May 17 – 24, 2006
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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 Aviary Textile — Members try to date and identify a 1765 to 1780 engraved textile panel and share reproductions.
- Finding Books — Members discuss Barbara Brackman’s upcoming slavery quilt book, the Red and Green quilts book and where to buy old titles.
- British Textile Tour Reports — Tour members report on the 1708 Levens Hall quilt, Spitalfields and Quarry Bank Mills, and friends promote a French exhibit. (see the article on quilting in Europe)
- Child Labor in the Mills — Members add New England mill history, Lewis Hine’s photos and a children’s book on child labor.
- Russian Patchwork — A member asks about a family quilt from Russian emigres, and others share sources while one asks for proof of a tradition.
- Made Up Quilt Names and Auction News — Members warn about an eBay seller’s invented pattern names and an Akron auctioneer, and flag a museum quilt sale.
- Calls and Notices — Notices include a call for basket quilts for a Tokyo show, a memorial fund and the return of a feedsack newsletter.
Date: Wed, 17 May 2006 17:43:59 -0500 | From: Andi
I just heard from my non-quilting mother that the April 2006 issue of House and Garden magazine has an article on (I’m not sure what topic) that on page 116 – 117?? (this, too, may be an approximation) has a paragraph stating that the value of quilts has declined. I’m not an H&G subscriber. If someone on the list is, perhaps they could look into this?
I’m happy to say that the Iowa Illinois Quilt Study Group biannual publication, Pieces of Time: A Quilt and Textile History Magazine, has now found homes coast to coast and north to south. Thanks to one and all for trusting our first effort and ordering an issue, a photo CD, a one year subscription, and among the truly faithful and optimistic, a two year subscription. Proceeds go towards publishing the next issue. No money has been or will be left over for quite sometime, but when it is, profits will go to IIQSG primarily to help support the love of our lives, the Kalona Quilt and Textile Museum. I am clearly involved but only as the volunteer editor/publisher.
If I haven’t overstepped the bounds of Kris’s generosity already, I’ll say that the August issue will feature basket quilts; the April 2007 issue will feature kit quilts (with contributions anticipated from Shirley McElderry, Deb Rake and Rosie Werner – thank you one and all), and the August 2007 issue will feature Iowa and Illinois quilters and collectors. Our plan is for each issue to follow the study topic of the previous meeting.
A special note to recent buyers: the printing machinery finally behaved and your orders went out in today’s afternoon mail.
This is grassroots quilt history at its best (the encouraging notes from everyone are so appreciated!), and we again hope you all will think about submitting articles and photographs and helping spread the word about the fascinating history of quilts. Please contact me off list for writer’s/photographer’s guidelines.
I have yet to mail the flyers lounging on my dining room table to the few addresses I have to spread the word about Pieces of Time beyond this wonderful list. I’m especially interested in notifying museums, collections and historical societies. If you’d like more information or have the mailing address of someone who’d be interested in receiving a flyer, please email me off list and request a flyer, an inaugural issue (we were forced into printing more due to demand, although we want to keep these rare and collectible) or a subscription.
Thanks again to Kris for maintaining this marvelous list.
Andi in Keota, Iowa
andi0613
Date: Wed, 17 May 2006 23:35:25 -0600 | From: gingham
Does anyone have any information on the fabric/textile piece ”The Aviary or Bird Fancyers Recreation”, size 26” x 31”. Inscribed lower right ”J. Laughton Sculpt”
Pook & Pook just sold one for $1,200.00 via live auction. You can see a picture on Ebay. Here is the item # 6627210981
http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd1,1&item6627210981&sspagenameSTRK%3AMEWA%3AIT
They said it was late 18th c. I’m interested in more info. on time printed, the maker, rarity, etc.
Thanks.
Sandra Starley in Utah
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 06:49:29 -0400 | From: Karen Evans
I’d say early 19th century, based solely on the font in the printing. But I’m not an expert on this sort of toile.
Karen Evans
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 07:41:53 -0700 | From: Maureen
I have two books by Dolores A Hinson.
Quilting Manual: New! Designer’s Boutique. Hearthside Press, NY, 1969. Rev and exp edition of the 1966 publication of the same name.
A Quilter’s Companion. Arco Publishing Co, NY, 1973
Can anyone tell me whether Dolores A Hinson is related to Ruby Hinson Duncan who was a designer for Quilt World?
Maureen in Oregon.
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 09:14:38 -0700 (PDT) | From: Ark Quilts
I just couldn’t resist posting a note to this group about an eBay seller called homesteadauctions. The “made up names” they invented for the quilts they have up for sale via a live auction are for many commonly known quilt patterns that even a novice quilt historian could identify. The item description just advertises that the seller doesn’t know anything about quilts AND they are from Akron, Ohio which is home to many well known quilt historians (some on this list even) as well as being just due north of the Amish communities in Holmes County, Ohio……did they even try to properly identify the quilts? No.
See 1110B: Necktie Burst Pattern #6630896902 — a Dresdon Plate variation See 1140B: Checkerboard Pattern Quilt Top #6630899601 — a simple 9-Patch
What do you think? If anyone else would like to echo these comments to the seller, be my guest………….
C. Ark in NW Ohio
From: Candace Perry
Long ago and far away (two husbands ago, ahem) I had a print made from this textile…I’m delighted to see the source of the image. It was a great piece…large, probably the size of the textile. Alas, it is now residing with a friend in Pittsburgh. I think I’d agree, given what I recall of the print, that early 19th seems better for me too. Candace Perry
From: Shelly Zegart
Baskets Quilt Exhibition Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival, January 2007
I have been asked to curate an exhibition of 19th century / early 20th century Baskets quilts for the Festival. I am looking for fifteen interesting examples in excellent condition and seek your help!!
This will be the sixth year for the Festival, held at the Tokyo Dome. The quilts will be seen by approximately 300,000 people over the 9 days of the Festival. It is a wonderful opportunity to introduce great examples of antique American quilts to a broad Japanese audience.
I am asking for your participation if you have one example or several that you are willing to lend. If you know of another person or institution that might have examples, please send me the information for your contacts.
The quilts will initially be sent to my home in Louisville to be photographed and processed. They will be sent together from Louisville to Tokyo. NHK, the sponsor, will pay a $300.00 honorarium to borrow each quilt and will cover all insurance, all shipping, and photography. I will do condition reports at both ends of the trip. I will also be in Tokyo to supervise the installation and the take down . At the Festival the quilts are handled as they would be at a museum.
I will need the quilts in Louisville on December 1, 2006 and they will be returned to you no later than March 31, 2007.
For your quilts to be considered, please let me know pertinent details about the quilt and send a photograph (preferably jpeg) to zegrtquilt or mail to Shelly Zegart, 300 Penruth Avenue, Louisville, KY 40207 (phone number 502-897-7566).
With many thanks in advance for your help,
Shelly Zegart
Shelly Zegart zegrtquilt 502-897-7566 http://www.shellyquilts.com/ http://www.centerforthequilt.org/
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 15:24:59 -0400 | From: Lucinda Cawley
The Schwenkfelder Library is a regular stop on my trips to Upstate NY. The current exhibit “Pennsylvania Germans and the Victorian Taste” is great fun. My favorite pieces were two examples of the Schwenkfelder townscapes, wool embroidery on linen, signed and dated (mid-1850s), all known examples of this needlework are by Schwenkfelder women. There are four quilts in the exhibit: two Crazies and two composed of blocks with embroidered flowers. One of these has all the elements (sashing, swag borders) done in embroidery. The flowers are realistic. Those on the more elaborate quilt appear to have been taken from the quiltmaker’s sketchbook of botanical watercolors. No exhibit of PA German decorative arts is complete without something truly weird. In this case it’s a round table cover (1870-1890). It’s “a tour de force of victorian needlework.” In the center is a plate of fruit (highly dimensional wool) surrounded by four appliqed placesettings: plates with embroidered flowers, knives and forks. It’s just wonderful! There’s lots of hair jewelry (the signage says that hair work was often just another form of fancy work, not always memento mori), a timeline of top hats, 3 brown silk 1890s wedding dresses. There were more varieties of framed wreaths than I’d ever thought of: hair, Berlin work and most startling of all chicken feathers–truly ghastly flowers made of white chicken feathers (yuck). Cinda back on the Eastern Shore
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 16:01:45 -0400 | From: Annette Gero
The Eastern Shore Quilt Study Group met on Tuesday at the library in Denton, MD. The topic for the day was flowers, a perfect choice for spring. We started with a single block from a Windblown Tulips quilt (someone had chopped it up for reasons unknown). A delightful Album block quilt dated 1932 had typical floral fabrics and many embroidered names including “Professor Krum class of 1932.” There were a slew of hexagon quilts ranging from the typical 1930s GFG, to a circa 1910 hodgepodge. The star was a paperpieced circa 1870 brought back from Wales (Jen Jones) with lots of lovely chintz florals. Also from Wales was a pink and white floral stripe wholecloth quilt with all the bells and whistles of Welsh quilting–absolutley incredible. An unusual bouquet of flowers pattern (tulip, rose and rosebud with intertwined stems and a vine border with buds), circa 1860, had exquisite quilting and appliqué. We didn’t know what to call a pod and cotton boll appliqué (maybe that’s what we should call it) from the same era with a wide half square triangle border. We enjoyed the exuberance of a Rose medallion surrounded by smaller rose blocks–everything very large scale in yellow and orange. The owner commented “She probably got better,” but you had to smile at such a happy quilt. 9 Tulip blocks rounded by embroidered circles made a very elegant 1930s quilt. Another quilt had variously colored tulips in bright blue pots surrounded by a rainbow border. A perfect example of Colonial Revival quilting was a President’s Wreath in pink, orange and green with a flower and vine border. Another Presidents Wreath (circa 1880) was red and green on a print background. Interesting small items included several floral cheater cloth pieces, Berlin work flowers on black velvet, the panels for a 1970s “Colonial Quilt” (we agreed, after spirited discussion, that the decade of the 70s was the nadir of taste for our generation), a “Quilt Envelope” with pieces for a Wild Rose block and the price ten cents. A strippy quilt bought in New Hampshire had T-corners. A 19th century beige and blue print was combined with a fairly recent double pink to create a curiously incongruous combination. There was a four block Whig Rose (3rd quarter 19th cen.) variation with appliquéd feathers around each block; from the same era a four block Pomegranate, a Coxcomb and a repeat block of 8 branches of carnations radiating from a center (quite unusual). Flowers seem to call up the Depression Era. We saw a lovely Cabbage Rose appliqué on a Nile green background, a twin T-shape with a central bouquet and bowknots, and a marvelous Morning Glory kit with elaborate embroidery. Cinda on the Eastern Shore
Date: Fri, 19 May 2006 08:34:50 +1000 | From: Annette Gero
What a great list this is.!! You put a message on the list and the next morning (for us here in OZ) , there is the answer. I have been given a great site to go check for the book
Many thanks Kris for such a great list!!
Annette In Australia
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 19:46:43 -0400 | From: Judy Kelius
Thanks to Barb Garrett for drawing my attention to the fact that a large number of the quilts from the Pennsylvania Museum of Quilts and Textiles are going to be sold June 15-17. The auction house, “Morphy Auctions,” is located in an antiques gallery in Adamstown, and they host auctions that run simultaneously at their location and on eBay.
There are some outstanding quilts in this selection – I can vouch for them since I acquired and documented many of them for the museum (which closed about two years ago) when I was working there. Most of these are from the Lancaster County area, but there are a couple of choice non-PA quilts as well, such as an outstanding Baltimore Album applique quilt with numerous birds. The collection includes both rare quilts and especially nice examples of more common Pennsylvania quilts.
http://www.morphyauctions.com/june06/quiltsjune06.html
Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 21:17:01 -0500 | From: Susan Wildemuth
This is not a quilt-related question, but does anyone have any background information about a Boston, Mass. designer name Lillian Frances Brown? I believe she was a designer for Dexter Yarn Company, Pawtucket, R.I. around 1917.
Thanks– Sue in Illinois
Date: Fri, 19 May 2006 15:13:36 +0200 | From: Margareta.Faust
I have this panel, with a lavender print! Bought in England at an antique textile shop (though not at such a price!) a year or two ago. Probably a reprint, but I wonder how old? I will check the edges for any clues. Margareta in Europe
Date: Fri, 19 May 2006 06:49:51 -0700 (PDT) | From: Kris Driessen
This lady wrote me today and I can’t help her. If anyone else on the list can, please contact her directly.
Kris
I am an online student of Design Matters, a provider for Cities & Guilds in London. I am currently working on a report about whole cloth quilts. I am interested in obtaining pictures of whole cloth quilts to be included in my paper. Do you have any whole cloth quilts in your collection? If so, will you please share a quilt picture with me via email? Thank you, Cathy Gregory cathy.gregory1
Date: Fri, 19 May 2006 7:13:19 -0700 | From: Karen Evans
Responded to privately.
Karen Evans
Date: Fri, 19 May 2006 07:21:18 -0700 | From: Julia Zgliniec
Dear QHL, I purchased a reproduction of this textile in black and off white at the AQSG Silent Auction in Vancouver, WA in 2004. A tag attached indicates that it was made for Williamsburg. ” Origin United Kingdom An exclusive Screen Print c. Williamsburg Aviary reproduced from original object: “snuff Handkerchief Accession # 1950-103 Technique: Copperplate Print Origin: England Date: Mid 18th Century
Printed by Greeff Div. of F. Schumacher &Co.
A year or so ago someone sent me documentation that shows the textile plate printed on linen “handkerchief, engraved by I. or J Laughton, 1765 – 1780.
It is a wonderful print !
Julia Zgliniec
Date: Fri, 19 May 2006 10:47:48 -0400 | From: kathie holland
thought I would pass on this information of a new book BBrackman is writing…. I for one can’t wait to read it…and remember if you order it thru the Quilt history list website at Amazon…we continue to help support Kris and this list! Scroll down and you can see the book cover too!
Kathie in NJ
Facts & Fabrications: Unraveling the History of Quilts And Slavery: 9 Projects, 20 Blocks, First-person Accounts (Paperback) by Barbara Brackman
Date: Fri, 19 May 2006 09:30:23 -0700 (PDT) | From: Kris Driessen
Kathie,
I’m sorry, you can’t send attachmements to the list. I do have a picture of the cover at http://www.quiltweb.com/quilthistory.htm
Kris — kathie holland wrote:
> Scroll down and you can see the book cover too! > > > Kathie in NJ
Date: Fri, 19 May 2006 15:14:56 EDT | From: Palampore
I walked by the Whitman candy display today and saw the cutest little box. It is a tiny hinge lid tin box with a “Cloisonne” design on it. Says it is a replica of a 1920’s tin. It is perfect for a traveling sewing tool kit. I know that many of us also like the larger flat type tins for sewing supplies. And it does come with 4 wonderful pieces of chocolate. You will surely give those to your spouse or children… (I do not work for Whitman’s so there is no profit in this for me. Just sharing.) I hope none of you were affected by the floods in NE this week. If you know of any folks who need info. on washing flood damaged textiles please send them to my site for info. on washing textiles —– _www.textilepreservation.com_ (http://www.textilepreservation.com) Back to working on a flag mount. Lynn Lancaster Gorges Historic Textiles Studio New Bern, NC
Date: Fri, 19 May 2006 18:09:18 -0500 | From: Pat Kyser
I am going to promote my friend Annette Gero since she probably will not do so herself. She is going to have two European exhibitions of her antique Australian quilts this year. If you are able to see them, I am sure they will be worthwhile. Now that Annette has retired from her university job, she is devoting full time to her quilts. I am very thrilled over her accomplishments. Pat in Alabama
Annette has been invited to exhibit her collection of antique Australian quilts for 3 months at the Muse De L’impression Sur Etoffes (Mulhouse France), from June to September 2006. It will be 20
called ” L’Historie of Petite Point” (History in small stitches)… and will complement an exhibition of European Art Quilts. The web site of the exhibition is www.musee-impression.com Click on temporary exhibitions and then on L’Historie of petite point. . At the same time there will be a second exhibition of her quilts in France ” The Annette Gero Collection of Antique Australian Quilts. ” at the 20
European Quilt Symposium at Ste Marie aux Mines (Alsace) where she will present the plenary lecture on 14 September. The exhibition web site is Carrefour Européen du Patchwork – http://20
www.patchwork-europe.com
Date: Fri, 19 May 2006 17:33:01 -0700 (PDT) | From: Pat L. Nickols
With fond memories of a friend who shared her experienced eye for wonderful antique quilts and textiles, enjoyed and supported quilt research and had a developed sense of humor, a Memorial Fund has been established in her name.
Following what we believe would be the wishes of Cathy Smith, an AQSG Memorial Fund, designated for Education has been established in her name.
One of her many friends,
Pat L. Nickols
Date: Fri, 19 May 2006 19:03:16 EDT | From: DDBSTUFF
Living in Akron, I have had the opportunity to go to a few of these auctions. The auctioneer is , if not the worst, certainly on of the worst auctioneers I have ever run into.
The more unbelievable thing is that he also has an auctioneering school and he’s the teacher.
It does not surprise me that he simply makes up names.
How about “Sexagon”? How’s that for a quilt pattern name
My advise, stay away!
Regards,
Darwin in very wet Akron, Ohio
Date: Sat, 20 May 2006 18:53:43 -0500 | From: Kathy Moore
Kathie said: “order it thru the Quilt history list website at Amazon…”
I didn’t know there was a QHL website at Amazon. How do you get to it????
Thanks for alerting us.
Kathy Moore Lincoln, NE
Date: Sun, 21 May 2006 10:33:58 +0100 | From: Sally Ward
A new member of the British Quilt History list has come up with a question about a family quilt thought to have been made by Russian emigres. Obvious questions like ‘when did quilting/patchwork start in Russia’ and ‘Would fabrics in Russia be similar to European-type fabrics in that era (turn of the century)?
Help? I can’t find any sources, and certainly don’t know the answers……
Sally Ward
Date: Sat, 20 May 2006 09:33:39 -0700 | From: Keri Tea
Hello from Sweltering Texas!
This post about the exhibit in Mulhouse reminded me that I have been meaning to ask if anyone knows of a French Quilt History list similar to this, or the one that I have heard about them having in the UK? I am hoping that my finances come through this week so that I might go on the French trip to study quilts and I would like to be a little more involved in the quilt history community there if they have one.
BY THE WAY – isn’t the group back that went to Great Britain? Why are y’all so quiet? I have been reading every day hoping for some exposure to what you saw in England. Please?
Thanks,
KT now in Sarita Texas
Date: Mon, 22 May 2006 04:21:59 -0400 | From: kathie holland
Kathy, the way I understand it is if you go to the quilt history home page click on the link for Amazon…. Amazon knows you came to their site thru the QHL home page and gives a percentage back to Kris as a result….. so helps support her maintenance costs for the QHL…. Kris….maybe you can explain it better???? Thanks, Kathie I didn’t know there was a QHL website at Amazon. How do you get to it???? Kathy Moore
Date: Mon, 22 May 2006 10:45:50 +0100 | From: Sally Ward
to ask if anyone knows of a French Quilt History list similar to > this, or the one that I have heard about them having in the UK?
I don’t know of a French-based list, but there are a number of European quilters and historians on the British list. You can find us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BQHL/
> BY THE WAY – isn’t the group back that went to Great Britain? Why are > y’all so quiet?
From what I saw of them and heard of their itinerary, I would guess they are all lying in darkened rooms letting their brains absorb all they saw and did. That was one *serious* road trip
Sally Ward
Date: Sun, 21 May 2006 23:09:10 -0700 (PDT) | From: karenquilt
How many remember the book “The Keeping Quilt” published in 1988 by Simon and Schuster and written by Patricia Polacco, a woman with many Russian ancestors? Here is what it says on the book jacket: <<And so it was. From a basket of old clothes, Anna’s babushka, Uncle Vladimir’s shirt, aunt Havalah’s nightdress and an apron of aunt Natasha’s become The Keeping Quilt, passed along from mother to daughter for almost a century. For four generations the quilt is a Sabbath tablecloth, a wedding canopy, and a blanket that welcomes babies warmly into the world. In strongly moving pictures that are as heartwarming as they are real, Patricia Polacco tells the story of her own family, and the quilt that remains a symbol of their enduring love and faith.>>
1- http://www.amcorners.ru/site.php?ID122〈eng&IDMess3331 Information on a quilting class taught in Russia
2- http://www.esm.rochester.edu/news/?id73 <<The exchange of short tunes was inspired by traditional Russian hand-made patchwork, in which small patches of different fabric create a larger mosaic-like cloth. Ivanova recently received an honorable mention at the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Awards. >>
3- THE PATCHWORK QUILT OF THE 20th CENTURY /Memoirs of Vasily Katanyan/ http://www.vor.ru/culture/cultarch180_eng.html
This particular site doesn’t actually have anything to do with quilting but once you Google Russian patchwork, it is amazing how often the term is used to explain what Russia is all about today.
Karen Alexander in the San Juan Islands
Date: Sun, 21 May 2006 22:18:58 -0700 | From: Karen Alexander
http://www.hello-online.ru/content.php?contid715
Found this on-line today by simply Googling <<russian patchwork>>. You might be able to find out more about the history of Russian patchwork and/or quilting by contacting them.
We had three visitors from Russia come to The Quilters Hall of Fame August of last year. They were visiting Grant County on business and were thrilled to be shown through the Marie Webster House, to learn her story and to see the quilt exhibit.
Karen Alexander
Date: Mon, 22 May 2006 07:43:20 -0700 | From: Julia Zgliniec
Good Morning All, Sally Ward wrote:
> From what I saw of them and heard of their itinerary, I would guess > they are all lying in darkened rooms letting their brains absorb all > they saw and did. That was one *serious* road trip > Sally is right – it has taken a while to recover from the Textile Tour to Great Britain. It was wonderful – but exhausting. Every day brought new delights from the oldest patchwork at Levens Hall to fine contemporary work exhibited at Paisley, Scotland and Bankfield in Halifax. One of the highlights was a day trip to Lotherton Hall , lunch and sharing followed by a tour to Temple Newsam organized by Sally and the members of the British Quilt Heritage List. These ladies outdid themselves and we were most appreciative. Textiles with scones and clotted cream – it doesn’t get any better.
We saw some Durham quilts with wonderful strippy patterns of quilting and learned about the double stitched knife edge bindings preferred by quiltmakers in the North Country. Quilting patterns from Swalesdale were also shown and regional names were given to patterns, such as “Bellows” , which we might describe as a double undulating feather.
Thank you again for making our trip memorable.
Julia Zgliniec, happy tourist.
Date: Mon, 22 May 2006 11:21:41 -0500 | From: Virginia Berger
I had the opportunity to hear Barbara talk briefly about this book at Quilt Market last week. She hopes that it will be out this fall–about Oct. if I remember right.
Also of interest is Terry Thompson and Nancy Hornbeck’s book “Red and Green Quilts and the Women Who made Them” is out now, published by Kansas City Star
Virginia Berger
> Facts & Fabrications: Unraveling the History of >Quilts And Slavery: 9 Projects, 20 Blocks, First-person >Accounts (Paperback) > by Barbara Brackman
Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 08:43:05 EDT | From: QuiltEvals
With regard to the British trip – yes, we are back and the trip was incredible. Our day spent with the ladies from the BQHL was delightful as they filled us with the scones and clotted cream that Julia mentioned AND also shared several quilts from their personal collections with us. That day is a day I will always remember.
A review of the quilts seen on trip would go on and on and on. To me, one spectacular quilt was the 1708 Levens Hall piece It is made entirely from Indian printed cottons which were banned in 1701. The fact that the maker used the banned fabrics on the quilt makes it even more special for us to see today. Its pattern is unusual, pieced with octagons, cruciform’s and long hexagons. Not only is there a quilt – but also the complete bed hangings. I believe the spectacle of the quilt was made even more wonderful by its surroundings at Levens Hall. The bed hangings are in place, just as intended when made, on the bed in a room of a stately manor that was originally built in 1300 with several additions over the next several hundred years. If anyone ever has a chance to go to England it is certainly worth the effort to see this piece.
Other quilts we saw while on our journey were just as spectacular, as were the printed fabrics within the context of their sample books, there were some real eye-openers with regard to these dated samples.
All in all a wonderful journey with an incredible group of women.
With regard to quilt collections, I am very excited about the upcoming trip to France as I have recently found an antique French quilt collection that was not included on the original itinerary and is rarely seen by the public. It will also be quite a treat for the group to see. By the way, this is the last week to sign up for the France trip – they deadline has been extended until May 30. It may be worth mentioning here that future trips to France may not ever be this extensive again due to the rising cost of fuel and the amount of territory we cover on this tour. Ground transportation costs there have skyrocketed. This may be one’s best opportunity to participate on a tour that is this intensive with quilt and fabric study and extensive in terms of places visited as it is based on the cost of fuel last summer. The group is going to be small and personal and will include several opportunities for study that he group in 2005 did not have.
Warm Regards to you all –
Deb Roberts
Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 14:42:19 +0200 | From: Margareta.Faust
Hello all, I’m enjoying this thread, but I’d still like to see an example of old Russian patchwork to be convinced there is such a tradition. Patchwork by somebody in America of Russian origin is just proof that she learned patchwork/quilting in America, even if she used “uncle Vladimir’s shirt” in it. The links hitherto speak of and show contemporary patchwork (unless I’ve missed something). As for the use of the word “patchwork” to describe something heterogenous, I would very much like to see the Russian original word – does it refer to the object “patchwork quilt” as we know it – in Sweden, where we’ve had patchwork quilts for ages, we talk for instance of fields seen from a plane as a “lapptäcke” (literarily “patch blanket”); OR does the Russian word mean merely something like “patchy” and then it has been transalted into “patchwork”?
Sceptical greetings, Margareta in Europe
Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 10:21:11 -0600 | From: Xenia Cord
Among all of the wonderful things we saw and heard on the British Textile Tour, two little bits of ephemera caught my attention:
One was an explanation of the name “Spitalfields.” a section of London that was the center of the silk trade and manufacturing. The name ‘Spitalfields’ was named after a Hospital and Priory known as St. Mary’s Spital, founded in 1197, and “spital” is a corrupted or short form of the word “hospital.” Following the edict of Nantes in 1685 the Huguenots fled France, bringing with them the skills of silk weaving and settling around Fournier Street, in East End London. Over the years the area became known for its street markets, and its changing ethnic populations.
The other oddity was something we learned while touring Quarry Bank Mills, a cotton textile mill built in the 19th century. Having the best of the local geography, land prices, water supply, and country air, what the development lacked was an available workforce. Children were recruited from the streets and poorhouses of Leeds and elsewhere, housed in dormitories on the premises, indentured, and paid for their labor. While the conditions were spartan, they were much better than the circumstances from which most of the children came, and often impoverished parents were eager to indenture their children to the mill owner so they could learn a trade and become wage earners.
The law forbid the hiring of children under the age of 9, and a real problem was determining the ages of some orphans in the poorhouse or on the streets. A test for age, once it was discovered that this could not be done by children under 9 years old, was to have the child raise his/her right arm, fold it over the head, and touch the earlobe of the left ear! Try it on kids you know; today’s children, with their better nutrition, can do this at age 8, but not younger.
Xenia
Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 16:51:24 EDT | From: Mitzioakes
The hiring of children was also a fact in New England – many of mills used children for their looms etc. – had dorms for them, etal. Some were younger than 9 from pictures that are on display in a mill in Winooski, Vermont. There are some alive today that are happy to tell you the stories of the Mills – wonderful history. Mitzi from Vermont where I am beginning to build a Ark……..
Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 17:05:53 -0700 (PDT) | From: Pat Cummings
— Mitzioakes wrote:
> The hiring of children was also a fact in New > England –
Yes, that is a fact! We have a photo of the old woolen mill that used to set on the piece of property right next door. The little kids can be seen in this picture and some of them look mighty young.
Lewis Hines is the photographer who took many pictures of children at work and his collection of photos were instrumental in the enactment of the child labor laws.
A few years ago, there was a nice exhibit of his work at the Millyard Museum in Manchester, NH, if I remember correctly. The photos were amazing.
The Slater Mill in Rhode Island was one of the worst mills for anyone to work, especially children, as the lint-filled air had no way to escape. The windows were nailed shut. The idea was to keep the humidity inside the building as dry cotton yarns were more apt to snap.
Pat Cummings www.
Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 17:06:35 -0700 (PDT) | From: Pat Cummings
— Mitzioakes wrote:
> The hiring of children was also a fact in New > England – many of mills used > children for their looms etc. –
Forgot to add this link:
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/index.html
Pat
Date: Wed, 24 May 2006 08:22:33 -0400 | From: joan kiplinger
This may be of interest to former members of The Feedsack Club and to new collectors — the newsletter is being revived under the editorship of Rhonda Cavaliere. Club originator Jane Clark Stapel will continue to be a collaborator. For membership information, send a long self-stamped, self-addressed envelope to Rhonda Cavaliere Feedsack Newsletter 320 Scott Ave Glenshaw PA 15116
Date: Wed, 24 May 2006 10:17:45 -0500 | From: Kathy Moore
Thank you, Xenia, for the post on where the term Spitalfields comes from. I’ve wondered about this odd name for some time. Now we know the rest of the story.
It sounds like your trip was just as wonderful as last Fall’s trip to France. I envy you all the opportunity to go again and I encourage anyone who’s considering the upcoming trip. It was truly a wonderful experience. You may not get another chance this good. Sign up NOW!
Best wishes and happy travels, Kathy Moore Lincoln, NE
Date: Wed, 24 May 2006 13:35:45 -0400 | From: Laurie Magee
An additional resource about Lewis Hine and child labor. Russell Freedman is the author of a title called “Kids at Work…” the book specifically deals with and includes Lewis Hine’s photography of children in a variety of not so kid friendly workplaces. This is a quality volume. Lewis Hine lived in Oshkosh and Russell Freedman has been a author presenter at our library for that reason. Laurie in Oshkosh Wisconsin(it almost feels like spring)
Date: Wed, 24 May 2006 23:40:42 -0400 | From: J. G. Row
I don’t remember which of our Karens is the medievalist. Forgive me.
On the odd chance that perhaps the word “quilt” is somehow included, may I suggest a book on British History.
I read a review in the Sunday Book Review of the New York Times that caught my attention and might be of interest to medievalists and our British colleagues.
The book is “Blood and Roses” by Helen Castor.
The author tells the story of a family who lived “ordinary lives touched by the sensational events of one of their country’s most turbulent centuries.”
Based on over a thousand surviving letters from the Paston family, starting in the 15th century in England, Castor describes a “post plague world” and the trivialities of daily life while also recounting the “high stakes battles fought between the Lancastrian and Yorkist lines of succession to the British throne.”
Megan Marshall, the reviewer, concludes, “Castor has made the whole century live again in complex, sometimes comic, often touching style.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/07/books/review/07marshall.html
Judy, now in Flemington NJ aka The Ringoes Kid judygrow
