here is a quote from Mary Schafer and Her Quilts by Gwen Marston and Joe Cunningham (you can purchase this book at http://35.8.122.90/MTAPStore/category.asp?time=104029&category=QOT.) This passage refers to the unfinished quilts that Mary Schafer acquired and finished after the death of her friend Betty Harriman. “Because each woman was working on a “Lee Rose and Buds” at the time Betty died, and because Betty’s quilt top was partially marked for quilting, Mary started that project first. The quilt top was made from one of the many old patterns that Betty had collected. According to Betty’s notes, the pattern was taken from a quilt ‘made in 1852 by Mother and Grandmother or Cousin Mamie Lee. Mamie Lee was born [in] 1860, the night Abraham Lincoln was elected President…Quilt now owned by Robert E. Lee, son of Mamie Lee…This old quilt is in perfect condition and very beautiful.’ Although Mary’s and Betty’s quilts were made from the same pattern, the two quiltmakers took contrasting approaches. Betty copied the faded tones of the original fabrics with antique, delicate colors, while Mary used bolder colors. Betty replicated the dense complicated quilting designs of the original, while Mary drafted her own. Betty followed the layout, the number of blocks, and the three sided border of the 1852 quilt, while Mary established a new balance and symmetry in her replica.”
Beth Donaldson Quilt Collections Assistant Great Lakes Quilt Center at the Michigan State University Museum 201 Central Services East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1045 quilt line: 517-432-3800 quilts@ http://museum.@/glqc/index.html
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 09:44:54 -0400 | From: Palampore@
We survived the hurricane well at our house. Finally talked with Pepper yesterday and she said the same. But, we know that many of our neighbors north of us can’t say the same. My husband and I went up to the lower part of the Outer Banks yesterday to check on his relatives and it was a repeat of 4yrs. ago with Floyd—sofa, chairs, mattresses, wet carpet, etc. sitting by the roads all over the place. I took copies of my sheets on washing stuff after a flood, but I felt that I was probably too late. If any of you know folks who are looking for info. on washing flood damaged textiles click here for the article I wrote 4 yrs. ago.
I have a very good friend on Hatteras. I am sure she will have tales to tell. She just moved there with her preacher husband in June. During the storm I worked on the research on cleaning products for quilts. The storm slowed down the progress on the orange/teal quilt downloads, but that will be finished the end of the week. (Our computer person was downloading them last Wed.but had to stop so he could put plywood over the windows to our shop…) Off to work more on the cleaning product research. Lynn Lancaster Gorges Historic Textiles Studio New Bern, NC (35 miles from the coast of NC) textilepreservation.com
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 13:07:43 -0400 | From: Trimble4@
All this discussion of famous personages has got me thinking…and now I’m looking for information on Ms. Eliza Jane Trimble Thompson. I have very little information about her, so am basically starting from scratch. Have any of you read anything about her, or do you know of any research you might be able to steer me toward?
I thank the book, Hearts and Hands, and those who wrote it, for sending me down this path. If you don’t own this book, find it.
Appreciate any help you might pass on. Lori East
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 15:21:42 -0400 | From: <mreich@>
This description of an 1883 Crazy quilt is probably my favorite. It identifies favorite colors of the time and the reasons why, and describes blocks in detail. Enjoy! sue reich
Newark Daily Advocate Newark, OH. June 29, 1883 A Poem of Patches ——————-
A Symphony in Samples of Silk and Satin
A Patchwork Quilt of Quaint and Arabesque Pattern and Artistic Unity of Design
National Republican Mrs. John C. Mulford, wife of the clerk at the Arlington hotel, has finished a “patchwork quilt” that is not merely a quilt, but a work of art. It is a poem in patches—a symphony in samples of silk and satin. It is seven feet square, and is composed of forty-nine different blocks, arranged in rows, each row separated by a division ribbon of dark red satin, and each block divided from each other by a ribbon border of the same texture and hue. Around the whole is a border of drab red satin, traversed by seven rows of stitching in various silks. The pieces are chiefly silk, with many of satin and a few of velvet. There are about one thousand pieces in the quilt, and every piece has a history. There are in it samples of silk from a wedding dress made hundreds of year ago in England, when the looms wove silk as enduring as time.
There are in it specimens of the latest styles of gentlemen’s cravats. And between these two epochs are hundreds of pieces of different times and all possible shades of color, arranged in blocks of a general arabesque pattern, the whole presenting a unity of design that is marvelously symmetrical, and a blending and shading of colors that is artistic in the highest degree. Only an artist with a firm, bold hand, a quick, accurate eye and a true perception of the harmonies of art could have made it. Some of the pieces are mere shreds in size, and none of them are large. With these materials are displayed taste and judgment, and the result is not merely a quaint quilt, but all arabesque in art. The blending of the colors is the most admirable feature of the whole work. The arrangement of the pieces are equally satisfactory. The general result obtained is consequently artistic.
Two of the squares contain a piece of brocade silk of the now fashionable color, “crushed strawberry.” It came from the wedding dress of Mrs. Mulford’s great-grand-mother, and is 110 years old. Another square contains a fragment of her own wedding dress. Still another holds a small section of her husband’s wedding vest, one of those patterns in light silk which were fashionable before the war, and which, having gone out of fashion, had been replaced by nothing half so elegant either in texture or in style. Again, another block has a piece of the wedding-dress of Mrs. Mulford’s bridemaid, Miss Sherman, with her initials worked in it. This is the only block in the whole quilt which Mrs. Mulford did not work with her own hands. Hundreds of these pieces were sent to Mrs. Mulford by her friends. One block is called the “Beach block,” because the wife of Hon. Lewis Beach, of New York, contributed most of the pieces in it. The predominant colors here are purple, crimson, black, light blue, green and others. In our corner a crescent moon, attended by stars, gleams out from a field of blue. In the center a cluster of leaves is beautifully worked. Very much of the work is difficult needle-work, done by Mrs. Mulford.
Many of the pieces have various designs painted on them by the same lady, whose abilities as an artist are highly appreciated by her friends. Another block contains a piece of Thomas Jefferson’s carriage lining, which, despite that president’s well-known democracy, was of silk. The Japanese embassy sent another block. On one of the pieces in this block is painted the minister’s name in the strange, uncouth Japanese characters. Mrs. Malone sent some pieces, which were arranged in handsome block. In this occurs one of the few pieces of velvet in the quilt. One block contains a piece on which is scratched a life-like sketch of the fox and the stork, at the famous dinner where the fox was worsted. The expression given to the expectant but disappointed fox is perfect. He is sitting on his haunches, licking his chops, while the stork, with his bill deep into the narrow-necked jug, seems to say briskly and hospitality, “Help yourself brother Reynard!”
In another square the sagacious starling is dropping into a pitcher the pebbles that will enable him finally to take a drink. In one block is a piece of silk from the curtains of the White House. Some of the blocks have in them pieces of silk which were not made in this country. C. Lambert, the silk manufacturer of Peterson, N. J., in importing patterns from England, has sent samples to Mrs. Mulford to be worked in the quilt. Mr. Lambert was so struck by the “crushed strawberry” silk of 110 years ago that he manufactured a quantity exactly like it.
In one of the squares “Little Boy Blue” is blowing his horn in all the glory of the Kensington stitch, and in another a little girl on a stile seems to be in doubt which side of the fence to come down on. A very elegant block contains a piece of imported English silk, in which a perfect strawberry, with a cap still on, appeals to the eye for approval of its perfect shape. One block holds a number of elephants. Another has pieces sent by Senator Platt’s son, a part of his cravat, in which little pigs with a ring in their tails, are ambling along with a larger ring on their backs.
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 15:21:42 -0400 [date inferred — no Date: header in source] | From: Gail Ingram <gingram@>
Don,
Thanks so much for sharing with the list the information you received re Confederate quilts.
I was particularly interested to learn of the Stonewall Jackson pattern listed by the Ladies Art Co in 1890. Was it the practice of most pattern sellers to sell only original patterns developed by them? Or did they sometimes draft and sell traditional patterns?
Reading over your lists of people for whom quilts had been named, I realized that women appear to outnumber men by a large measure. Somehow I found that reassuring about the women (and most were women) who made those quilts. It suggests a healthy regard for people of their own gender. They might have had few women political heroines available to them (using the world “political” in its broadest sense), but they found women whose lives embodied qualities of courage and duty and honor.
It is not unusual that the act of memorializing national heroes in quilt blocks and quilts died out after WW II. The last half of the 20th century was the era of the anti-hero, a rather cynical time in general. I think 9/11 reminded us that Americans were capable of extraordinary acts of courage and selflessness. Coming at a time when quilting appears to be gaining in popularity, even among the very young, it does indeed suggest, as you note, that the ground is” ripe for us all to continue this great tradition.”
Thanks for sharing so generously the information you have gleaned.
Gail
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 15:21:42 -0400 [date inferred — no Date: header in source] | From: “Kathy Moore”
With regard to the comments by Gail in today’s digest: “And I’ve never encountered a southern woman’s journal during this period in which some mention was not made about a quilt being made for “selling chances,” I have a question.
Has anyone read Mary Chestnut’s Diary? Did you find any reference to quilting? I’ve been scanning it periodically and I can’t find a reference to it. This used to be considered a reliable source of information about women’s lives during that terrible wahr! Any comments would be appreciated.
Kathy Moore
Subject: Re: Gail’s comments re southern women’s journals From: Gail Ingram
> > With regard to the comments by Gail in today’s digest: “And I’ve never > encountered a southern woman’s journal during this period in which some > mention was not made about a quilt being made for “selling chances,” I have > a question. > > Has anyone read Mary Chestnut’s Diary? Did you find any reference to > quilting? I’ve been scanning it periodically and I can’t find a reference to > it. This used to be considered a reliable source of information about > women’s lives during that terrible wahr! Any comments would be appreciated. > > Kathy Moore >
Kathy, I have Mary C in hand and will skim for such references. Yet, I suspect you are right re Chestnut herself. She was a woman meant for a grand salon—highly intelligent, exceptionally well read, deeply involved in politics and society, and of a kind of society that I don’t think really existed in Virginia, for all its history and wealth. Her station and her deeply intellectual aspirations would have been unlikely to dispose her to quilting.
I note that when she mentions meeting Mrs. R.E. Lee and Mrs. J. Davis, she observes nothing of their philanthropic activities, though both met regularly each week to make quilts for charity bazaars and auctions and to sew bandages and knit socks, and they gave freely of their time and presences for charity. Both women, though married to important men, were of simpler manners and dispositions than those of the Carolinian.
They were, moreover, more “domestic,” being parents as well as wives. Chestnut, childless, seems to have seen herself in many ways as outside the world of such women. Her childlessness haunted her, driving her to define herself in ways beyond the domestic. So the absence of comment on such activities might result from M.C.’s point of view
Interestingly, when I wrote so broadly—too broadly, obviously—I thought about Chestnut and could not imagine her quilting for charity.
Yet her diary’s failure to note such an activity does not mean Chestnut did not at some time engage in it. Her diary was begun in 1861 and was deeply revised over a long period, especially throughout the 1880’s, after she had worked diligently and unsuccessfully at writing novels. When, at last, she began to revise the journal , she edited both broadly and purposefully, omitting many, many details that did not suit what she perceived to be her theme or that would present her in a light other than the one she chose. And she chose to present herself rather like a neo Roman matron, I think.
In “Within the Plantation Household: Black & White Women of the Old South,” Elizabeth Fox-Genovese observes that Chestnut “had her sights set on authorship in the grand manner. Her diary would permit her to marry the charms and ambitions of the belle to the command and ambitions of the military officer or statesman.”(p.348) Fox-Genovese observes that Chestnut sought to produce a diary that would be essentially intellectual, dealing with the destiny of nations. That desire would necessarily omit many homely, domestic incidents.
“Brokenburn: The Journal of Kate Stone,” written by a woman who lived in North Louisiana delta of the Mississippi River, is also typical of such diaries. The revision was extensive, purposeful, done over a long period of time, and sometimes (often, Ms. Stone’s relatives declared) belied reality as it was portrayed in letters and unedited journals.
Yet, I really don’t think I’ve encountered many (note the qualifier this time!) women’s unedited journals or papers in archives that did not include some allusion to such activities. Certainly letters of the time are filled with mentions of charity quilting.
The University of North Carolina archives are a particularly rich source for such narratives and letters, and both the footnotes and bibliography in Fox-Genovese’s monumental work (above) will suggest the breadth of materials, published and unpublished, now available for study of a question such as the one of charity quilting. The LSU Center for Southern Studies catalogs more domestic items each year and is a good resource.The University of Virginia archives once contained daguerreotypes of prominent women like the wives of Confederate cabinet members and military officers quilting. As I recall Lee’s daughter Mildred was in one.
But such charitable quilting activities were not conducted only south of the Mason-Dixon line.
As for “that terrible wahr!” it was, in fact, terrible, and a people who have survived a war on their home land do not forget that or find themselves able to treat it lightly. President Bush, in an interview with Brit Hume aired last night, stressed that point in relation to Germany’s position on the war in Iraq. Charleston, Columbia, Richmond, and Petersburg looked like the bombed-out ruins of German cities by the end of the Civil War.An entire generation of young men was decimated. Women were left to mourn dead husbands and sons who would never grow to full manhood. A generation of young women had a disproportionately large number who would never know the satisfactions of marriage or family or motherhood. Family lines deadended. Poverty was everywhere. An entire land had to be rebuilt.
It was at horrendous costs that the issues of state sovereignty, regional economic conflict, and human slavery were settled.in the American Civil War.These were national issues. The thorniest of them to solve became an American issue in 1619, when the first African slaves were brought to Jamestown, and it remained an American, not a Southern, issue in the years to come. In 1643 five New England vessels transported fish to Spain. Four took payment in Sherry and Madiera which was shipped to England. The fifth took payment in slaves, who were sold as commodities in England. From that, eventually developed he Triangular Trade, centered in Massachusetts and Connecticut, which was conducted not in Southern shipping vessels and served the economic interests not merely of the southern colonies. (In this trade, American merchants bought sugar and rum in the West Indies, then shipped the rum to Africa, where it was traded for African slaves that were then sold in America.) I personally haven’t the slightest doubt that had the terrain and climate of New England lent itself to large-scale cotton and sugar production, slavery would have become an established part of life there. Such, alas, is the power of greed within mankind and the indifference to brotherhood that it can breed. Whether it is in the sweatshops of the East or the cotton fields of the South, man has demonstrated a frightening capacity for dehumanizing his fellows.
After 9/11, the American President, speaking in the National Cathedral, said of a more recent cataclysm originating in such a capacity: “God’s signs are not always the ones we look for. We learn in tragedy that His purposes are not always our own. Yet the prayers of private suffering….are known and heard, and understood.” What the South was privileged to learn in the Civil War was not what history books often recognize. We learned humility in the face of a transcendent and often inscrutable power.We learned the limits of man’s power. Those are lessons generally reserved for people who lose, not win, battles, and I personally can imagine no more important lessons.
In the lives of Lee and Jackson, I see the recognition of these lessons and of the power given to the humble. Thus, I would consider it a lesson in humility to make a quilt honoring either man.
Finally, may I suggest for any who might take lightly the real meaning of any war a little poem written by a Quaker conscientious objector from Long Island who served as a military nurse, Walt Whitman—-“Come Up from the Fields, Father.” (www.civilwar@/comeup.htm) It is a piece that has always recalled compassion to me when I have found myself in a contentious spirit. Think I will go read it again right now.
Gail
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 15:21:42 -0400 [date inferred — no Date: header in source] | From: Donald Beld
> Gail, in your note about Jackson and Lee, you commented that Mary Lee > (R.E.Lee’s wife as “related” to Martha Washington. She in fact was her > great-grand-daughter, the daughter of George Washington Custis. George > Washington adopted grand-son and Martha Washington’s grand-son. It is another > of the great ironies of American history that the Custis/Lee Masion and > plantation–Arlington House–was expropriated by the Federal Government during > the Civil War for a cemetary. The Lee’s never were compensated for giving up > their home. Martha Washington’s son built Arlington just up the Potomac River > so that he could be near George and Martha. > > Mary Custis Lee freed her slaves before the war. Stonewall Jackson came from > an extremely poor family. Neither of them were advocates of slavery; but of > state’s rights. Anyway, we don’t have to fight the war again, thank God! > > I love the history of quilting and the history of our country that it > reflects. Don Beld > > Don, my point entirely. We are one country. Our sins and our glories are shared. And we all won that war.
I myself was born in a world alive to the horror of war, in a community where many families had lost their sons (one of them lost 3 of 4) to a war in Europe and Asia. Each night of my young life I prayed for that family and for the children of Germany and Japan, with whom I must, my mother would tell me, create a new world, one where parents did not weep over lost sons and children slept soundly and warm under quilts made by their grandmothers. In time she saw to it that I had both a German and a Japanese penpal so, I suspect, I would not grow up vainly believing success was the mark of virtue.
Writing in the 1960’s, the short story writer Flannery O’Connor, a Roman Catholic, said that African-Americans were specially blessed by God because their history taught them that lesson, precluded that particular version of vanity. How else could a Rosa Parks or a Martin Luther King have found courage to assert their dignity and demand justice in an era where the very color of their skin had precluded most commonly accepted notions of success?
I hope you will show us photos of the Parks quilt. What a terrific plan! The use of the old pattern Job’s Tears is especially brilliant—-not a bit sentimental, either, for Rosa Parks never fell prey to the arguments of Job’s comforters, did she? That’s a quilt I hope you will share with the list.
Gail
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 15:21:42 -0400 [date inferred — no Date: header in source] | From: “Candace Perry”
I had a major computer crash that kept me out of of the loop for a couple of weeks, so I’ve just been getting caught up. Out of curiosity I took a look at the NJ State Museum’s website. It seemed pretty sophisticated and up to date (a big challenge for museums, believe me, to keep it timely) but in my humble opinion, is quite oriented toward their school programming (common in state museums) and the sorts of things that might interest families/school children/teachers. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, as our esteemed Mr. Seinfeld might say, HOWEVER…that is where the bulk of their efforts are going. I am sure they have a mandate that they must serve this audience. What I think would be most interesting, regarding this entire rather sad situation, is a conversation with their PR/marketing person — if he/she actually exists. Perhaps that person quit, there was a hiring freeze (typical) and they aren’t generating PR the way they should.
On another note, I’ll say to everyone — and anyone who has visited this institution knows — that I, and people in my position all over the country, have more work than I can possibly ever complete. I have massive 80-year backlogs of cataloging. I have exhibits and programs and speaking engagements. Once again, I will say HOWEVER, I can make time to accommodate a serious, and sometimes not so serious researcher. The work that needs to be done here will probably not be accomplished during my tenure. What I can do for the good of the order is help raise the public profile of this institution and educate our audiences AND preserve and document the collections. We can be good stewards yet still allow access. I know I can make time — and I am not saying everyone can, by any means. In my case it’s not that frequent, maybe once every other month that I have a request — I imagine in other institutions it’s much worse. And it fosters good will, word of mouth, the whole nine yards. Anyway, that’s just my thoughts. Candace Perry Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 15:21:42 -0400 [date inferred — no Date: header in source] | From: Teri Klassen <teresak@>
this is not a confederate quilt pattern, but there is a woven coverlet pattern called Lee’s Surrender. I believe it is an overshot pattern, I saw it in an old book by, I believe Eliza Hall. Teri
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 15:21:42 -0400 [date inferred — no Date: header in source] | From: “jajb”
I’m working on a short article on this and have not found any relationship of the Irish Chain pattern to the Irish either from Ireland or Irish immigrants to America. Not to say they never made quilts from the pattern as I’m finding just about everyone has used the pattern including the Hopi. But I am searching for origins of the pattern. I don’t want to state the pattern is not related to the Irish unless I am sure.
I’ve also see that the ‘Irish chain’ is a unit of measurement. Is there any connection here to the quilt?
Thanks for any help or ideas.
Judy Anne
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 15:21:42 -0400 [date inferred — no Date: header in source] | From: Judy
My understanding ’bout Irish Chain— It is such an easy pattern that even the Irish could do it—the Irish were considered ‘savage’ and incapable of learning etc.–see 19th cartoons, and read about attitudes in 18thc and earlier everyday life-and of course in early 20thc ‘no Irish need apply ‘ and’ Dogs and irish keep off’ –in other words , a slur—- My reasons for this theory of the name of the pattern is a amalgamation of family stories,and readings over many years. Sorry I cannot give exact places to look –it is not something I have ever thought of documenting–but all of us know things like this, especially in this area, of slurs. One that comes to mind(textile related) at the moment is Norwegian pink-for the double pink fabrics. And then add the universality of patterns– The Seventeen Planes of Symmetry is a book that shows the universality with all kinds of designs from all over the world—Ruth McDowell studied this(and probably many more) -when she was investigating Symmetry. Would not be surprised to see the ‘Irish Chain’ in tiles of ancient ruins. Judy in Pa
jajb wrote:
Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 [date inferred — source gave only “Sat, 27” with no month/year — unambiguous within this page’s date range] | From: “Sally Ward” <sallytatters@>
I suggest you contact the Ulster Folk Museum at uftm@. The website http://www.nidex.com/uftm/folk.htm doesn’t specifically mention quilts, but they do have them and the curator is very knowledgeable.
Sally W
Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 | From: Pat Kyser <patkyser@>
I received the following advertisement via email today, unsolicited from Fabric Merchant Bulletin <dispatcherfabricmerchant.com> :
Liberty Hill Vintage Reproductions This week we’re pleased to announce the arrival of Liberty Hill, a wonderful new series of reproduction prints from Baum Textile’s Windham Fabrics division. The Liberty Hill series is based on prints gathered from private collections dating from 1865-1885. Many of these prints hail from the American Underground Railroad and are somewhat brighter than the deep browns, blacks and reds of earlier American periods. Bright and unique, Liberty Hill is a definite “must have” for reproduction fabric buffs.
I received the following advertisement via email today, unsolicited from Fabric Merchant Bulletin <<dispatcherfabricmerchant.com> :
Liberty Hill Vintage Reproductions
This week we’re pleased to announce the arrival of Liberty Hill, a wonderful new series of reproduction prints from Baum Textile’s Windham Fabrics division. The Liberty Hill series is based on prints gathered from private collections dating from 1865-1885. Many of these prints hail from the American Underground Railroad and are somewhat brighter than the deep browns, blacks and reds of earlier American periods. Bright and unique, Liberty Hill is a definite “must have” for reproduction fabric buffs.
When I checked my email this morning, there was a Baum Textiles promo for their new lines of fabrics. Baum Textiles is a company in New Jersey that reproduces some great vintage designs. Those of us in J. G. Row’s New Jersey Study Group love this company’s fabrics. So as I clicked through the new choices, one was for Liberty Hill. Up came the fabric collection with this title – Liberty Hill Underground Railroad – Historical Reproduction Prints Circa 1865-1885 Please, here we go again. First of all, my trust in this company’s authenticity as now been shaken. Someone needs to give them both a history lesson and a quilt history lesson. Fortunately, for all of us there is a Contact link on the site. With ease we can all send an email in our humble attempt to correct this quilting myth. The following is the email I sent this morning. “Let me say up front your fabric lines of reproduction prints are fabulous. From my standpoint as a quilt history researcher, lecturer and quilter; I am very disappointed your excellent company feels the need to capitalized and promote the myth taht joins the Underground Railroad and quiltmaking. If you are going to give certain prints you produce an historic link then you need to be more responsible in researching your connection. Quilt historians around the nation are going to cringe when they see the association you have made.” I would encourage all of you to take a minute, check out this site, www.baumtextile.com and hopefully on Monday morning they will come to the office inundated with our emails. Thanks, sue reich
Thanks for the tip, Sue…I’ll see if I can dig up my copy of the debunking pamphlet from the historical society in New Jersey. Even so, I have this horrible feeling that this has become Part of Quilt History, rather like “patchwork started when thrifty colonial housewives needed to make bedcovers.”
*whimper*
Karen Evans
Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 [date inferred — no Date: header in source] | From: “judygrow”
I think the owner’s name is Dan Baum. There is a fabric store in my area, Flemington NJ which is normally a furnishings fabric place with one wall of quilter’s cottons. This summer I noticed that they had the entire first reproduction collection from Baum Textiles prominently displayed, and I found out that the owner of the store, the Fabric Factory, is none other than Dan Baum.
Since Mr. Baum is in the store at least one day a week, perhaps some of us could make an appointment to see him in person. I’m not going to do it alone.
At the Fort Washington show Mary Koval showed me the mock-ups of the line of fabrics she is doing for Baum which will be out at market. I asked her to point out the document fabric in the different colorways for one of them and she said they didn’t print it!
Judy in Ringoes, NJ judygrow@ —– Original Message —– From: <mreich@> To:
Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 [date inferred — no Date: header in source] | From: Dana Balsamo
Hi Judy, Wow! I emailed a comment to Baum textiles, but would be glad to go down there in person. I shall call on Monday to see if I can get an appointment or find out when he is there. I guess it would be wise to print out some of the information about how the URR and quilt connection is a myth.
I am not playing devil’s advocate, but do you think they are just calling it “Underground Railroad” because of the period? I noticed an Abraham Lincoln fabric. Granted, an uneducated quilter who only knows the one side of the story might mistaken the line as repros from fabrics actually used in quilts believed to be used in the URR. Has anyone seen where they actually promote these fabrics as such, or are they just using it as a time period? I don’t want to go down there and not have my facts straight. Judy knows how ill confident I am even when I know what I am talking about. Doesn’t stop me from trying, though.
Hugs, Dana, NJ
Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 | From: <mreich@>
Like everything else this is such a marketing gimmick. The Underground Railroad period (1865-1885) they have assigned is wrong. That was after the Civil War and as far as I know there was no need for an Underground then? This is the reason they need a history lesson. Slavery was abolished in 1865!!! www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/ is a great site with a very good timeline. Guess what people, they don’t mention Hidden in Plain View at all in the sources or their bookstore. Plus they don’t breathe a word about quilts on the whole web site. Hurray!!! sue reich
Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 [date inferred — no Date: header in source] | From: Gail Ingram <gingram@>
From Sue Reich:
> Like everything else this is such a marketing gimmick. The Underground > Railroad period (1865-1885) they have assigned is wrong. That was after the > Civil War and as far as I know there was no need for an Underground then? > This is the reason they need a history lesson. Slavery was abolished in > 1865!!! www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/ is a great site with a very > good timeline. Guess what people, they don’t mention Hidden in Plain View > at all in the sources or their bookstore. Plus they don’t breathe a word > about quilts on the whole web site. Hurray!!! sue reich >
Sue, Maybe the reference is to a tunnel then <g>!
If not, the dating is off even more for some: slavery was abolished in the southern states long before the end of the Civil War—months after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which abolished slavery only in the seceding states and which was meant to encourage those states to re-enter the union.
Me, I’m holding out for a tunnel, Gail
Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 22:14:23 | From: <mreich@>
It seems appropriate to share this little story as many of us begin backing our bags for the AQSG Seminar in Dallas. Trust me, there is quilt story here with great information. You Texas gals need to translate for the rest of us. I transcribed it exactly as it appeared in the paper. Secretly, I am very glad that I’m not coming to Texas to search for a husband.
Morning Oregonian Portland, Oregon November 19, 1875
Texas Courtship
He sat on one side of the room in a big white oak rocking-chair. She on the other side in a little white-oak rocking-chair. A long-eared deer-hound, snapping at flies, was by his side; a basket of sewing by her’s. Both rocked incessantly, that is, the young people, not the dog and basket. He sighs heavily and looks out the window at a crape-myrtle tree, she sighs lightly and gazing out the east window – at the turnip patch. At last he remarks: “This is mighty good weather to pick cotton.” “Tis that, if we only had any to pick.” The rocking continues. “What your dog’s name?” “Coony.” Another sigh broken stillness. “What is he good fur?” “What is who good fur?” said he abstractedly. “Your dog. Coony?” “Fur ketchin’ ‘possums.” Silence of half an hour. “He looks like a deer dog.” “Who looks like a deer dog?” “Coony.” “He is – but he’s kinder bellowsed an’ gettin’ old an’ slow now. An’ he ain’t no count on a cold trail.” In the quiet ten minutes that ensued she took two stitches in her quilt; it was a gorgeous affair, that quilt was, made by the pattern called “Rose of Sharon.” She is very particular about the nomenclature of her quilts, and frequently walks fifteen miles to get a new pattern, with a “real purty name.” “Your ma raisin’ any chickens?” “Forty odd.” Then more rocking, and, somehow, after awhile the big rocking-chair and the little rocking-chair were jammed side by side. “How many has your ma got?” “How many what?” “Chickens.” “Nigh on to a hundred.” By this time the chairs were so close together that rocking was impossible. “The minks has eat all ours.” Then a long silence reigns. At last he observes; “Makin’ quilts?” “Yes.” She replies, brightening up, “I’ve just finished a ‘Roarin’ Engul of Brazeel,’ a ‘Sitting Sun,’ and a ‘Nation’s Pride.’ Have you ever saw the ‘Yellow Rose of Tarary?” “No.” More silence; then he says: “Do you love cabbage?” “I do that.” Presently his hand is placed accidentally on hers. She does not know it – at least does not seem to be aware of it. Then after a half hour spent in sighs, coughing and clearing of throats he suddenly says: “I’se a –mind to bite you.” “What you great a –mind to bite me fur?” “Kase you won’t have me.” “Kase you ain’t axed me.” “Well, now, I ax you.” “Then, now, I has you.” Then Coony dreams he hears a sound of kissing. The next day the young man goes to Tigerville after a marriage license. Wednesday, the following week. No cards.
Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 21:34:04 -0500 | From: Gail Ingram <gingram@>
SUE,
Thanks for sharing your Texas courtship story! What a tale. I love it!
But I must ask (sorry)—do you know a =8CRoarin=B9 Engul of Brazeel,=B9? And =8CYellow Rose of Tarary?=B2
Hate to be a pest, but the latter sounds Irish, and there is the Yellow Ros e of Texas—are they related? Or does the writer know what he’s doing. Sounds like it.
Inquiring minds and all, Gail
Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 05:16:40 -0700 (PDT) | From: Ark Quilts <quiltarkmv@>
Dear Karen– I late reading my QHL email & took special note of your posting that you have imported quilt clippings you would like to dump. I moved 4 years ago and took EVERYTHING with me much to my husband’s disappointment but we have room for it now and I am getting down to cleaning everything out over the winter. I have 3 filing cabinet drawers of clippings from catalogues, newspapers, ads, and assorting items. If you still have the imported quilt clippings, I would be interested in paying for the postage. If you have no other offers, please let me know. It’s nice that you took the time to note the source & date on these items. I wrote several articles on imported quilts for the NQA publications and still intend to study them. Having color photographs of the imports helps me identify them on Ebay when they are listed as “old”, “vintage”, and “antique” quilts. Hope to do appraising in the future & use them. Thanks-Connie Ark
Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 10:27:56 EDT | From: Wmstories@
Don, perhaps you should be thinking of a book on this topic? Jacqueline
Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 10:01:57 -0700 (PDT) | From: Jackie Joy <joysbees@>
Gail Ingram wrote:
‘But I must ask (sorry)—do you know a ŒRoarin¹ Engul of Brazeel,¹? ‘
“Angle of Brazil” maybe?
Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 10:01:57 -0700 (PDT) [date inferred — no Date: header in source] | From: “Christine Thresh”
My grandfather’s family was from the south (early 1800’s). His name was William Brazil Romine. I’ve never been able to figure out where the Brazil came from.
Christine Thresh http://www.winnowing.com
From: “Jackie Joy” <joysbees@> > Gail Ingram wrote: > > ‘But I must ask (sorry)—do you know a ORoarin¹ Engul of Brazeel,¹? ‘ > > “Angle of Brazil” maybe?
Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 10:01:57 -0700 (PDT) [date inferred — no Date: header in source] | From: Gail Ingram
Christine, the woods of North Louisiana are filled with Brazeels (variously spelled Brazell and Brazi). There is a main state road 2 miles north of Ruston indirectly named for the family—-it is called the White Lightining Road. They are Scots-Irish and came into this part of the country with a large post-Civil War migration seeking unworn-out land and, in their case, I suppose, a little isolation. One of the children was in my class several years ago and persuaded a relative to show me his old still. It did not appear “old” to me, but who am I to know such things. The family took great pride in the high quality of the moonshine they produced in this exceedingly dry parish. They were also known for their daring and rambunctiousness. My student was brilliant, so I suspect high intelligence runs in the family.
So I can imagine where the “roarin'” and “Brazeel” comes from <g>, but what is “Engul”? Eagle? some sort of gull?
Maybe one of the British/celtic/Nova Scotia members of the list can help.
Gail
P.S. Do you know the poet and newspaperwoman Dannye Romine Powell, a North Carolinian but born in Georgia? In our area the name is pronounced “ro-main.”
Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 20:35:04 -0400 | From: bsythmblctel.net
Eleanor Burns of Quilt in a Day has a book “Underground Railroad Sampler” that is perpetuating the HIPV myth—also produced a video to accompany the book. I’ve had several customers come to my shop looking for Civil War reproduction fabrics—-Eleanor used Judie Rothermel’s “Gettysburg” line in her book samples. I have told each one about the myth….all were disappointed and one seemed not to believe me. I felt I had to speak up (even if I lost the sale which I didn’t) when the first person mentioned that she was a teacher and was doing this as a class project. As for the new Baum fabrics, I saw the samples a couple weeks ago and felt that the UGRR was just a marketing ploy as there was no mention of the book or the quilt blocks. The new lines were marked “quilt shop only” so they sould not be showing up in the chain stores………..Cyndi in Maine
Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 21:49:16 -0700 | From: “jajb” <anne_j@>
I notice on the Quilt in a Day site it says this about the book (Underground Railroad Sampler). “Learn how fifteen quilt blocks may have played a significant role in communication between the slaves and how it helped them on their way to freedom.” I found the “may have” interesting. Perhaps someone has already talked to her about the fact it may indeed be a myth.
I’ve seen the same thing on some educational sites. It seems to me that they wrote the lesson plans thinking the myth was true then later realized it may not be so they still have the lesson plan but write a little something about how it ‘may’ be a myth.
Judy Anne
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 08:51:04 -0700 | From: <chrisa@>
I have a different take on this- Please don’t bit my head off- but here’s my thinking. It’s not research or education, it’s just fun fabric. I am thrilled with the new choices Baum has brought forth this year. I have bought many many of them so far. Can’t get enough of commemorative fabrics. The Washington Line offers one with GW’s face on it and now the new Lincoln line with Lincoln’s face, set between a log cabin block design. Looks rather contemporary, but these are suppose to be copies or close copies of the real thing. I say close because in the case of one centennial stripped fabric that came out months ago, I have the real thing and it is different.
I also bought the one of the Lincoln memorial in the background with the Nov. 19, 1863 speech delivered to dedicate the Gettysburg cemetery, written on top in handwriting. Again this looks contemporary to me, but I don’t know for certain. I bought some other floral prints from the Lincoln line and am happy with the whole thing.
The name doesn’t bother me one iota. They are not including any information about the UGRR and use of quilts. it’s not implied in my mind, as Lincoln is the main feature and the first name on the order forms and website I have used. There was an underground railroad and Lincoln advocated to end slavery and give them freedom , so using these words together makes sense to me.
As far as the dates being wrong, this is not the first Baum line where they have been wrong. They dated one line before the centennial, yet the date 1876 is on the fabric itself as part of the design! I am not going to pass up great material because of that, nor do I feel I am supporting the myth by buying the fabric because it is not a part of their line.
On another note re: UGRR, I received a request from a southern Midwest institution that wants to do a public art project using quilt patterns. He wants to know if there are any other refutes or supporting data to match my article that says it’s a myth (since I wrote it in 2002), because he doesn’t want to state my claims unless he can support this- What a hoot! He’ll be quite surprised when he hears there is no support for the other side. I do respect him for checking and asking – but as the adage goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink.
For what it’s worth…This is my two cents. I can’t wait to see the line Mary Koval puts out!
Kim Wulfert www.antiquequiltdating.com
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 13:59:34 -0400 | From: Trimble4@
Hi all,
Hope this is not too far off-topic, but I’m in a panic. I recently learned that I will need to be in Paducah during show time and tried just now to find a room. Guess what? Not a chance. Call it lack of foresight on my part, poor planning, or failure to be psychic, but now I need to find a room. Do any of you have a room and need a roommate? Please email me privately if you do.
Can provide previous roommate references, if need be <vbg>.
Thanks a million, Lori East
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 12:09:49 -0700 | From: <chrisa@>
Stunning Stitches: A Quilters’ Forum will be held at the Farmer’s Museum in Cooperstown, NY on Oct. 15, a Wed. from 9-noon. The NYSHA which includes the Farmer’s Museum, is sending 15 of their quilts to the Great International Quilt Festival in Tokyo soon, and they decided to show them here first. There will also be discussions on conservation and proper storage from the museum’s conservator and staff will discuss the quilts on display.
Reservations are required by Oct. 8 and there is room available. The fee is $22,which includes a reduced fee to the Farmer’s Museum, and it’s $18 for museum members. Call Carla Eckler at 607-547-1421 for more info and reg.
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 23:45:16 -0400 | From: “judygrow” <judygrow@>
I’ve been going through my photograph albums and had my eyeballs stopped by a crazy quilt that was displayed at the Lancaster quilt show a few years ago. It was so special! It was displayed on a tilt board. I am sure some of you saw it and remember it as well. Each block was divided in half diagonally and one half had gorgeous flowers painted on black velvet, the other half the normal stitchery and motifs you’d expect to find on crazy quilts but these were over the top!
I have no notes on this quilt and I’d love to know now where it came from, who made it, etc.
Anybody?
Judy in Ringoes, NJ judygrow@
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 23:58:34 -0700 | From: “jajb” <anne_j@>
The Underground Railroad line of fabric could be commemorating the UGRR much like the quilts displayed at “Threads of Freedom: The Underground Railroad Story in Quilts” http://www.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/threads_of_freedom/threads2.html are commemorative quilts in honor of all those who were a part of that era.
OTOH I can’t help but be a bit suspicious about any UGRR related things that came out after HIPV was published. I wonder if they would have chosen that theme if it weren’t for the popularity of the book.
Judy
Date: Wed, 01 Oct 2003 08:26:34 -0400 | From: KareQuilt@
This just came from my daughter-in-law. (Her mother — who is also a Karen — made the lost quilt.) I started crying too. All I could think of was how I would have felt if the quilt I had made for our mutual granddaughter had been the one lost!! My DIL called me this afternoon and told me that because she had taken the time to read the quilt documentation articles I had written, she had urged her mother to put her name on the back of Marleigh’s quilt. It was the first time her mother ever labeled a quilt she had made. In spite of checking with Lost & Found at Anchorage airport twice, the quilt was never “discovered’ because it had been put in a box labeled “blankets.” No one had bothered to open each box and look inside when my DIL called the airport’s Lost & Found….not until it was time to start tossing the “aged” boxes. Read on for my DIL’s email. Karen Alexander
<< With tears of joy I’m glad to report our Winnie the Pooh quilt has been found along with my childhood antique nursing blanket! Whoever found them at the airport in Anchorage, Alaska, stuffed them in a box and labeled it “blankets”. After several months of being on their shelf, the airlines was ready to donate all of it. The person in charge, thanks to be to God, was a fellow quilter who didn’t have the heart to donate it without trying to locate the maker. On the back was a label that said Grame Wegg – Anchorage, AK. So she looked it up in the phone book. Thankfully there was only one Wegg! Thank you so much for your help in trying to locate my baby’s quilt! What a story to go along with it now! Janienne>>
Date: Wed, 01 Oct 2003 14:28:08 -0400 | From: seater@
Connie, I would like to offer you a notebook of clippings I have gathered since the imported quilt controversy time. I had in mind future need to distinguish these from domestic products and also thought the popularity of commercial quilt reproductions might be of short duration and this would document the period. The pages are from catalogs and newspaper ads and are dated with the source. I believe the popularity is declining at least temporarily, and my research has gone in other directions, so I’d like to make space for other stuff.
If Connie can’t use these photographs, can the List suggest a researcher or appraiser who would? Email me privately.
Thanks, Susan Seater Raleigh NC seater@
Date: Wed, 01 Oct 2003 14:28:08 -0400 [date inferred — no Date: header in source] | From: Cinda
Just trying to put everything that’s in my head into one email message. All who know me please refrain from any comments about what else may or may not be in my head (G). Hazel Carter’s Dating Club met on Sunday in Northern VA. The topic was “Your first quilt,” meaning the first quilt in your collection. We were looking for insights into the collectors thinking. What we learned is that, at the beginning, most of us weren’t thinking at all. We just wanted quilts. A frequently repeated comment was “It was only $10 or $15 or whatever so how could I not buy it.” There were a couple of people who obviously were born with “an eye.”
Hazel, not surprisingly, is one of those. Her “first quilt” is an exquisite (though suffering from deterioration) Sunburst, circa 1830, of fabulous fabrics set on a sprigged chintz background and finished by an incredible floral border of monochrome, red chintz. The quilt has been meticulously conserved. Another first, in a similar vein, is a Star set in diagonal rows of color with a too-die-for chintz border. This beauty also transcends the vicissitudes of time. Some people brought the first quilt they had made–acts of real courage!
I had two firsts: my first purchase, a poorly constructed top (almost no seam allowances) handpieced in a pattern that Carrie Hall calls White Rose (p. 104, The Romance of the Patchwork Quilt in America). It’s a circular Orange Peel-like design, in muslin and a single yellow print, probably 1930s. The first quilt I bought is a purple, green and white Pinwheel from the mid-1880s. The white is a conversation print with dogs; the quilting is Baptist Fans. Although we didn’t follow the thread of each member’s “collecting philosophy,” Hazel did ask me what I think about. First, of course, I want it all. But when reality sets in, I know I like whatever is quirky and off-beat (I just happened to have Wild By Design in my bag).
I also have tried to create a collection that is a survey of 19th century American quilts, with a major detour among the PA Germans. I am willing to make all sorts of compromises on condition if I can find something which fills a gap (this mostly applies to pre-1850 quilts) or contains particularly interesting fabrics. Back to Wild by Design. Hazel and I are both reading it and I say it’s a MUST. I am going crazy with the highlighter on Janet Berlo’s introductory essay. It’s fascinating. Several people have told me that they didn’t bother to pick it up because they thought it was an art quilt book. Just goes to prove the old adage “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” (G)
Last week I went to Genesee Country Village and Museum southwest of Rochester, NY. It is a collection of buildings from that area dating from the 1790s to 1870 and well worth a visit. They told me it’s the third largest outdoor museum in the US. I’m not sure how they define that category.
One of their on-going projects is to duplicate the 100 or so quilts in their collection for use in the historic houses. They always have a quilt on the frame in a circa 1830 house. On one of the beds I saw a quilt in the same pattern as the appliqued star that so impressed me in the New Jersey State Museum exhibit a few weeks ago. The quilting interpreter called it Friendship Star (eight teardrop shapes appliqued in a circle with space for signing in the center) and gave me a pattern she had drafted for piecing the block. Why anybody would choose to piece rather than applique the block I don’t know. I didn’t look at the pattern until I was back at my car so I wasn’t able to find out if their original quilt was pieced.
Anyway, Genesee Country etc. is planning to focus on quilts next year. Their season is May thru Oct. There will be an exhibit of antique quilts in their gallery as well as in the houses. It’s a lovely place and would be even nicer with old quilts to see. I made a point of telling people that they should list this in the quilt magazines.
Apropos of our ongoing discussion of museums and spreading the word about exhibits, everywhere I went in the village interpreters told me that “We are the best kept secret in New York State.” I was usually the only person in a building. On my way upstate I stopped at the visitors center on I-81 just south of Binghamton. It’s one of those “welcome to NY” places with walls full of brochures for all sorts of attractions. I couldn’t find anything on Genesee Country etc. and finally asked the woman at the desk. She said, “They don’t send us their rack cards anymore.” No wonder it’s such a deep, dark secret!
Cinda on the Eastern Shore wondering why the garment industry thinks that I would put on my body fabrics that I can’t bear to touch.
Date: Wed, 01 Oct | From: Joan Kiplinger <jkip@>
Many quilters seem to have a fondness for Stifel indigoes and calicos. Perhaps the site below will be of interest to you.
Joan new column now live Of Calico, Indigo and Bulldog — J.L. Stifel & Sons http://www.fabrics.net/joan.asp
Date: Wed, 01 Oct 2003 [date inferred — source gave only “Wed, 01” with no month/year — unambiguous within this page’s date range] | From: “Jan Drechsler” <quiltdoc@>
Until I moved to New England, I gave little thought about antique quilts with wool batting. Now every time I study an old quilt with wool batting, I covet it for its implied warmth. Since my cotton batting quilt never left my bed this summer, I want to make a quilt with wool batting for winter in Vermont. Commercial wool batting that I have seen is thin.
‘Wally’ is a ‘she’ and was washed and commercially prepared for felting.
That was to see if you were paying attention! I was just offered, at a very reasonable price, the entire brown/black fleece from Wally the sheep, who was shorn this spring. She was washed, combed, cleaned and the fleece was prepared by a mill for felting. It is about 4 1/2′ x 6′, airy with fibers aligned and the puffy thing is about 1 1/2 inches thick! In all the years I’ve handled batting, this is the first time I have picked one up and just pet it, it was so beautiful, brown and soft!
But I left ‘Wally’ where she was. (Both the wool and the real Wally the sheep.) Has anyone used a real fleece, prepared for felting? Could you stretch it to fit a 6′ x 7′ quilt and how? It seems as though the bat would separate unevenly if not done with skill. And then how closely would I need to quilt this raw bat of wool?
Should I go back for ‘Wally’ and how would I adapt it?
Jan
— Jan Drechsler in Vermont Quilt Restoration; Quilting teacher www.@/~bobmills
Date: Wed, 01 Oct 2003 [date inferred — no Date: header in source] | From: “judygrow”
A favor please.
If anyone has the book [ublished by the American Museum in Bath, England, could you pretty please scan the Mariner’s Compass quilt and send it to me as an attachment? I really want to see how it and the one still here compare, since I made my repro of the one here. I want to see what differences there are in the fabrics used.
I am looking also at another set of sister quilts — the huge feathered Lone Star by Anna Chambers Deacon, circa 1845 at the Burlington County Historical Society in NJ and the one published on page 72 of the NJ Quilt Documentation book, without attribution. The similarities of these unusual quilts are too close for the makers not to have known each other, if they weren’t both made by the same person.
Judy in Ringoes, NJ judygrow@
Date: Wed, 01 Oct 2003 [date inferred — source gave only “Wed, 01” with no month/year — unambiguous within this page’s date range] | From: Jennifer Hill <jennifer.hill@>
Go for it, Jan! I’m not entirely sure you could stretch it to 6′ x 7′, but surely you will find another suitable quilt that needs wool inside. I bought a carded wool fleece once, of approx. the same size as Wally’s. I was told at the shop where I got it that most of their customers used it for felting. It was much puffier than I’m used to in batts – sorta like cheapo poly of years ago. I ended up quilting it fairly close (3/4″ channels) to try and flatten it out, although I don’t think it really “needed” such closeness. (Aside – Can you really ever have too much quilting????) Next time I try it, I will attempt to spread and thin it out during the layering stage. I’ve also used Australian and New Zealand wool batts, which are much more processed, thinner, and easier to lay out.
Wool is absolutely wonderful to handquilt! Your needle will glide so easily, even loaded up with 5-6 stitches. From now on, its my choice for handquilted bed quilts.
Jennifer Hill Calgary, AB
