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Friday, November 25th, 2011

In 2001, when I participated in a quilt history study course at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, I heard the first mention of Amish Quilts having a possible link to the Welsh quilting tradition. It was a matter of time before someone decided to undertake a study and that someone is the renowned quilt scholar, Dorothy Osler. We are looking forward to reading her latest book, offered right now on amazon at a pre-publication price. We have ordered it! Thought maybe you’d like to know about this book – thus the announcement! It isn’t often that a really high quality quilt history book that is not just a rehash of past knowledge is added to the mix these days. This one looks very promising! I’ve place a link to amazon so you can read more about it!

Patricia Cummings

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Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

Not only people moved from the east to west in the United States during the nineteenth century, but quilts made that journey, too. An important historic quilt associated with the American Civil War was found in a thrift store in California and given to (the late) Jan Coor-Pender Dodge, a resident of that state. This morning, I have just been reading the research paper that Lorie Chase presented at the last annual seminar of the American Quilt Study Group and now a mystery is solved!

Not having seen the detailed inscriptions on the quilt, or ever having viewed the quilt in person, I honestly had wondered about one person’s idea that the quilt must have originally been larger (with 60 blocks rather than 40 blocks). He presumed that 60 women had worked on the quilt.

Looking at a photo of the quilt, which is long and narrow and intended for a soldier’s cot, that theory did not seem logical to me. I thought to myself that if 60 women did work on the quilt, then perhaps some were involved with finishing it rather than making individual blocks.

Current scholarship reveals that the number “60″ listed on one block refers to the number of Army volunteers who mustered from Dublin, New Hampshire. Information about the quilt was kept “close to the chest” as is often the case when someone has research that has not yet been presented. Now, the truth is out!

Dublin NH Sanitary Commission quilt

A version of the original Nine-Patch quilt donated to the U. S. Sanitary Commission during the Civil War. This one was pieced by Patricia Cummings, using Civil War reproduction fabrics, and was custom machine quilted to Pat’s specifications by Tracy Zimmerman Szanto on her Gammill-Staedtler machine. This (pseudo) reproduction quilt was made as part of my own efforts to acknowledge the 150 years that have passed since the beginning of the conflict on April 12, 1861 when Confederate soldiers fired upon Union-held Fort Sumter, and was shown at the New London Historical Society in New London, NH on August 16, 2011 in conjunction with my talk about Civil War quilts and textiles.

To read all the wonderful details uncovered in Chase’s paper, be sure to order a copy of viagra 100mg price, the journal of the American Quilt Study group, at the following link:

I can’t wait to read the rest of the volume!

Patricia Cummings, member of AQSG who served for one year as the first Regional Coordinator (NH, ME & VT)

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Thursday, October 20th, 2011

Why Quilts “Matter”: A Quilt Discussion
by Patricia L. Cummings

quilt in progress

This particular quilt which I named “Die Gedanken Sind Frei” is composed of reproduction blocks based on various antique quilts in my collection or traditional quilt blocks I have made to illustrate designs for published (printed magazine) articles when originals were not available. I started quilting this by hand about a year ago and hope to resume working on it again, soon! I’ve been sidetracked with research and writing articles and books! Both nineteenth and twentieth century quilt block representations are included in this quilt.

Although no one has ever asked me for an opinion as to why quilts matter, this topic has been a theme in many of my previous writings. Since I am counting sheep instead of zzz’s on this already too long a night at 12:53 a.m., I have begun thinking (again) about quilts and this very subject of why they DO matter.

Most people who consider the “value” of a quilt, think in terms of dollars: how cheaply they can buy a nice quilt for their bed, or an antique one to collect, or how inexpensively they can make a quality quilt. Perhaps, they recall quilts made by their own grandmother, aunt or mother. Some quilters compare their own talents to those of others who are reaping monetary rewards in big shows, galleries or in private sales, and conclude that they would like to make competition quilts in the hope of winning a big cash award. Just maybe that could happen! Everyone likes to think that their work is so unique and so precious that it is certainly valuable in a way that translates into collecting money for parting with (i.e. selling) some of their own artist “statements.”

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In a world awash with quilts in every corner of the globe and with the number of coolie laborers who churn out the “hand quilted” two stitches per inch quilts in third world countries (sold in U.S. department stores), not to even mention the number of quilts that are being generated by people of more skill, it is clear to see that in the future, museums will be collecting less and less quilts. They will simply run out of room! The baby boomers, age 55+, are among the most prolific quilters today! (They have the money and the time to engage in this (now) rather expensive “hobby” with $30,000 sewing machines, fabric at at least $10 dollars per yard and that cost escalating. Even cotton thread is more expensive these days, its price increasing due to shortage of cotton and failure of cotton crops on the world market).

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The term “museum quality” quilt has always seemed like a misnomer to me as it does not always reflect the quilts that typically have found their way into museum holdings. I have to wonder what that term means to most people. There are some “nice” quilts in institutional collections but based on certain collections I have personally seen and/or studied, I’d hazard a guess that many of them were collected just because someone wanted to find a “good home” for them. Some are falling apart, have little provenance, or were not well-constructed in the first place. To automatically assume that a “museum quality” quilt denotes a pristine and terrific quilt is to guess wrong. Museums today are becoming more discerning in collecting any new items and often request a donation to care for a quilt “in perpetuity”. A disclaimer is also provided that the museum may “de-accession” the quilt, at any time. The term could mean selling it to another institution or otherwise “getting rid” of it.

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As a related aside, I’ll mention that today, I was reading (the late) Cuesta Benberry’s ideas about the naming of quilts. In her study of fictional literature, especially of the nineteenth century, a time when some quilt historians have believed that no formal names for quilts existed, she found references to certain quilt patterns that would have been known by readers of the day who shared knowledge of the given names as a common point of reference. She concludes that the quilt designs would not have been mentioned by name had they not generally been known.

Benberry continues her analysis by saying that when the quilt name is noted in a short story, the name of the quilt is not capitalized nor is it in quotation marks. Rather, it is presented in a lower case format, as if to say that the quilt, a common everyday object, just did not carry enough clout to be recognized by its own proper name. This situation has changed, especially when quilt patterns were offered regularly in nineteenth century catalogs, journals, magazines and later, books. I found her views to be very insightful and a refreshing approach to customary and standard pat observations of those who have studied quilt history. It is always good to consider new perspectives and ingenious of Benberry to study the connection of literature and quilts.

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As a quilt maker, not just a casual observer of quilts made by other people, the value of any quilt goes far deeper than is visible by any mortal other than the quilter who envisioned the textile. Advanced quilters and certainly quilt artists strive to make their quilts just a little different from others they have seen. That goal is the driving factor in the variety of pieced and appliquéd quilts that we see with a nineteenth or twentieth century provenance.

People live by copying, that much is true. However, they also like to put their own “spin” on things to take a traditional pattern and make it their own. That could mean changing the color choices, the size of the blocks, setting blocks on point rather than in a straight alignment and a myriad number of other ways that someone can take an idea and manipulate it to suit themselves. It happens all the time, and more than the public would realize.

There are certain timeless design themes that are found again and again: flowers, animals, children at play, plants, the sun, people, landscapes, geometric shapes, interlocking shapes, the sea, the mountains, holiday themes, etc. Quilts often reflect the world in which we live. Some modern quilts explore fractal geometry, a fascinating subject that is more and more being studied as a way to better understand the universe, including biological/medical implications.

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Quilts celebrate traditions! As the Holy Bible states, there is little new under the sun. The beauty of any quilt is found in the love that is put its creation as well as the quilter’s desire to create something that never existed before. To that end, the quilt artist selects fabrics, cuts them into various shapes and assembles the pieces according to their own creative inspirations.

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There is something about a quilt that makes people want to reach out and touch it. That is especially true of old quilts that have been washed, again and again, and as a result are very soft and cuddly. Even animals realize the comfort of quilts. Even dogs and cats manage to pull off any quilt or crocheted afghan draped on the back of a sofa and paw it into their own little “nest” that surrounds them with warmth.

As quilters, we make quilts for many different reasons: to honor people, to share ideas, and to leave a trace of ourselves behind when we are no longer here, and for many people, as a source of income. Some of us challenge ourselves to improve and update our skills and with experience and persistence, most quilters become better at their craft, over time. The learning curve needed to make all of the different styles of quilts is a challenge in and of itself. No quilter ever needs to be bored or worry about finding something meaningful to do. Work is always available and if one likes to quilt by hand, a project can always be taken along to pick up and put down at will, when one has a few moments available.

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Textiles of all kinds, among them quilts, embroideries, woven and printed fabrics (old and new), and certainly, clothing, can be clues as to the lifestyle of the people who made them and the culture in which they originated.

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Quilts and other textiles, from needlepoint kneeling cushions to quilted banners and embellished/embroidered garments of church officials are used for ecclesiastical celebrations. Ceremonial bibs and other special textiles such as baptismal gowns are worn and often passed down through a number of generations. Quilts often are given in honor of the birth of a baby. They are most certainly associated with weddings. Historically, they have a long tradition of being given to departing loved ones (to family members heading west during the years of America’s expansion or to a minister who was assigned to another congregation, especially during the nineteenth century when those elegant quilts were made in Baltimore, Maryland for Methodist ministers.

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Quilts matter to me because I have been immersed in their study and in their making for almost three decades. Before becoming a quilter, I engaged in many other creative outlets including oil painting, doll making, embroidery techniques of all kinds, home sewing, crocheting, stenciling and making other crafted items. In quilting, I found a means of expression that exceeded anything creative I had ever attempted before.

As an active and avid quilt researcher, I try to bring some of the excitement of my own personal findings to light in my many articles published in print venues, books and (for free perusal) on my website and on this blog. I have enjoyed the past twelve years of writing my own quilt history column for The Quilter magazine and more articles are in the works!

Quilting as a hobby, or rather… as a passion, has longevity and has far more significance to a quilter than any non-quilting person would be able to imagine. Quilts have an intrinsic value that far exceeds their associated dollar value. The prices of quilts, like books, on the secondary market would probably astound their original makers, especially those stay-at-home moms in other centuries, some of whom never “earned” a penny in their lives, yet worked tirelessly for the comfort of their families, including making quilts to keep them warm.

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Today, those who traffic in quilts, shows, fabrics, fibers, books, magazines, notions, sewing thread, classes, workshops, lectures, retreats and everything else that makes up the commercial world of quilting represent what is referred to as the quilt industry. This worldwide enterprise generates billions of dollars in trade each year. Even if all that were to go away tomorrow, we would still have “little old lady” quilters to whom quilting and quilt friends are vital components of life, necessary as the air they breathe. In summary, these thoughts delineate just a few of the reasons why quilts matter!

Quilts today collectively represent tradition, innovation and vision. Non-quilters who are non-conversant with the richness of the quilting legacy would have a much better appreciation of the meaning of quilts if they only knew more about quilt history and how styles of quilts have evolved and developed over time. It is a beautiful study and one that has enriched my life immeasurably! Quilting engages the soul and the mind and one cannot overstate its importance. This essay cannot begin to reveal the significance of quilts as objects of material culture.

Cheers!

copyright 2011, Patricia Cummings
, Concord, NH

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Monday, September 19th, 2011

On September 19, 1961, fifty years ago, Betty and Barney Hills, newlyweds, were returning from Niagara Falls and were passing through the White Mountains of New Hampshire. They later reported that they had been abducted by aliens just south of the Old Man of the Mountains location. Reportedly taken aboard a space craft, they were stripped and examined medically. This story was controversial at the time and had its share of non-believers. However, even when undergoing hypnosis, both individuals recounted extended details of their ordeal. Subsequently, a book was written about their experience and a movie was also produced on the subject.

When I heard a 1/2 hour television segment tonight on WMUR-TV, I recalled a quilt block made by Betty H. Emery in her 1975 quilt that I have researched and documented. The polyester quilt with embroidered quilt blocks was made in 1975 and I found it draped over a rack in an antiques shop. The quilt is a one-of-a-kind object that recalls important landmark events and interests in Betty Emery’s life. I traced the identity of the quiltmaker based on the “clues” on the surface of the quilt and with the assistance of an online friend. It was indeed a fascinating task to uncover who made the quilt. One of the blocks is simply called “UFOs” and it brought to mind the Hill incident.

See photos of each quilt block and view the research details I uncovered for a fascinating look at how one woman created a piece of folk art to record her own life experiences:

Patricia Cummings

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Thursday, August 18th, 2011

The other day, I was approached by someone, after my talk about Civil War quilts, who stated that she believed that Log Cabin quilts with black centers were made by slaves as part of the signaling methods that were used to guide slaves to freedom. She had, after all, written a paper about this topic for a college class. She thinks that if more research were done on the subject, the idea could be proven. To her way of thinking, black is an unusual choice of color (Log Cabin quilts most often have red or yellow centers). Therefore, the color choice viagra 100mg price mean something.

A few years ago, in a discussion of this very topic in a file on my website, I wrote the following information:

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The danger of trying to access antiques made by people who are no longer here to explain any potential intent is that it is simply a guessing game. While it can be fun to speculate about any subject, when it comes to history, professional historians look to verifiable facts and are reluctant to create fanciful and fictitious MYTHS.

There is another reason why the argument does not hold water. It was not until the late nineteenth century (that is, late 1800s), long after the Civil War, that a reliable dye method was created for manufacturing black cotton fabric. Before that time, the textiles that we see in the omnipresent black hues of the Victorian Era are made of silk or wool fibers. Again, it is not until the late nineteenth century, after the dawn of Crazy Quilts and their popularity in the 1880s, that we see Log Cabin “show” quilts (made of silk, not cotton). Any earlier attempts at creating black cotton fabric utilized iron mordants in the dye process that eventually made the fabric look “rusty” and ate holes in the surface.

Personally, I have seen a Log Cabin quilt of late nineteenth century vintage (with lots of shirting prints) and blue centers, another color variation. Do these color changes mean anything other than the self-expression and fabric choices of an individual quilter? I think not.

Both the idea of quilts being hung outside on clothesline to signal that a home was a safe haven on the Underground Railroad AND this idea of quilt blocks with black centers can be traced to specific sources. One film producer sincerely wishes that such a reference had found its way to the cutting floor before this viagra 100mg price information ever was placed in front of the public. None of us are all-knowing, particularly in a discipline (the study of quilt history) that has only existed since 1926 with the publication of Marie Webster’s book. It is very easy to repeat the mistakes of others when one is not engaging in research efforts of their own and are mainly compiling information, and such was the case in that instance. I thought I knew where I’d first seen the idea in print, but in glancing through the book, I am not readily finding the reference.

I do not mean to be casually dismissive of someone’s “belief” and it is very difficult for people to give up ideas that they have come to think may be true, especially a “new” truth. Until the time when more substantial evidence can be proven, without a doubt, I shall remain a “doubting Thomas.” That said, every bit of good research does begin with a question and a quest to learn more. Please continue asking questions!

To read more about this topic, visit the file in its entirety:

Patricia Cummings

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Thursday, August 4th, 2011

Recently, I was privileged to encounter a “potholder” style quilt from the nineteenth century that is composed of hexagons. Each hexagon is completely finished with a binding all around its perimeter before it is stitched to other hexagons.

hexagon potholder quilt
view of whole quilt; photo by James Cummings (All rights reserved)

Here are the details:

Potholder style/ pieced quilt
Late 19th century; 65 1/2″ x 73 7/8″
Each hexagon has six pieces.
Width of each hexagon is 6 1/2″.

close-up
close-up of hexagon potholder quilt; photo by James Cummings (All rights reserved)

Backing = muslin
Individual bindings = muslin
Fabrics on front = polychromatic; small shirting prints; madder prints, etc.
Hand quilted with fine, tiny stitches.

This type of quilt construction seems to be unique to quilts with a New England provenance. This one is from (or last seen in) New Hampshire. If you have seen any quilt like this, we’d love to hear from you.

To see additional previously-published examples of this kind of quilt, key in the word “potholder quilt” in the search box.

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

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Friday, July 29th, 2011

It was a good thing we were back at home tonight when Jim casually mentioned seeing a sign at a museum about an upcoming talk about the Underground Railroad and its Quilts, no doubt another totally bogus re-visitation of the myth that has been floating around for a few years but is becoming deeply embedded in the minds of American due to “history” talks at schools and museums by presenters who are NOT quilt professionals. I’d heard a talk of this kind at the same museum a number of years ago. In light of all of my work and that of MANY other historians and quilt historians, I thought they might have risen above the urge to keep sharing this misinformation.

This organization apparently has adopted the feel-good story about how “quilts” helped guide slaves to freedom. Supported by the agenda of the National Park Service and others who should be leaders in telling the truth, not duping the American public, unfortunately, this museum finds the story a good fit to benefit itself. This is a disheartening situation for me. For many years now, I have carefully explained all of the components of this recent American quilt myth. Apparently people would rather believe a lie when it is more convenient for them.

Funny how stories get blown all out of proportion. First, we had the totally made-up book for children, viagra 100mg price (1982), followed by others, eventually. Then we had the book in 1999 by Raymond Dobard, Ph.D., who mentioned specific quilt “blocks” that supposedly carried hidden messages (some of which were not even designed until the 20th century). As an art historian, Dobard was looking for connections to Africa that coincide with his own ethnic background. Even he admitted that his theories were speculative. I won’t go into the details again. They are published on my website, in print, and in references to my work in the published writings of other people. I have neither the time nor the patience to revisit this topic in depth on this blog, yet again, and apparently, my words fall on deaf ears anyhow.

It is amazing that this same museum prides itself on promoting “quilt history.” They should really take a good look at what they are doing in promoting viagra 100mg price quilt history.

I am happy to report that in my own upcoming talk, I will be presenting TRUE FACTS and showing documented, museum-held, Civil War quilts made viagra 100mg price or viagra 100mg price or viagra 100mg price, in both Confederate and Union states.

History is not an elusive subject. Historians worth their salt habitually use intellectual reasoning and common sense, acknowledging existing historical artifacts that have a provenance and can be documented, in order to draw logical conclusions. Anything short of that process is suspect. Hearsay, upon which the so-called “secret quilt code” and book about it are based is totally bogus.

There is lack of supporting evidence of any kind from the time period, or later, to indicate that quilts were ever used in any manner on the Underground Railroad (a system of safe havens and people who facilitated escapes to freedom in Canada for slaves, not an “actual” railroad). People are just dismally unaware of history and/or find it unappealing to share the truth of the matter. I am disgusted, once again, beyond belief. The museum in question should be ashamed. I have always loved going there in the past. Now, I am just fed up with the lies they perpetuate to the public. I wish this stupid topic would just go away, but it never will as long as the unknowing continue to perpetuate this myth. Sigh!

See Barbara Brackman’s book to gain more insight.

Patricia Cummings

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Tuesday, July 12th, 2011

Quilt History: Why Is It Important?

by Patricia L. Cummings
©2010

Before we ask, “Why is Quilt History important?,” perhaps we should first ask, “Why is History important?” Daniel Webster, a noted statesman from New Hampshire, (and no relation to Ellen Webster), once said:

“It is wise for us to refer to the history of our ancestors. Those who do not look upon themselves as a link connecting the past with the future, do not perform their duty of the world.”

Ellen Emeline Webster did more than her duty to save history by writing down the details of the settlement of her home town of Hebron, New Hampshire and stories of life there in the nineteenth century. In addition, she engaged in the study of quilts at a time when only three books had been written about the subject. Today, viewing antique quilts provides direction for quilters. Sometimes, the proficiency with which old quilts were made tell us how much more we need to learn to catch up with the accomplishments of quilters of the past.

Quilts may seem inconsequential to some folks because they represent ordinary, everyday “woman’s work.” Many people ask, “Why make a quilt? They sell inexpensive ones at department stores.” There is no imported Third World quilt that can measure up to the workmanship of an heirloom quilt made by a dedicated quilter. Those of us who invest time in creating quilts of every size, color, and shape possess a keen sense of our own limited lifespan. Most quilters want to leave tangible artifacts behind them by which they can be remembered. Quilters create “material culture,” and in the case of Ellen Webster, quilt “charts” that can be “read.”

Contrasts With the Past
To make any quilt, one must have a needle. Bone needles have been found at Paleolithic sites in western Europe, dating back to 35,000 years ago. The needles found range in size from ½” to 3” long. One website tells how to make bone needles, but cautions that bone dust is not a healthy substance to inhale. Today, when we want new needles, we visit our local fabric store, or consult a mail order catalog. We can choose from an array of brand names. In early America, a quilter would have to wait for the next ship to pull up to the dock in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, or Baltimore, Maryland, with a cargo that contained needles made of whalebone.

Natural Fibers: A Use of Resources
Before synthetic fibers were invented, linen, wool, silk and cotton were the resources utilized for creating thread and cloth. Linen (from flax) and wool (from fleece) were home-grown in New England. With pretty blue flowers, flax once grew prolifically in the countryside. Many labor intensive processes were needed to process flax into linen thread. That thread could be used to sew, or was woven into a fabric for clothes, or worked with cross stitches into Girlhood Samplers.

Wool was a labor-intensive product very common in New England. Some wholecloth (calimanco) quilts feature a combination of linen and wool, a cloth sometimes called linsey-woolsey. (Some believe that the term linsey-woolsey, also spelled lindsey-woolsey, takes its name from Linsey, England). Linen was used as a warp fiber on the loom; wool as the weft.

In the south, during the Civil War, dresses were made of homespun cloth created with a cotton warp and a wool weft. The book Southern Quilts: Surviving Relics of the Civil War shows a photo of a post Civil War pillow made in 1910 in which pieces from actual Civil War dresses made of homespun have been worked into a border design, Crazy Quilt style. The central part of the pillow features a poem that begins with the words, “Hoorah for the home spun dresses our ladies wore in time of the war.”

For a time, a thriving silk production business existed in Northampton, Massachusetts. Mulberry trees, there and elsewhere in New England, were planted so that there would be leaves to feed silk worms (who are “fussy” in what they will eat). A museum in Sandwich, New Hampshire owns one silk scarf with fringe, the result of a harvest of a locally-grown silk worms. That type of tree does not do well in northern climates and did not survive.

Today, cotton is the preferred fabric of choice for most quilters. Many processes are needed to prepare it: cleaning, bleaching, spinning, mercerizing, dyeing, weaving, and printing. The thousands of cotton print designs could be a lifelong study unto itself and indeed, many historic “fabric sample books” do exist in private collections and museums. These books show swatches of fabrics and the dates when they were printed.

Basic Tools Expanded
For a moment, let’s look at the building blocks of quilt making: needle, thread, and fabrics. Today, we have gone high-tech! There are rotary cutters, precise rulers, and die-cut templates and even a product called Accu-Quilt that will cut specific shapes, saving the quilter the trouble. There is every gadget imaginable, including machine stitch regulators for “long arm” machines. Inspiration comes from quilt books, classes, videos, quilt shows and the world-wide Internet. In 2010, the quilt industry is estimated at $3.58 billion dollars, and in the U.S., quilters spent $21 million dollars in that year!

First Published Quilt Pattern
Think about this: in the 19th century, there was no such thing as a dedicated quilt magazine. Today, there are more than 20 quilt magazines. Godey’s Lady’s Book was the first to publish a quilt pattern, a hexagonal design, in 1835. Silk was often the preferred fabric for designs offered in that publication.

A “Footprint”
Quilt history examines the work of quilters, and sometimes their personal journeys. Ellen Webster left her own kind of “footprint,” via her quilt documentations. In addition, through her diaries and letters, we begin to understand her sense of humor, her commitment to scholarship, and her love of celebrating the ordinary. Her quilt charts were a point of connection that encouraged me to look beyond the obvious colors and designs and want to learn more about her and the times in which she lived and worked. In making quilt charts, she recognized the creative vision of each quilter and validated them as women, as well as the importance of their endeavors.
—

Ellen Emeline (Hardy) Webster, (1867-1950), Her Amazing Quilt “Charts,” Her Writings, and Her Life, a 355 page e-book with 340 photos is available directly from the publisher: Quilter’s Muse Publications or can be purchased at the New Hampshire Historical Society Museum, 6 Eagle Square, Concord, NH.

cover of Ellen Webster e-book
An e-book that requires no special device to read, just your own computer. On sale until July 31, 2011 for just $19.95 plus FREE SHIPPING! Paypal payments or personal checks accepted. Write to for more details.

Ellen Emeline (Hardy) Webster, (1867-1950): Her Amazing Quilt “Charts,” Her Writings, and Her Life (Concord, NH: Quilter’s Muse Publications, 2008).

©Copyright 2010. Patricia Cummings, pat@quiltersmuse.com Quilter’s Muse Publications, http://www.quiltersmuse.com Concord, New Hampshire.

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Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

Eager to accept the viagra 100mg price tale that quilt blocks were used as the means of communication between escaping slaves on the Underground Railroad, members of the American public who think that anything in print is totally “the Bible” (particularly when it is written by a professor), have been duped into making so-called “Underground Railroad” quilts. Most of these people who viagra 100mg price Blacks, their History and therefore, American History, by the creation of their (Underground Railroad) quilts, have not even bothered to read “source” material, nor have accessed the opinions and writings of quilt scholars. They learn of this tall tale via hearsay. Then, working from a how-to quilt book, written by Eleanor Burns, whose specialty is quilt pattern making, not quilt history, the quilters have made “tribute” quilts that simply serve to promote viagra 100mg price history. As I have explained endless times, many of the blocks named in Ozella McDaniel Williams “secret quilt code” were not known to exist at the time of the Underground Railroad. There are many reasons why the quilt block message theory falls apart, more details than I can adequately explain in a short blog. On the other hand, I have produced FOUR lengthy articles about this subject in viagra 100mg price newspaper, viagra 100mg price magazine, and (two) in viagra 100mg price magazine. Much of this information can be read in a number of articles on my website: Quilter’s Muse Publications.

According to the author of viagra 100mg price, Raymond Dobard, Jr., Ph.D., (published in 1999), his account is speculative that quilt blocks were used as message devices. As a professor of Art History and a quilter himself, for some time he had been looking for quilt block designs that link to his African-American heritage. When Jacqueline Tobin, named as his co-author, contacted Dobard about a “secret quilt code,” recited to her by Ozella McDaniel Williams, a Black quilt vendor in a Charleston, SC marketplace, Dobard believed that this was the connection he’d been seeking. The idea of benign common quilt blocks being used to convey specific messages designed to aid in slave escapes is an appealing one. Unfortunately, that is as far as the concept can be taken. There is absolutely viagra 100mg price, anywhere, or from any time period that supports the theory. Thus, we are left with a fairy tale that we ALL wish had been true.

In spite of the lack of facts to support the theory, charlatans, would-be con artists, and other more well-meaning folks have adopted the “secret quilt code” as viable History. Many articles that present the code as the truth have made their way into newspapers and magazines, touting this “discovery” as a new historical finding. Please look up the word “speculative” in your dictionary, if you do not understand what it means! Schools, the National Parks Service, museums and other great American institutions, charged with sharing the TRUTH, have fallen short of the task. Instead, they have jumped at an opportunity to install this new segment of non-documented information into school curricula and their other venues. Its promotion is a travesty to Black people inasmuch as it replaces the true accounts of bravery, suffering and the role that African-Americans have played in building America. The new “pop” history was even presented on the Oprah show, further solidifying and reinforcing the idea that this viagra 100mg price the truth, in the eyes of the American public.

In light of the current (150th year) Sesquicentennial anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War, folks that want to make Civil War tribute quilts have sometimes reproduced blocks named as having been included in an elusive and non-existent, original “Underground Railroad” quilt, in actuality a new product developed just recently. Making these kinds of quilts ignores viagra 100mg price that there WERE specific quilts and quilt patterns made during the Civil War that are documented, have a known provenance, and are held privately and by major museums.

Historians know of these but this information has not yet come to the attention of the general public. Perhaps, this situation will do a turn about face when I present a program about actual Civil War quilts in an upcoming presentation. I have shared information in various online files already. In September, other researchers will be presenting this general topic, in various talks, at the American Quilt Study Group Seminar in New Jersey… and I know of at least two other quilt historians who are currently compiling information for books about Civil War quilts and textiles. Perhaps, when all of our collective information (that of quilt historians and historians) comes to light, the public will have a better understanding of this important topic in quilt history/American history/women’s history. We can only hope that speculative theories can be put to bed in lieu of the wisdom of collected known information. Keep in mind that repetition of any idea does make it “fact.”

Patricia Cummings

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Monday, May 23rd, 2011

Many thanks to Judy Anne Breneman for her latest blog post: that dispels the myth of all early twentieth Scottie Dogs quilts being inspired by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s dog, “Fala.” Information about quilts has been passed by word of mouth, forever, or so it seems, and a whole bit of folk mythology has grown up like weeds. It is great when someone takes the time to analytically evaluate the facts and come to some conclusions. No matter what, Scottie Dogs are fun and so is making quilts that include them!

Sometimes stories are repeated without anyone checking the facts and we hear the tales told so often, we just accept them at face value. I have heard that story and probably passed it on myself. It is good to learn the real situation. Here is a link to a file about miniature quilts that I set up on my main website a while ago. It shows a that I made, based on a pretty quilt seen in viagra 100mg price magazine.

Patricia Cummings
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Whenever we see dates on a crazy quilt, we cannot be sure of their meaning to the person who made the quilt. Sometimes dates recall a birth date, death date, an anniversary or a special event. Before I share close-up views of the quilt seen above, this poem seems fitting to include here:

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by Douglas Malloch (1877-1938)

They do not make them any more,
For quilts are cheaper at the store
Than woman’s labor, though a wife
Men think the cheapest thing in life.
But now and then a quilt is spread
Upon quaint old walnut bed,
A crazy quilt of those days
That I am old enough to praise.

Some woman sewed these points and squares
Into a pattern like life’s cares.
Here is a velvet that was strong,
The poplin that she wore so long,
A fragment from her daughter’s dress,
Like her a vanished loveliness;
Old patches of such things as these,
Old garments and old memories.

And what is life? A crazy quilt;
Sorrow and joy, and grace and guilt,
With here and there a square of blue
For some old happiness we knew;
And so the hand of time will take
The fragments of our lives and make,
Out of life’s remnants, as they fall,
A thing of beauty, after all.

from viagra 100mg price, by Carrie A. Hall and Rose G. Kretsinger (Caldwell, Idaho: The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1935), 163.

close up 1

close up 2

close up 3

close up 4

close up 5

close up 6

close up 7

The owner of this quilt has had it in her possession for about twenty years. She believes that the dates may reflect that the quilt was forty years in the making. The fabrics all appear to be “fancy” ones from the Victorian era. Notice that the quilt has a ruffle. The commemorative ribbons that were included on two of these quilt blocks have a New Hampshire origin. Many thanks to the owner of this quilt, Hap Cardwell, for sharing these photos!

Patricia Cummings
– read much more about Crazy Quilts at this link to our main website!

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Thursday, January 20th, 2011

close-up Guicciardini quilt

This photo provided by Kathryn Berenson is a close-up view of the Guicciardini quilt, companion to a quilt at the V&A in London and one in a private collection.

A note from Kathryn Berenson of Paris:

I write in reference to a new English-language title, viagra 100mg price, released December 2010 by Edifir, a publishing house in Florence, Italy. Editors are Rosanna Caterina Proto Pisani, Marco Ciatti, Susanna Conti, and Maria Grazia Vaccari. Translator: Diane Kunzelman.

In brief, the Guicciardini Quilt, in the collection of the National Museum of the Bargello, Florence, and its sister piece in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, are two white linen quilted works that illustrate episodes from the Tristan legend. They are the sole surviving quilted works in public institutions that date circa 1360-1400 and are attributed to an atelier in southern Italy. As such, they are key pieces in understanding medieval interpretations of the quilted textile arts.

The Guicciardini Quilt monograph includes a full study of the Bargello piece, information that is equally pertinent to the one in London.

The Art-Historical section addresses the possible origin of the Guicciardini quilt, its subsequent provenance, materials, techniques used in its making, and theories as to its use and separation from its sister piece in the Victoria and Albert Museum. A historical review covers the significance of the Tristan legend motifs and other iconography encountered in medieval textiles, and traces figurative white quilts to the medieval kingdom of Naples. Contributors to this section include Rosanna Caterina Proto Pisani, Maria Grazia Vaccari, Maria Stragapede and Kathryn Berenson.

The Technical Section addresses the conservation project developed for this rare piece carried out by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure (OPD), the Italian national arts conservation laboratory. Conservators at the OPD studied the Guicciardini quilt extensively during their years of work and assembled a valuable trove of scholarly information. Innovative conservation techniques are presented in detail. Contributors include Marco Ciatti, Susanna Conti, Pietro Capone, Francesca Parotti, Maria Stragapede, and Roberto Boddi, all of the OPD.

Two replicas of the Tristan quilts are discussed in the final section.

The V&A Tristan quilt is currently on exhibition in the museum’s medieval galleries. The Guicciardini quilt was on exhibition April – June 2010, in Florence and has been returned to appropriate conservation storage. A replica of it made by Silvana Vannini is on display at the Palazzo Davanzati, Florence.

The Guicciardini “Quilt” is a high-quality, 138 page paperback with 20 color and 40 black and white images, 150 pound interior stock and 300 pound cover stock; size 11 x 8.25 inches.
(ISBN 978-7970-493-9). Price 30€/25 £/ US$45.

At present, copies may be ordered from In U.S. $, the total cost is $47.77 (Media Mail) and $49.95 (Priority Mail), payable by check. Please contact Kathryn for information about where to mail the check.

(The Italian-language edition, La Coperta Guicciardini: il restauro delle imprese di Tristano, was released by Edifir in April, 2010, in conjunction with the exhibition of the same name, ISBN 978-7970-467-0.)

Note from Patricia Cummings: If you love medieval textiles, you will enjoy a series of books titled viagra 100mg price edited by Robin Netherton and Gale R. Owne-Crocker. In Volume 5, the Guicciardini quilt is again featured.

This information is brought to you as a courtesy of

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Sunday, January 16th, 2011

The University of Michigan offers online photos and descriptions of quilts via a program known as the Quilt Index:

Not too long ago, I participated in their Signature Quilt Pilot Project that sought to document Signature Quilts from across the country. The quilt I collected in the north country of New Hampshire has thirty blocks and was fashioned, probably after its initial construction, to fit a four-poster bed. To create cut out corners on the bottom, you can see that the block design on each side was compromised.

Here’s a photo:

Odd Fellows Signature Quilt

Also curious is the addition of an Irish Chain patch in green and pink fabric in the top row.

To learn the details of this quilt, please visit:

Once there, scroll down the page to “Contributor” and choose “Signature Quilt Pilot Project”

On the page that brings you to, click on “Odd Fellows Signature Quilt”

There are details on that page and if you click on “See full record,” you will be able to view a large picture of the quilt as well as selected close-up views.

The Quilt Index is of immense help to researchers and is a service to members of the general public who enjoy viewing quilts online. I was happy to contribute to this study, and I hope to follow-up with more research on this particular quilt when the time is right.

Patricia Cummings

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Sunday, October 31st, 2010

Last week, while perusing the goods of a New Hampshire antiques shop, I discovered a coverlet that was too cool to leave on a shelf. My criteria for selection is that it was in a pile of textiles, apparently made by the same person, I did not already have a item with this design, and it was distinctively “wonky.”

Here it is!

Overall Sam coverlet

For twenty dollars, would you have left this little gem behind?

This “wonky,” one-layer coverlet is made for a crib. The hemmed covering features appliquéd designs that use solid fabrics, as well as plaids and floral print cloth. Notice that none of the figures (Overall Sam) are congruent, i.e. the same size. This has been used and even repaired! Certainly, it was a scrap bag attempt at making every “Sam” a little bit different from the others. Each “Sam” is appliquéd with the Buttonhole Stitch, (often misnamed the “Blanket Stitch,” a name that only refers to the same stitch, if used on the edging of a wool blanket!).

Whaddayathink?

Pat

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Friday, October 15th, 2010

Cora Garner, known by all as simply “Aunt Cora,” lived on a farm in Arkansas with her brother, Hampton. They raised white and sweet potatoes and cotton, at least some of which was processed right on the farm for use in making some of her many quilts. Cora lived to be 100 years old and died about 7 years ago, according to sources. She was known for her caramel frosted spice cake decorated with pecans which she was fond of making at Christmas time to give as gifts. Her brother would cut fresh mistletoe to adorn the package.

Cora Garner

Cora Garner in a photo c. 1981

Today, I was sent photos of a sampling of Cora’s quilts. She was a prolific quilter who gave many of her quilts to others. The photos seen here represent quilts made during the 1940s, primarily. An overview of the types of quilts featured here, in portions and close-ups, are: a Star Quilt, scrap quilts including a Spider’s Web quilt, two Drunkard’s Path quilts, a pieced quilt that represents a black Terrier similar to the one owned by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (“Fala”), a hexagon mosaic quilt, a quilt with pieced hearts, and a quilt with embroidered state birds.

Star quilt

Star quilt

Pieced blocks with black Terriers

hexagons and Baptist fan quilting

See the hexagon mosaic units within this heavily quilted quilt with Baptist Fan hand quilting (Cora was a Baptist, by the way)

Spider Web quilt

Spider Web quilt with Nile Green fabric indicates a circa 1940 date

Drunkards Path

Cora made two Drunkard’s Path quilts in a seemingly most unusual manner. I wish I could see this quilt in person to ascertain whether or not the yellow curvilinear strips are pieced or appliquéd.

A second Drunkards Path quilt

For one of Cora’s Drunkard Path quilts, she used feedsack cloth from her farm

Pieced hearts quilt

To me, this looks like “Pieced Hearts”

state birds quilt

This Cardinal is just one of many state birds on her quilt

I hope that you enjoyed this small glimpse of the work produced over a lifetime of quilting by Cora Garner of Kingsland, Arkansas. Many thanks to the individuals who made this short article possible.

I love the Spider Web scrap quilt pattern and have five or six quilts in that design when I was first quilting. They are a great way to use scraps! I referred to the following book:

Patricia Cummings, quilt historian

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