April 10 – 14, 2004
These restored messages come from the Quilt History List, an online forum where quilt historians, collectors, researchers, appraisers, and enthusiasts discussed antique quilts and related textiles. The archive dates from 1996 through approximately 2016 and is being restored gradually. Sign up in the form at the bottom of the page if you want to know when a new page is added. Original spelling, opinions, formatting, and inactive links may remain unchanged.
Primary topics of this QHL Digest:
- Slave Ownership & Southern Quilt History Debate — An extended, careful discussion of black slave ownership in the antebellum South, sparked by questions about the Antiques Roadshow quilt’s history.
- Pine Burr Pattern & Antiques Roadshow Quilt — Continued identification and sourcing of the Pine Burr/Feathered Star pattern, including pattern-book citations.
- Priscilla Bianchi & Guatemalan Quilt Art — Members are introduced to Guatemalan textile artist Priscilla Bianchi’s work.
- Quilt Reproduction Ethics — A member asks whether it is acceptable to alter seam allowances when reproducing a family quilt for continued use.
- Trademarking the Word “Quilt” — Members react with surprise and humor to news that a company attempted to trademark the word “quilt.”
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 12:56:44 -0400 | From: Patricia L Cummings <quiltersmuse@>
/Don wrote: Regarding the issue of black slave owners–there were a few in Louisiana pre Civil War, believe it or not. And I think in Texas as well.
/Dear friends,/
/In the book: /Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom/ (Little, Brown & Company, 2004), the author states the following on page 7:/
The children of the earliest Africans in the North American colonies were not always born into bondage. Some blacks came as sailors and explorers. Others came as indentured laborers later granted their freedom. A few of these went on to own slaves themselves. But free blacks continued in the minority…..
/Catherine Clinton holds an undergraduate degree in Afro-American Studies from Harvard and a Ph.D.in history from Princeton. Her book is excellent!/ /
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 13:10:32 -0400 | From: Karen Evans
I recall that there was an article on black slave owners in American Heritage about ten years ago. I don’t remember much about it, but it confirmed that some free blacks owned slaves, and didn’t treat them much differently from the white slave owners when it came to breaking up families, discipline, and so on. Some of the black slave owners fought on the Confederate side in the Civil War, too.
An interesting but ultimately sad footnote in history….
Karen Evans
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 14:50:13 -0500 | From: “Charlotte Bull” <charlou@>
Hi…by the time I get the Digest most questions have been answered. But I wanted to share a thought re the quote from Sir Walter Scott. I have found Bartlett’s book of Familiar Quotations a very fine asset to looking up various quotes! I used it years ago as a lit major and I’ve never stopped using it! A marvelous all inclusive source. It included a full page of verses from “The Lay of the Last Minstrel” – a very lengthy bit of poetic writing! I’m glad I looked it up although I told myself that I bet there’d be at least 3 0R 4 correct answers. And there were!
And for the new friend who said she was intimidated. Don’t be hesitant! We are ALL in the LEARNING process. Every one who answers a question helps us all, but those who ask questions also help us as we are often eager to know something and are pleased to find it answered just a few letters down in the digest! And sometimes even those with answers need to learn more about an aspect that is not in their normal bailiwick. So speak up…it does let the “experts” know that they are needed!!! : )))
I recall a 3 day seminar I attended almost 20 years ago for those interested in antique quilts from a museum curator’s point of view or for those eager to understand their own collections. One guest speaker was an experienced scholarly southern lady. She told us that the exceptional, involved heirloom quilts were made by the ladies of the plantation. They did teach their slaves to quilt, but their efforts were mostly for the utility quilts of the children and family or for the slaves themselves. She told us that an exceptionally talented slave would be brought in to work on the fancy heirlooms, but that the wife of their owner probably did the planning and designing since she was the one who bought the good fabrics for it and had learned needlecraft from her youth.
Somehow the speaker seemed to make sense. If I were teaching 3 children to quilt, I would not start them out on a Baltimore Album Applique or a chintz Tree of Life done in Broiderie Perse. I’d do what my own grandmother did – teach her 9 year old girl to make a Nine Patch quilt from scraps left from making of shirts and dresses. And this is the “provence” of one of my own family quilts. Not heirloom quality but definitely heirloom memories!!! My mother made a Nine Patch when she turned 9! So my quilt is 102 years old but the fabrics are older. While my mother was learning, my grandmother set together blocks made prior to 1871 by her husband’s mother! Quilt stories are precious. SAVE THEM as well as the quilts! These are the quilts my daughters can hardly wait to get – not mine! Those will (I hope) be valued more by my own great grand babies!
And yesterday I started an adult beginner on her first efforts: a 4 Patch made from 3″ squares with alternate blocks. She’ll be ready for fancy blocks soon but she needed to start out simple as she has no books or magazines or stash — yet! : )))
Have a Happy Easter! cb
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 16:22:12 -0400 | From: “Pepper Cory” <pepcory@>
For Don and all others interested in my remark that the Road Show quilt was a Pine Burr pattern. My writing on QHL was the day after the Road Show and before I’d seen any posted digital pictures that might ‘remind’ me of the quilt’s pattern. And Don’s right–the nine-patch in the center of the Double Pineapple is similar to the cross that was in the Road Show quilt. Pine Burr is an old Southern pattern and is listed on the same page as Double Pineapple in the Brackman book. I was looking mainly at the “spikey” legs of the star and they’re the same for Pine Burr and Double Pineapple. Both Pine Burr (which means Pine Cone in southern dialect) and Double Pineapple are four-legged variations on Feathered Star. Brackman lists the date for Double Pineapple as 1931 and the Clara Stone source for Pine Burr is 1906. I’ll never argue quilt names with anyone because naming patterns is an inexact science and folks changed them all the time! Have a happy Easter- Pepper
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 16:30:58 -0400 | From: “Pepper Cory” <pepcory@>
On the subject of slave owners who were themselves black: when I was a teenager in South Carolina in the 1960’s, my Dad was an Episcopalian minister. He had both a white and a black church in Sumter, SC and was a circuit rider for smaller churches who could not afford to hire a minister on a full-time basis. He sometimes preached and held services at an all-black Episcopal church way out in the country. Almost every member of the congregation had the last name of Prince Edward. Dad was told that their mutual ancestor had been a slave who had bought his own freedom and then migrated away from Charleston into the deep piney woods. He had named himself Prince Edward and owned slaves himself. Seeing as how some slaves would have come from parts of Africa where slave owning was common for any man of property, I can understand how a black slave owner, though rare, was a possibility. I know this is oral history, as opposed to anything that has a paper trail, but I myself attended the Prince Edward church with my father. Cheers from the Carolina coast- Pepper
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 16:58:23 -0400 | From: Patricia L Cummings <quiltersmuse@>
Thanks, Pepper for posting the remembrances of your family’s experiences in the south, and for the knowledge that “pine cone” is called “pine burr” there. Oral tradition, based on personal witnessing, can be as valid a part of history as any other.
Also, thanks for the following thought:
/Seeing as how some slaves would have come from parts of Africa where slave owning was common for any man of property, I can understand how a black slave owner, though rare, was a possibility/.
You are also 110% correct about the naming of quilt blocks. There is no point in being didactic about the subject, as quiltmakers are and were free to name their quilt any which name. I couldn’t remember exactly, but seemed to think that the appraiser had tagged the block in question with the name, “Pine Burr”.
I would be interested to see what items are serving as written provenance for this quilt and how detailed the descriptions are. It certainly does seem rare if the quilt was both slave-made and later owned by a black slave-owner, but I suppose not outside the realm of possibility.
Thanks, Pepper.
Pat Cummings
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 16:43:46 -0500 | From: “Kathy Moore” <KathyMooreneb.@>
I’d love to have a copy of the catalog. Count me in if someone will buy and send. Just let me know!
Kathy Moore Lincoln, NE
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 16:49:28 -0500 | From: “Kathy Moore” <KathyMooreneb.@>
Whoa, Nellie. Did you say it’s selling for $75?
This is a reprint of a book that originally sold for about $25 at the Smithsonian and at venues the quilts were originally exhibited. It’s a fabulous book and worth having, but the one now available is a reprint. I’d be willing to bet you can contact the Smithsonian Book Store and get a copy.
I’ll do a little research and let ya’ll know.
Kathy Moore Lincoln, NE
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 11:44:34 -0500 | From: Gail Ingram <gingram@>
May I second the recommendation of the Gladys Marie Fry book? Frankly, I’ve never sought out the writer’s credentials, but the work is documented as well as works involving slaves can be, it seems. And it is valuable for the way it makes the world of slavery real. There is one photo in there that is iconic: it could represent the entire institution. Alexander Pope’s words always spring to my mind: “man’s inhumanity to man.”
And on the subject of black slaveholders (just to push Pope a little further), Louisiana had a good many, considering the general population. Most originated in New Orleans area. Most probably came from French colonies in the Gulf of Mexico, a number grew out of the octaroon tradition in New Orleans. My understanding is that most had more “white blood” than black. They were race apart.
Some moved north into Central Louisiana, along the Red River just south of Shreveport. One of the unique populations, even today, is Isle Brevelle, near Natchitouches (Nack-i-tosh), LA (where “Steel Magnolias” was filmed). Near there is the plantation Melrose, where the folk artist Clementine Hunter lived and worked under the auspices of Ms. Cammie Henry. It has one of the only–possibly the only–documented nad extant African-origin buildings in American.
Melrose was built and owned by a free Creole (read: legally black) family, the Metoyers, who were from New Orleans. They were highly cultivated, wealthy, and were also major slaveholders. Looking at the paintings of the early family, one can scarcely detect African features. They did not appear to socialize with the white population, but they were highly respected, as their progeny still are, and they worked cooperatively with white plantation owners on issues of slave uprisings or agricultural issues.
Gary Mills’ book, “The Forgotten People,” is a fine and easy-read introduction to this settlement. LSU Press, which happily sends brochures of is listings, has several other good books on the general subject.
While it was not exactly rare for white slaveholders to mate with their slaves, I think Louisiana might stand slightly apart in the tradition. Actual cohabitation occurred and children were acknowledged both legally and within the community in a number of cases. The French appear to have been much more relaxed in this than other groups, particularly the “Anglos.”
I once was stunned to have a friend who was white state officer in the Education Dept, from South Louisiana, sit at my table and say quite casually, “Of course, all our grandfathers had black mistresses of longstanding”—the way one would say, “Of course, August is always hot in Louisiana.. Someone of English origin would not have said that—probably could not have said that truthfully—in this state. I was amused later when he was made Supt of Schools in a 90% African-American school district along River Road near Baton Rouge to see that despite that tradition, he ha had to survive amost 9 months of protest by the local population because of his color.
I think in the South it is sometimes hard to tell when a quilt was made by a slave (even Frye raises some questions in my mind) because so much fine sewing was cooperative. The tradition of making a top and having it quilted by someone else is still very much alive here—and usually, only the maker of the top is acknowledged.
Gail
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 22:21:01 -0400 | From: QuiltsRI@
Concerning the recent questions about black slave owners, my book club recently read “The Known World” by Edward P. Jones. It is a novel set in Manchester County VA 20 years before the Civil War about a former slave who becomes proprietor of his own plantation with 33 slaves of his own. I assumed it was based on a fact that there were black slave owners in the ante bellum South.
Perhaps I should do some research and not make assumptions. Cathy Smith
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 21:46:14 -0700 (PDT) | From: Donald Beld <donbeld@>
Hey Pat, thanks for your posts–I have indeed read Stitches in Time and agree with you that it is a fine book–However, documented quilts made by slaves in pre Civil War South are unusual and are treasures.
Regarding the Pine Burr–thanks for agreeing with me that the Antique Roadshow quilt is not exactly a Pine Burr, but something slightly different.
I still lean towards it having sometime of UGGR significance–the center Crossroads pattern appears on a number of pre Civil War quilts and was a favorite of Harriet Powers. I also think that the Pine Burr in the Antique Roadshow could also be seen as Cross Canoes and the entire quilt have some hidden meaning. MMMM!! Perhaps there is a book there–Perhaps I could call it Hidden in Plain Canoes (smile) Well Off to England to see the REAL Log Cabin quilts–called Roof Pattern over there. TaTa as the British would say. Don Beld
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 08:03:02 -0700 | From: Laura Robins-Morris <lrobins@>
Am I the only one who had to look up the word “pelf” ? This list is great — we learn not only history of quilts, social history, etc, etc, but also interesting vocabulary. I’m still waiting to sneak “bedizened” (from a few months ago) into a normal conversation <g>. Now pelf as well.
“I will bedizen myself with silks and jewels, displays of the pelf of my iniquitous ancestors.” Now there’s the start of a good bodice-ripper!
Laura in Seattle
The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.
Sir Walter Scott. 1771–1832
547. Patriotism 1. Innominatus
BREATHES there the man with soul so dead, Who never to himself hath said, ‘This is my own, my native land!’ Whose heart hath ne’er within him burn’d As home his footsteps he hath turn’d From wandering on a foreign strand? If such there breathe, go, mark him well; For him no Minstrel raptures swell; High though his titles, proud his name, Boundless his wealth as wish can claim; Despite those titles, power, and pelf, The wretch, concentred all in self, Living, shall forfeit fair renown, And, doubly dying, shall go down To the vile dust from whence he sprung, Unwept, unhonour’d, and unsung.
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 16:27:51 +0100 | From: “Sally Ward” <sallytatters@>
> Am I the only one who had to look up the word “pelf” ?
I’ll put my hand up <G>. And since I like connections I was intrigued to be pointed from there in the direction of ‘pilfer’, a word still in common use.
Sally W
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 11:47:08 -0400 | From: Patricia L Cummings <quiltersmuse@>
/I’d love to have a copy of the catalog. Count me in if someone will buy and send. Just let me know!/
Kathy Moore Lincoln, NE
This morning, I checked the online store of the Smithsonian Art Museum. There are no copies of the /Calico & Chintz/ book in sight.
In writing to the museum directly, I was told that the final two venues for the exhibit will be:
June 26 – August 29, 2004: The Hermitage, Nashville, TN
Sept. 19 – Nov. 21, 2004 Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
These apparently are the only remaining chances to purchase a catalogue of the exhibition without paying a higher price on the secondary market.
Pat Cummings
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 09:40:51 -0700 | From: <chrisa@>
Barb Garret will be on SQ on Wed. in case you haven’t seen her episode before. It’s good! We see many of the mini-quilts she has made to reproduce Mennonite styles, as well as learn about their history.
“Mennonite vs. Amish Quilts Host Alex Anderson is joined in the studio by quilt expert Barbara Garrett to discuss the varying styles of Mennonite quilts vs. Amish quilts. Garrett has examples of both quilt types on hand. Afterward, Garrett shows how to make a traditional Mennonite pattern, Joseph’s Coat of Many Colors. Learn which kinds of fabric to use, the dimensions to cut, and how to assemble the quilt top. Garrett discusses batting and border options, and talks about what quilt designs to use.”
Today’s SQ show was very interesting. IMHO. A woman quilter from Guatemala, Pricilla Bianchi, showed costumes from the region and how they have influenced her quilts. She has helped bring quiltmaking to her region. She uses many different ethnic fabrics together with the beautiful woven fabrics native to Guat. to make her quilts. They are very bright, often in simple repetitive blocks, but the variety of fabrics she uses, with many large scale motifs, make stunning quilts unlike others that may use the same design principles. She made a version of the lone star (my words, not hers) that was made complex and undulating by the fabrics and stripes she used.
Kim Wulfert www.antiquequiltdating.com
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 09:50:17 -0700 | From: <chrisa@>
Her quilts can be seen on the HGTV site and she has her own website, patterns and a book too. The star quilt can be seen if you scroll down near the end of HGTV’s site.
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_quilting/article/0,1789,HGTV_3298_2754629,00.htm l
Quilt patterns – Reflections, Stretched Diamond Star, Rain Forest Book – Easy to Make Art Quilts by Priscilla Bianchi
www.priscillabianchi.com
Kim
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 14:50:12 -0500 | From: Mary Persyn <Mary.Persyn@>
One of my farmer cousins sent me an Easter Bonnet – a gimme cap with “Quilt TM Fungicide” embroidered on it.
Several interesting possibilities relating to old quilts stored in damp locations crossed my mind, but since Del raises vegetables and grass seed for a living, I decided those possibilities were probably inaccurate.
A little web surfing turned up the following:
http://www.dealerandapplicator.com/home/pressrelease/press_quilt.asp
FWIW,
Mary
— Mary G. Persyn 219-465-7830 Associate Dean for Library Services School of Law Library Valparaiso University 656 S. Greenwich St. Valparaiso, IN 46383 Mary.Persyn@ Fax: 219-465-7917
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 13:44:40 -0700 | From: “Laurette Carroll” <rl.carroll@>
> I would be interested to see what items are serving as written > provenance for this quilt and how detailed the descriptions are. It > certainly does seem rare if the quilt was both slave-made and later > owned by a black slave-owner, but I suppose not outside the realm of > possibility. > Pat Cummings
Hello, I too, would be interested in more information about this quilts provenance. Does anyone know to which exhibit held at the Smithsonian the article on the PBS site refers. To all appearances this quilt looks like it was made later in the 19th C, rather than 1840’s – 50’s. Also, the PBS article, states that the owner of the quilt gives the information that it was made by slaves, not that the slave owner was Black. Am I missing something? Where did the Black slave owner information come from?
Laurette Carroll Southern California
Look to the Future With Hope
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 17:12:18 EDT | From: KareQuilt@
Alas, 150 boxes of books are already packed for the move to Washington State, among them a number of books on this subject written by both African American and Caucasian historians. The story of the first blacks (free and not free) that came to the shores of America before slavery “officially” began is very fascinating. But I am afraid I won’t have access to that part of my library again until mind-June! If I recall some of the titles, I will post those later. (No, I must confess, my quilt history books are not yet packed. Those will be the last items I pack!
Karen Alexander
PS: Has anyone on this list entered The Quilters Hall of Fame Grand Opening Block Contest yet? There are less than two months left to enter! :=} I would love to see QHL well represented in this contest!! You can access a pdf version of the entry form at http://www.quiltershalloffame.org/
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 17:18:00 -0500 | From: Laura Syler <texas_quilt.co@>
Mary, this makes me wonder …They have trademarked the word “Quilt” according to the article on the website…….So,.in the grand scheme of things, with “The Donald” facing a law suite if he went ahead with trademarking the phrase “You’re Fired”…..where does that leave the rest of us using the word Quilt in business names, or titles? May be nothing, but in this lawsuit happy world, it is an interesting thought. Do we still have any attorneys on QHL? Laura Syler Texas “Quilt” Co. Certified “Quilt” appraiser in Chilly N. Texas..
Mary Persyn wrote:
> One of my farmer cousins sent me an Easter Bonnet – a gimme cap with > “Quilt TM Fungicide” embroidered on it. > > Several interesting possibilities relating to old quilts stored in damp > locations crossed my mind, but since Del raises vegetables and grass > seed for a living, I decided those possibilities were probably inaccurate. > > A little web surfing turned up the following: > > http://www.dealerandapplicator.com/home/pressrelease/press_quilt.asp > > FWIW, > > Mary > > — > Mary G. Persyn 219-465-7830 > Associate Dean for Library Services > School of Law Library > Valparaiso University > 656 S. Greenwich St. > Valparaiso, IN 46383 > Mary.Persyn@ > Fax: 219-465-7917 > > — > You are currently subscribed to qhl as: texas_quilt.co@. > To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-qhl-1514145N@
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 19:13:34 -0400 | From: Patricia L Cummings <quiltersmuse@>
Laurette Carroll wrote:
…To all appearances this quilt looks like it was made later in the 19th C, rather than 1840’s – 50’s. Also, the PBS article, states that the owner of the quilt gives the information that it was made by slaves, not that the slave owner was Black. Am I missing something? Where did the Black slave owner information come from?
Laurette Carroll Southern California
Dear Laurette:
Below are contact links for the Smithsonian. We might be able to find out more information directly from them about the slave made quilt that was on the Antiques Roadshow. Someone on this list mentioned that it was slave-owned. I did not catch that directly from the show itself. In fact, “black” used as an adjective is getting mighty confusing. Witness the recent incident where “black historian” did not mean a person of color, but rather any historian of black history.
I have ordered the Jubilee book, as mentioned on this list, that is reported to have the quilt pictured on the cover. Perhaps there is even a tiny bit of information about the quilt there. Failing that, we could see if the Smithsonian has any catalogues still available from their exhibit, and which exhibit featured the quilt. If only we knew who to contact, more questions could be asked about provenance documentation. In the meantime, I hope the following information is useful to all who are interested.
Pat Cummings
Smithsonian:
The exhibit schedule can be viewed at:
http://americanart.si.edu/highlights/itinerary.cfm?id=CC and information on books can be viewed at: http://americanart.si.edu/museum_info/onlineshop/index.cfm If you have any further questions, please direct them to the “contact” source at our website: http://americanart.si.edu/index3.cfm
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 21:27:07 -0400 | From: Patricia L Cummings <quiltersmuse@>
Dear Kim:
Thanks for the nice links. Isn’t Guatemalan fabric grand? It is so bright and colorful!
I would like to recommend a book called The Textiles of Guatemala by Regis Bertrand and Danielle Magne (London: Studio Editions, 1991). This volume has some very interesting information about how weaving was developed by the ancient Mayas, and historic notes about Guatemala’s heritage and people. There are extensive, large color photos including the landscape, the people, and lots of close-ups of the woven cloth.
Knowing of my interest in Guatemalan textiles, my sister found some in her travels. I used a piece that she sent me to fashion a doll’s dress for small, black doll that needed better attire. I love the end result.
It is great that we now know of an online source for this kind of cloth, thanks to you, Kim. Wish I hadn’t missed that episode of Simply Quilts. Now that it only is shown on TV here, early in the morning when I am usually busy with other things, I hardly ever see it again. Good thing I already saw Barb–that was a great show!
Thanks for the post, Kim.
Pat Cummings
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 09:41:44 -0400 | From: “Candace Perry” <candace@>
There’s a major auction of an antique dealer’s stock coming up at William H. Bunch Auctions, 11 a.m. at the Bunch gallery in Chadds Ford, PA. Included is a “betrothal quilt” from NJ, plus others. Website www.williambunchauctions.com — you can see all the quilts (fraktur and other goodies too) to be sold if you click through to the 4/20 auction and scroll down. Candace Perry
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 09:25:18 -0500 | From: Mary Persyn <Mary.Persyn@>
Dear Laura & QHLers,
I’m no expert in trademark law (and our expert isn’t here today), but I think the company would have a problem trying to keep others from using the word “quilt.” For one thing, it’s been in common usage for hundreds of years, for another, we don’t use it in referring to agricultural chemicals.
I just looked up a book we have from Nolo Press, Patent, Copyright & Trademark: An Intellectual Property Desk Reference 6th ed., which says that generics, which describe an entire group or class of goods or services such as computer, eyeglasses and eBook, cannot be trademarked.
Their use of Quilt seems to be a combination of two products
> Tilt® and Quadris® fungicides
which I can see them being able to tradmark for their particular purpose. What I can’t see is them giving anybody else any trouble.
My $.02. I’m sure we have some QHL members with more knowledge than I.
Mary
From: “Judy Kelius (judysue)”
Thanks Candace! I was surprised to see a quilt which I think is one I lusted for when it was at one of the local antiques malls near me in Lancaster County – the Carolina Lily, #207 – I wasn’t allowed to take a photo when I saw it so I’ve saved these photos to my computer!! I love the unusual use of scrap print fabrics and the setting.
From: Gail Ingram <gingram@>
This story embodies the importance of quilts and family and tradition better than any I know.
And they’re southern quilts, probably not “bought goods” but it’s the love that went into them and the time that preserved the maker. And Mama finally does the right thing.
That the educated but ignorant sister would dispaarage “everyday use” tells all.
Gail
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 23:30:33 -0500 | From: “Jocelyn Martin” <jocelynm@>
>I know this is oral history, as opposed to anything that has a paper trail,
Not that oral history is without value. :)The catch is, memory is transient. Any one of us can be presenting a ‘fact’ with good intent, but still be dead wrong. 🙂 If you want an interesting exercise sometime, try interviewing a sibling who is several years older/younger than yourself, about events that happened in your family. It’s fascinating, what you ‘know’ that they don’t. I’ve gone back and read journal entries that described events that are not at all as I remember them. Memory in our heads, as well as on our computers, is constantly being re-written.
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 23:43:10 -0500 | From: “Jocelyn Martin” <jocelynm@>
But will the Karen who was offering her 1930s fabric for sale please contact me? Every time I try to email you, it bounces back.
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 07:29:30 -0400 | From: “Linda Heminway” <ibquiltn@>
Hi everyone! I am fairly new to this digest and really don’t have allot to contribute, as I am here to learn from people who I perceive to be “experts”. My knowledge doesn’t hold a candle to most of you. Yet, I try, and I am “getting there” in terms of learning about older quilts. As I can’t really afford to buy lots of antique quilts, what I like to do is research and reproduce them. I read and appreciate what you all have to say, and have to admit that some of it is over my head. But, I will “get there”. My reason for writing you today is personal. Collectively, you more than likely possess a very large concentration of old quilts, and have seen many more. Long before I ever became a quilter, myself, and took an interest in older quilts and really appreciated things, my mother had a yard sale. She sold the quilts that my grandmother made. Though she offered them to my sister and I, we both didn’t want them (what fools!) at that time. We were both young (in our early 20s) and old quilts just weren’t our “thing”. It would mean so much to me to even SEE (in person or by photo) just one of those quilts. I would love to make a reproduction of one of her quilts, if I could actually FIND one. It would be wonderful to know that it still existed and that someone was caring for them and appreciating them. I was wondering if any of you have come across a quilt, or quilts, made (she may not even have ever signed her quilts) by a woman named Helen Jacobs (her maiden name) or Helen Derry or Helen Jacobs Derry. Her middle name was Louise as well. Helen’s quilts were made in Massachusetts, specifically Hyde Park MA and were sold at a yard sale in Randolph MA, probably about 25+ years ago. They could have changed hands several times since then, and could be just about anywhere. Her quilts would have dated from about 1920 though about the late 1950s, when I think she stopped quilting and went “on” to rug hooking. Helen belonged to the Baptist Church in Hyde Park MA and worked with a quilting group there and I believe they made group project quilts to benefit the church as well, her name might have beeon on a signature type of quilt from that church? I do own one doll quilt that she made from old “housedresses” for me in about 1960 and even have fond memories of putting this quilt over my dolls and wheeling them around in my doll carriage. I also do own my grandmother’s old quilting hoop as well, which has been broken and mended. But, to actually see one of her quilts and know it still exists would be something I would value for a lifetime. So, if her name jogs one of your memories, I would love to hear about it and perhaps get a photo if one of you has a quilt of hers. Thanks if you can help, Linda Heminway (maiden name Linda Helen Derry, named for HER) Plaistow NH
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 07:47:34 EDT | From: Midnitelaptop@
linda please post and tell us if you ever get any info about your grandmother’s quilts… jeanL
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 08:19:44 -0400 | From: “Linda Heminway” <ibquiltn@>
Jean said: linda please post and tell us if you ever get any info about your grandmother’s quilts… jeanL
I will gladly post, if I do hear anything. Hey, you never know! It would be so wonderful to have one or more of her quilts made known to our family, somehow, even if in the form of a photo. As I make reproductions, it would be really cool to try to reproduce one of hers. I really believe in the power of coincidences! My post was a “long shot”, but you never know! I’ve heard bizarre stories of twins separated at birth being reunited through some chance meeting, or a chance mutual friend. So, if things like that can happen, one of Helen Derry’s quilts might actually be known to someone on this digest! It’s entirely possible that my grandmother did sign her quilts, or at least a few signature squares somewhere along the line (I sure have!) and someone right on this digest might very well have one of these quilts tucked away or displayed! Displayed and loved would be MY choice, of course! Incidentally, just some “trivia”. My grandmother, was actually the great granddaughter of Edwin Booth (owner, actor and manager of The Booth Theater) and brother of John Wilkes Booth, who killed Abraham Lincoln. The family was so embarrassed and kept this a secret until well after my grandmother was dead. We find it “interesting” nowadays, that’s all. But, a quilt made by her was from a “historic” family! : ) Thanks for your interest! Linda Heminway
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 08:41:27 EDT | From: NewmanQuiltShop@
Hello, Just read your note and was thinking about my Grandmother’s quilts that are out in my building. I did reproduce one for my daughter’s wedding and sent another to one of my daughters. I have reproduced several antique quilts and in fact nearly all the quilt I have made for books that I have in print are reproductions of some time period. You might want to reproduce some from AQAS books that I have done. They are string pieced quilts with style, vertical quilts with style, charm quilts with style and quilts from nine blocks. YOu could also study a lot of quilts in Vintage Quilts a price guide for quilts.
I do a wonderful two day class on detecing the date and I also do a lecture on 200 years of quiltmaking. If I can answer any questions please contact me at NewmanQuiltShopa0l.com
