March 14 – 16, 1999
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:
- Techniques for Joining Batting — Members share methods for butting versus overlapping batting seams when piecing together larger quilts. (see the article on quilt batting)
- The Hosannah Block, Continued — More members weigh in with their own Hosannah-pattern quilts and pattern sources, including the Kirk Collection’s Dead Quilt Society program.
- Flying With Antique Quilts — A traveler’s question about carrying quilts on airplanes turns into a wide-ranging thread of tips, precautions, and a cautionary story.
- Restoring Vintage Textiles — A conservator describes how she moved from ordinary mending into vintage and antique textile restoration. (see the article on quilt restoration)
- Why We Quilt and Collect — Prompted by a simple question, members introduce themselves and describe their own mix of quilting, collecting, and studying quilt history.
Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 21:30:56 -0600 | From: “Peggy McBride” <jlmpam@
I learned the trick of joining batting.
on the two edges to be joined, carefully divide the batting then lap them together by weaving the edges, that is put down the first half of the first length of batting, then layer in the first half of the second length of batting, then layer in the second half of the first length of batting, then pat down the second half of the second length of batting. the batting will cling to each other and be much less likely to pull apart.
Peggy in Iowa
Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 20:10:38 -0800 | From: Julie Silber <quiltcomplex@
Was someone asking about the Hosannah block? I have a GREAT Hosannah finished QUILT, circa 1920, and would be happy to e-mail an image of it to anyone who asks. It’s a corker! Julie Silber
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 11:17:48 -0000 | From: “Kirk Collection” <kirkcoll3@>
We have developed a pattern for the Hosanna Palm for the Dead Quilt Society — the program that came out of the Quilt Restoration Conference two years ago to clone antique quilts that were too far gone for restoration.
We are currently working to have twelve patterns ready in the Year 2000. I will give a free pattern to anyone willing to make a sample that we can borrow later for photography and possible inclusion in an exhibit. Anyone one else can have a copy for a modest donation to the Quilt Heritage Foundation. The final patterns will probably retail for $7.95 or so. Right now they are just patterns — no directions, so you are on your own. Nancy Kirk for The Quilt Heritage Foundation
send an e-mail to QuiltHF@
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 14:13:22 -0600 From: Russell-Hill <russhill@
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 15:20:53 -0500 | From: “Judy Grow” <Judygrow@>
The best way to put them together is to butt them, not to overlap them, and hand sew them together with long-legged cross stitches — there is a name for the stitch but my halfheimers has set in and I can’t remember it. If you draw an imaginary vertical line that goes through all the foprward and backward slants, and connect those slants with the corresponding slant in the x’s you will see you are taking a short stitch in one side, followed by a long stitch to the other side, etc. Clear as mud? I can do it, I just can’t describe it too well. X \ X / X \
X /
Judy in Ringoes, NJ judygrow@
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 20:40:18 -0500 | From: Barb Garrett <bgarrett@
Hello, all, I need some advice from people who have traveled by airplane with their quilts. I’m interested in how to deal with quilts as luggage — pros, cons, mishaps, things to do to prevent mishaps, ways to pack the quilts, etc. I’m assuming they can’t be taken as carry on luggage.
All advice and experiences gratefully accepted.
Thanks for your help Barb in very snowy southeastern PA, where I finally am reconnected to the world after 20 hours with no electricity — and according to the TV, I’m one of the lucky ones because 23,000 people in Chester County still have no electricity. Being snowbound is fine — I had planned for that — but hadn’t planned on not being able to use my sewing machine or computer, or see in the darkened room where my fabric is kept. Very frustrating <grin>.
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 21:10:02 -0500 | From: Marya Lowe <mlowe@
I’d like the advice of anyone who has been faced with this sort of situation…. I was asked to look at a 20’s Lone Star top that is quite misshappen. It is pieced very nicely, points match, fabric is still in very good shape, etc. However, when laid flat on the floor, there is a large “ridge” of extra fabric where each of the 8 large points is seamed to its neighbor. I.e., it has stretched so out of shape so that it no longer lies flat. The owner would like it fixed so that it lies flat. She is willing to have a different fabric substituted for the corners/triangles (indeed would prefer this), but I don’t think replacing them, or possibly removing them in favor of appliquing the whole star onto a large piece of background fabric, is the trick that’s going to help this quilt. Taking the “joining” seams in a tiny bit deeper would distort the quilt visually and would not be sufficient to take care of the problem anyway. Before I take this baby apart and see what can be done, if anything, has anyone had a similar dilemma and could advise me that “There’s no way this can be fixed. Give it up as a lost cause!” Would appreciate any thoughts!
Marya
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 21:20:35 -0600 | From: Laura Hobby Syler <texas_quilt.co@>
Marya, There *is* a reason why so many of those tops were never quilted….. and no amount of tucks, or no amount of standing on that scalding hot iron are gonna get that sucker flat…… there are more important things in life. Fold that puppy up, stick it in a glass front *locking* cabinet and move on!!!<G> And tell your client that they should bless granny’s poor soul for having such fortitude to try and get the darling put together in the first place!
Laura who has finally learned after 21 years of quilting, teaching and restoration that there is such a thing as “don’t even go there” in this dealing with family pieces!
At 09:10 PM 3/15/99 -0500, Marya Lowe wrote: >I’d like the advice of anyone who has been faced with this sort of >situation…. I was asked to look at a 20’s Lone Star top that is quite >misshappen. It is pieced very nicely, points match, fabric is still in >very good shape, etc. However, when laid flat on the floor, there is a >large “ridge” of extra fabric where each of the 8 large points is seamed >to its neighbor. I.e., it has stretched so out of shape so that it no >longer lies flat. The owner would like it fixed so that it lies flat. > >She is willing to have a different fabric substituted for the >corners/triangles (indeed would prefer this), but I don’t think >replacing them, or possibly removing them in favor of appliquing the >whole star onto a large piece of background fabric, is the trick that’s >going to help this quilt. Taking the “joining” seams in a tiny bit >deeper would distort the quilt visually and would not be sufficient to >take care of the problem anyway. > >Before I take this baby apart and see what can be done, if anything, has >anyone had a similar dilemma and could advise me that “There’s no way >this can be fixed. Give it up as a lost cause!” Would appreciate any >thoughts!
Marya > >
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 22:35:32 EST | From: SudaNim@
What about separating the four major sections (ie, into wedges that go into two points), and appliqueing them, still in the general star shape, but with a gap between them? Or taking the 8 arms apart and doing likewise? If each arm is capable of lying flat on its own, would that work?
In a message dated 3/15/99 8:10:45 PM, mlowe@ writes:
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 20:21:17 PST | From: “Kim Heger” <kheger@
“I’m assuming they can’t be taken as carry on luggage” Well, I was able to take a quilt as a carry-on! We had traveled to Vermont this summer, and I had to have this gorgeous Dove in the Window 1880’s indigo and white quilt! Hadn’t planned on it, and so had no extra storage in which to get it home. I simply left it in the plastic bag from the antique store, thinking that this would at least protect it from any spills while on the airplane. They counted it as a carry-on item, and I felt much better being able to keep my eye on it the whole trip, rather than having it in the cargo section or stored in the overhead compartments! So I know you can do it safely with one quilt, you’d have to get other advice for numerous quilts! Kim in Kansas
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 22:04:35 -0800 | From: “Catherine Kypta” <vger@
Well I have worked on two of these lonestars that have stretched. One of them had the inset triangles cut with the bias edge facing out and this stretched the top into a ripply mess – the other one had triangles and squares attached that were too small for the star. Both were fixable. On the first one, I took all the inset pieces off and used the squares to make triangles for the inset pieces and then pieced the triangle piece I had left with a different color vintage fabric and then inset the squares, this looked terrific, made the star sit in an octagon and then the additional colors in the corners picked up a different color in the star. Does this make sense?
On the other one I had to replace all the set in pieces, they were all too small to use and some had mousey chews in them anyway. They both came out fine, as long as the star itself is pretty well pieced – lay your longest olfa down the side and see if it is 45 degrees – If it is a little off it will quilt out. Hope this helps!
Catherine in Sacramento, quilting feather wreaths – what fun!
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 01:11:30 -0500 | From: “Judy Grow” <Judygrow@>
Barb — I have had no trouble taking a very precious antique quilt onto an airplane, packed in a suitcase that stowed in the overhead compartment right above my head. I plan to do the same thing again in a couple of weeks, but that is only one quilt. I have no experience traveling with lots of them. You beat me by 5 hours — we were without electricity from 11:00 Pm sunday night until 3:20 this afternoon. We are fortunate that we have two fireplaces and a woodstove and lots of dry firewood, so we had them going most of today, but woke up mighty cold Monday morning. I was almost unhappy to have it go on when it did — I was hoping DH would take me out for dinner and a movie, but no such luck.
I spent most of the day doing hand applique, a pleasant change. It is usually my evening activity since I don’t have a qult in a frame at the moment. Judy in Ringoes, NJ judygrow@
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 07:46:37 -0500 | From: Alan Kelchner <quiltfix@
Barb, whenever possible, my quilts come with me on the plane. But I do have a specific suitcase the fits under the seat in front of me. Any quilt that travels cannot be fragile (usually the quilts I’m bringing are being looked at by many people and couldn’t withstand the folding and refolding anyway.) I also get the thinnest quilts possible (or at least avoid the fat honkers that require -20 weather to sleep under!), and then fold them to fit the case perfectly (no cramming). Then I guard it with my life. I have also (with extreme trepidation) used a hard sided large suitcase and then taped it shut to keep nosy baggage handlers out. It was hard enough for me to get back into later.
Maybe you could FedEx them to where you’re going? I know I hate to travel with my quilts – I worry to much. Heck, I don’t like to fly, for that matter.
I know ! You could drive. But then you have to worry about wrecks, and what if the car breaks down, and …………..
Alan feelin’ goofy this morning Thanks for all the great suggestions for joining batting. Now, for my next question I love to make the tops but hate to “finish” them have done 6 by means of tieing them. I see in the various magazines ads that people will machine quilt them for a few any suggestions? Thanks Ever So Much Bill
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 09:43:56 EST | From: QuiltFixer@
I have used the same method of adding batt as Judy has describes. However, in my quilt restoration business I have seen some very bad results with using patched batting. If it is a bed quilt where the quilt gets lots of tugging and pulling, it often separates and then when the quilt is washed it starts to break down. Especially, if it has a seam down the middle. The only way I have used it is to add a border to make the quilt larger and even then I think is very iffy. I can understand why it might be a cost saving thing, but when I think of all the hours of work that go into hand quilting, I just don’t think it is worth it unless it is absolutely necessary. I don’t think the problem would be as serious with machine quilting, but I haven’t had any experience with seeing that after some years of use. Toni B. QuiltFixer@
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 08:27:19 -0700 | From: “jenniferl hill” <hilljl@>
Marya,
I have seen lots of LS’s with these problems. I suspect that all those bias edged diamonds were stretched out of shape before they were joined, and the top remained unquilted because no one wanted to, or knew how to deal with it.
I think the only possible way to flatten it out would be to separate the eight pieced points and press them gently. Lay each on a cutting mat and, using a 45 degree ruler, trim them. Join them in pairs and press again. Trim using a 90 degree ruler. Sew pairs of these together and press, trim again. This usually does the trick, and is often a step ommitted by the original piecer.
If the first trimming cuts away too much of the end diamond, you might want to replace that one, or possibly the next row of diamonds also. I don’t think its necessary to true up the entire length of the point, since the worst of the problem is usually concentrated in the centre where all eight meet. Careful quilting can flatten out a bit of extra fullness and ripples, as long as the volcanic crater in the centre has been dealt with.
When making Lone Stars from scratch, or any other design with lots of exposed bias edges, I like to have my fabric starched fairly heavily before I cut it, and handle it gently after it’s cut. This really helps to stabilize those pieces. Jennifer Hill Calgary, AB
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 11:41:15 EST | From: QuiltFixer@
After reading some suggestions about flying with your quilts, here is a true story I thought you might get a chuckle out of. A few years ago I was visiting in Maryland and my friend took me to a big auction out in the country. Among other things, there were quilts, and I saw a beautiful yo-yo quilt made of 1930s fabric and obviously never used, Well, needless to say, I had to have it, and it took every cent of cash and every cent of my friends cash to win the bidding. I was so thrilled and happy and I had not given a thought how I was going to get this quilt home to Calif. I was afraid to let this quilt out of my sight so I would not ship it or mail it. I decided to roll it in tissue paper and pack it in a shopping bag. The quilt is big enough to fit a queen size bed, so it was bulky. We drove off to Pa. in a rental car and when we were ready to leave for Calif., we had to take a connecting flight to Pittsburgh in a small commuter plane. No problem I thought, I will put it in the overhead. Wrong! At the top of the stairs the flight attendant said she would have to put that “big thing”in the baggage compartment. I said “no way, this is very precious to me!’ I turned and said to my husband “I am going to get off the plane, I am not going. She won’t let me take my quilt.” Since I was holding up the line into the plane at the door, she just rolled her eyes up, grabed the quilt and put it in a seat and put a seat belt around it. My quilt got it’s own seat! Of course, once we were in the air, due to the fuss, we had a one quilt “show and tell” as all the passengers wanted to see it. 🙂 The flight attendant and several passengers even offered to buy it from me. Even the pilot came back which made me a little nervous.:) Once we got on the ‘big plane” it fit in the overhead quite nicely. A good thing, or I might still be in Pittsburgh, not Calif. Toni B. QuiltFixer@
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 11:45:04 EST | From: JQuilt@
Do the members of this list… quilt as well as collect/study antique quilts? jean jquilt@
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 12:07:42 EST | From: Harr32@
Dear Jean, I, for one, DO quilt as well as collect quilts. My collection is small, but my apprecitation is large! I machine piece and hand quilt. The machine I use most often is a 1924 electric Singer red eye. My next goal is at become proficient in restoration (enough to meet my own needs), and to become a quilt appraiser in the not too distant future.
Dana, on the border of TN/VA where it’s sunny and cool
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 13:08:12 EST | From: QuiltFixer@
I loved reading Toni B’s quilt flying experience.. *****************************8 You know….there’s something special about the beauty of a quilt(old or new)…It’s pretty to the eye and the soul…it conjures up memories and longings… this experience doesn’t seem to happen with other art forms like a paintings,sculptures or pottery… Maybe it’s because of the warmth they give besides the beauty… Quilts are a “simple pleasure” like a drop of water on a pond…it goes on and on and on.. circle after, circle after, circle jean jquilt@
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 10:46:43 -0800 | From: pastcrafts@
When I first started conserving and restoring vintage and antique textiles, I quickly realized that it was not ordinary mending. So taking advantage of a french au-pair, 17 years ago, I buried myself in the stacks of the Textile Museum Library and taught myself a lot about conservation for the layman. I still have all the workshop papers published by the TM. In “Principles Of Practical Cleaning for OLd and Fragile Textiles” the museum differentiates between “wet cleaning” and “laundering”. Laundering requires a very high water temperature which can really hurt old fibers. “Most natural soaps dissolve better in hot water than they do in cold,(read:tepid) so for the most part it is desirable to use synthetic detergents, which are more versitile.” There are lots of different detergent formulas to choose from, as we have already seen. “Soft water has much better cleaning action than hard water. Therefore hard water should be softened. There are 3 methods of softening water: distilling; passing the water through zeolite granules in a permutation process; or using sequestrants.” Sequestrants (when added to water) will make lime curds reform into usable soaps while tying up the minerals which make the water hard.” The paper goes on to discuss different types but then asserts that “Calgon is quite safe, as it is barely alkaline.” This was written in 1956, and as far as I have been able to find out still stands. However, you may want to be safe and call the manufacturer of Calgon to be sure that they have not added any “boosters” and that the formula is still pure. Hope this helps – and remember, it is the weight of the water on the fibers that causes so much damage! Newbie Past Crafts Studios, Alexandria, VA.
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 11:05:41 -0800 | From: “R & L Carroll” <Robert.J.Carroll@
Hello. Jean, I have been quilting for 16 years and collecting antique quilts and tops for about 7-8 years. I have been very busy in both areas, but quilt making is still my first love. Laurette in So. California
———– For what it’s worth, I quilt quite a lot. I also teach, lecture and restore antique quilts. I’m sure I’m not the only one on the list that does all those things. Judy White
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 16:38:29 -0500 | From: Lynn and Debbie Cupp <lcupp@
Yes, I do it all. Quilt, collect, repair…enjoy. :> Debbie
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 16:18:03 -0600 (CST) | From: Nancy Evans <nevans@
I have quilted longer than I’ve been into the history of quilting, but I enjoy both. In 1998, I took on an additional “hat”, in that I began a machine quilting service, and have had a wonderful time in this year conversing and quilting for “toppers” nationwide! But I still love the handquilting, too, when my arthritis will permit it!
Nancy Evans Forever’s Treasures Quiltery
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 17:24:34 EST | From: Lekhbah@
HI, My husband used to call me a professional quilt-supply collector, but he now prefers the term virtual quilter. (someone who reads the books, watches the programs, goes to the shows, and has pretty much all the labor saving devices devised, and enough fabric to blanket a third world country) Yes, I am going to quilt these old tops, and join together these antique blocks, and use this wonderful fabric that I am hoarding….someday. Until then, I sure enjoy this list and salute those of you who have time to actually complete things!!! Kim
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 18:02:01 EST | From: SudaNim@
I’ve been quilting since I was 15, which makes it *mumble* years now. Any day now, I hope to get it right. I’m a dilletante on the history side of things (I know just enough to impress someone who knows nothing). No ambitions to become a certified appraiser or anything. Currently working on a jewel-tone queen-sized bedspread for my sister. It’s her Christmas 1997 present. I have to machine quilt because of my carpal tunnel syndrome, but really, really wish I could hand-quilt. I have a 10-foot Elfa rack with leftovers, UFOs, antique tops I’ll do something with one of these days, and three shelves of quilt history books. I buy them for the articles. 🙂
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 18:16:40 -0800 (PST) | From: Jackie Joy <jjoy@
I like to try to make quilts that look old, and with the wonderful reproductions fabrics available now, making them look old is easy. Jackie Joy Reno, Nevada jjoy@
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 21:19:50 -0500 From: Marya Lowe <mlowe@ Thanks so much to the many folks who responded to my request for advice on the misshapen Lone Star that I wrote about last night! Such good ideas and suggestions! It’s late, so I’ve printed them out, will look them over tomorrow with the quilt in hand, and see what makes sense for this particular quilt. I’ll let the forum know what the verdict is…stay tuned!
Marya
