July 8 – 12, 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:
- UGRR Debate — Serenity of Acceptance — After years of UGRR quilt-code debate, Gail Ingram and others reach a moment of resigned acceptance that the myth will persist, though the list has done its scholarly duty.
- Turkey Tracks Pattern Name and Dating — Laura Syler and Pat Cummings trace the name change from Wandering Foot to Turkey Tracks, pinpointing a 1930s Nancy Cabot column and a turkey farmer’s influence as the likely turning point. (see the article on dating quilts)
- Kalona Amish Quilt Exhibition — Marilyn Woodin announces a three-collection Amish quilt show at the Kalona Quilt and Textile Museum in Iowa, with contact information for the exhibition.
- Vermont Quilt Festival Highlights — Pam Weeks Worthen reports on the Vermont Quilt Festival, praising Julie and Mary Silber’s Maverick and Indigo collections, the antique vendor booths, and ABC Quilts’ AIDS fundraising.
- Proposal for a Modern Underground Railroad — Gail Ingram’s satirical proposal for a ‘new’ Underground Railroad for middle-aged women who need to escape their responsibilities draws enthusiastic and playful replies from across the list. (see the article on Underground Railroad quilts)
Date: Sat, 10 Jul 2004 22:39:40 -0600 | From: Jennifer Hill <jennifer.hill@>
Let’s face it: it’s been a long time since the Civil War. The world has changed. New needs have arisen. Let’s move on.
And here’s one need we were thinking about—an Underground Railroad for Middle-Aged (we’re planning to live to be 120?) Women who have served their time, done their duties………
Everyone is welcome to head on up to my place. I’m in the same country as one terminus of the original UGR, only about 2000 miles west of it (but the road is paved all the way). I have a few vintage quilts, lots of contemporary ones, and plenty of vintage and antique sewing machines for all of us to play with.
Jennifer Hill Calgary, AB
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2004 04:39:43 -0400 | From: Patricia L Cummings <quiltersmuse@>
Good morning!
I really like the “Turkey Tracks” pattern! The quilt I have has double pink fabrics on a white background. Its pristine condition makes me believe that it is of late 19th century vintage. Hand quilted, it is a bed size quilt.
In looking at Blockbase, I can see that the first published name which referred to the pattern as “Turkey Tracks” was that of Nancy Cabot in the 1930s. I have not had time to look further. My first reaction is that the quilt mentioned on eBay yesterday is not from the era stated in the description, although the very tattered condition of the quilt itself does make one wonder about its true age. I see that it did not sell.
When I have time, I’ll look for other sources to help date the particular quilt I own, which I bought not knowing its provenance or anything whatsoever about it. Do you ever collect a quilt just because you love it and can’t NOT bring it home with you? That was the case here.
Speaking of turkeys, on our recent trek up the road to Vermont, there were no less than five different groups of turkeys, visible in various fields, as well as one deer. Seems every time we go out we see many wild animals lately, including the bear sighting this spring. The habitat for wildlife is being encroached upon and the animals don’t know where to go anymore. The new housing industry is booming right now here.
Have a terrific day!
Pat Cummings
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2004 07:19:15 -0700 | From: “Laurette Carroll” <rl.carroll@>
Hello, Pat, Barbara Brackman wrote an article (I have found very useful) for the 1983 volume of Uncoverings, titled “A Chronological Index to Pieced Patterns 1775-1825. In this article she shows the early date of 1800 for a Turkey Tracks quilt like this. I took a look at the ebay quilt and it looks to be at least 2nd quarter 19 C. (could be earlier but can’t tell from the photos.) Also I can’t tell if it’s pieced or appliquéd, 🙁 Please note the quilting patterns, they are very interesting, especially that of the large feather wreaths. The “feathers” are separated, each feather outlined on it’s own, unlike the usual feather wreaths, and I have only seen this on the earlier quilts. Anyone else care to comment on the quilting patterns.?? Laurette Carroll Southern California
Look to the Future With Hope
In looking at Blockbase, I can see that the first published name which referred to the pattern as “Turkey Tracks” was that of Nancy Cabot in the 1930s. I have not had time to look further. My first reaction is that the quilt mentioned on eBay yesterday is not from the era stated in the description, although the very tattered condition of the quilt itself does make one wonder about its true age.
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2004 10:31:03 -0400 | From: Jo Horsey <jhorsey@>
Do you ever collect a quilt just because you love it and can’t NOT bring it home with you?
Dear Pat, do we ever NOT? <LOL I feel certain there are many kindred spirits on this list, that’s why I enjoy it so much! Jo, in Newnan
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2004 10:46:14 -0400 | From: Joan Kiplinger <jkip@>
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Xenia — thanx for this information. I guess I am a dollar short and a day late on this information but the news made it sound like a “just-happened” event. Wonder if there will be a poster? Will anyone from this list or quilter’s group be contacting musuem’s staff if there are displays about quilts being touted as factual?
Xenia Cord wrote:
The museum is in Cincinnati, and is already open, I think. Expect deeper historical thought and less “myth” from this museum; Cincinnati was the eventual home of Levi Coffin of UGRR fame, where he operated a “free trade” mercantile. He earlier lived in Fountaintown, Indiana, and was a prime mover in the Anti-slavery Friends, a splinter group of the Indiana Yearly Meeting. The Anti-slavery Friends went beyond simple abolitionist views, and refused to buy or sell products made with slave labor. The split between the ASF and the abolitionist Friends, who were simply for the abolition of slavery, was not healed for many years after the end of the War Between the States.
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2004 09:55:21 -0500 | From: “Edith L. Taylor”
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Oh, Gail, thank you for this wonderful laugh!
Edie Taylor
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2004 09:59:34 -0500 | From: “Laura Syler” <texas_quilt.co@>
Hi Pat, According to my research for my Myths and Superstitions lecture, this pattern was originally called Wandering Foot, (Brackman 3100 and variations through 3109) but during the 30’s, at the instance of a reader (who owned a turkey farm) the name changed. The reader made the pattern for her son, and sent it in to Ruth Finley and told her that she was changing the name to forgo the superstition about her son sleeping under the Wandering Foot pattern……It appeared under Ruth Finley’s pen name under both titles at various times.
Laura Hobby Syler Richardson, Texas
—– Original Message —– From: “Patricia L Cummings” <quiltersmuse@ To: “Quilt History List” <qhl@ Sent: Sunday, July 11, 2004 3:39 AM Subject: [qhl] Turkey Tracks
Good morning!
I really like the “Turkey Tracks” pattern! The quilt I have has double pink fabrics on a white background. Its pristine condition makes me believe that it is of late 19th century vintage. Hand quilted, it is a bed size quilt.
In looking at Blockbase, I can see that the first published name which referred to the pattern as “Turkey Tracks” was that of Nancy Cabot in the 1930s. I have not had time to look further. My first reaction is that the quilt mentioned on eBay yesterday is not from the era stated in the description, although the very tattered condition of the quilt itself does make one wonder about its true age. I see that it did not sell.
When I have time, I’ll look for other sources to help date the particular quilt I own, which I bought not knowing its provenance or anything whatsoever about it. Do you ever collect a quilt just because you love it and can’t NOT bring it home with you? That was the case here.
Speaking of turkeys, on our recent trek up the road to Vermont, there were no less than five different groups of turkeys, visible in various fields, as well as one deer. Seems every time we go out we see many wild animals lately, including the bear sighting this spring. The habitat for wildlife is being encroached upon and the animals don’t know where to go anymore. The new housing industry is booming right now here.
Have a terrific day!
Pat Cummings
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2004 11:14:51 -0400 | From: Patricia L Cummings <quiltersmuse@>
Thanks for all the great information, Xenia, Laurette, Laura, and Joan, and for other comments from Jo, Gail, and Judy. We can always count on those southern gals, Gail and Teddy to “keep us in stitches”. You “guys” are the best.
Pat in hot, humid NH
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2004 13:40:07 EDT | From: Midnitelaptop@
regarding the ugrr quilt legend/myth… first i felt like hans brinker putting my thumb in the hole in the dike.. but it wasn’t long before i knew i would need 10 thumbs….or more thumbs than i could ever generate or collect.. it’s sort of like being born under a horoscope sign….there are people that truly believe that the skies,on the date of your birth, were a major influence on who you are… it didn’t matter whether you and genghis kahn were born on the same day… you were both destined to have the same personality traits…..i wonder if someone who was born on that same day knew that before he became a monk ?… we have come to accept myths and legends for facts since apple picking time… we will never stop the underground locomotive now… it’s too late… there’s large groups of the slave descendants that want to believe…they were in charge of their own destiny…that there were little bands of slaves walking along roads, in the daytime, looking for clotheslines and fences with coded quilts..or better yet walking along in the nighttime, with lanterns looking for clotheslines and fences with coded quilts…. might as well give it up quilters… as for me i no longer wish to refute anyone’s need to cling to a myth/legend/fairy tale… i have to finish making my folk art santas for this year’s holiday bazaar… jeanL PS and no matter what …i’m keeping my little st christopher statue, on my shopping cart handle…
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2004 13:06:01 -0500 | From: Marilyn Woodin <woodin@>
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Here are some pictures–although not as clear as I would like–to show the wonderful quality of Midwestern Amish quilts hanging in the Kalona Quilt and Textile Museum inside the Kalona Historical Village in Kalona Iowa. If you would like more information call 3196563232–the museum or me 3196562555. It is a wonderful show of 3 collections from private collectors. Marilyn Woodin curator.
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From: mary v zielinski <mvzkctc.net Date: July 11, 2004 11:49:18 AM EST woodinkctc.net Subject: amish show redone
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Here are some pictures–although not as clear as I would like–to show the wonderful quality of Midwestern Amish quilts hanging in the Kalona Quilt and Textile Museum inside the Kalona Historical Village in Kalona Iowa. If you would like more information call 3196563232–the museum or me 3196562555. It is a wonderful show of 3 collections from private collectors. Marilyn Woodin curator.
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2004 13:50:50 -0500 | From: Gail Ingram <gingram@>
we will never stop the underground locomotive now… it’s too late…
I respectfully decline to believe this. I have been surprised at the progress already made within last few months. No good museum wants it disclosed that the Mondrian hanging on the first floor is a fake. I don’t think any good museum wants to perpetuate a lie, especially one that, in my view, speaks ill, not positively, of a culture.
I give you Winnie Churchill in his “Blood, Sweat, & Tears” speech:
“You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs – Victory in spite of all terrors – Victory, however long and hard the road may be… “Come then, let us go forward together with our united strength.”
there’s large groups of the slave descendants that want to believe…they were in charge of their own destiny…that there were little bands of slaves walking along roads, in the daytime, looking for clotheslines and fences with coded quilts..or better yet walking along in the nighttime, with lanterns looking for clotheslines and fences with coded quilts…. might as well give it up quilters… as
Again, respectfully, I feel the need to differ. These descendants of slaves want to know the truth, I suspect, just as the descendants of their masters wanted to know the truth about George Washington. Myths like Parson Weems’ cherry tree myth captured succinctly the character of the man, but I know of no one who was disappointed to learn it was an illustrative story invented by a biographer, without documentation. Indeed, folks took some glee in learning that. Young boys being what they are, that little cherry tree speech seemed a little over the top and weak to suit the man who held 13 states together in a union. Today, when they are taught about him at all, childen are being taught how remarkable W’s achievements really were.
In fact, it might be a good thing to have the whole UGRR very public. Then letters to the editors and the boards of directors and grant and funding agencies become more meaningful, more likely to get attention.
Oprah doesn’t strike me as a dummy. She doesn’t want to be associated with error, sentimental or otherwise. After all, she took on Texans, something nobody has done in 160 years. And unlike the last person who tried it, a man, she won.
Good historians must have a lot of persistence.
Gail
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2004 15:25:38 -0400 | From: Patricia L Cummings <quiltersmuse@>
Dear Gail:
Amen to that!
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world – indeed, it is the only thing that ever has”. – Margaret Mead
Pat
“You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs – Victory in spite of all terrors – Victory, however long and hard the road may be… “Come then, let us go forward together with our united strength.”
Good historians must have a lot of persistence.
Gail
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2004 17:29:19 -0500 | From: “Marcia Kaylakie” <marciark@>
Gail, May I ride along with Teddy? Marcia, who has just come back from clearing out her in-laws home that hadn’t been touched in 50 years of living there, and we , Bill and I, did it in 2 days by ourselves! Noted BIL and his wife couldn’t be obothered to come over and help, jsut arrived late on day 2 and pointed to the things they wanted ‘added to their pile”! Can you see the steam coming out of my ears yet? Sorry, needed to vent. I can make it quilt related by saying that I saw my mother’s first quilt top as well (as age 78!) Marcia —– Original Message —– From: “Gail Ingram” <gingram@ To: “Quilt History List” <qhl@ Sent: Saturday, July 10, 2004 4:11 PM Subject: [qhl] Off Topic: But Barely
Mizrus Teddy Pruett and I spoke today and in consequence of all the UGRR posts, had an idea.
Let’s face it: it’s been a long time since the Civil War. The world has changed. New needs have arisen. Let’s move on.
And here’s one need we were thinking about—an Underground Railroad for Middle-Aged (we’re planning to live to be 120?) Women who have served their time, done their duties, reared their children, taken their pets to the vets regularly, put balanced meals on the table only to have children beg for BurgerKings and their husbands inquire into the ingredients IN that casserole. Women whose 33-year-old daughters still complain, “But you didn’t love me as much as you loved Brunhilde” or “I’ll never forget that time you swatted my derriere royale in the grocery store.” Or who find themselves changing both their parents’ and their grandchildren’s diapers at the same time.
All of you know what we mean—people who need to ESCAPE but who have Onstar on their vehicles or whose bankers would ask questions if they withdrew the family’s life savings in one lump sum or whose grown children would hire detectives to hunt them down and bring home the cash and jewelry. Or some whose automobiles simly won’t make it past the next town down the interstate.
Now this is a contemporary need to which all the UGRR information floating around could be put to use. And, at the same time, tested. We know, for instance, that our mugshots might appear on 2% milk cartons and McDonald bags, but would anyone notice a quilt draped over the front mailbox on a rural route or flown from surburban front-porch flagpole? And would families be clever enough to join together and fling quilts across azalea bushes to entrap the hopeful escapee? What about quiltshops: would the growing piles of laundry make the seekers stake out the likely haunts of such women? Maybe we could use all these posters members are ordering, instead of quilts. Much to consider here.
Admittedly many questions remain to be answered, but it’s time someone gave some serioous thought to them. If there’s a CIA retiree on the list, she should come forward. Or just anyone with a brain cell or two left and one or two critical thinking skills.
Teddy gets first ride. Others must line up behind her.
From North Louisiana, where the peaches and peas are in, Gail Ingram
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2004 20:04:06 EDT | From: Palampore@
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Since I have just completed over 3 weeks worth of QHL posting I felt that I MUST write to all of you. First of all, what a treasure of smart and fun women (& a few men). Due to this treasure my trip to NZ & AU was made extra special. Traveling with a husband and 3 teenagers (13, 17, & 19) made it a bit difficult to do extensive quilt touching, however due to the help from members on the list I managed to go into about 6 quilt/fabric shops and buy a pretty ridiculous amount of fabric hailing from the 2 countries. I also saw 1 US antique quilt that was from the 1880’s labeled 20th Century in NZ. (It was $500NZ.) The best part was meeting members of our list and being extended a most gracious and wonderful hand of hospitality by them. Elizabeth in NZ sent me a great list of shops in NZ which I used.
When I arrived in Cairns I was welcomed by Peter Leate of the Craft Center with a book about his lovely city waiting in our hotel room. He then chauffeured me to he and his wife, Frances, wonderful chocked full store. They have EVERYTHING in the way of quilting fabrics, paints, and craft supplies. The following evening my family and I joined the 2 of them at a local pub for dinner and had a wonderful time. Hiranya Loder had become my penpal early into our trip plans. What a great help she was, even down to helping with a hotel and a rental car when I got into a bind. When we got to Sydney she joined us for an afternoon of touring. The following day she and her family welcomed our family into her lovely home for dinner. She has as much STUFF as I do. What a kindred spirit. We shared fabrics, hugs, laughter, and wonderful food. Fortunately our families meshed well, so they left us alone so we could “play” endlessly in her fabric stash, and touch all of her fabulous antique quilts. We had a marvelous trip, and the most lasting memories will certainly be of my encounters with quilt folks from QHL. Thanks Kris for bringing us all together.
After reading all of those posts within a 2 day period it is certain that we must get a Southeast Quilt Study Group going. I too suffered through similar alter calls as a child. That is a major reason I am now a Presbyterian. And I too wore a garter belt. I even did the girdle thing with garters as a teen. What torture! I once bought a quilt that had absolutely NO BATTING, but it weighed in at 11 pounds. It was full of curtains, newspapers (Had WWII ration ads in them.), an orange sack, long johns, a slip, and a girdle with garters attached. One day I need to drag all of that stuff out and take a picture of it. I took the quilt apart and put it all away in a suitcase. It was a very fun $20 experience. Great birth control…..once the couple was in bed under that quilt….. they couldn’t move!!!! It’s good to be home. Now to dream up quilts to make with my wonderful new fabrics. Off to do more laundry, Lynn Lancaster Gorges, New Bern, NC
From: Babette Moorleghen
Do you ever collect a quilt just because you love it and can’t NOT bring it home with you?
Dear Pat, I think most all of the quilts I have collected have come to me because I felt I had to “rescue” them or because they called my name out and I just HAD to have it! While I would love to know the Who, When and Where of the quilts I have I will probably never have that information. As I study, however, I am learning to be able to “date”. Now to work on recognizing a region the quilt may have come from! Oh, soooo much to learn and, I fear, so little time! Hugs, Babette in hot, humid Southern Illinois
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2004 23:29:27 -0500 | From: Jennifer Perkins <qltrstore@>
Just wanted to let you know that I have just received my certification as an NQA judge! I am so excited! Please keep me in mind for judging opportunities in your part of the country! Jennifer
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 01:31:00 -0400 | From: “J. G. Row” <JudyGrow@>
There are 3 posts in my e-mail from QHL/Marilyn Woodin and two of them have attachments. The last does not. They arived in my mailbox at 2:12, 2:16, and 2:18 this afternoon. I thought that QHl didn’t allow attachments to go through, so I have been reluctant to open the attachments. My virus protection software was even updated tonight (Trend Micro updates several times a day) and didn’t detect a virus, but I am wondering about the attachment. I’m not going to open it until Kris or someone in the know tells me it is OK.
Below is the last post — the one without attachment: The text is the same in all three messages.
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Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 17:20:32 +1000 | From: “quiltstuff” <quiltstuff@>
I had to laugh how you started this post. My husband is Dutch and when he came to Australia, he couldn’t work out why people kept talking about the little boy who stuck his finger in the dyke.. They don’t tell that story in Holland at all but over here we seem to think it is a historical story. And Hans Brinker is another Dutch boy from a story who wanted to win silver skates .
Your start point is a classic example of how something repeated enough times begins to seem like a fact. VBG
Suzy Atkins
—– Original Message —– From: <Midnitelaptop@ To: “Quilt History List” <qhl@ Sent: Monday, 12 July 2004 3:40 AM Subject: [qhl] Re: the serenity of acceptance……
regarding the ugrr quilt legend/myth… first i felt like hans brinker putting my thumb in the hole in the dike.. but it wasn’t long before i knew i would need 10 thumbs….or more thumbs than i could ever generate or collect..
