March 5 - 8, 2004 - QuiltHistory

Quilt Block History, Quilt History Resources, Regional Quilt History

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:

The Maxfield Parrish Circus Quilt — A member’s search for a Maxfield Parrish-pattern circus quilt turns up sightings in a 1905 Ladies Home Journal and a 2002 magazine reprint.
Ear Wax & Sewing Tool Lore — A revisited conversation about antique sewing-kit “ear wax spoons” and their real, non-earwax function.
Hawaiian Quilting Resources — Book recommendations and a scholarly overview of the available Hawaiian quilt history sources.
Quilts Spotted in Movies & TV — Members swap sightings of anachronistic and memorable quilts appearing in film and television.

Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2004 21:51:53 -0800 | From: “Christine Thresh” <christine@>

I saw this link posted on another list today: http://www.rbhayes.org/quilt.html

Interesting story. Perhaps it has been mentioned before and I missed it.

Christine Thresh

Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2004 09:47:00 -0000 | From: “Sally Ward” <sallytatters@>

Way back when I joined QHL you ladies were just concluding a conversation about ear wax, those little spoons that appear in antique sewing kits, and whether ear wax was indeed used to wax threads for sewing. But I can’t recall whether the concensus was that this was fact or urban myth….

Last week on the UK edition of Antiques Roadshow I saw an expert examining one of these wonderful workcases and repeating this story on prime time TV. Do you ladies think he was correct?

Sally W

Date: Sat, 06 Mar 2004 08:42:17 -0500 | From: Vivien Sayre <vsayre@>

Sally and All,

I believe only chemical testing would confirm if this were true. However, if we believe ‘word of mouth’ and our own eyes, there is a strong case for the use of ear wax. My grandmother, one of the most incredible woman I have ever known, was a seamstress and needle woman by training. She learned her skills in Italy as did her sisters, and was taught to straighten her curling threads with ear wax. This, of course, would be washed out when the garment was laundered. She passed this tip on to her daughters, granddaughters and sons who were in the upholstery business.

Another case in point, and this is where ‘our own eyes’ come in to play. Massachusetts is deep into its documentation project. We have seen thousands of quilt, a large number of them from early periods. It is interesting to note that we have seen discoloration of strands of quilting thread. This, in and of itself, may not seem unusual, except for the fact that it appears in the middle of an unbroken strand and ends before the line of quilting is completed. In addition, the discoloration is uneven, going from brown to a golden. This may be because of the variation in density of the wax that was applied to the thread. Some of you may think this discoloration is due to bees wax. Perhaps, thus the reason chemical testing would be so valuable.

It would be interesting to find out what the rest of you think and perhaps, uncovered.

Vivien (in wet, soggy Massachusetts – a good day for quilting!)

At 09:47 AM 3/6/2004 +0000, you wrote: >Way back when I joined QHL you ladies were just concluding a conversation >about ear wax, those little spoons that appear in antique sewing kits, and >whether ear wax was indeed used to wax threads for sewing. But I can’t >recall whether the concensus was that this was fact or urban myth…. > >Last week on the UK edition of Antiques Roadshow I saw an expert examining >one of these wonderful workcases and repeating this story on prime time TV. >Do you ladies think he was correct? > >Sally W > > >— >

Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2004 08:50:24 -0600 | From: Lora Rocke <lorarocke@>

> From: Lora Rocke <lorarocke@> > Date: Fri Mar 5, 2004 4:57:08 PM US/Central > To: “Quilt History List” <qhl@> > Subject: Re: [qhl] Maxfield Parrish Circus quilt > > Finally I get the chance to answer a question. I have been lurking > ever so long. This may be a little help. > I found a picture of the Maxfield Parrish quilt in the University of > Nebraska Lincoln Library (east campus) it was in the Ladies Home > Journal 1905 Vol. 22, 23. I believe that Vol. 22 showed the upcoming > quilt project and Vol. 23 (our copy was missing)was supposed to have > the pattern printed that month. I have referenced several other books > and retrospectives on M. Parrish but none have shown the Circus Quilt. > Lora in Lincoln > On Friday, March 5, 2004, at 03:03 PM, Julie Silber wrote: >

Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2004 | From: MargaretFahey@

Is the Mass documentation of just old quilts? Or are you doing on-going documentation as Colorado is?

Margaret

From: Vivien Sayre <vsayre@>

We are documenting quilts up to and including 1950, but have documented some younger quilts as well. We never turn away an interesting quilt if we can help it.

Vivien

Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2004 21:06:14 -0800 | From: “Christine Thresh” <christine@>

I found pictures of the Maxfield Parrish Circus Quilt in the special edition magazine called “Century of Quilts” put out by Meredith Corporation in 2002. The quilt is shown on pages 20 and 21.

Susan Price Miller, Merikay Waldvogel, and Xenia Cord contributed their expertise to the special edition magazine.

Christine Thresh

http://www.winnowing.com

Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2004 20:17:52 -0800 | From: Anne Copeland <anneappraiser1@>

Dear Kathy, I can understand how frustrated you must feel. I know there are still abbreviations on the Internet I run into all the time and I have no idea of their meaning.

I always try to use the words first such as Double Wedding Ring, and then when I have to keep referring to it again, I use the DWR.

The abbreviations have come about as a way to try to spend less time online and probably to avoid carpal tunnel syndrome from typing repetitive phrases.

I found a great web site for e-mail abbreviations for anyone wanting to know what these things mean since they are likely to be with us forever now. It is http://www.cog.brown.edu/~duchon/humor/abbrev.html.

Enjoy and create some of your own that no one else knows so that when you feel frustrated, you can send some back to the others. Pretty soon you will be leading the parade! Peace and blessings, Annie

Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2004 02:09:25 EST | From: RAGLADY@

A POTB to Annie for such a nice resource site for e-shortcuts.

Gloria raglady@ ~ POTB PatOnTheBack or WTG WayToGo

> I found a great web site for e-mail abbreviations for anyone wanting to > know what these things mean since they are likely to be with us forever > now. It is http://www.cog.brown.edu/~duchon/humor/abbrev.html. > > Enjoy and create some of your own that no one else knows so that when you > feel frustrated, you can send some back to the others. Pretty soon you > will be leading the parade! Peace and blessings, Annie >

Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2004 22:16:12 -1000 | From: Loretta Woodard <Lwoodard@>

Two new books out on Hawaiian quiilting are available online through Hawaii-based booksellers. HAWAIIAN QUILT INSPIRATIONS; A Journal of Life by Patricia Lei Murray (Honolulu: Mutual Publishing, 2003) “is a collection of unique quilts and the stories that inspired their creation.” ISBN: 1566476461 is $13.95 It’s worth the price just to read her little essay on visiting the Queen’s quilt at Iolani Palace. Booklines Hawaii http://www.booklineshawaii.com/book/bsp/476461.html or Barnes and Noble

Also, The Kokusai Art, Japan exhibit catalog, Hawaiian Quilts, Tradition and Transition, is now available online through the Honolulu Academy of Arts museum shop at http://www.honoluluacademy.org/shop/products.lasso? Category=Publications. The shop is handling distribution at the moment. I should note that all proceeds benefit the museum.

The section on historic quilts also includes information on Hawaii and the twentieth-century quilt revivals. The contemporary quilters section is written in the quilters own words. The interviews are interesting from a historical perspective for the insights they provide into beginnings of the current quilt revival in Hawaii. Besides, the photography is to die for.

—– Laurie Woodard Hawaiian Quilt Research Project http://openstudio.hawaii.edu/HQRP/index.htm

From: “Celia Eddy”

Please can you tell me where I can get up-to-date, accurate information about Hawaiian quilting.

Thanks Celia Eddy

From: louise-b <vlbequet@>

Just finished reading a 1953 children’s book, Pull Away Boatman, by Ada Claire Darby, and at the end the girl is given a ‘Wedding Ring’ quilt. Problem: the story is set in Cape Girardeau at the time of the New Madrid earthquake in 1811.

The description (and illustration) seem to match a DWR pattern. “circles of pink and blue, lavender, green and yellow interwining on the background of fine calico.” Doesn’t sound like a single Wedding Ring, does it?

So in 1953, incorrect information was given on the age of a pattern, it seems.

Louise Bequette — mid-Missouri

From: Ady Hirsch <adamroni@>

>Please can you tell me where I can get up-to-date, accurate information >about Hawaiian quilting. > >Thanks >Celia Eddy > > Hawaiian quilts:

1. Shaw, Robert, Hawaiian Quilt Mastepiece, Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, Inc., 1996, ISBN 0-88363-396-5 2. Schleck, Robert, The Wilcox Quilts in Hawaii, Grove Farm Homestead and Waioli Mission House, Kauai, Hawaii, 1986, ISBN 0-9617174-0-8 3. The Hawaiian Quilt, curated by Reiko Mochinaga Brandon, Honolulu Academy of Arts, exhibition catalog in Japanese and English. 4. Akana, Elizabet, Hawaiian Quilting: A Fine Art, Honolulu: Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society, 1981. 5. Akana, Elizabeth, Ku’u Hae Aloha, in Kiracofe and Kile’s Quilt Digest 2, 1984, pp. 70-77.

6. Kakalia, Kepola, Hawaiian Quilting as an Art, Honolulu, Deborah U. kaka;ia, 1976. 7. Wild, Lee S., Hawaiian Quilts in Dennis Duke and Deborah Harding’s “America’s Glorious Quilts”, Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, Inc., 1987, ISBN 0-88363-308-6

And naturally, the latest addition mentioned above. Ady in Israel

Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2004 06:47:59 -0600 | From: Xenia Cord <xenia@>

Oh absolutely – these sorts of “breaks in continuity” appear everywhere. Remember “Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman” on TV? Late 19th century Colorado, as I remember, and in one episode her friends gathered on the porch outside the general store and made her (from start to finish!) a Double Wedding Ring quilt for her marriage to Sully!

I love looking for quilts in movies and on TV – they are so often out of period.

Xenia

Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2004 08:33:40 -0500 | From: “Mary Voss” <voss@>

Please put me on vacation until March 21. If you can’t just delete and I will re subscribe when I get back. Thanks

Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2004 12:47:54 -0500 | From: <mreich@>

Approximately 25 of us spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday in quilt nirvana, Lancaster, Pennsylvania at the FVF Textile Seminar. Cinda Cawley is our official roving reporter. Knowing Cinda, she will wow you with the details Amish hospitality, wholesome food and the spectacular display of quilts we viewed over the three day period. More than one quilt was of special interest. It came from Pennsylvania and was simply a wholecloth of sorts made with lengths of a commemorative handkerchief featuring the U.S. flag with 39 stars. These commemorative handkerchiefs were printed for the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876. Many have appeared over the years as whole lengths of fabric uncut or cut and border on nineteenth-century quilts front and back. This particular print featured flags of many nations and countries including the Sandwich islands and Hawaii, plus a flag of Ireland that is not the official Irish flag. Our dilemma was this; when did we have a flag with 39 stars. The answer is actually “NEVER!” The only flag that features 39 stars with international flags around it was “The International Flag” patented in 1875. It was printed for the Centennial and featured the flags of countries who attended and participated in the celebration. In fact, Colorado was the 38th state in August, 1876. Twelve years past before any other states joined the Union. In 1889, Dakota was expected to join the Union as one state not two. Some flag manufacturers jumped the gun and printed the 39 star flag. North and South Dakota, and Montana and Washington all became states in November, 1890. Images of flags with 39 stars are rare and highly collectable. The International flag images are also highly collectible but may not be as rare. I think that the date of the quilt seen at FVF Textile Seminar needs to be revised as circa 1876 and was likely made after the Centennial Exhibition.

Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2004 12:07:03 -0800 | From: “Leah Zeiber” <leah.zieber@>

>I love looking for quilts in movies and on TV – they are so often out of period.

>Xenia

Xenia – have you ever noticed the quilt on the bed of the couple from the Public Television – British comedy show “As Time Goes By” with Judi Dench- I wish they would stop film long enough to get a good look at it – it is large pinwheels in light tans and browns – a real pretty piece – I have always wondered if it were a reproduction or antique.

Leah

Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2004 15:23:46 -0500 | From: @aol.com

I still remember giggling hysterically at an episode of “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” where a character who was getting married was given a Double Wedding Ring. Neat trick that, considering that the series was set in the 1870s and the quilt was a typical 1930s DWR, complete with bubblegum pink crossing pieces and a lovely mix of colorful feedsack and dress scraps….

Karen Evans

Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2004 21:08:29 -0000 | From: “Celia Eddy” <celia.eddy@>

Yesterday there was a fascinating article in the (UK) Sunday Telegraph about Joan Didion, in which mention was made of a quilt she inherited from her great- great-grandmother. It was apparently made during a perilous westward wagon journey and contains what Joan Didion describes as “…a blinding and pointless compaction of stitches….” I wonder if this quilt has been documented and if any of you know something about it?

I would be particularly interested to know what the pattern of it was and/or the block used.

Celia Eddy

Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 08:12:40 +1100 | From: “Lorraine Olsson” <sven@>

I love that quilt!! Every time it comes on (we get reruns here) my DH calls me to have a look. I too think they should be more considerate, and have a really long slow camera pan over the quilt. Maybe each week,with the credits, so we can really see closely :o)))))

Cheers, Lorraine in Oz > > Xenia – have you ever noticed the quilt on the bed of the couple from the > Public Television – British comedy show “As Time Goes By” with Judi Dench- > I wish they would stop film long enough to get a good look at it – it is > large pinwheels in light tans and browns – a real pretty piece – I have > always wondered if it were a reproduction or antique. > > Leah >

Scanned by PeNiCillin http://safe-t-net.pnc.com.au/

Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2004 16:47:33 -0500 | From: “Pepper Cory” <pepcory@>

Remember the bedroom scene in Coal Miner’s Daughter? Loretta talks to her parents while they’re in bed snuggled under a doubleknit quilt! Or “Sarah, Plain and Tall” the TV series? A c.1935 DWR on the white iron bed when the scene was pre-WWI! There’s more I’m sure-am always on the lookout. I’d love to be a “consultant” (ie quilt wrangler) for the movies! Pepper

Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2004 12:28:15 -1000 | From: Loretta Woodard <Lwoodard@>

Celia–There isn’t a whole lot in print that isn’t drawing on information from the 1930 monograph by Stella Jones (below) but Jones’

essay is to Hawaiian quilting what Marie Webster’s was to American quilting. With the list below, I offer my personal caveats concerning myths, and conjectures that too often are misquoted as fact. These include the myth that Hawaiian quilters didn’t have scrap bags (Jones,

p. 10); the idea that “fully pieced Hawaiian quilts are rare . . . apparently few were made n the nineteenth century,” (Shaw, p. 34); or that “abstract geometric patterns typical of American quiltmaking undoubtedly seems utterly foreign to Hawaiian quilters . . .” (Shaw, p.

34). Bob Shaw’s introductory essay does provide nice overview of Hawaiian history.

Another conjecture that has no basis in fact is the idea that Pennsylvania Dutch missionaries came to Hawaii in the 1860s and taught

the Hawaiians scherenschnitte. My personal feeling is that this is the

time frame when Hawaiians in general had the necessary sewing skills and experience with making pieced quilts (documented in missionary letters) to take off and run with idea of applique when it was again popular in mainland America. We know through missionary journals of at

least one such quilt top that arrived in a missionary barrel and was completed by Hawaiian students. Surely others came as well. Isabella Bird, Six Months in the Sandwich Islands, ca 1870, describes Hawaiian applique quilts and such quilts appear in photos taken of gifts received by King Kalakaua in 1886. Flag quilts, which combine applique

and piecing techniques, also appear in photos from the 1880s, predating

the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893.

Jones, Stella M. Hawaiian Quilts. Honolulu: Daughters of Hawaii, Honolulu Academy of Arts, Mission Houses Museum, 1973. Brandon, Reiko and Loretta G.H. Woodard. Hawaiian Quilts, Tradition and

Transition. Honolulu: Honolulu Academy of Arts, 2003. Brandon, Reiko, et al. The Hawaiian Quilt. Tokyo: Kokusai Art, 1989. Schleck, Robert J. The Wilcox Quilts in Hawaii.Lihue, Kauai: Grove Farm

Homestead and Waiole Mission House, 1986. Shaw, Robert. Hawaiian Quilt Masterpieces.New York: Hugh Lauter, Leven,

1996. Woodard, Loretta G. “Quilts.” In Finding Paradise, Island Art in Private Collections, ed. Don Severson and Mike Horikawa. Honolulu: The

Honolulu Academy of Arts and The University of Hawaii Press, 2003. Woodard, Loretta G. “Hawaiian Outline-Embroidered Quilts.” Uncoverings.San Francisco: The American Quilt Study Group, 1997.

For information on Hawaiian flag quilts, also see: Akana, Elizabeth A. “Hawaiian Quilts, A Nineteenth-Century Myth Dispelled.” Folk Art Magazine(Summer 1997): 38-43. Hammond, Joyce D. “Hawaiian Flag Quilts: Muiltivalent Symbols of Hawaiian Quilt Tradition.” The Hawaiian Journal of History, 27 (1993):

1-26. There’s also a brief discussion in Harding, Deborah. Stars and Stripes. New York: Rizzoli, 2003.

Other titles containing some info include: MacDowell, Marsha L. and C. Kurt Dewhurst, eds. To Honor and Comfort, Native Quilting Traditions.Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press in association with Michigan State University Museum, 1997. Pilgrim, Paul D. and Gerald E. Roy. Gatherings: America’s Quilt Heritage. Paducah, KY: American Quilter’s Society, 1995. —– Laurie Woodard Hawaiian Quilt Research Project http://openstudio.hawaii.edu/HQRP/index.htm

From: “kerrybrack@”

yes leah noticed it for the first time last week end=2E we get this progr am in australia and only noticed the quilt last saturday night when my dh and=

i were watching=2E doesnt that pattern look great so large=2E i am figur ing each individual blade of the pinwheel block is six inches=2E they could b e larger=2E the show is produced by the bbc uk right? kerry in sydneyx

i am setting off to ayers rock central australia for a couple of days starting tomorrow=2E if you put ayers rock into google it has a lot of information=2E hopefully teeing up to take see some special secret womens=

places, birthing cave waterholes etc=2E it may or may not happen=2E goin g to do some dear janing or other sewing and put it on film whilst there in the=

desert=2E suzy has already told you about our national pioneer womens hallof fame=2E www=2Epioneerwomen=2Ecom=2Eau=2E the building is in alice spring s about four hours from ayers rock=2E hope to get there=2E cheers kerryx i am sure there is a web site that lists all the quilts on tv? xx

From: “Quiltstuff”

Hi all,

You may remember a little while ago that there was an article in one of the big Sydney newspapers about quilts being stolen here in Australia. It also got picked up and run in slightly altered form in Melbourne and Brisbane.

Although , there has been some consternation about the article making quilts a target for theft, I was interested to hear that it caused a small flood of enquiries to our State Valuation Committee. Some of these callers are saying that they have vintage quilts that need appraising.

This is good news for us as Aussie vintage quilts are not plentiful and anything that gets them out of the cupboards is wonderful.

Suzy Atkins

From: “Quiltstuff”

> Pepper wrote I’d love to be a “consultant” (ie quilt wrangler) for the movies!

I have been that… in a very small way. A movie was being made ( for TV, ) here on the Gold Coast that was about an Amish community. I supplied two quilts.. a vintage one that could have passed for Amish in its colours and pattern and one of my own.. that was an Amish style Sunshine and shadows quilt.

I also had a huge chat to the props girl about anything I knew about Amish quilts and lent her my books. I unfortunately never got to see the movie…. but did get paid well for my loan of the quilts and a few other pieces of furniture I had that sort of ‘looked’ right. It is my small claim to fame…

here is Oz, there was an infamous scene form one of our TV shows where the character had spent years collecting quilts and ignoring her husband ( VBG). In the crisis scene of the show, she BURNS all these quilts in a back yard bonfire. We were all aghast..

Suzy . Brisbane , Australia

From: “kerrybrack@”

yes suzy and as pam said dont believe everything that is written=2E Did yo u see pams heritage heartach etc quilt in the cathedral in adelaide=2E pictures on her website=2E www=2Esheddesigns=2Ecom kerry in sydneyx

From: “Sally Ward” <sallytatters@>

Do you ever get the old UK sitcom ‘The Good Life’? There is an episode centred around the self-sufficient couple trying to get to bed early while their urban neighbours are partying, in which there are many lovely views of a traditional frame quilt (possibly a coverlet) on their bed. I have admired it often and wondered whether it still languishes unsung in the BBC props department.

Sally W

From: MJSwift@

Dear Listmates,

After hand laundering an authentic 30’s fabric quilt top, two of the fabrics (one lavender print and the other apricot) stiffened as if they had been lightly/moderately starched.

What might account for this difference from the other fabrics in the quilt? Soap used: Orvis.

Thanks for considering.

Marsha in NH

From: ARabara15@

The fabrics probably had rayon or acetate in them. Synthetics from this time get stiff when washed.

Donald Brokate The Crazy Quilt Collector Trenton, NJ

From: Joan Kiplinger <jkip@>

Another possibility — some cheap cotton sizings resembling glue more than starch also created stiffness after repeated washings; I have several pieces which are stiff as a board after many washings and soakings, some in softener as test pieces. Success was achieved after 7 washings with all but one fabric.

From: Anne Copeland <anneappraiser1@>

A great example of things out of time and context was Little House on the Prairie. Not only did they use 1930s quilts, but remember how the wife and children and husband always had on different clothing all clean and freshly pressed, and white things looking somehow sparkling? Oh yeah, right! We have washers and dryers and bleach, and still don’t have clothes that come out THAT white! Yes, lots of quilts and linens out of context and time. But fun to watch for. Sort of like looking for the bloopers in movies (where something is inadvertently show that wasn’t intended to). I think an all-time great was in the movie, Shane, where there is a jet flying overhead in one scene!!! Peace and blessings, Annie

From: Ark Quilts <quiltarkmv@>

Since everyone is in the anecdotal mode….I saw a Bette Davis movie over the holidays called, “The Old Maid”. An interesting story about a woman who has a child out of wedlock by a soldier who later died during the Civil War. To hide her “error” she starts an orphanage where her daughter is safely hidden among the orphans. During the time period of 1865-66 after the end of the Civil War, Bette Davis’s daughter is shown as a toddler seated in a rocking chair covered with a crazy quilt made with 1930’s printed fabrics! It was so obvious even though this was a black and white movie. The movie was made about the mide-1940’s. The gowns the actresses wore were really quite nice and seemed to be have been based on actual research….but the quilt…..no. Gave me a chuckle and my husband just rolled his eyeballs….as if to say…..there she goes again. Connie Ark in Ohio

From: “Sehoy L Welshofer” <slw4quilts@>

If you use Netflix, you can see the whole series, a year’s worth per DVD. I’ve seen the quilt, but never thought to stop the DVD and get a good look at it. Anyone else out there happen to have one of the disks now? We’ve now seen them all, so probably won’t order a Series again until next year.

Sehoy

From: “Sehoy L Welshofer” <slw4quilts@>

Sally – was the 70’s series called The Good Neighbors with Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal? Sehoy **************************************** From: “Sally Ward” <sallytatters@> Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2004 23:04:24 -0000 X-Message-Number: 1

Sally W

From: “Sally Ward” <sallytatters@>

Well, that’s interesting. I was about to write to you that it was called The Good Life, but then I thought perhaps it had a different name in the US, so I checked on Google and that’s the case. Here in the UK it was called The Good Life (they played Tom and Barbara Good). But apparently you saw it as The Good Neighbours. (well, Neighbors, actually <G>) http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/g/goodlifethe_7772855.shtml

http://discussions.bbcamerica.com/thread.jspa?threadID=3100&tstart=345

Sally W

From: “Velia Lauerman” <velialive@>

Today, as in the past, because of my sewing with my grandmother and mother beginning in about 1940 when Mom, Aunt Margie, Grandma, and their friends got together in Texas for gatherings at the quilt frame, I instructed my students at Wayne County Community College District to TREAT the fabric with 1 cup vinegar to a washer of water rather than WASH .Then I suggest air drying after draining and spinning rather than heating in a dryer. When a wonderful professional machine quilter said in a lecture that she never washes fabric , I was convinced that putting all those chemicals which are in soaps, even Orvis, could add harm to fabric. Also ironing the fabric is not needed and I teach my students to dampen their fabric and hand press without heat rather than IRON (another 4 letter word) . Just curious and appreciate comments on WASH and IRON. When we look at , for example Susan McCord’s pieces which are pristine and accurately pieced and quilted, I wonder if she had time to do all these extra things to fabric. Could we be putting those ironing and soap businesses out of business ? I’m sure they will come up with other notions and expensive items we could buy . With the money I save by not using these there is more of fabric and thread to purchase. Hope those needle artists are not looking down on us as we create all these new things to help us make do with scraps.Velia

From: “Jocelyn” <jocelynm@>

> Remember the bedroom scene in Coal Miner’s Daughter? Loretta talks to her > parents while they’re in bed snuggled under a doubleknit quilt!

Speaking of double-knit quilts, I bought a top on Ebay last week. It’s a pinwheel design, and HAND SEWN. <G> I’m guessing it was made by an elderly lady who was just thrilled with the idea of making a doubleknit quilt because it would last forever. <G> And right she was. I figure that in a few more decades, the 1970s quilts will be THE thing, like 1930s are now, but maybe more so, due to limited supply. (How many of us actually KEPT doubleknit quilts? <G>) So I was thinking…how to finish it? Then lo and behold, 2 lots of 2 yds of DK fabric appeared on Ebay. <G> I’m still waiting for it to get here, but I can use it for a pieced backing. For the princely sum of $3.98. <G>

From: Donald Beld

Hi everyone, I posted to the photo list (vintagepictures.eboard.com) a couple of photos of what I think is an 1890-1900’s Log Cabin Streaked Lightning quilt. It is comprised mostly of heavy winter clothing fabric; but the back has a VERY UNUSUAL fabric that is a pattern I have never seen before. It is woven as well and feel more like upholstery fabric than even clothing fabric. Am interested in what you all think about it–its age, type of fabric and anything else anyone might know. I like it a lot. Thanks, Don Beld

From: “J. G. Row”

I searched on abebooks.com for the 1859 book Judy Kelius mentioned, “The Ladies Hand Book of Fancy and Ornamental Work,” and found three for sale. Two, with some damage to spines are priced $125.00, and the third, rebound, although not professionally and also damaged, was for sale for $350.00! Starting price for this one on E-bay is $49.95.

Judy “the Ringo Kid” in Ringoes, NJ