August 29 – September 3, 1998
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:
- Braided Rug History and Techniques — Members share experiences with braided rugs, from learning from elderly craftswomen to questions about antique wool rugs and their care.
- Prairie Points History — Xenia Cord traces the history of prairie points as a quilt-edge finishing technique, citing 19th-century examples.
- ‘Gold Standard’ and ‘Honor Pure Finish’ on Fabric Selvedges — An extended discussion about what markings like ‘gold standard’ and ‘Honor Pure Finish’ mean when found printed on fabric selvedges, with members researching the Cloth of Gold company and textile-industry grading terms.
- Quilting a Vintage Boston Commons Top — Practical advice on how to quilt an antique Boston Commons quilt top without damaging it, including thread choices and stitch patterns.
- Hand Quilting Technique and Instruction — Sehoy Welshofer describes her approach to teaching hand quilting, including rocking stitch technique and how to bury thread ends.
- Christmas Tree Skirt Patterns — Members help a newcomer draft a pattern for a reproduction Christmas tree skirt, with tips on the geometry involved.
- New England Quilt Museum Exhibit Clarification — A follow-up correcting details about the New England Quilt Museum’s current exhibition after an earlier post. (see the article on quilt museums)
- Quilt Restoration Challenges — Laura Hobby Syler and others discuss the difficulty of replacing worn fabric in antique quilts while maintaining historical integrity. (see the article on quilt restoration)
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1998 00:16:21 -0400 | From: “Judy Grow” <Judygrow [at] blast [dot] net
>I have 3 wool braided area rugs that were made by a great grandmother who died in her 80’s in the early 1960’s. ……but
they need to
>be cleaned and I considered getting them professionally cleaned, but got to thinking, why couldn’t I do it. Does any one have any tips or thoughts on the matter. I would use Ovis, the bath tub, probably something like a sheet to support it getting it out of the tub, like a quilt. Should I repair before I wash?
I don’t know if it is the right way, but I have cleaned my hand braided wool rugs by laying them out on the deck and turning the hose on them. The deck supports their weight and the openings between the planks allow the water to drain right out. They usually dry in a day. When almost dry and much lighter in weight I turn them over to complete the drying. I have not used soap of any kind.
Judy in Ringoes, NJ judygrow [at] blast [dot] net
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1998 08:34:42 -0400 | From: debatqps [at] juno [dot] com
I learned to braid rugs more years ago than I care to remember from an elderly lady who had been making them for who knows how long . . . She told me to clean them by laying them out in freshly fallen snow, covering them up and leaving them for a few hours. Then she said to brush them with a stiff broom and bring them inside to dry. At first I thought she was crazy, to put it bluntly, but when I tried it, they don’t get stiff and frozen, they don’t get really wet and the snow is definitely dirty when you are done! I have done this for years and other than one year when my children decided they made great trails for sledding, had no problems! They are bulky and hard to get in and out of the house but this is the only way I have ever cleaned mine. My neighbors have gotten quite used to the rugs laying around my yard after the first snowfall . .
. VBG
Debbie in NJ
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1998 09:13:49 -0700 | From: Denise Clausen <nadyne [at] oregoncoast [dot] com
Dear QHLers
I am trying to obtain a copy of each of the Undercoverings books for the research library of the Latimer Quilt and Textile Center. We only have a few copies. I have checked the used book lists on the internet and had no luck?
Does anyone know of available copies. To purchase them from AQSG at full price is a big investment for our organization.
Thanks
Denise Clausen
Director LQTC
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1998 13:56:24 +0800 | From: Con Van Maanen <convan [at] ozemail [dot] com [dot] au
Hi all,
I’m wondering if anyone knows where I might be able to find a copy of a book called “The Political and the Campaign Quilt” by CHRISTOPHERSON,Katy publisher The Kentucky Heritage Quilt Society, Frankfort, 1984. Not having much luck with book searches. My email is Convan [at] ozemail [dot] com [dot] au [dot] Thanks from Roberta in raining today Perth, Western Australia.
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1998 10:56:32 EDT | From: SadieRose [at] aol [dot] com
Hello, I have a friend who is putting together a talk for a quilt guild on the ‘Quilt Police’. I told her I would ask if any of you have any stories you can share, where someone designated themselves as the ‘Quilt Police’ and told you that you couldn’t do something a certain way.
When I took my first quilting class (after teaching myself & making 2 quilts)….the instructor told us that “anything you do with a sewing machine is garbage & should be burned” !!
Now, this was back in 1977, and attitudes have changed since then (thank goodness!)
My apologies to those of you who are getting this message on several lists…I sent this out to QuiltNet a couple of days ago, and have gotten some really interesting responses! We are going to compile these & share them after her lecture.
TIA….Karan
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1998 12:09:12 -0500 | From: Laura Hobby Syler <texas_quilt.co [at] mail [dot] airmail [dot] net>
Judy, Lisa and I do at least 2 book reviews a month in the VQTS newsletter…I imagine we could share some..<G>…
Laura.
6 AM 8/30/98 -0400, Judy Grow wrote:
>My apologies to Kris. I never thought to look at Hickory Hill’s page for the book reviews I was suggested I would be willing to hold the FAQ for. However, when I did go to Kris’s page I saw very few actual reviews — mostly lists of books.
>I think it would be wonderful if everyone on the list would add just one review to the Quilt History Book page. Titles just don’t tell us everything we want to know about some books.
>I for one will be doing a few reviews for the list. I hope everyone will join in the effort. It will sure prove helpful to everyone.
>Judy in Ringoes, NJ judygrow [at] blast [dot] net
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1998 15:59:01 +0400 | From: Xenia Cord <xecord [at] netusa1 [dot] net
Some days ago someone was asking about the age of prairie points as a design element. This is not quilts, but I was looking through a July, 1906,copy of Home Needlework Magazine (quarterly, Florence Publ. Co., Florence, MA), and spotted directions for a blouse (“waist”) with prairie point decoration.
The front of the blouse was sewed in wide horizontal tucks (about 1-1/2″ wide with the free, folded edge down). At intervals, ultimately creating a diamond field of prairie points, the tucking was cut vertically from fold to stitch line, and the flaps folded under in each direction and tacked to form triangles with the point at the bottom. The blouse was made in white lawn, which would not be bulky and would press neatly into sharp triangles. It really made a very pretty blouse, and the same effect was worked into tight bands at the elbows on the otherwise puffed sleeves.
Xenia, in Indiana
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1998 22:39:41 -0400 (EDT) | From: JOCELYNM [at] delphi [dot] com
Mary,
Why am I not surprised to hear that dry-cleaners recommend dry-cleaning? <G>
The catch is, I’m sure the Smithsonian has dip tanks, and changes the fluid often. I’m equally sure that my local dry-cleaner is NOT going to provide the quilt with the same gentle care I would. I would not bet on them cleaning it all by itself, without agitation, and without using fluid that’s been used for half the town’s grungy sweaters. Heck, I have enough trouble convincing them that I need to get my clothes back with the same number of buttons as there are buttonholes, and that it really IS a problem if I don’t! <G> I would NEVER trust them to NOT just dump the quilt in with everything else, no matter what they promised me.
Jocelyn
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1998 03:20:29 EDT | From: Lalalawyr [at] aol [dot] com
In a message dated 98-08-30 00:01:32 EDT, mswaller [at] iw [dot] net writes: << The report dry cleaning also is better long term because the solvents used in dry cleaning completely evaporate from the fabrics, leaving no chemicals to cause later problems. >>
With all due respect, I simply don’t believe that the dry cleaning chemicals disappear completely from fabrics.
After all, even plain water leaves some residue when it evaporates (minerals, etc. – unless it is distilled) – so I’m sure that there is something left behind in textiles from dry cleaning chemicals. I have no information or evidence about this, but in my gut, I sincerely doubt that whatever is left behind is beneficial, or even benign, to fabric.
From my own experience, I find that clothing which is dry cleaned often develops a different texture, sort of a “residue feel.” This is clearly from chemicals which are left in the fabric, because it disappears if the item is washed.
The conservators at the Smithsonian can do what they want, but I will carefully hand wash my own heirloom and vintage quilts, washing them as infrequently as possible – and just throw the “everyday quilts” in the washer and dryer.
Melissa
Lalalawyr [at] aol [dot] com
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1998 08:08:51 EDT | From: Shelly Zegart
With reference to book reviews, excellent ones are being done regularly by a trained librarian Nancy Cameron Armstrong in her Canadian Quilt Study Group newletter Cover Stories that comes out several times a year.Yearly membership is $15 and well worth it. E mail her at narmstr [at] ibm [dot] net or phone 604-538-7551. You do not need to reinvent the wheel when quality reviews are readily available. Shelly Zegart
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1998 08:21:21 EDT | From: [from unknown, signed “Linda”]
This didn’t come from the Quilt Police, but is a funny story. While at the Folk Art Show in Asheville, my husband and I saw some lovely quilts with a little girl in attendance. We asked whose they were, and she replied that they were her grandmother’s. Trying to make small talk until her grandmother returned, I asked if her grandmother pieced and quilted by machine or by hand. With my Texas drawl, she evidently misunderstood, pulled herself straight up, and said ” Paste!!! She doesn’t paste these at all!!. She does every bit of this with a needle and a thread!”
Linda, finally speaking Carolinian
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 13:15:26 -0400 | From: “Kelchner, Alan” <Alan.Kelchner [at] stdreg [dot] com
If memory serves me well (and it’s been iffy the last 24 hours!), the people who stated the Smithsonian uses dry-cleaning WERE drycleaners. In this day and age where things are overemphasized, why are we taking the word of the dry cleaners? I *do* believe that there are sometimes applications that would call for dry-cleaning, but have the feeling it’s not as frequently as the drycleaners would like us to think! Is there someone at the Smithsonian were could ask? I’ll ask, but don’t have the time to search for a contact (flying needles at my house).
Alan
Date: Tue, 01 Sep 1998 11:34:11 -0600 | From: Sharon Harleman Tandy <harleman [at] micron [dot] net>
Hi all,
Knowing that my memory is little better than Alan’s, still, I think our own Lynn Gorges (Palampore) has studied textile cleaning and care _at_ the Smithsonian. If she has not posted on this subject it may be she’s not ‘listening’ or is busy, but we might ask her directly?
Sharon.
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 17:39:15 EDT | From: Quilt97 [at] aol [dot] com
Does anyone have any helpful hints or ideas for a simple Christmas tree skirt pattern? I will be using two Christmas prints and two pindots that read as solids. I cannot find a pattern for simple 8 panelled skirt.
Thanks!
Elisabeth
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 14:50:52 -0500 | From: Sara Dillow <sdillow [at] teknetwork [dot] com>
Greetings! Regarding Vivian Sayre’s post of August 29, there has been no change of policy regarding the usage of the American Quilt Study Group’s mailing list. The membership database was being upgraded and is now ready for use.
Thanks for your understanding.
Sara Dillow
Date: Tue, 01 Sep 1998 18:08:42 -0400 | From: Vivien Lee Sayre <vsayre [at] nesa [dot] com>
At 02:50 PM 9/1/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Greetings! Regarding Vivian Sayre’s post of August 29, there has been no change of policy regarding the usage of the American Quilt Study Group’s mailing list. The membership database was being upgraded and is now ready for use.
>Thanks for your understanding.
>Sara Dillow
Dear Sara,
Thank you for taking the time to update everyone. It is much appreciated. It was unfortunate that updating the database had not been completed in time to help Old Sturbridge Village, but I’m sure things will be back to normal soon.
Vivien Sayre
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 17:14:59 -0600 | From: Kathy Gaul <katquilt [at] n-gate [dot] com>
Hi everyone,
Well here I go again with a quilt cleaning dilemma! I have cleaned many quilts, and do it the old laborious way in a large frame (quilt is only folded once), with tepid water, and Orvus – and LOTS and LOTS of rinsing – usually about 6-7 times (at about 30 gallons each time in the frame). Earlier in the year I ran into problems with a 100year old quilt and mold. I was successful at cleaning the quilt and although the mold stains remained, there were lightened from the original problem and the water or tide marks from the water damage came out! The one problem I did have was tide lines of yellow, which I believe to be acid that took recleaning the entire quilt on an A-frame and rinsing every 45 minutes or so. Even after all the work some yellow stains reappeared along the edges of the quilt (obviously as the water evaporated out). The new dilemma is a 1920-30 applique quilt that I knew going into the cleaning was pretty dirty since it had never been cleaned in 40 years. I always presoak the quilts in plain water first, and when I did this the water turned soooo yellow it about made me sick. I realized as I put the quilt into the water that it had lived in the home of a smoker for it reeked of cigarette smoke (sorry, no offense to those of you who smoke). Well I drained the water off immediately and filled with clean water – similar color appeared. I then went into my usual routine of orvus and water, rinse, rinse, more orvus and water and rinse 6-7 times. I even let the quilt soak for 1 hour at a time – usually 20-30 minutes is all I do. After the last rinse I blotted the quilt to remove as much water as I could, and I could not see any signs of yellow remaining. I felt pretty good – until this morning. I have tide lines of good ‘ole yellow – which I suspect to be remaining nicotine. Am I the only crazy person who puts so much effort – not to mention WATER – into my quilt cleaning, only to have problems such as these!!!! I’d like to know how a person is supposed to KNOW when a quilt is truly clean, if for all intents and purposes it appears so in water color, and no residue on white cotton blotting towels.
So now that I have that off my chest – anyone want to tackle it?!! Just thought it might be interesting to hear from those of you who have cleaned quilts for a long time (or of course anyone with an opinion!)- and see if you have ever run into these problems. Thanks – Kat
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 22:32:12 EDT | From: KirkColl [at] aol [dot] com
I tried the Kodak ones a year ago and was less than impressed. A friend has a Sony which has the advantage of temporary storage on cheap floppy disks which means you could afford to shoot a whole quilt show. The extra memory cards on most run several hundred dollars, but without them, you need to tote a portable computer with a huge hard disk around! I filled the camera in under 5 minutes in my shop. Then off to the computer to download which took 15 minutes!
The resolution depends on the final use –unfortunately there is no good answer for the web that also gives you the quality you need for print applications.
Personally, I decided to stick with the camera and Polaroid and a good scanner for now. Waiting for the third generation of cameras to come.
Nancy Kirk
Looking forward to seeing many of you here in Omaha next week. There is still room for a last minute addition if you can find a cheap airfare. I always reserve a couple of extra hotel rooms “just in case.”
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 07:45:47 -0500 (CDT) | From: “Karen Benson” <benson [at] mailbox [dot] mail [dot] umn [dot] edu>
I hope no one minds my jumping in here with an announcement for a quilt competition we just launched. I work at the University Children’s Foundation (University of Minnesota Dept of Pediatrics). We are asking quilters around the world to make and donate a child-size quilt (45″ x 60″) that “reflects your hope for a world of healthy children.” All the quilts will be displayed and auctioned at the Mall of America from June 1-13, 1999. All the money raised from this competition will support research into childhood diseases at the University’s Department of Pediatrics. The quilters will compete for two incredible grand prizes: 1) you will fly to Spain, board a Transatlantic cruise ship for 9 days on the Atlantic, then disembark in Barbados and fly home. 2) you will fly to Washington DC where the Smithsonian will host a lunch in your honor followed by a private, personal tour of the Smithsonian quilt collection! Sound like fun? We have a web site that I encourage you to look at:
http://www.peds.umn.edu/ucf
We are co-sponsored by the Minnesota Quilters and the American Quilter’s Society.
We need your help. We cannot afford to send out hard copies of this competition to every quilt store, quilter, etc. We need people to print off the web site and send it to your quilting friends, share it with your guild, talk about it on internet, link us to your quilting web sites, etc.
I have seen the children we help here and it is incredible. Also, the grand prize quilts will be hung permanently in the ward with the seriously ill children to give them hope for the future.
I hope you will not only help us with a quilt, but help us spread the word. If your guild wants to come to Minneapolis during June 1-13 and help us with the Mall of America show (it is at the same time of the Minnesota Quilt Convention), please send me a post on the web site and we’ll sign you up! Thanks for letting me share this information. And thanks for helping us. karen Karen C. Benson
University Children’s Foundation benson [at] mailbox [dot] mail [dot] umn [dot] edu (612) 625-1148
Date: Wed, 02 Sep 1998 09:10:37 -0400 | From: Nancy Roberts <robertsn [at] norwich [dot] net>
A friend will be quilting a vintage full-size Boston Commons quilt top and has asked for advice on an authentic quilting design. This pastel, multi-color quilt top is composed of 1 1/2″ squares set on point. They create concentric, rectangular bands of color from the center. Unlike the pattern I’m more familiar with that has one or more breaks of muslin strips between the center and outer edges, this one just continues with the small squares. It resembles a Trip Around the World in that respect, except the squares are joined diagonally.
If I haven’t thoroughly confused you with this description, would you pass along any ideas for quilting it that you have seen. We agree that this is a ’30s quilt top. While we’ve both looked through books in our collections, neither of us has found a Boston Commons quilt. Thanks for any suggestions you might have. Nancy Roberts
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 09:00:51 EDT | From: CToczek [at] aol [dot] com
Dear Kat,
A similiar problem happened to me last summer and I appealed to this list as well. One bit of advice helped greatly…a simple thing actually. During the drying phase I flipped the quilt repeatedly from one side to the other. That helped to evenly disperse whatever acid or dirt residue may have remained in the quilt. No more “marks.”
Note that I dry my quilts flat on a screen frame in the backyard. I’m not sure I understood the description of your frame in your post.
Best wishes,
Carla, at West Point where the night temps dipped into the upper 40’s two weeks ago…IN AUGUST!
Can you tell I’m from the South?
Date: Wed, 02 Sep 1998 09:11:39 -0600 | From: Sharon Harleman Tandy <harleman [at] micron [dot] net>
Anyone having the e-mail addresses of the following, would you either send them this message or send me their address:
Donna Purdom, Dorothy Stish, Ellen (? from Omaha), and Pauline Wolff–all ‘caught’ for QHL Mug Shots @ QRS’97. Also Yvonne Didde and Helene Kusnitz, ‘shot’ at Tucson’98.
Sharon Harleman Tandy, Quilts & Answers, Boise, Idaho.
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 19:30:32 +0100 | From: “Sally Ward” <sward [at] t-ward [dot] demon [dot] co [dot] uk>
I’ve only been following the list a few months, so if you have covered this recently, my apologies – perhaps someone can direct me to the appropriate archive.
I was taught to start and finish my quilting with a knot ‘popped’ into the middle of the sandwich. Recently I saw an expert quilter demonstrate, who said she only ever used a backstitch. Also she never ‘travelled’ between the sandwich, and if she changed direction she would put in a backstitch at the turning point. All this was because she ‘had seen so many antique quilts which had unravelled for a long distance when the thread broke’.
I lean away from putting in backstiches because I think they make a ‘hiccup’ in the flexibility of the line of quilting by holding the thread fast, but I am worried about unravelling in the future. Do those of you who spend your working days looking at old quilts (or quilting new ones) have any views on stopping and starting techniques?
Thanks
Sally in UK
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 16:07:05 EDT | From: AMDOODAH [at] aol [dot] com
I was taking apart a c.1900 tied comforter last night and once again found another one inside. However, I also found a jagged 3 “hole through all the layers, that had been repaired by covering it with a 5” patch on each side of the “newest” layer. Under the patch was an entire handful of human hair, I thought I had happened across someone’s departed pet but fortunately that was not the case. This was too much hair to be a memorial – it must have been a batting substitute. I may not know how to sew but no one could have more fun unsewing things than I do.
Joan
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 17:06:51 EDT | From: Lalalawyr [at] aol [dot] com
In a message dated 98-09-02 16:23:50 EDT, AMDOODAH [at] AOL [dot] com writes: << Under the patch was an entire handful of human hair, I thought I had happened across someone’s departed pet but fortunately that was not the case. This was too much hair to be a memorial – it must have been a batting substitute. >>
I have a “hair receiver” that was my great-grandmother’s. It is a small lacquer container, about the size of a teacup, with a lid that has a hole in the top.
According to my grandmother, who gave it to me, 19th century ladies would save the hair that came off in combs and brushes, and put it in the hair receiver, which was kept on the dresser or vanity. She said that the saved hair was used to make your own hairpieces, but perhaps that sort of system was how it came to be used in a batting – ?
Melissa
Lalalawyr [at] aol [dot] com
Date: Wed, 02 Sep 1998 16:39:17 -0500 | From: Laura Hobby Syler <texas_quilt.co [at] mail [dot] airmail [dot] net>
Hi Sally,
My least favorite thing about quilt restoration is when I have to replace broken lines of quilting thread…for what ever reason. In the 20 years that I have been doing it, and teaching quilting, if it is not because there is a hole, more times than anything else, the quilting thread has come out *because* of backstitch ending…not the other way around… Case in point….
The very first quilt that I had commissioned when I opened Texas Quilt Co in 1980 in N. Dallas was a beautiful lone star out of all the Jenny Beyer prints…had a very talented friend of mine piece and quilt a king size Lone Star (original name of the shop) Hung in our front window for a few months…then I took it home and it went on my bed…in less than a year of use we started noticing tails popping everywhere…I had already removed and replaced some of the ecru back stitches because they stood out on the dark blue background… what a mess! And it still upsets me. Now, as a hand quilting insturctor…I pop those starting knots…travel under other lines of quilting , do Marianne Fons’ Tennessee Traveling..but I do a sort of back stitch/knot combo to end off…as far as I know…and I see my quilts on my 12 & 14 YO girls beds every night …none of my stitches have come loose.
IMHO… I also think that it has a *great* deal to do with how tight your stitches are, and how small they are in the first place….Ever try *removing* those teeny tiny ones<G>??? Oh, and I also agree with your “hiccup” theory! there has to be some give!!!
Laura
M 9/2/98 +0100, Sally Ward wrote:
covered this recently, my apologies – perhaps someone can direct me
>to the appropriate archive.
All this was because she ‘had seen so
>many antique quilts which had unravelled for a long distance when the thread broke’.
I lean away from putting in backstiches because I think
>they make a ‘hiccup’ in the flexibility of the line of quilting by holding the thread fast, but I am worried about unravelling in the future.
Do
>those of you who spend your working days looking at old quilts (or quilting new ones) have any views on stopping and starting techniques? Thanks
Sally in UK
Date: Wed, 02 Sep 1998 10:07:01 -0400 | From: Jean Binns Smith <shejean [at] vicon [dot] net>
Elizabeth,
I used newspaper ( had to tape it together to make it long enough and a yardstick with the tool with one sharp end and one pencil end attached to it to make a large compass ,and drew my own simple tree skirt pattern. Clotilda, as well as some quilt shops ( where I found mine ) carries the tool I talking about to make a compass out of a ruler, if you aren’t familiar with them. Perhaps an art supply store would have them also.
Jean in central Pa.
Date: Wed, 02 Sep 1998 21:05:26 +0400 | From: Xenia Cord <xecord [at] netusa1 [dot] net>
I have a question and a request. Would those who initiated the “gold standard” discussion please recap this information, starting with the information/evidence brought out at last year’s quilt restoration conference? What sources weres given?
It occurs to me that if the presence of a single gold/yellow segment in an otherwise compatibly colored design indicated a subtle political statement in favor of the gold standard, there should be a similar fabric intrusion indicating support of the free coinage of silver. What fabric would this be, and has anyone any evidence for such support?
Xenia, in Indiana
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 22:57:04 EDT | From: Quilt97 [at] aol [dot] com
In a message dated 9/2/98 9:22:56 PM Central Daylight Time, QHL-Digest- request [at] cue [dot] com writes:
Jean,
I used that idea when I made my first tree skirt, but sketched it on an old sheet for a pattern. It came out pretty well, but I apparently allowed too much for seam allowance. Thought I’d try to use a pattern this time. But, may have to go back to this.
Thanks very much for writing.
Elisabeth
>> Elizabeth,
I used newspaper ( had to tape it together to make it long enough and a yardstick with the tool with one sharp end and one pencil end attached to it to make a large compass ,and drew my own simple tree skirt pattern. Clotilda, as well as some quilt shops ( where I found mine ) carries the tool I talking about to make a compass out of a ruler, if you aren’t familiar with them. Perhaps an art supply store would have them also. Jean in central Pa.
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 01:35:16 EDT | From: Regentof [at] aol [dot] com
If you are drafting your own pattern for a treeskirt, you are working toooo hard. Buy a circle skirt pattern (used patterns least expensive at your local 2ndHand store) and then don’t bother making pockets for it. Lengthen it as much as you like.
Make sure the pattern mentions it is a CIRCLE skirt, not a half-circle, or flared.
The Regent of Dorothy
Date: Thu, 03 Sep 1998 16:13:04 +0800 | From: Con Van Maanen <convan [at] ozemail [dot] com [dot] au>
Dear Xenia,
I don’t know of “those” people exactly who initiated the “gold standard” discussion however, it was my quilt top we were examining when the conversation came up.
In answer to your question that if there were gold standard quilts why not a free silver I can only quote Barbara Brackman in her book “Clues in the Calico” page 26:
“Most of these patterns seem more patriotic than political; the presidential designs commenmorate a sitting president, perhaps, rather than a candidate, since there are no patterns for losers Hancock, Blaine, or BRYAN. Or it may be that patterns named for also rans were not recorded in print, as we would expect the publications to screen out the unpleasant and the partisan as well as the less genteel.” Perhaps the theory of Gold Standard Quilts based on fabric is following the same pattern for winners.
I had also heard that people who wanted McKinley for president wore gold badges but I do not know if people who wanted Bryan wore silver. I think this theory is at best just that – a theory.
These ideas are barely in their infancy and I would be very grateful for anyone, knowing anything about the subject or possible useful texts to contact either the list or me personally on Convan [at] ozemail [dot] com [dot] au.
Thanks for your interest Zenia.
from Roberta in back to winter Perth, Western Australia
Date: Thu, 03 Sep 1998 06:21:14 -0500 | From: Laura Hobby Syler <texas_quilt.co [at] mail [dot] airmail [dot] net>
Dear Roberta and Xenia ,
Jill Sutton Filo was the one that gave us the information while we were looking at your quilt, Roberta. she said that her research into Ruby had led her unexpectedly to the McKinley museum and she found reference to the quilts there…I’ve tried several times to contact Jill and get more direct information…there was so much going on at that time at the conference…someone said that there were appraisals going on???<G> Anyway, blame all this on Jill and a thirst for more information!
Laura
At 04:13 PM 9/3/98 +0800, Con Van Maanen wrote:
>Dear Xenia,
>I don’t know of “those” people exactly who initiated the “gold standard” discussion however, it was my quilt top we were examining when the conversation came up.
>In answer to your question that if there were gold standard quilts why not a free silver I can only quote Barbara Brackman in her book “Clues in the Calico” page 26:
>”Most of these patterns seem more patriotic than political; the presidential designs commenmorate a sitting president, perhaps, rather than a candidate, since there are no patterns for losers Hancock, Blaine, or BRYAN. Or it may be that patterns named for also rans were not recorded in print, as we would expect the publications to screen out the unpleasant and the partisan as well as the less genteel.” Perhaps the theory of Gold Standard Quilts based on fabric is following the same pattern for winners.
>I had also heard that people who wanted McKinley for president wore gold badges but I do not know if people who wanted Bryan wore silver. I think this theory is at best just that – a theory.
These ideas are
>barely in their infancy and I would be very grateful for anyone, knowing anything about the subject or possible useful texts to contact either the list or me personally on Convan [at] ozemail [dot] com [dot] au. Thanks for your interest Zenia.
>from Roberta in back to winter Perth, Western Australia
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 07:12:33 -0500 | From: “Sehoy L. Welshofer” <sw4quilt [at] bellsouth [dot] net>
Sally – I teach hand quilting at our local quilt shop, and I teach the students to never end with a knot. Instead, use the “serpentine” stitch. Simply enter the needle into the last hole the thread came out of, then just as when you do the “Tennessee Travel” stitch, go between stitches first with the point of the needle, start to come out a bit, then go back between the next stitches with the eye of the needle – do this a couple of time, exit and cut the thread. Believe me, there’s no way that thread can come out, but a knot can always “pop”.
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 09:35:15 EDT | From: KirkColl [at] aol [dot] com
We got this e-mail yesterday and I asked her permission to post it to this list. Does anyone have an answer for her. You can e-mail her privately, but please copy your answer to this list — I know lots of people try to track the source and dates of particular fabrics. Thanks,
Nancy Kirk
Hi there.
I wonder if you’d answer a question for me?
I recently found a bag of wonderful blocks at a junk store–among them were 47 finished Dresden Plate rounds, but only one was sewn to a background square. The printing on the selvedge says “HONOR PURE FINISH” in red on the white fabric.
Has anyone there heard of this? Does this help to date the fabric? It looks pretty much like early 30’s to me, but not the pastels, they are a bit brighter.
Thanks heaps–
Joan Dangermond
Jdangermon [at] aol [dot] com
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 09:44:34 EDT | From: Tmauvlus [at] aol [dot] com
In a message dated 9/3/98 9:37:11 AM Eastern Daylight Time, KirkColl [at] aol [dot] com writes:
<< The printing on the selvedge says “HONOR PURE FINISH” in red on the white fabric. >>
I’m afraid I have no info on the above named fabric, but I do work hard at collecting vintage pieces of fabric, I know that when I find printing on the selvedge, I am just delighted – much like finding a teeny hidden treasure. I wonder what we could learn if we were to catalog these labels??
I had always heard of Quadriga cloth, but was not aware that I possessed any, until working on my huge quilt, “Memorial Day”. As I was judiciously cutting up a Civil War commemorative print – looked to be from the 1950’s(?) I saw on the selvedge that it was, indeed, a Quadriga cloth. But my FAVORITES are those that are dated! Yes, it does happen!
Teddy in Winter Garden, FL.
Date: Thu, 03 Sep 1998 11:03:54 +0400 | From: Xenia Cord <xecord [at] netusa1 [dot] net>
Hi, all – I too have seen “honor pure finish” printed on the selvedges of solid color fabric. My feeling is that it is 1930s, but have no solid evidence except for the quilt tops in which the fabric has appeared. These tops have been Wedding Ring, Sunbonnet Babies etc., (not specific references), anyway, patterns from that time. I also have 18+ yards of “Cloth of Gold” on the original bolt, which is only printed on the end label “Cloth of Gold – Longcloth” with no other info about the manufacturer, supplier, whatever. I have mostly white, including the bolt, but pieces in solid pink, blue, and marigold yellow. Cloth of Gold was a finely woven, silk finish cotton – excellent quality – with the name printed in squared upper and lower case script, slightly backhan, about every 16″ on the selvedges. I also have some with the printing in all caps, much smaller, as though done with a typewriter.
I mention all this because even with the original batt I am unable to say who the manufacturer was. So we may not be able to get much more evidence for “honor pure finish” either.
Xenia (in Indiana)
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 14:49:40 -0400 | From: Bizmark Storms <quilts [at] inforamp [dot] net>
To: “‘QHL [at] cuenet [dot] com'” <QHL [at] cuenet [dot] com>
Subject: QHL: Tennessee Travel
Message-ID: <01BDD74A.168664A0 [at] ts58-04 [dot] tor [dot] istar [dot] ca> Content-Type: text/plain; charset”us-ascii”
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Since it is so nice to learn something new everyday, can someone tell me what the Tennessee Travel is, as related to the knot pooping (oops) , knot popping discussion that is ongoing. Either I missed that term in quilt class, or it’s an American saying, but I would love to know what it means. Sorry if it’s not historically oriented. Cheers, Bizmark.
Date: Thu, 03 Sep 1998 13:49:08 -0500 | From: Laura Hobby Syler <texas_quilt.co [at] mail [dot] airmail [dot] net>
Joan, Nancy, et al.:
I had a kit quit top in here for evaluation for restoration/cleaning and possibly hand quilting and the same markings “HONOR PURE FINISH” were in red in the slevedges of the white background fabric…it was a 30’s piece. She had some of the unfinished stamped pieces that also had “HPF” (spelled out, of course) in the selvedge..unfortunately, no idea as to who the mfg was…
Laura
