Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2000 22:21:19 -0500

From: "quilt97" <quilt97@interconnect.net>

Laura and others,

Please explain a little more about developing a fabric dating workbook.

Do you recommend saving a small piece of every fabric? Listing date,

where purchased, price? What else? I had never thought of doing this .

. . but now it seems like it makes sense to do this for all fabrics, not

only vintage.

Thanks!

Elisabeth

Ok, ok.....I wasn't going to jump in here.....too many irons in the fire

this week (namely scorched fabric!) But.......we do have a pretty good

article in the VQTS newsletter on Developing a Fabric Dating Workbook.20

Do use archival quality top loading page protectors. They keep the

fabric

tight enough in place so that it doesn't fly across the room, but open

at

the top so air can get in. Like Julia, I too roll larger pieces, usually

wrapped in muslin, over a muslin covered tube....You can also get

archival

quality pages for slides and 3x5 photos that are great for smaller

swatches......like the 3x3 squares from Benartex or Mary Koval <G> slide

holders work great for those GMFG pieces or DWR arch slices!

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 07:59:44 -0400

From: Alan Kelchner <quiltfix@mail.jax.bellsouth.net>

Jean,

That method of paper piecing a grandmothers flower garden is typical of

that style - English paper piecing, if memory serves me. There's really

no sense in cutting all those hexagons if the paper's already cut.

Basting the fabric to the paper makes the hand piecing easier, and

utilizes the paper to shape the fabric into hexagons.

Alan

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 08:05:53 -0500

From: "Patricia Jochimsen" <pjchmsn@eau.net>

To: <QHL@cuenet.com>

I have a collection of these half dolls and one resource that I have is

"China Half-figures called Pincushion Dolls" by Frieda Marion. copyright

is 1974, but the source is Collector Books, Paducah, Kentucky. It does give

some of the history of the dolls. But, as you have found, most information

is out of print. This is from a country woman's newspaper (Capper's

Weekly) this last year by Patricia Hobbs Hendry.......

"Most dolls start out as toys and later become collectibles. But china

half-figures or pincushion dolls were never meant to be playthings. From

the late 1800's until the 1930's, these fanciful decorations graced the

vanities of women across Europe and America.

These figures served as handles for powder puffs, bottles, bon-bon dishes

and shoehorns. They topped lamps, pincushions, tea cozies and even

telephones.

The charming half-dolls were embellished with ribbons and flowers. Many

held fans or musical instruments. They wore hats or bonnets, or had curls

patterned after European court ladies. There were even a few flappers with

bobbed hair, or in cloche hats. Hundreds of different models were sold in

mail-order catalogs or in the needlework departments of stores.

These ceramic figures had sew-holes at their bases so they could be

attached to silk or lace skirts and decorated with ribbons and rosettes.

Some of the dolls had trademarks from the manufacturer including W. Goebel,

the maker of the Hummel figures. However many of the dolls were unmarked.

Copies were made in Japan, but these figures were usually of lower quality

than those made in Europs.

For collectors, the general condition, quality and style of these figures

determine their value. There are three basic styles of dolls. The most

common and least expensive doll is one that was made from a two piece mold.

A doll of this style has a seam on both sides of the body and up over the

head. The arms and hands are held along the body. In the second style,

the arms are held away from the body and the hands return to the body,

leaving a space in between. The hand usually rests on the hair, a hat, or

a fan or the hip. This style is also made in a two-piece mold. The third

and most expensive tyle features arms held away from the body. The arms

were cast separately and fastened onto the doll later. These figures often

have flowers in their hands.

A collection of these dolls or just one on a dressing table along with an

antique mirrow and brush set, a hatpin holder and an atomizer provide a

Victorian look."

I hope this has been of interest to you.

patricia in wi

pjchmsn@eau.net

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 12:12:21 EDT

From: JQuilt@aol.com

one of the old fabric scraps that i received has Cortley Fabrics Cone Mills

Inc....were they a large fabric manufacturer at one time?

jean

Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 22:03:58 -0500

From: "Hope Seider" <hseider@lakeozark.net>

Hi, --

I have a question about using an older wedding veil.

My DD is getting married next year and wants to wear my very long veil. DH

and I have been married 28 years, and I preserved my veil by wrapping it in

a cotton sheet and keeping it in a drawer. This afternoon got it out, held

it over the balcony railing in the great room, shook it out well, and laid

it on her bed here (she is living in an apartment at college). The tulle is

not yellowed and is still supple but is pretty

wrinkled. Will the wrinkles eventually come out without steaming it? I'd

be interested in hearing any experiences with older tulle. I don't want to

do anything to damage it.

My mother still has her waist-length veil, but it is ruined. She and my dad

will have been married fifty years next year. When she got it out of the

cedar chest last week, wrapped in plastic, it was just a wad of broken

netting. I know that wood and plastic are two of the worst things you can

use to preserve fabric. However, my wedding dress of satin with an overlay

of silk organza

was also in the cedar chest, wrapped in thin blue plastic from the dry

cleaners, and it looks white and like new. It could be worn today without

being cleaned. My grandmother and I made it in 1972 on her Montgomery Ward

sewing machine that had originally been a treadle and had the motor attached

at some point. It had been her mother's machine, and I have it upstairs.

I further have my great-grandmother's wedding jacket. It has a lined blouse

made of cotton lace attached to the short, waist-length golden brown jacket.

We don't have the skirt. She was married in 1901 and died in 1928.

Great-Grandma was very tiny! <g>

Hope in SW Missouri

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 23:02:36 -0400

From: "Judy Grow" <Judygrow@blast.net>

>Do you recommend saving a small piece of every fabric? Listing date,

>where purchased, price? What else? I had never thought of doing this .

>. . but now it seems like it makes sense to do this for all fabrics, not

>only vintage.

>Thanks!

>Elisabeth

Hi,

For my newer swatches I try to collect the part of the selvedge that has the

manufacturer name and even the designer, or the name of the line. Very few

are dated in the selvedge, although some are, so I date them as to the date

I bought them (or my friends bought them -- they are instructed to save me

those pieces along the slevedges.) I cut these 4" by 8" or longer. Then I

fold them if I have to to 8" and overlap them on a sheet of cover stock

before inserting them into page protectors. I zig-zag them down to the

page, usually 6 to a page. You can sort them by style, or color --

whichever you prefer.

It is such fun! This kind of a book will be very valuable to your

granddaughter when she becomes a quilt historian.

I also try to keep the Hancock of Paducah catalogs, or Keepsake Quilting's

big catalogs. That will give some idea of price every year, so I don't have

to remember the price of every purchase I make.

Judy in Ringoes, NJ

judygrow@blast.net

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2000 08:26:29 -0500

From: Jocelyn <Jocelynm@delphi.com>

>

> The very simple understated line written on the 'Dear Jane' 1863 Jane

> Stickle quilt comes to mind. 'In war time. 1863.'

> Those few words are very sobering and say so much.

>

Jan,

But, alas, we don't know what Jane meant by them, or why they're so

cryptic. Was she just looking for a short phrase to describe her times, or

was she too grieved to say more?

One of the family 'heirlooms' that was fought over by my sister and me

(until I won heheheheh)

was our father's Order of Neptune. This is an award given to a person as

they cross the equator for the first time. It usually follows a silly

initiation, where sailors have to 'kiss the beautiful mermaid' and other

stunts. My father's was granted in 1943. On the certificate, which has

beautiful illustrations of King Neptune and his court, there is a blank for

the longitude. On Dad's, it says 'Censored (A Mission of War)'.

My father is still mystified as to why two of his daughters were BOTH

determined to end up with the certificate. <G> My sister wanted it for the

'war shrine'...a corner of her house where she's preserved the military

papers of both our and her husband's families' veterans. But I wanted it

because I see it as a wonderful triumph of the human spirit... that even

amid a war, the US Navy was recognizing the importance of carrying on

rituals and having fun. The latitude had to be censored, but there was still

time to kiss the beautiful mermaid.

So I wonder, was Jane celebrating that despite the war, she still had

beauty in her life?

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2000 08:26:31 -0500

From: Jocelyn <Jocelynm@delphi.com>

I

> wonder if

> the buyer realizes that the rights to profit from quilt sales

> (capitalism)

> have been and are protected by American troops throughout the years and

> different presidential terms of office.

>

Carla,

It seems to me that we all owe a huge debt of gratitude to other groups,

but we're not expected to repay each and every one. For example, look at the

influence that teachers, doctors, nurses, police officers, firefighters, and

religious leaders have had on most of us. But if I found a quilt that was

made to honor a person in one of those categories, however famous that

person might be, I wouldn't necessarily feel it was my duty to purchase it

and donate it to a museum in their honor. It would be a nice thing to do,

yes.

And if I felt like that person's actions were wrong? I admit, I don't

completely understand absolute pacifists, but I've known a few. To them, a

war museum is a museum to absolutely wrong actions. OTOH, I think they would

also have refused to purchase and sell such memorabilia...so I wonder if

this vendor is actually taking the moral high ground. <G>

> I simply resented the intimation that West Point

> wasn't a worthy site for the MacArthur quilt, though the maker so surely

> poured her heart into the work.

I think the point was more that the West Point musuem shouldn't exist at all

(nor should any military museum), not that it was unworthy of the quilt.

Again, I don't support the viewpoint...but I know people who WOULD say that

any museum that implies that war is anything but completely wrong in all

situations, is a museum that they would not care to support.

> P.S. Does anyone else feel that individual collectors are

> frequently priced

> out of ebay bidding? It's very frustrating to be outbid by

> buyers with "300"

> (purchases) by their name.

I've bought things on the eBay. I think that my main problem is that my

tastes outstrip my budget.

Yes, a lot of the people with 300+ after their names, are other

vendors...but then, some of them are individuals who've bought a lot of

trinkets...or who have SOLD a lot of trinkets. I have some friends who sell

'collectibles', in large volume, on eBay, but should they come into the

Antique Quilt area, they'd retail their stars for having sold a lot of

trinkets, but they'd still be only a novice quilt buyer, and only one

individual.

IMO, it varies a lot from time to time- sometimes I find things going dirt

cheap...

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2000 14:20:48 -0400

From: "John Cawley" <cawley@goeaston.net>

To: "QHL" <QHL@cuenet.com>

Subject: wonderful things

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I was talking to the Friendly Circle Guild in Ellicott City, MD

yesterday about dating antique quilts. Members had been asked to bring

quilts from their collections for Show and Tell. What we had to look out

was amazing.

One woman had two Durham quilts, those beautiful wholecloth quilts from

the north of England that Dorothy Osler has written about. The quilting

motifs were incredible, whorls and coils that I can only compare to Celtic

runes. The quilts were well-used, but still beautiful. One was actually a

very large pieced star surrounded by a series of plain borders. It had once

been pink and white and is now two shades of white. The other was gold on

one side and ashes-of-roses on the other. I would love to trace off those

quilting designs. The owner was given the quilts by her mother-in-law who

was about to throw them away.

Another woman showed us a quilt her grandmother had made. The maker, an

African American woman from southern Virginia, had used feedsack as plain

strips between box-in-a-box blocks made of various scraps of plaids and

calico. It was a great example of the strip constructions which all the

writers about African American quilts refer to. It was much more controlled

than many similar quilts I've seen. The back was home dyed feedsacks with

the printing still visible. A wonderful quilt--real folk art!

The third amazing thing was a really tacky looking nine patch tied

quilt. The woman who owns it had brought other, beautiful family quilts,

but the ugly one was the really interesting piece. She had realized that

there was another quilt used as batting for the 9-Patch. When she began to

untie it she found that the filler was a pristine baby quilt, very nicely

quilted bowties in blues and white, and pieces of several other older

quilts. The maker of the 9-Patch was her great aunt whose only child had

died at birth early in the 20th century. The unused baby quilt had been

made by the baby's grandmother (the present owner's great grandmother). The

owner who had loads of information about both quiltmakers has decided to

leave the piece as it is with enough of the top untied to show what is

inside. I suggested that she duplicate the unused baby quilt and keep the

two together.

There are so many amazing discoveries to be made. I love talking to

people about quilts.

Cinda on the Eastern Shore

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2000 15:07:50 EDT

From: QuiltFixer@aol.com

In a message dated 4/28/00 11:17:17 AM Pacific Daylight Time,

cawley@goeaston.net writes:

<< There are so many amazing discoveries to be made. I love talking to

people about quilts.

Cinda on the Eastern Shore >>

Dear Cinda isn't this what it is all about? :) We, who love the history of

quilts, love talking to people about them. I just finished talking to a lady

in Minnesota who called me about my Redwork quilts and patterns, and we ended

up talking for an hour including a long conversation about our mutual love of

1930s quilts and fabric! What a happy hour that was for both of us. I am

sure all the members of this list are saying "me, too!" Thanks for sharing

this with us.

Toni B.

QuiltFixer@aol.com

The Redwork Lady

redworkldy@aol

www.redworklady.com

Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2000 21:19:17 -0500

From: KAREN BUSH <"Birdsong@worldnet.att.net"@worldnet.att.net>

I think, when I read this, my initial thought was "even" in war time.

She still managed to keep her own 'therapy'...her quilt going, and

finish it; And managed to hang ON to it! kb

'In war time. 1863.'

--

See who I am and what I do:

http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/karenbush/

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2000 23:57:03 -0400

From: "Judy Grow" <Judygrow@blast.net>

>One woman had two Durham quilts, those beautiful wholecloth quilts from

>the north of England that Dorothy Osler has written about. The quilting

>motifs were incredible, whorls and coils that I can only compare to Celtic

>runes. One was actually a very large pieced star surrounded by a series

of plain >borders. I would love to trace off those quilting designs.

Last September, at Quilt Restoration Conference we used large sheets of

tracing paper to trace off the applique designs of "dead" quilts in order to

make them anew, resurrect them, so to speak.

I think if I owned a very much alive quilt I'd not want anyone to come near

it with a pencil of any sort -- I know how easily the tracing paper was

punctured.

I am wondering which would be the more likely to damage a quilt -- doing it

with tracing paper and pencil, or, the following.......

Put your copy paper UNDER the quilt on a soft surface. Then use a straight

pin and go through the quilt, through the quilting lines, or along the edge

of the applique to puncture holes in your paper, therefore getting the

design onto the paper.

What would conservators think about that method? It would be like sewing,

but without thread. Inquiring minds want to know.

Judy in Ringoes, NJ

judygrow@blast.net

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2000 20:59:25 +0000

From: Bobbie Aug <qwltpro@uswest.net>

Judy,

What if the fabric was brittle?

Bobbie Aug

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2000 00:25:33 -0400

From: "Judy Grow" <Judygrow@blast.net>

Bobbie,

You are right, of course. Neither method would be appropriate. So, how can

it be done? The only other way I can think of would be to shoot a slide and

hope you can project it to the right size without distortion. Manipulating

the quilt into a copier would also be an awful no-no.

Or hire my husband who can do all of this stuff, freehand, with no other

tools.

Judy in Ringoes, NJ

judygrow@blast.net

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2000 04:34:00 -0400

From: Lynn and Debbie Cupp <lcupp@erols.com>

Pepper Cory discusses preserving these historic quilting patterns in her

book "Mastering Quilt Marking". It can be done safely without marks on

the quilt. She showed us how in a class by the same name (her crash

course version of the book) at MidAtlantic Quilt Festival 1999.

Debbie Cupp

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2000 07:50:45 -0400

From: "John Cawley" <cawley@goeaston.net>

To: "Judy Grow" <Judygrow@blast.net>, "Quilt History List" <QHL@cuenet.com>,

<qwltpro@clsp.uswest.net>

Subject: Re: tracing off quilting designs

Message-ID: <001801bfb1d1$669fe7a0$bc9c453f@z6x4o3>

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Pepper Cory in her recent book on quilting offers a method of tracing

designs from old quilts using mylar (I think). The book is upstairs; I'll

find it after the weekend and report back. It sounded good to me. This is

Garden Week in MD and I'm spending the next two days getting a look at some

of those houses with drives so long you can't see the house except from the

water--how the other half lives!

Cinda on the Eastern Shore

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2000 08:10:20 +0400

From: Xenia Cord <xecord@netusa1.net>

Jumping in here, may I offer a suggestion used by Pepper Cory? She uses

heavy clear plastic upholstery sheeting, available at Joann Fabrics

among others. Checks it carefully for any microscopic holes, lays it

over the design to be traced, and marks lightly on the plastic with a

water-soluble marker.

Xenia

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2000 10:08:42 -0400

From: Judy White <jawhite@courant.infi.net>

When doing restoration, I have copied quilting lines onto tracing paper

very carefully and never have gone through the paper; but the idea of

making holes in the tracing paper with pins is interesting, and I don't

know why it wouldn't work. I guess I'll put that on my list of things

to try.

Judy White - Ct

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2000 10:14:28 -0400

From: "pepper cory" <pepcory@bmd.clis.com>

Hello all-

Tracing off old quilting designs has been one of my passions and over the

years, I have collected a small library of designs. As per previous posts,

there's a chapter specifically on this subject in Mastering Quilt

Marking.It's titled "Preserving a Design Found on an Old Quilt" and begins

on page 53 of the book. I have seen (and done-)the tracing paper method and

do not recommend it. I once gave permission to a lady to trace off designs

from one of my old quilts and sure enough, she poked the pencil through the

tracing paper and marked on the quilt. The plastic (mylar) comes on rolls in

stores (think Wally World, Joanne's, K-Mart) and is often sold as picnic

table covering or temporary storm window coverings. Being able to see

through to the exact stitches makes for more accuracy and the authentic

recording of the designs.

I started to salivate when I read about those two old Durham quits--don't

let those get away without recording the designs! Durham quilters usually

designed their own templates, even if they were using traditional motifs

like feathers. An individual quilter's style could be recognized by those

motifs ("Sarah always makes those long teardrop feathers...") and most

Durham quilters didn't sign or label their quilts since everybody 'knew'

who'd made them by the style.

Cheers on a sunny Saturday from the Carolina coast-

Pepper Cory

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2000 12:46:27 -0400

From: "Judy Grow" <Judygrow@blast.net>

I have the book, and will check there again. I find the older I get the

less I can retain in my little green (or is that grey) cells. Mine are

definitely green with mold!

Mylar? Didn't I post a couple of days ago that I have a virtually endless

supply? DUH!!!!!

My house can NOT be seen from Back Brook, which is on the other side of

Back Brook Road, but I'll be in the garden scene as well -- my own, helping

DH build a dry stone wall.

Judy in Ringoes, NJ

judygrow@blast.net

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