January 16 – 22, 2001
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:
- Removing Ink Stains from Antique Quilts — Members compare stain-removal methods (hairspray, alcohol, Zout) for treating ink marks on antique textiles without damaging old fibers. (see the article on stain removal)
- Museum Homes and Troubles — The Michigan State University Museum’s quilt holdings and exhibit plans are highlighted, alongside a report that the Shelburne Museum has been selling off part of its collection. (see the article on quilt museums)
- WCTU Quilts and Historical Wills — A request for sources on Women’s Christian Temperance Union quilts leads into a broader discussion of how historical wills recorded (or omitted) textiles and bedding, including a look at Shakespeare’s will. (see the article on temperance quilts)
- AQSG Uncoverings and Research Publications — Members discuss articles and volumes from the American Quilt Study Group’s Uncoverings series and related magazine finds relevant to quilt history research.
- Dating the “Pea Ridge Purties” Pattern — A quilt block resembling a commercial pattern triggers a dating discussion, with members weighing in on whether the fabric and design point to a 20th-century kit rather than an antique original. (see the article on dating quilts)
- Houston Quilt Show Trip Planning — A member planning a first trip to the Houston quilt show asks about logistics, and others share advice on downtown hotels and the show’s shuttle bus.
Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 17:04:51 -0500 | From: “Gerri Bobnar” <gcbfwbbellatlantic.net>
Would like to start planning Trip to Houston Show along with taking some classes. Have never been there or for that matter in big city. The show is Nov. 1-4 wirh classes beginning 1-3 days prior to. Where should I stay and with no car how do I get to the show and for classes. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks Gerri from Southwestern Pa.
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 08:09:29 -0500 | From: marialostquilt.com (Maria Elkins)
Gerri, The downtown hotels are on a route that has a free shuttle bus running to and from the convention center. The shuttle bus starts about 7 AM and runs until about 10 PM, so it is not mandatory to have a car. However, our experience last year was that the shuttle bus was not always on schedule or it was too full by the time it got to the last few hotels and had to pass quilters up even though there were plenty of them waiting for the bus. The worst times were just before classes began, just before the quilt show opened and when the show closed. Other years we stayed at a hotel that was a little further out of town (15 to 20 minute drive) and we rented a car. That way we could come and go as we pleased, but to get a parking space easily you need to get there before most classes start at 9 AM. We will probably choose to stay farther away from now on. In our experience, the overall cost ended up about the same. The last few years I have gone to the Houston Quilt show with my mom and sister, so we split expenses among three people.
Houston is a wonderful experience! You’ll love it. The first time or two was completely overwhelming and exhausting. Be sure to schedule time to force yourself to rest. Bring lots of film and lots of money. Maria marialostquilt.com http://www.lostquilt.com/
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 10:44:16 -0500 | From: Joanna Evans <jevansbluemarble.net>
Hi Sally, While my husband was earning this Ph.D. in folklore, we were at a party where Shakespeare’s will came up. It was explained that in practice the bequest meant that his wife would be cared for by his son–that she could not be put out on the street. The “best bed” would, in that culture, go to his son and his wife, of course. I don’t remember what the interpretation of “bed” was–bed stead, bedding, or bedroom. Sorry, I don’t remember who put forth this explanation. I could track it down if anyone wants more detail. Joanna Evans Bloomington, IN >From: “Pat Sloan” <patpatsloan.com> > > >Does anyone know the history of these pea ridge quilts? Here is one on ebay >http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=543882210 > >Pat Sloan > >Signup for my free email newsletter and visit my WebSite to see my >patterns: >www.Quilters@ >Email: patpatsloan.com <mailto:patpatsloan.com>
Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2001 16:23:06 -0500 | From: Judy White <jawhiteinfi.net>
Do you think maybe Pea Ridge Purties is or was a 20th century company of some kind? The reason I think so is because the fabric in that quilt don’t look particularly old and I made a little quilt exactly like this one about 20 years ago. I sold it BTW but not under the Pea Ridge name. Since Pea Ridge is a civil war battlefield in Arkansas, the maker of this quilt probably came from the surrounding area. Just my opinion. Judy White – Ct
Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2001 14:56:24 -0800 | From: quilter@
on my computer, the background fabric in the block appears to be a muslin w/white design, surely not old at all. i have a feeling that it is very contemporary, perhaps a kit packaged with the pea ridge purdie label to put on the back? just my thots on the ebay item 543882210. dutchrose
Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2001 20:04:47 -0800 | From: Audrey Waite <awquiltrsedona.net>
I remember this design as a commercial pattern available some years ago. The backing fabric may have been recycled fabric. Adds some
charm, but it’s not old. Audrey Waite
Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2001 14:51:48 +1100 | From: “Ruth in the Blue Mountains” <rathgarrozemail.com.au>
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has online images on its website, including a few of quilts. http://www.vam.ac.uk/Explorer/Virtual/images/ is the link to the images page, and a free search on ‘quilt’ will bring some images to see in greater detail. There is a category for 19thC textiles as well.
Cheers Ruth Ruth in the Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia
Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2001 15:27:24 EST | From: JQuilt@
just go the the website below and look at this civil war quilt… this museum has many many quilts….a great place to visit…. jean ——————————————————————————Library: MN Historical Society Location: MUSEUM COLLECTION 8297 ElectronicLink: Click here to see a picture of this object: http://www.mnhs.org/collections/museum/8297.html Author: Lamson, Lucy Lee, maker. Title: Civil War quilt. Publisher: 1865. Description: 1 item : wool and cotton 203 x 200 cm. Summary: Quilt made by Lucy Lamson of Homer, Minn., for her son William who
was in Mississippi fighting in the Civil War as part of the Seventh Minnesota Regiment, Co. B. The quilt top is pieced of red, white and blue wool in a variation of the Log Cabin pattern. Patches made in “pineapple” style” In the center of the quilt is embroidered: “L.L.L. no. 352 Du Quion, Ill. May, 1865”. Backing is white cotton. General-Note: Classification no. HH10B07 General-Note: Internet resource Subject: Lamson, William, recipient. Subject: United States. Army. Minnesota Infantry Regiment, 7th (1861-1865). Co. B. Subject: United States–History–Civil War, 1861-1865–Women. Subject: Household. Linens. Bedding. Quilts. Genre-Heading: Quilt Genre-Heading: Embroidered wool cotton log cabin pattern patriotic quilts. Subject: Quiltmakers–Minnesota–Homer. —————————–i’m sorry… i didn’t give the website addy for the rest of the quilts….it’s http://www.mnhs.org/library/search/museum/quilts.html just go to the search box of categories and select and go… jean
Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2001 20:46:09 EST | From: KareQuilt@
Another magazine find. Antiques Magazine, “The Editor’s Desk,” July 1942 pg 35 (+photo) From the text: Lt. Norman Decatur Smith (Co. A, 105th Regiment, Ohio volunteer Infantry) of Parkman, OH, when he returned home after the Civil War, he “wore, as part of his makeshift costume, a piece of an old quilt which some kindly nurse had
wrapped about him. [He had been wounded in the Battle of Chickamauga.] Many years later the unusual pattern of the quilt appealed to his daughter, Margaret Smith Morton, who was an expert seamstress. She did not hesitate to adopt the pattern, despite its alien sourceâ€|and fashioned a new quilt. The original quilt was patchwork, but in the copy the smaller piecesâ€|were appliquédâ€|as a labor saver, but the maker did not spare herself in the quiltingâ€|now in the possession of the maker’s daughter, Mrs. Irene Morton Fowler, Newbury Township, OH. Mrs. Morton later made another copy for Mrs.’s Fowler’s daughter, Mrs. Margaret Fowler Freeka of Portsmouth, Ohio.” Karen A.
Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2001 21:34:46 EST | From: QuiltEvals@
Hi all, Be on the lookout for some great new repros from MARY KOVAL ~ the line is called 2001 Dream Weaver. Mary has selected some great fabrics from her personal collection to reproduce. No personal connection, just excited about the line. It has been a long time in coming! Deb Roberts
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 13:37:44 +1100 | From: “Ruth in the Blue Mountains” <rathgarrozemail.com.au>
<qhlcuenet.com> Subject: repro fabric newsletter Message-ID: <006e01c0841c$4d5c01c0$747754d2ozemail.com.au> I have no affiliations with this site, beyond thinking it the most detailed and comprehensive repro fabrics one I’ve found. They have just started a newsletter – more info/signup/sample copy available on the site. It’s to be
sent through egroups. http://www.reproductionfabrics.com Below is an extract from the welcome email. “Welcome to PWnotes, the Patchworks Newsletter! Our free newsletter will have notes on fabric history plus information on new reproduction fabric lines and special sales. It will be low key, informative, and be emailed 8-12 times/year.” Could be a useful resource. As I said, no affils, no payola, not even an iced VoVo. (http://www.everythingaustralian.com/evryaustralian/icedvovo.html if that’s an obscure reference) Cheers Ruth Ruth in the Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia
Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2001 21:02:29 -0600 | From: “Karen S Bush” <birdsongaccessmo.com>
Ruth, THANK YOU for the info on the website. I haven’t been there in a while and I’m ‘browsing’ as I type! haha…Thanx again! 🙂 kb www.karenbushquilts.com
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 08:55:49 -0600 | From: pcrewsunlnotes.unl.edu
In response to the question about what museum might be interested in receiving a feedsack collection, early printed textiles and quilts with provenance, let me say thanks to Xenia Cord for mentioning the International Quilt Study Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Indeed we would be interested in viewing such a collection and having the opportunity to consider it for our collection. We are very interested in further strengthening our collections through donations. I can assure you that we would ask many of the questions you were surprised were not asked of you by the first museum. We have one of the largest publicly-held quilt collections in the world with nearly 1200 antique and contemporary quilts including the Ardis and Robert James Collection, the Robert and Helen Cargo Collection of African American Quilts, and the Sara Miller Amish Crib Quilt Collection. We make our collections available to scholars for study and to the public through exhibitions on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus and across the United States. We also offer quilt history classes and workshops. Currently, we have a wonderful exhibition of African-American quilts from the Cargo Collection on view on campus at the Sheldon Art Gallery. Please take a virtual tour of the Center and the exhibition on our website at http://quiltstudy.unl.edu. Come visit us in person when you are in Nebraska. Patricia Cox Crews, Ph.D. Professor and Director International Quilt Study Center Dept. of Textiles, Clothing & Design P. O. Box 830838 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE 68583-0802 Phone: 402-472-6342 Fax: 402-472-0640 pcrewsunl.edu http://quiltstudy.unl.edu
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 10:11:09 EST | From: [from unknown]
I will be driving to Milwaukee from NYC, on route 80. Any suggestions about places to view or purchase antique quilts along the way….Also I will be spending a few days in Milwaukee, are there quilt related places there?
Thanks Ann
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 09:48:48 -0600 (Central Standard Time) | From: Mary Persyn <Mary.Persyn@>
I checked out the Victoria and Albert web site that Ruth in the Blue Mountains sent. http://www.vam.ac.uk/Explorer/Virtual/images/ The first quilt (pinwheels and hourglass) is dated circa 1765. I didn’t knopw that such patterns were in use then. Very interesting quilt. Mary In cold but sunny Valparaiso, Indiana where there is beautiful white frost on the trees this morning —————————————-Mary Persyn (219) 465-7830 Email: Mary.Persynvalpo.edu Law Librarian School of Law Valparaiso University Valparaiso, IN 46383 FAX: (219) 465-7917
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 11:14:19 -0500 | From: Newbie Richardson <pastcrafts@>
Dear all, although not quilt related, I know that many of you collect sewing impliments. I am advising a very nice, good semaritan, in disposing of an 18th century flame stitched pocket book which was unstitched and converted into an 19th c. “housewife”. The owner is a lady now 100 years old, who has had to move in with relations and needs to raise funds for
her maintenance. The gentleman is doing an estate sale for her. He is doing the work as a friend. He contacted me as he thought that this was too good to sell for $10.00! He had an aquaintance put the pocket book up on a web site so I could see it. It is what it appears to be. Collen Callahan, curator of Textiles at the Valentine Museum in Richmond,Va. has authenticated it. The web site is: http://home.ix.netcom.com/~dnalab/index.html If any of you could advise me on what a fair asking price would be, I’d be grateful. Please email me privately. If any of you would like to purchase, please let me know and I will give you his phone number in Richmond. I appologise for posting to this list inappropriately. But I felt that the object and the compelling circumstances warrented my post. Newbie Richardson Past Crafts Studios Alexandria, Va. – where the madness and traffic jams of the Inaugauration are FINALLY over!
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 11:04:39 -0600 | From: Tracey Winbigler <twinbigmaplecity.com>
Hi everyone, I read this list for over a year and enjoyed it, but am currently unsubscribed. This morning I was browsing on ebay, looking at scrap quilts, and this antique scrapbook came up, filled with mail order quilt patterns from the first quarter of last century. I subscribed to QHL just to tell you all about it. It made me think of you! Here’s the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=544482026 Tracey Winbigler twinbigmaplecity.com
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 09:39:51 -0800 | From: Chris Anacker <chrisajetlink.net>
Mary, That is exactly the thought I had when I saw it. After reflecting on it, I think it is possible, although not called that, or maybe even thought of as a pattern, but just a use for scraps. In Canada, Montreal at the McCord, is the oldest quilt in N. America, dated about the same time. It has a similar block style, although it is set in a medallion format, with the date in the middle and pieced borders eminated from it. It was made with more than just cotton, I think, and silk comes to mind. Perhaps the maker of the quilt at V&A was a dressmaker or asst. to one, and had access to small leftovers. I’m curious to hear what others have to say. Kim Wulfert aquiltersjourneytoursjuno.com —– Original Message —-From: “Mary Persyn” <Mary.Persynvalpo.edu> To: <qhlcuenet.com> Sent: Monday, January 22, 2001 7:48 AM Subject: QHL: V & A Quilt I checked out the Victoria and Albert web site that Ruth in the Blue Mountains sent. http://www.vam.ac.uk/Explorer/Virtual/images/ The first quilt (pinwheels and hourglass) is dated circa 1765. I didn’t knopw that such patterns were in use then. Very interesting quilt. Mary In cold but sunny Valparaiso, Indiana where there is beautiful white frost on the trees this morning —————————————-Mary Persyn (219) 465-7830 Email: Mary.Persynvalpo.edu Law Librarian School of Law
Valparaiso University Valparaiso, IN 46383 FAX: (219) 465-7917
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 13:15:09 EST | From: CBENBERRY@
A quilt design like the Pea Ridge quilt was shown in the book NEW DISCOVERIES IN AMERICAN QUILTS by Robert Bishop, NY: E.P. Dutton © 1975. pp. 54-55 figs.72, 72a. Bishop dated the unnamed quilt c.1900 from southern Missouri. Years ago, back in the 1960s, the pattern was published by Opal Phillips in her little mimeographed monthly quilt magazine entitled Quilter’s Swap Shop Monthly, Oklahoma City, OK. She called the pattern “Black Boy.” Fairly recent commercial paper patterns of this design have been published. I recall buying one but not exact date (perhaps 1980s?). It is called “Southern Mammy Quilt” and was published by Country House Quilts, Zionsville, IN and was wall hanging size. Over the years I have seen many quilts of this design in vendors’ booths at various quilt conferences I attended. Cuesta Benberry
Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 20:42:11 EST | From: aol.com
Similar patterns date from somewhat before the V&A quilt, although not always used in bed quilts. There’s a late 15th/early 16th century painting of the Crucifixion by Luca Signorelli where a soldier in the foreground is wearing a doublet that is, I swear, the Split Rails patterns. There’s also an interesting cope from the 1540s with Roman Stripe blocks in the borders. Silk was precious and expensive, so saving up scraps and using them for something else would make sense. The McCord quilt is dated 1726 and contains several late 17th century fabrics, so it probably represents someone’s fabric stash…. Karen Evans
