April 25 - May 31, 2002

Oral History & Documentation, Quilt History Resources, Quiltmaking Techniques & Construction, Restoration & Conservation

These restored messages come from the Quilt History List, an online forum where quilt historians, collectors, researchers, appraisers, and enthusiasts discussed antique quilts and related textiles. The archive dates from 1996 through approximately 2016 and is being restored gradually. Sign up in the form at the bottom of the page if you want to know when a new page is added. Original spelling, opinions, formatting, and inactive links may remain unchanged.

Primary topics of this QHL Digest:

1939 World’s Fair Quilt Mystery — A member’s eBay find sparks a discussion tracing a Sears National Quilt Contest history book, with members untangling a possible date typo in its title.
“Frontier House” Documentary Quilts — Several members debate whether the quilts used in the PBS reality series looked authentically pioneer-era or more like later imports.
Antique Fabric Health Concerns — News that a quilt dealer’s antique-fabric exposure contributed to a serious illness prompts members to share their own allergy and sensitivity experiences with old textiles.
Colonial Convict Quiltmaker Research — Cinda Cawley shares a 1747 Maryland newspaper ad for an indentured servant’s quilting services, unearthed while researching post-servitude occupations. (see the article on early American quilts)
New Member Introduction & Book List — Pilar Donoso introduces herself and her interest in Sunbonnet Sue history, prompting members to compile a quilt-history reading list for her.
Fabric Foiling Technique — Members trade tips and a supplier source for foiling metallic accents onto fabric.

Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 19:49:46 -0400 | From: “Cinda Cawley”

In the Spring issue of Maryland Historical Magazine (the journal of the MD Historical Soc.) there’s an article titled “The Transported Convict Women of Colonial Maryland, 1718-1776. The author Edith Ziegler is described as an American History graduate from the University of New England in Australia. Will somebody from Australia please tell me about this institution?

This query is quilt related because when she comes to consider the question of what the indentured women did after their period of servitude, she quotes from the Maryland Gazette of October 28, 1747: ELIZABETH CROWDER-QUILTER (Who lately lived with Mrs. Carter in Annapolis) Is removed to Mr. Carroll’s Quarter about two miles from town where she performs all sorts of quilting in the best manner and at the most reasonable rates: good petticoats for eight and ten shilling a piece and coarse petticoats for six shillings. Whoever may have occasion to employ her may depend on being faithfully served by Your humble servant Elizabeth Crowder

This question is not quilt related, but does anybody know how the American Revolution affected the status of indentured servants? Cinda on the Eastern Shores where the highways lined with wildflowers make me grateful to Lady Bird Johnson

Date: Mon, 27 May 2002 07:23:39 -0700 (PDT) | From: Nancy Kirk <kirkcoll@>

Quilt Heritage Conference, Status on Bill Kirk, new fabrics etc. kirkcoll@

Hi All,

I’ve been away for a long time so forgive the long post. The Quilt Heritage Conference registration forms are ready to mail out — send an email to quilthf@, or print one out at www.quiltheritage.com. This is the revised version of the Quilt Restoration Conference with a lot more hands-on workshops on historic techniques — patchwork, applique and quilting to serve those interested in making quilts in historic traditions as well as people interested in quilt history.

I’ll be teaching a two-day restoration workshop starting the Thursday before the conference and continuing on Friday. You can do the Restoration Workshop without attending the full conference, but why miss all the other fun?

Status on Bill

As many of you know Bill had surgery in Washington, D.C. in April for the very rare form of cancer he has — only one surgeon in the country even performs surgery on his type. They told us to be prepared to stay for four to six weeks. The surgery went better than predicted and his recovery was textbook — so he got out in 2 1/2 weeks. We stayed an extra five days so he could gain strength — a good thing as he said the 9 hour trip home of shuttles, airports, security lines and shuttles was the worst part of the whole ordeal.

We went from a prognosis of six months or so before surgery, to the nurses saying “oh, Mr. ___ was just in last week. He had his surgery 12 years ago and is doing fine.” No guarantees, of course, and he’ll go on systemic chemo to try to control it in the future, but what a change in looking forward.

The downside is that certain antique fabrics contributed to making him sick — we don’t know if it was a parasite, mold, spores or what, but the doctors said he can’t work with antique fabric any more, so it is all going out of the house to a storage unit for now and out of our lives over the next year. If there are specific things you want or need, let me know in a private email — some is posted on our website, but we have hundreds and hundreds of pieces.

New Fabric

My new Civil War reproduction fabrics were introduced at Quilt Market last week. I’m really pleased with the way they come out. The factory reversed the colors on one print, but it’s still pretty and perfection is not in the reach of most of us <VBG>. Hope you like them. They should be in your local quilt shop and on the net sometime in June. We’re not retailing them any more — just not enough time in my life to cut fat quarters any more, but I know the whole collection will be at www.civilwarfabrics.com. Forgive if this sounds like an ad — just trying to get the info out.

There are patterns for the line at www.QuiltWoman.com and the new Victorian Floral embroidery designs adapted from English cigarette silks are at www.cactuspunch.com. I keep feeling like I didn’t get a lot done this year, but I guess I did get a couple of things completed. Hope to see some of you at the Crazy Quilt Conference in June and many more at Quilt Heritage in September. We’re also hosting a quilt cruise out of New York earlier in September if a week at sea appeals.

So that’s my update. Forgive the length. Would love to hear from friends.

Yours,

Nancy Kirk

The Kirk Collection

www.kirkcollection.com

E-mail kirkcoll@

Date: Mon, 27 May 2002 13:55:17 -0400 | From: ddbstuff@

does anyone have any info on an Amish Quilt ehibition in Chicago in June? I had heard or read about it months ago but can’t find anything more about it. I believe it was to open June 10th.

Thanks,

Darwin

Date: Mon, 27 May 2002 15:18:07 EDT | From: Midnitelaptop@

if you go to http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/changing/amishquilts/travel.html you will get lots of info. jeanL

Date: Mon, 27 May 2002 20:57:31 -0400 | From: Pilar Donoso

Dear all: I want to thank each one of you for your help with Sunbonnet Sue History. I am teaching a live class in TV this Thursday and hope to do it right. As I said before, I studied History and Geography for 6 years, in a very prestigious University in Santiago, Chile, and after that, I went to live in California for 20 years, where I dedicated myself to Quiltmaking.

I am back to my country, started a Quilting Store, in a country with no background on Quiltmaking. In the last 4 years I have seen the progress and the interest is growing. I take classes at Quilt University, go to Houston Quilt Show, and keep in touch as much is possible with contacts in the Internet, since I donB4t have too much to see around here. I love the History about Quiltmaking. I wrote an article about it, but I need more. Any help that you can give me will be appreciated. I can buy books in the Internet, but I donB4t have the facility that you have to go to the store and get them.

I have Roderick KiracofeB4s book , but not Barbara Brackman Clues in the Calicos. I met Barbara last year. A very nice lady.

Thank you again for all your help,

Pilar Pilar Donoso I. Santiago, CHILE quiltpd@

Date: Mon, 27 May 2002 22:08:43 -0400 | From: “judygrow”

Didn’t we put together a list of must-have quilt history books at one time? Does anyone have it handy on their computer, or is it on a web site somewhere that we can send Pilar to?

Dear all:

I want to thank each one of you for your help with Sunbonnet Sue History. I am teaching a live class in TV this Thursday and hope to do it right. As I said before, I studied History and Geography for 6 years, in a very prestigious University in Santiago, Chile, and after that, I went to live in California for 20 years, where I dedicated myself to Quiltmaking.

I have Roderick KiracofeB4s book , but not Barbara Brackman Clues in the Calicos. I met Barbara last year. A very nice lady.

Thank you again for all your help,

Pilar Pilar Donoso I. Santiago, CHILE quiltpd@

Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 11:51:33 -0500 | From: Mary Waller

As Judy reminds me, yes, there is a book list to refer Pilar to at http://www.usd.edu/sdquilts/

There are actually two lists: one is a list of state documentation project and regional books and another is a list I compiled from various sources, including QHL posts.

Maureen Flanagan put them on the web site but she’s on the road right now.

Mary Waller Vermillion SD USA

Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 10:17:08 -0700 | From: “Chris Anacker”

I wondered if anyone could comment on her statements about Bill getting sick from the antique fabrics he has handled?? I’ve heard of this as a possibility, but this is the first actual case I am hearing about. Is the rarity of the cancer related to the antiquity of the fabric? Since she is getting rid of theirs, does this imply there is no prevention or way to sort it out?

> The downside is that certain antique fabrics > > contributed to making him > > sick — we don’t know if it was a parasite, mold, > > spores or what, but the > > doctors said he can’t work with antique fabric any > > more, so it is all going > > out of the house to a storage unit for now and out > > of our lives over the > > next year. If there are specific things you want or > > need, let me know in a > > private email — some is posted on our website, but > > we have hundreds and > > hundreds of pieces. > >

Thanks, Kimberly Wulfert, PhD www.antiquequiltdating.com Email: quiltdating@

Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 13:28:53 -0500 | From: “Evans, Joanna” <joanevan@>

Nancy,

I wish the best health for Bill and you. Can you tell us more about the contribution of antique fabrics to Bill’s illness? What makes you and the doctors suspect the fabric? Is there a cautionary tale for us all in here?

> > The downside is that certain antique fabrics > > contributed to making him > > sick — we don’t know if it was a parasite, mold, > > spores or what, but the > > doctors said he can’t work with antique fabric any > > more, so it is all going > > out of the house to a storage unit for now and out > > of our lives over the > > next year.

Thanks. Joanna

Joanna E. Evans Director of Field Placements Office of Early Field Experiences Indiana University School of Education W.W. Wright Building, Office 1046 210 North Rose Avenue Bloomington, IN 47405 (812) 856-8541 Fax: (812) 856-8518

Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 12:51:19 -0700 (PDT) | From: Kris Driessen

I am forwarding this for Anita, who is having trouble posting.

From: Anita S. Grossman <solo57@> To: <QHL@> Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2002 12:02 AM Subject: QHL Exhibitions and Maude Wahlman’s “Signs and Symbols”

> I recall a previous post regarding the re-issue of Maude Southwell Wahlman’s > “Signs and Symbols” that was originally published in 1993 by the then Museum > of American Folk Art (now American Folk Art Museum) and Studio Books. The > new edition is published by TINWOOD Press. > > Two exhibitions of note: > > 1. “Nine African-American Quilters” > Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT May 14, 2002 – November 10, 2002 > There will be a gallery talk by Wahlman “Secret Symbols in African-American > Quilts” on Thursday, June 27 at noon. > > I couldn’t find anything about the exhb.. @ > http://www.yale.edu/artgallery/exhibitions.htm. My info came from a

Univ. > mailing. I suspect the exhb.. may have been derived from the exhb..

of 10 > “African American Quilters,” a travelling exhb.. curated by Wahlman. > > 2.”The Quilts of Gee’s Bend” > The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston > Sept. 8-Nov. 10, 2002, > an exhibition of 70 quilts by the “unsung” women of the isolated community > of Gee’s Bend, Ala. — an all-black town in the southwest corner of

the > state bounded by a big curve in the Alabama River. Works in the show > represent four generations of artists, which is very unusual in > African-American quilts, according to MFA curator Alvia J. Wardlaw,

who > organized the show with Harvard design professor John Beardsley, freelance > curator Jane Livingston and TINWOOD Press publisher William Arnett — who > owns the quilts in the exhibition. Quilting has died out in Gee’s Bend, > which was founded in the early 1800s. > After appearing in Houston, the show comes to > Thee Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC > Nov. 21, 2002-Feb. 23, 2003. > > Anita/NYC

Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 23:46:01 EDT | From: Midnitelaptop@

thank you for posting about antique fabrics….i have mold allergies(among others)…and one trip to a thrift shop in the next town.. almost did me in…i had to leave quickly, my throat started to close and i could hardly breathe… that’s why i also have to wash any new fabrics i buy..because of the dyes, sizing and sometimes preservatives that are in them jeanL

Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 05:32:46 -0500 | From: “Ann G. Hubbard”

One of the reasons I wash new fabric is that I am allergic to some of the chemicals they use to make it. I would expect there are fewer chemicals in older fabric, except that all fabric is dyed or otherwise treated at some point. Also, antique fabric is much more apt to have mold spores than newer fabrics. All fabrics pick up from their environment. Just walk into a house that has smokers and the smoke and other chemicals stay in that house, probably forever. Antique fabrics will not effect everyone the same way, just like everyone who walks thru a patch of poison ivy will not come down with a rash. As much as we are all the same, all of has varying chemicals in our body and that has to cause different effects for all of us. Ann from Lake of the Ozarks.

Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 07:07:17 -0700 | From: “Susan Silva”

Hi there all my QHL friends. I was wondering if anyone knows of any quilt shows in the Atlanta/Charleston area July 9-19? I will be visiting there and would like to see a show or quilts in a museum would be nice also. Any recommendation of quilt shops would be great also. Keep on stitchin’ Susan in Sunny Spokane Wash.

Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 19:39:36 -0500 | From: Marcia Kaylakie

>Hi All, >I had the neatest thing happen to me yesterday. I have a patient that is >91 years old and a former couture seamstress. Sharp as a tack and just >lovely. Well, she came in with 3 old quilt patterns for me that she had >saved throughout the years. The first one has no other identification >other than the number 472 on it. It is a tulip and leaf pattern that she >says is from 1939, and it is the pattern that she was making a quilt from >when she heard about the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941! She still has >the quilt and says it’s in good shape although” the greens are a little >thin because the grades of fabric were uneven, dear..” The pattern has an >odd little made up crest in the upper right hand corner made up of a >shield of 4 sewing items with crossed knitting needles behind and a pin >cushion at the top. Does anyone recognize this particular sort of thing? >The second opattern is from Gentlewoman 1934 and says Stitchcraft. It is a >Japanese Morning Glory pattern. The third pattern is from >Household Arts, Inc by Alice Brooks and was offered in the Denver Post >1941 and it is Lanterns. Pattern 6911. >It seemed to put my patient’s mind to rest that I had the patterns, >especially the one. Now, she says, someone has them who will understand >them! If anyone has any info on these patterns/magazines or anything I >would love the information. Thanks, Marcia

Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 09:33:48 EDT | From: Trimble4@

Good morning all,

Just a question…I’ve lately seen some quilts with foiling on them. Does anyone have a source for the materials to do this?

Thanks! Lori in So.FL–where it’s a BEAUTIFUL day!

Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 06:58:44 -0700 | From: “Julia D. Zgliniec”

Dear Lori and All, The Summer issue 2002 of American Quilter by AQS has an article called “Foil Your Fabric” which gives a procedure.

Julia in Poway, CA where we have “May gray and June gloom” today

Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 10:01:38 -0400 | From: Eileen Doughty

I took a surface design class last winter and it opened up whole new worlds for me. Foiling was one of the techniques covered. I bought my supplies at the local craft shop (Michaels). You just need the foil (or metal leaf) and a foiling glue sold with it – not just any old glue will work. It is very simple: spread the glue, wait 15-30 minutes until it dries but is still tacky. then rub on the foil. voila!

I’ve seen a few articles lately on foiling in various magazines. they all say you need an iron to apply the foil. the kind i used does not – just rub well. the package said it was not recommended for fabric, but my instructor said we could ignore that. i imagine if the piece is washed, or subjected to abrasion, it may eventually wear off.

it is a very fun technique. i used it for fish on “Something’s Missing” and in the night sky in “Leonids”. you can see these via my gallery at http://www.DoughtyDesigns.com/thumbnails.html .

Eileen Doughty

Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 17:56:49 -0500 | From: “Ann G. Hubbard”

I have bought foil from http://www.meinketoy.com. phone number is 248-813-9806 Hope this helps. Ann