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Today, I received two inquiries about the names of certain quilts. I briefly looked for the names and did not find them. Keep in mind that not all quilts enjoyed published names. and for those that were published… there were thousands of names, and often the same configuration would have a number of different names. As Florence Peto, the late quilt historian, once said, it is best not to be too didactic about naming quilt blocks. That said, I will share the photos that were sent to me and if anyone has a name for either quilt pattern, I hope you will write to me at: pat at quiltersmuse dot com.

This quilt, in satins and velvet, was collected in Calabash, North Carolina by Betsy Warren

Betsy states that the quilt is in very nice condition. I can see that the block consists of four pieced triangular pieces that meet at the center. The interplay of light and dark colors is interesting.

Leslie’s great great grandmother made this quilt. Red and white quilts and blue and white quilts (with solid colors) were popular during the first decade of the 20th century. I don’t recognize the quilt pattern name.

Most days, I wish there were more hours in the day. There is always more research to be done and more to know. Many thanks to readers for sharing their questions and sending photos. With the number of people who frequent this blog, someone may just have a ready answer!

Update 10-9-10: Gloria Nixon advises us that she magnified a photo of the second quilt and here is what she said:

“I magnified the quilt at 200% to try and see the seams. Pat, please look at Brackman 3220 and 3221. Which is it? The possible names, depending on seam lines, are Double Z from Ladies Art Company #192. Or Devil’s Claws found in Old Patchwork Quilts and the Women Who Made Them by Ruth E. Finley, 1929, plate 52 and page 114. Or Old Maid’s Puzzle #2 from the Clara Stone booklet,” Practical Needlework Quilt Patterns,” 1906. Rose Lea Alboum’s Index is the only place I found mention of Old Maid’s Puzzle #2. The block is in her ‘Index to the Clara Stone Quilt Patterns’.”

Thanks so much, Gloria! Linda Pearsall Harvey also magnified the image, and to her, it appears that the pieces of red were appliquéd onto a wholecloth background, a very interesting thought, indeed! Thank you ladies!

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

The abuse of alcohol has been a long term problem and mostly, the wives of drunks had no recourse, except of course, for their needles. I am not suggesting that they stabbed the imbibers! No! They would not have gotten away with that. Instead, they turned to their needles to make such quilts as T quilts (“T” for temperance), and “Drunkard’s Path” quilts. I have even seen a Crazy Quilt that has a large label on it designating that it was made by members of the W.C.T.U. (Women’s Christian Temperance Union) to honor a baby’s birth.

This is an example of a “Drunkard’s Path” quilt block in the colors of the W.C.T.U. (blue and white)

Temperance groups began in Europe in the early 1800s. The name Frances E. Willard, the W.C.T.U.’s second vice president, is most associated with that group. She was a good friend of Susan B. Anthony, a woman about whom I have written an in-depth article that will be available in the January 2011 issue of The Quilter magazine. Don’t miss it! The issue will be sold during the first week or two of November 2010.

In reading about Susan B. Anthony’s struggle to gain rights for women, I have come to a much deeper understanding of what it was like to live as a woman in the 19th century. Anthony remained single, stating that married women either became “a drudge or a doll,” and she wanted neither status.

Being married to a drunk has its disadvantages, but even more so in the 19th century when women could not sue for divorce; could be turned out, without her children (they belonged to the man); and could possess no real property or money of her own (in a bank account). It seems likely that many oppressed, repressed, and otherwise very unhappy women would work “hidden” messages in their quilt patterns, as it was one of the only ways they could express themselves, unnoticed by a brute of a drunk they had married. They would not have marked the quilt as being a protest item, and its clues, so apparent to us today, would not have been realized in the household.

The first article I ever had published in The Quilter magazine, in 1999, was about a Temperance Quilt “rag,” in a partial state, that had been disassociated from its batting and backing and used as a paint drop before I bought it for $20.00. I reproduced the blocks with reproduction fabric prints and published a photo of the old and new items, along with directions for making “T” blocks. I enjoyed the process and I savored learning more about these types of quilts, a new concept to me, at that time.

Just because a “Drunkard’s Path” quilt is not identified as such (and how many 19th century quilters put labels on their quilts anyhow?), it does not mean anything. My opinion is that these blocks formed a silent lexicon between the women who knew their meanings. As I have said before, not everything in history is well-documented. We would have to hold a seance to get at the real truth of the matter. However, it is just common sense to believe that if patterns and references to them show up in the literature, they were probably very common. While others are scrambling to find examples of Drunkard’s Path and other Temperance quilts that are identified as such, I’d call the literature surrounding these patterns a “smoking gun.” Wouldn’t you?

http://www.quiltersmuse.com/temperance_quilt_top_and_oak_leaf_block.htm

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications