October 27 – 30, 1998
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:
- Corduroy and Bedford Cord History — Members trace the origins of corduroy and Bedford Cord fabrics, including manufacturing in Bedford, England and Lowell, Massachusetts.
- Body Parts as Measurement Units — A lively thread on historical fabric measurements derived from the body — arm span, thumb width, ‘the whole nine yards’ — and how these folk units spread through trade and culture.
- Hearts and Hands Republication — Julie Silber notes the republication of the influential book on women, quilts, and American society by Rutledge Hill Press.
- Silk Industry in 19th-Century America — Discussion of domestic silk production, including the history of silk weaving and the contributions of firms like the Belding Brothers.
- Houston Quilt Festival and Retreat Reports — Members share impressions from the 1998 International Quilt Festival in Houston and a quilting retreat at Eagles Mere Lodge in Pennsylvania.
- Double Pink and Merrimack Pink Fabrics — A member’s great-grandmother’s quilt top made from double-knit polyester sparks conversation about ‘double pink’ fabric and the Merrimack mill connection.
- Spiders in Quilt Folklore — Cross-posted discussion of spiders as good-luck symbols in quilting tradition and folklore across cultures. (see the article on quilt folklore)
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 04:35:51 +0000 | From: Steve and Jean Loken <sandjloken [at] worldnet [dot] att [dot] net>
I also learned this from my mother in NYC, but just tested it on a tape, and I’m so short, even turning my head as far as I could, I only got to 35″ (I’m 5’1″).
Guess I won’t be using it any more. Did you know that drawing by Leonardo (or is it Michelangelo) of a man in a circle with arms outstretched, was made to demonstrate that a person’s arm-span is equal to his/her height. We used to test it in life drawing class and it was always true. Jean in Minn., where I discovered after going to Prairie Home Companion yesterday, and years of listening, that G. Kiellor always accurately reports Minn weather of the past week.
PS Loved that definintion of anthropology last week
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 06:32:46 -0600 | From: “Gail Richter” <richter2 [at] frontiernet [dot] net>
Hi the thread on corduroy has been quite interesting. I’ve noticed that the size of the wales have varied over the years according to fashion. I wonder how wide the wales were in the 18 & 19th century and what kind of machinery they had to cut the wales after it was woven?
Gail R
Wis.
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 09:35:07 -0000 | From: “Audrey Cameron” <audrey.cameron [at] virgin [dot] net>
Here in England we have gone metric so we all need an arm 10% longer to measure our fabric. I, too, learned to measure a yard from nose to tip of finger but since I am American it doesn,t make it an English thing. Now the metre is measured by the beam of a caesarium atom (so my DH says) rather than the length of Henry VIII’s arm ( the original measure of the yard). Have fun for me all of you leaving for Houston. I did get to Paducah this year so I can’t be too envious!
Audrey Cameron in wet & windy England audrey.cameron [at] virgin [dot] net
Here in England we have gone metric so = we all need an arm 10% longer to measure our fabric. I, too, learned to = measure a yard from nose to tip of finger but since I am American it = doesn,t make it an English thing. Now the metre is measured by the beam = of a caesarium atom (so my DH says) rather than the length of Henry = VIII’s arm ( the original measure of the yard).
Have fun for me = all of you leaving for Houston. I did get to Paducah this year so I = can’t be too envious!
Audrey Cameron in wet & windy = England
audrey.cameron [at] virgin [dot] net
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 11:02:27, -0500 | From: WTCZ87A [at] prodigy [dot] com (MS SANDRA G MUNSEY)
You said: ” ‘Bedford Cord,’ of similar appearance to corduroy was first made in Bedford, England but is also claimed by New Bedford, Massachusetts where it was made as early as 1845 (Is there a reason why Mass. appears twice in these references – was it a weaving centre?
“
Yes, indeed, Massachusetts (and the other five New England states) was home to carding, fulling, spinning and weaving mills from very early times. Major 19th and 20th C textile cities in MA include Lowell, Lawrence, New Bedford, and Fall River. However, many more communities supported mills, large and small which produced wools and cottons. The same industrial history is shared in New Hampshire (Manchester and Nashua), Vermont, Maine (Lewiston), Rhode Island (Pawtucket], and Connecticut. These communities grew because of their location on great rivers such as the Merrimack, the Kennebec and Androscoggin, and the Connecticut. Smaller rivers like the Blackstone, which rises in MA and flows through RI, supported many 18th C mills. The Blackstone is purported to be the most highly industrialized river of the 18th C, and was the Merrimack, which rises in NH and enters the sea in MA, in the 19th. For those who are interested in pursuing American textile history from: hand manufacture to mid-20th C, one of the best sources is the American Textile History Museum, 491 Dutton St., Lowell, Massachusetts (MA). Their web site is www.athm.org.
Hope this helps to clarify. Sandra Munsey
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 10:35:46 -0500 | From: “Dee Stark” <dee [at] nf2g [dot] com>
Greetings all! I guess it is time to de-lurk and introduce myself.
(I’ve only been here about a week 🙂
I became interested in restoration work several years ago when I was given some family quilts that needed some help, and quickly realized that this was going to be a life-long pursuit!
I teach various needlearts, and this last year crazy quilting has seemed to be in demand. I was able to attend the Crazy Quilt Symposium this last summer, and in 1999 have planned to attend that and the restoration seminar.
I was wondering if anyone had favorite stitching/quilt related books that they enjoy? I often listen to books on tape as I stitch, to try to: get my daily fix 🙂 I enjoyed the Persian Pickle Club, a mystery that I can’t remember the name of (boy, that helps!) and the book “How to: Make an American Quilt”.
I look forward to getting to know all of you better, and hopefully meeting some more of you in person in 1999!
dee dee [at] nf2g [dot] com
Victorian Handcrafts
http://www.nf2g.com/vh
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 11:40:27 EST | From: Kittencat3 [at] aol [dot] com
In a message dated 10/26/98 9:56:07 PM Eastern Standard Time, QHL-Digest- request [at] cue [dot] com writes:
<<
(Is there a reason why Mass. appears twice in these references – was it a weaving centre?)= >>
Good heavens, yes!
Remember what they taught us in high school history about the Industrial Revolution in America? Massachusetts (and most of New England) was America’s first big industrial area thanks to the weaving and spinning mills. Virtually any town with a waterfall had the means to set up a textile mill. Lowell, home of the New England Quilt Museum, was the weaving town par excellence, and was the home of a paper put out by the mill girls, =The Lowell Offering.=
Even my own town, Easthampton, was home to a dyeworks, and most of the other valley and hill towns in the Connecticut watershed had textile mills.
Lisa Evans
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 13:23:54 -0800 | From: Frank & Inge Stocklin <stocklin [at] erols [dot] com>
An excellent book on the subject is “hearts and Hands” the Influence of Women & Quilts on American Society, by Pat Ferrero, Elaine Hedges and Julie Silber, recently republished by The Quilt Digest Press, San Francisco. Kris should be able to order for QHL members. Inge —
Visit our web site http://www.erols.com/stocklin
The Quilt Studio offers a full line of quilting services including appraisals, restoration, commissions, lectures and classes.
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 15:17:36 -0800 | From: “August, Rachel” <papillon [at] alaskalife [dot] net>
The Crazy Quilt List is having a discussion re needles and needlecases. I sent the following message to them and want to share it with you folks as well…
**********************************************
With all this talk of needles, I think it’s appropriate to share a story with you. The following is quoted from Quilt in a Day’s “Pioneer Sampler” by Eleanor Burns. Eleanor provides the following reference…Pioneer folklore from: Women’s Voices from the Oregon Train, pp. 134-135; Susan G. Butruille, Tamarack Books, Inc., Boise, ID, 1993.
The Missing Needle
The year was 1853 and Grandmother Drain owned the only darning needle in Pass Creek Canyon, Oregon. It was the most cared-for-possession in the small community of fifteen families! When clothing needed to be patched and mended, everyone knew Grandmother Drain would lend it out. Sharing the needle went well–until the day eight year old Jimmy Chitwood was to take it back to its owner. Mrs. Chitwood put a long red raveling through the eye of the needle, knotted the raveling, put the needle into a potato, and sent Jimmy off to Grandmother Drain’s cabin. The small animals on the trail did not distract Jimmy from his important mission–until a mother bear with her two cubs came into sight! He quickly hid behind a stump under a bush until the bears left, and then he went on. Oh, yes, as you guessed! The worst happened to poor Jimmy! Imagine his horror to discover the only needle in town was lost while under his care. All of the neighbors joined in the search–a search which seemed futile. Suddenly Jimmy disappeared into the bushes. When he reappeared, he had the needle–still stuck in the potato. Jimmy had finally recalled the stump where he had hidden when frightened by the bears. The whole town shared the joy of finding the needle.
One day in the fall of 1855, the head of the needle broke off as Grandmother Drain was sewing. All of the ladies in Pass Creek Canyon hoped that a needle would soon be provided.
It was around Thanksgiving when a peddler rode into Pass Creek on a mule. One of the ladies bought a comb, two bought dress goods, another one bought a doll head. Then, they remembered the need for a needle, and shared their story. Being a generous man, the peddler gave a “Christmas present” to each of the families of Pass Creek Canyon.
The peddler was Aaron Meier. After several years of peddling his wares across Oregon, he opened his own store in Portland in 1857. With the help of his family, he developed the Meier and Frank company into one of America’s great family-owned department stores.
“The Oregonian” ran a full-page ad on January 1, 1967. The headline read “Have you ever heard the story of ‘The Potato and and Darning Needle’?” At the end was an invitation: “We still want every woman to have a darning needle of her own. Come into our Fabric Center at any one of our three stores Tuesday and get yours, free.”
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 19:34:05 -0800 | From: Julie Silber <quiltcomplex [at] earthlink [dot] net>
Hi All,
Just a small correction — “Hearts and Hands” has been republished by Rutledge Hill Press. (Original publication by Quilt Digest Press.)
Julie Silber
> An excellent book on the subject is “hearts and Hands” the Influence of Women & Quilts on American Society, by Pat Ferrero, Elaine Hedges and Julie Silber, recently republished by The Quilt Digest Press, San Francisco. Kris should be able to order for QHL members. Inge —
Date: Wed, 28 Oct 1998 00:21:41 EST | From: Quilter274 [at] aol [dot] com
Don’t forget the American Textile Museum in Lowell as well…Wonderful history of fabric in New England.
I went to a lecture on Antique Quilts there last week and it was wonderful.
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 22:35:31 -0800 | From: “Mary Cross” <mbcquilt [at] web-ster [dot] com>
For some reason, my system didn’t get the Charleston update that was filed in Issue #312. Could I have it again? Maybe others didn’t get it either. In reference to the Darning Needle story from the Oregon Trail, the complete story and the quilt made by Grandma Drain are in Treasures in the TrunkQuilts of the Oregon Trail. It is part of Oregon folk lore and a wonderful story of people coming together in community when resources were limited and valued.
Date: Wed, 28 Oct 1998 05:36:33 EST | From: Quiltgeek [at] aol [dot] com
Jean posted about having found Voices of the Past at Quilting Books Unlimited in Batavia IL (suburban Chicago), and I just want to say they’re a great resource for all quilters, but especially for us quilt historian-types. Though technically they don’t do out of print books or searches, they very often have hard-to-find books and international magazines, as well as just about every quilting book in print. Owner Rob Roberts has been in the quilt book business since the very beginning, and he has an encyclopedic knowledge of the market. Their shipping charges are very reasonable and their service is prompt and reliable. Look for their booth at all the major shows, or give ’em a call at 1-800-347-3261. Their new website is at www.qbu.com.
Jane
Date: Wed, 28 Oct 1998 08:36:57 -0500 | From: Alan Kelchner <quiltfix [at] mail [dot] jax [dot] bellsouth [dot] net>
Have a question. Just bought a silk coverlet yesterday – c. 1880, hexagonal one-patch pattern, done into single-row flowers. Gorgeous colors in the flowers, centers are all a single tumbling block, and the pathways are black. Several flowers have disintegrated, but for $26.00, who’s to argue? All the center blocks are there. Think I’ve seen it before at another antique mall, in better shape for $200 (this was maybe two years ago).
When I was purchasing it, what I thought were paper pieces inside turned out to be something wax-like in the fabric. On each corner – evidently something was spilled on the quilt while it was folded and it soaked through. Each corner has a progrssively smaller spot. Like I said, this looks like wax – the surface looks like a batik piece prior to ironing out the wax resist, with the whitish crazing. If I were certain this were wax, I’d just iron it with paper towels until I’d removed as much of the wax as possible. But since I’m not certain of the origin of the stain, I’m afraid that trying to melt the “wax” might actually set a stain caused by something else. One other option that has occurred is that it may have been parrafin oil used in oil lamps. Would account for the waxy texture, but account for the liquid-appearing stain. Any other ideas as to what the stain might be? I really don’t want to wash this piece. Too fragile, but then again, if I could get access to a full-sized soaking basin, I’d be willing to try.
Thanks.
Alan
Date: Wed, 28 Oct 1998 08:37:17 EST | From: CToczek [at] aol [dot] com
Can’t resist the temptation to add a note about body dimensions…..”arm span being the same as body height.” I learned a while back that your foot is the same length as your elbow to wrist length and if you line your thumb straight beside your first finger the resulting difference is the length of your nose! Don’t know about everyone else, but it does work for me…..not that I can use the info for much <vbg>
Now back to sewing pumpkin bean bags for the first graders……
Carla
West Point, NY
Date: Wed, 28 Oct 1998 07:08:59 -0800 | From: Debra Roby <debroby [at] earthlink [dot] net>
Have really enjoyed the discussion of using body parts for common measures. Seems that I had learned it wrong. I had learned to measure a yard only to the side of neck; now I learn I should go to the depression in the center of the throat. (it just seems more dignified than pulling fabric to my nose… and maybe more sanitary given my bouts of allergies).
I learned in jr. high school that my middle finger is a perfect 3″ ruler; and the middle digit a good 1″. I admit I must be careful HOW I use this digit to measure, but I’ve found it invaluable over the years. The one transferable measure I learned Jr. High school art class that I have never forgotten your foot is the same length as the space from the inside bend of your elbow to your wrist. (laughing imagining all these people saying “no way!” and placing their feet on their arms to check!) Not sure how this is useful, but it’s one of those fun useless facts to remember.
debra roby hercules, ca.
Date: Wed, 28 Oct 1998 18:36:49 -0000 | From: “Audrey Cameron” <audrey.cameron [at] virgin [dot] net>
Hi,
Comments about spiders as good luck, etc. have appeared on both lines so I am sending this to both.
In a past issue of Country Living there was a small article on the “good luck of finding a spider’s web over a baby’s crib”
This tale started with the Chippewa Indians who believed that a web over the crib would protect the baby while it slept. They believed that the web would enshare any “harm” nearby by catching evil spirits. These Indians lived in the Great Lakes area & mosquitoes were an important health hazard. The web would indeed snare theses harmful insects to keep them away from the baby. Interesting.
Audrey Cameron in windy England where most of the leaves have been torn from: the trees.
audrey.cameron [at] virgin [dot] net
Date: Wed, 28 Oct 1998 12:57:52 -0600 | From: Russell-Hill <russhill [at] ctesc [dot] net>
So from what Audrey was saying about the Indains and catching evil spirits with spider webs, I gather then that is why they started making dream catchers which do the same thing as the real web. Interst information. I most tell you I have found all your post to be really informative and I thank all of you who sent information on cordoroy. I think this is going to be a great learning source for me.
Debbie russhill [at] ctesc [dot] net
Date: Wed, 28 Oct 1998 17:35:48 EST | From: EGinebaugh [at] aol [dot] com
Hi all,
When I was learning how to draw faces in Jr. high, my very smart Dad gave me an *old* book on drawing proportions of the face & body. I only remember the face proportions, since that was all I used at the time. So for more trivia… The distance from the chin to the mouth is equal to the distance from the mouth to the bridge of the nose, which is equal to the distance from the bridge of the nose to the hairline, which is equal to the distance from the hairline to the top of the head.
The size of one eye is equal to the space between the eyes. The length of an ear is equal to the length of the nose. The width of the relaxed mouth is the distance from the mouth to the chin. The width of the mouth is equal to the distance between the pupils of the eyes.
I can just see you all now, looking in the mirror, measuring with your fingers…. ;D
Have a great day!
Liz in Michigan
Date: Thu, 29 Oct 1998 10:31:59 -0700 | From: Sven Olsson <sven [at] pnc [dot] com [dot] au>
Twice around your thumb should measure once around your wrist. Twice around your wrist should measure once around your neck. And lastly twice around your neck should measure once around your waist. Now please note that I said “should” measure and “your”, because it is a long time since it worked on me, but it was correct when I was in my 20s.
(Big Smiles)
Lorraine in Oz
Date: Wed, 28 Oct 1998 15:54:17 -0800 | From: “fall” <fall [at] teleport [dot] com>
What a fun and fascinating topic! I have saved every posting. Thank goodness, however, that no one on the list has referred to the “other” measurement we teased about in high school – the one about the finger to the base of the thumb. YIKES!
What fun this has been, though!
——–
Date: Thu, 29 Oct 1998 01:56:04 EST | From: EllynLK [at] aol [dot] com
I went to the Santa Monica Antique Market this past Sunday… haven’t been for more than a year, what with my time being non-existent over the past months!
I saw some junky quilts that were priced as though they were fabric Rembrandts; saw a nice ’30’s feedsack quilt for $25.00 in decent shape but it was so doggone filthy that I shuddered to think of even touching the thing. I tried to get it for $20.00 but the guy wouldn’t play– and I didn’t want it that much.
Saw a stall with lots of fabric– that 1940’s flowery drapery stuff my mom couldn’t wait to get rid of in the mid-sixties– and went to poke through. “There’s a quilt top under there,” said the dealer. What, did I have “Looking For Quilt Tops” stamped on my forehead?
I dug– and extracted a turn-of-the (other) century Trip Around The World to: p… spread it out, no fade, no tears, no brittle fabrics, indigos, cadet blues, shirtings, Turkey red– after seeing silly prices all day, I feared asking the price. “$15,” said the dealer, an instant markdown from $20 (found the tag when I got home). And I snapped it up.
It’s got the most god-awful center– a yellow-ochre color, next course Turkey Red and the next course solid black sateen. Then comes baby pink, indigo, a patterned flannel and brown sateen. The center is so strong that the rest of the quilt vanishes….
Anyway, there is this fabulous like-new flannel in the top– sort of a maple leaf pattern outlined in navy and gray with details in aqua, yellow and gray. It’s a stunning fabric. One of them is stained pinkish– and on the back, I found a stamp. It reads “Merrimack Duckling Fleece.” I’m assuming the flannel was called fleece– but knew that if “Merrimack Duckling Fleece” means anything to anyone, that person would be on this list! Any takers? Another cool find on the top– there is a white ground with thin black-line boxes. There are five pieces that have some weirdo diagonal bias tape on the edges. I pulled one of these out of the top to try and see what was going on there. The maker had the box fabric sewn into a tube– doubled, as it were– and edged those with this weird oilcloth-like bias tape and put them in the quilt. I opened up the tube– and had a 7-inch length of a block (the rectangles are roughly 4 1/2 x 3 1/2; as usual in old utility scrap quilts, it seems no one measured and the blocks vary all over the map). There are 7 of these in the top, enough extra fabric for anything in that course that needs to: be replaced! It’s kind of like treasure!
And with this purchase and my schedule, well, I think I’ll catch up to everything in about– 2010!
If anyone knows anything about Merrimack Duckling Fleece, please let me know.
Best,
Lauri Klobas
Date: Thu, 29 Oct 1998 10:03:43 -0500 | From: “John and Cinda Cawley” <cawley [at] epix [dot] net>
What a wonderful weekend we spent at the Lodge in Eagles Mere for Jane’s retreat! I had talked three friends into going along and they really owe me big time for this one because they had a great time. The weather was perfect. One of the highlights for me was the night sky–so many stars we never see in the city. The accommodations were pleasant and the food (catered by the owners) was delicious.
Barb Garrett gave a great class on making a doll quilt of small stars. She’s a REALLY good teacher, well-organized and thorough. I was not surprised to learn that she’s a math teacher by training. Her supply list was excellent. I am really annoyed by teachers who tell you to: bring about 45 things you never use. Barb’s list was right on target. She offered some great tips on working with small pieces, including a foolproof method for flying geese (I really needed that one).
We got all sorts of wonderful goodies just for coming. There was plenty of free time for talk with a very interesting group of people most of whom were interested in antique quilts and history. The Feedsack Club members were busy trading and talking their specialty. Joan Brown who organized the weekend makes costumes for re-enactors and re-enacts the period 1800-184- herself. She is an absolute treasure trove of information. As everybody on this list knows Barb Garrett is a wonderful resource–so knowledgeable. Marianne Williams (she’s a lurker on the list) is a fellow member of the Pennsylvania Quilters who does restoration and sells antique quilts and knows a lot about both subject: s. We had lots of fascinating conversations. The next time Jane announces a retreat you should jump at the chance to: participate.
Cinda in Scranton
Date: Thu, 29 Oct 1998 10:52:18 -0600 | From: teresa [at] execpc [dot] com
As one of the people who was at the Blue Ridge Mountain retreat, let me tell you, Jane underplayed how great it was! I had a supper time, the people who attended were like old friends from the very beginning, I learned lots of things, made new friends and can’t wait to go back next year! And if your guild ever needs a speaker, have them get Jane! She is a wonderful source of information! And, no one paid me to say this!
Teresa in WI
Teresa [at] execpc [dot] com
>I want to thank all who attended the BLUE RIDGE MTS retreat and most
recently
>THE PENNSYLVANIA MT retreat,,and made each a complete success..everyone had
a
>super time, we ran over our limit by a few but it’s tough to say no when
they
>’beg’..alot of sewing, a wonderful class, GREAT food, and LOTS of laughter, new friends that will last a lifetime..and marvelous fall leaves/colors And the best part of all..they ALL want it again next year…
>Jane Clark Stapel
>Joan Brown
Date: Thu, 29 Oct 1998 20:50:13 -0500 | From: “Judy Grow” <Judygrow [at] blast [dot] net>
I guess we have finally moved into old age. For the first time in 33 years Allan and I will be neither children or parents this Thanksgiving. So —- to: day we made reservations for 2 at the finest restaurant in NJ, the Ryland Inn. I am sure what we will spend could feed 3 large families, but we deserve this treat!
Not having our boys around does make me a bit melancholy (not sad) but that is offset by the joy of being able to spend a romantic evening with my husband, and not having anything to do all day beforehand but make sure I look my best.
Judy in Ringoes, NJ judygrow [at] blast [dot] net
Date: Thu, 29 Oct 1998 19:49:52 -0700 | From: “Jeanne.Fetzer” <Jeanne.Fetzer [at] integrityonline3 [dot] com>
Well, your plan sounds great to me! You left a small thing out that you need to think about, however, and that is which quilting project you will work on while your husband watches football and the rest of us are doing all those dishes.
Signed, a lurker for several weeks. . .
Jeanne Fetzer in Salt Lake City, Utah
PS — this list is really great! I am learning a lot!
Date: Thu, 29 Oct 1998 19:29:33 -0800 (PST) | From: Kris Driessen <krisdriessen [at] yahoo [dot] com>
Hello from the throes of the Houston Quilt Festival! The quilts there are absolutely phenomenal. The Festival has invited the winning quilters, and there are certain hours in which they will be seated next to their quilts and answering questions. If you go when they aren’t there, there is an audio tape tour you can rent. But the quilts in the vendor booths are almost as spectacular, IMHO! There must be 25 antique quilt dealers there, each with quilts more spectacular than the next. (Their prices are spectacular, too. There are *no* bargains here.)
There are quite a few technique booths (Thangles, embroiderer’s, etc.), and many specialty fabrics (African fabrics, hand dyes), and lots and lots of booths for crazy quilt lovers, beaders, etc. I am in booth 1825, which is a co-operative booth. We have several dealers with different specialties, ranging from applique patterns to pins to feedsacks and antique quilts. (I am rather pleased to state that our very first sale was two bottle kits-)) There is a little of everything for everyone in our booth. Which means I am talking to all sorts of people with all sorts of interests. It’s just fabulous. I have never seen so many famous (quilt) people in one spot in all my life. Billie Lauder, Sharon Newman, Sue Druding, Mary Mashuta, Eleanor Burns, Sara Dillow, Mary Mashuta, Alex Anderson – I am so overwhelmed, I just can’t think of them all. Several QB’ers and QHL’ers have come up to: me and introduced themselves, and I am just delighted to meet y’all. Am I picking up the lingo or what?)
It’s hot outside but it is wonderful inside. If you come to the show, please stop and say “hi”. (I am the one who looks like Kim Basinger;-)) I really am enjoying meeting all the people behind the E-mail addresses.
Kris
_
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 00:55:40 -0500 | From: “Judy Grow” <Judygrow [at] blast [dot] net>
The phrase “rule of thumb” is derived from and old English law which stated that you couldn’t beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.
Judy in Ringoes, NJ judygrow [at] blast [dot] net
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 00:56:56 -0500 | From: “Judy Grow” <Judygrow [at] blast [dot] net>
The term “the whole 9 yards” came from WWII fighter pilots in the South Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground, the .50 caliber machine gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet, before being loaded into the fuselage. If the pilots fired all their ammo at a target, it got “the whole 9 yards.”
Judy in Ringoes, NJ judygrow [at] blast [dot] net
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 07:20:55 +0000 | From: Shirley McElderry <tigersoup [at] lisco [dot] net>
Co. was established in 1822 in Lowell, Mass. The company made corduroys, velvets and print cloths. An advertisement in a 1909 “Ladies World” magazine gave this description “Merrimack Duckling Fleece; not over 15� a yard, an ideal flannel for mother and child, suitable for kimonos, bath robes, widest variety of patterns and shades. Merrimack Duckling Fleece is on the back of the selvage.” The logo was a circle with a duck.
Shirley Mc in Iowa where the leaves are falling big time! Back to my rake.
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 07:57:41 -0500 | From: “Debora C. Wykes” <wykesfcn [at] tdi [dot] net>
My DH is a museum curator in SE Michigan as part of the Huron-Clinton Metroparks system. The region of his museum, Marshlands Museum right on Lake Erie, is rich in history of the war of 1812. (extreme southern Wayne County was the site of several major battles). So he does historical programs as well as natural history and science programs- a major 1812 reenactment is part of the museum offerings.
When the wind blows hard to the east, Lake Erie rolls out something like a tide. Then a real corduroy road is exposed. This road was constructed just before 1812 and appears alongside the modern road in the marshes logs place side by side existing in the shoreline communities, not on park property.
This is a fascinating subject for DH Gerry who has taken many photos and sketched the road for a large part of a historical program he offers which he talks about the corduroy road being first and the fabric named after these corduroy roads–so with some kind of shock he read the postings that “cord” means “thread” and the fabric was named first! So this list has impacted his programming, although he is still in the midst of researching this.
He has found many references to both the cloth and the roads in the 1830’s but the 1812 era is a mystery still. However, the research one did on the 1700’s origin of the word convinced him to change his program. If there is any more info out there, let us know.
This list is great–I loved the recent posting on what Lori found at the antique sales! Sounds like me.
Debbie in Monroe, Michigan
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 08:07:48 EST | From: JQuilt [at] aol [dot] com
when I lived in Vermont and heated with a wood stove…I always wondered at the term “a cord of wood” now I understand.
thanks quilters jean jquilt [at] aol [dot] com
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 07:50:23 -0800 | From: “Robins-Morris, Laura A” <lrobins [at] fhcrc [dot] org>
As others on the list share the story of their “finds”, I’d like to tell about the prized quilt in my collection. First I should mention that I am not a patient or persistent yard-saler, nor am I ever willing to: pay antique dealer prices, so my “collection” is quite limited. But at Goodwill for $10, marked down from 19.99, I found a real keeper. It is a king-size lone star quilt with precise piecing, perfectly straight and even hand-quilting, and lays perfectly flat. It is however made of lime green, lemon yellow, and sherbet orange polyester double knit. Yes *double* knit! I wish you all could see it — it is definitely one-of-a-kind. Some have sneered at my treasure, but this was made with care and attention to detail by an expert needleperson and is an exquisite example of superior workmanship utilizing materials of the period. In a hundred years, it will be a valuable museum piece, because of it’s uniqueness and because it is darn near indestructible. I too can laugh at this quilt, but it really is amazing due to the quality of the workmanship. It wasn’t easy working with those knits and quilting through those thick layers. And though the colors seem garish to: our 90’s tastes (ugly, some have said), it is bright and cheery and well balanced. It’s really fun and it certainly lights up a room. I’m sure that many of today’s antique quilt treasures looked dated and ugly when they were only 20 years old and today we think they’re fabulous. My quilt’s day will come, and it too will be valued and sought after!
Regards,
Laura in Seattle
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 11:28:11 -0800 | From: Frank & Inge Stocklin <stocklin [at] erols [dot] com>
National Geographic January 1984, Vol. 165, No. 1 has a great article on silk, “Silk, the Queen of Textiles”. I’ve used it extensively in a lecture on Silk Embroidery. Inge
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Visit our web site http://www.erols.com/stocklin The Quilt Studio offers a full line of quilting services including appraisals, restoration, commissions, lectures and classes.
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 11:39:17 -0600 | From: Russell-Hill <russhill [at] ctesc [dot] net>
Good Morning everyone,
I was interested in the message from Laura in regards to her Double Knit quilt. Every year our county fair association sends out its booklet on the various catagories for entrence of judged items. Well the first year I was here I recieved the booklet because I wanted to put a quilt in for judging. Under the listing of quilt catagories was a place for double knit quilts. Now I should also say that this was 1992. Every year I get a booklet and it has not changed, I have yet to see one entered. So like Lauras quilt find this catagory will not wear out either.
Debbie russhill [at] ctesc [dot] net
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 18:32:52 -0000 | From: “Sally Ward” <sward [at] t-ward [dot] demon [dot] co [dot] uk>
Ah – firewood – I noticed that one when I was looking up ‘corde’ in my 1922 French edition Larousse. A ‘corde de bois’ was ‘an old measure of firewood (bois de chauffage) equalling 2 ‘voies’ (can’t find a translation for that one) or 4 Steres (cubic metres). I’m ignorant of American history again – was Vermont a French settled area?
=20
Sally in UK (off the track – or corduroy road – again)
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 15:44:35 -0500 | From: Nancy Roberts <robertsn [at] norwich [dot] net>
Lauri Klobas’s find reminded me that I wanted to ask a question about piecing patterns such as Trip Around the World and Boston Commons. I’m familiar with to: day’s method stitch a panel, seam it into a tube, cut rings from the tube, remove stitches to create bands of fabrics that are then joined to form quarter-sections of the quilt top with all the colors in the right places. Another pattern I saw in an antique quilt was Many Trips Around the World where it looked like “blocks” but it was really just hundreds of squares placed to develop that illusion.
My question is how did quiltmakers of the 19th century do this? I saw one Trip quilt that was pieced from tiny squares, every one fussy cut with a little print in the center. It was exqusite, but how did she keep track of placement to develop the pattern? Did she start in the middle of the center row and then piece all the other rows to offset the prints? Or what? My mind often puzzles about these things, but I don’t have answers. Do you have an answer or theory? Thanks. Nancy
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 20:18:52 EST | From: Lekhbah [at] aol [dot] com
My dad proudly brought a treasure…a quilt top from my great grandmother!!! made entirely out of double-knit squares!!! My “retro” teenagers fell in love with it…so for Christmas one of them will get this hierloom. How will I back it??? with some hot pink and blue paisley flannel. Nothing else will do it justice!!!!
Kim
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 21:09:42 -0600 | From: Mary Waller <mswaller [at] iw [dot] net>
Somewhere I’ve heard another name for “double pink” is Merrimack pink, for the mill where it was made.
I attended a talk on antique buttons last night, and there was a section of “Calicos” from the 1840’s. The speaker said the buttons were made to coordinate with the fabrics, and sold in conjunction with them. The buttons didn’t scream 1840 fabrics to me, but I wouldn’t have said they seemed obviously wrong either. Except for one that was a dark purple print on a white background. The dark purple did “look wrong”. It actually looked very contemporary. Any other info available on these?
Mary Waller, Vermillion, SD
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 23:54:52 EST | From: Kittencat3 [at] aol [dot] com
Another possible origin of “the whole nine yards” comes from nine yards traditionally being the length needed for a burial shroud.
Lisa Evans
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 22:39:53 -0800 | From: Katrina Worley <kworley [at] ns [dot] net>
The silk industry in 19th century America was actually quite sophisticated, although the amount of hand labor that it entailed meant that it was also limited to those groups where cheap family (i.e., child and female) labor was available. There were several of the religious colonies that produced high quality silk fabric for sale specifically to outsiders, as well as that for their own use. The book “Shaker Textile Arts” by Ruth Gordon includes photographs of silk handkerchiefs and gives a brief description of the processing. I’ve come across references to Mormon silk production as well. I wouldn’t discount the story of the quilt being made of silk processed in Utah.
Katrina kworley [at] ns [dot] net
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History Special people, in special places, at special times Anthropology Everyone else the rest of the time
KW- 1997
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