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Quilters Find a way to care

 

Date: Sat, 02 Jan 1999 23:03:49 -0500

From: Miklos Lukacs <mlukacs@webbernet.net

Yes, Nancy, I did and hope that I can remember some of it.  He claims to

have researched and that quilts were used as signals.  He gave several

for instances.  Monkey wrench was a signal to pack up (as in tools), the

flying geese could point the way and several other instances that I

cannot recall all of.  Sorry.  If I recall more I will write.  Connie L.

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

Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1999 20:24:32 -0800 (PST)

From: bevquilt@sprynet.com

So why not have books in the bathroom???????? Especially

quilt history books.  By the way, I have 2 articles in the

new issue of McCall's Vintage Quilts that is now available

on newstands.  I have one article about quilt appraisals,

the other about Crazy quilts.  Beverly

---

Beverly Dunivent

HTTP://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/bevquilt

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

Date: Sun, 3 Jan 1999 01:20:59 -0500

From: "J. G. Row" <Judygrow@blast.net>

Christine wrote:

>Someone mentioned collecting books. I had not thought of my books as a

>collection, just a necessary part of life, but I find I have shelves of

>books in every room except the bathroom

Oops -- I have a 2 foot line-up of books in the closet that houses the wc

and bidet.   Does that make me a super collector?

Since  others have listed their other collections, I will too, although that

was not my intention when I first posed the question to the list.

Quilt related: Books,  Magazines, Fabric (antique and new), Quilts, Blocks,

Pin Cushions

Non-quilting:  Early 19th century American furniture, especially of

birds-eye and curly (tiger) maple;

Flint glass in at least 3 patterns;

19th century Meissen Blue Onion pattern (crossed swords and stadt Meissen);

Early 20th century illustrated children's books (first editions) by Rackham,

Wyeth, Pyle, Clark, DuLac;

Other first editions as we find them cheap;

Early wood-workers tools (esp. planes, scribing tools, levels) -- this

mostly DH's collection, although I have added to it.

I'll probably think of more after I send this off.  (DH would have me add

clothes to the list).

Since most of you have been following the history of our barn into studio

conversion, which started early last Spring, I am happy to relate that

except for installing the toilet and sink,and the bannister, it is basically

done.  The tile floor went in on the first floor last week.  Only the grout

needs to be done on that. I am so glad we didn't go for square Spanish

tiles.  The huge tiles from the tile silo, are incredibly gorgeous and look

just perfect in place.  The only other floor that would have worked would

have been brick.  We went in last night when the temp was down under 20 and

the wind was blowing outside, and we couldn't feel a lick of wind.  The

blown-in insulation, the kind that comes out of a nozzle as a foam, and then

expands to fill all the chinks and nooks and crannies, has sealed the place

up really tightly.

DH wants me to hang a quilt or two in the studio, but there is so much light

coming in through all the new windows and clerestory, that I have refused.

I hope we will have Allan's easel, etc. moved in by the end of the month.

Then I get his old studio (the4th bedroom)  for my sewing room, and can fix

it up any way I want.

Tomorrow we plan to total all the expenses, so after tomorrow, we probably

won't be adding much of anything to our collections.  Now he just has to get

some paintings done and sold to justify the expense.

Judy in Ringoes, NJ

judygrow@blast.net

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

Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1999 21:51:30 -0800

From: ptwkwhs@prcn.org (N Mussellam)

Dear Friends,

I have just joined this list, in order to glean some info for the year 2000

, for my local guild.

My name in Nina Mussellam, and I belong to a guild here on BC's west coast.

I am a member of the CQSG.  Quite a number of years ago, we had Nancy

Cameron Armstrong come to our town and do a quilt registry for the British

Columbia Heritage Quilt Project.  We have decided that it is time that we

did this again for the year 2000. We also plan a heritage quilt show as

well- with no contempory quilts .

We have heard in the years since the registry day, that there are a lot of

quilts and tops that we missed the first time.  Our guild is also much more

known in the community now and there is much more interest now that we have

had 4 shows of our own quilts.

So we are starting to plan for sometime in the year 2000. We have a large

number of questions to work out and I will be by from time to time to get

your opinion.

On Monday, I will be going to talk with a lady from the local tourist

bureau for some info .

You might think that is a strange place to start my quest, but she has her

finger on the community pulse for Seafair, the Blackberry festival, the

fall fair and I hope that she can line me up with some interested

co-sponsors. It would be good to coordinate this event with some other

celebration in town and not conflict for the public's interest. We could

get some ideas for publicity as well.

we will also approach the museum, the Heritage society and other quilters

in town. All of our quilt shows to date have been only for our own member's

quilts..... so this departure of accepting all quilts for display will

present a whole new group of logistical problems, such as registry of

entries, security, and liability.

I am most worried how to hang these delicate items, especially since they

wont have muslin sleeves and wood poles like we insist for our own show.

I'll be back for your ideas.

Happy New Year to you all

Nina M in BC

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

Date: Sun, 03 Jan 1999 00:45:02 -0600

From: Jennifer  Perkins <qltrstore@harlannet.com>

Hi All!  Happy New Year!

I did catch the NBC report and was playing Scrabble with my DD at the time

so used the score sheet to jot down some of the things he was saying.  His

name was Prof. Raymond Dobard, and said that there was a code in 10 quilt

patterns that the slaves had to memorize before they could make their

escape.  Some of the patterns were Monkey Wrench, Log Cabin (didn't talk

about center colors), Flying Geese, Cross Road (the road to Cleveland, OH

was mentioned), North Star, and that's all he mentioned.  That's about all

I remember, except I think this guy was white, and is the guy that wrote

the book about to come out black?  Are there two people researching this?

Anyway, on to my collections.  I collect old fabrics and quilts, turn of

the century being my favorite era.  I am collecting red, white, and blue

TOC blocks to make a sampler someday.  I have collected Precious Moments

from the beginning, have kaleidoscopes, and a large collection of glass

paper weights (not the real expensive ones!)  I also collect all the repro

fabric I can find for my Dear Jane quilt!

Enjoy reading the postings everyday!  Back to lurkdom!

Jennifer in snowy and blowy Iowa

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

Date: Sun, 3 Jan 1999 06:08:07 -0500

From: Debby Kratovil <kratovil@his.com>

>I caught just the tail end of a Howard U.professor speaking on quilts and the

>UGRR on this evening's (Sat. Jan 2) NBC Nightly News. I think the segment was

>entitled "In Their Own Words." I tried unsuccessfully to research the text of

>it on the NBC website. Did anyone catch this presentation? Nancy

No. But I sure wish I had!The professor is Dr. Raymond Dobard of Howard

University here in Washington, DC. He has a book coming out in February

(with a co-author, name of whom I forget) and it's about African-American

quilts. He is a history professor and I've spoken to him twice and we

photographed his quilts once. He is a quilter and does wonderful work -

both piecing and applique. He is a member of the Sons & Daughters of

Dorcas, a quilt guild in DC founded by Viola Canady, and it meets weekly.

He "promised" an interview to me for an upcoming issue of the NQA's

Quilting Quarterly, but said he couldn't divulge any info contained in the

book until it hits the stores. He says there are a few surprises in there

about the UGRR! Can't wait to see this book!! Debby

Debby Kratovil -- Quilter By Design

Paper Piecing Patterns & More!

Mac Pfaffie 7570

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

Date: Sun, 3 Jan 1999 09:24:01 EST

From: Tubeywooby@aol.com

In a message dated 1/2/99 8:54:48 PM, QHL-Digest-request@cue.com writes:

<<Howard U.professor speaking on quilts and the

UGRR on this evening's (Sat. Jan 2) NBC Nightly News>>

He was talking about symbolism in quilt patterns for the slaves during the

civil war, and mentioned our favorite- the log cabin, as a safe haven- amongst

many others. How slaves used to learn the way north through the process of

putting together a quilt, then remembering the lessons learned as they treked

on. Interesting....

Melissa Young in frigid but sunny Kingwood, Texas

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

Date: Sun, 3 Jan 1999 10:36:28 -0500

From: "Daniel & Diana Dillman" <deedillman@mail.wideopen.net>

Nancy,

        I too, caught only part of that segment and want to know if he wrote a

book.  I think his name is Raymond Dobard.  I searched the Howard

University site and could not find him among the faculty list. 

        What an interesting topic.  Hope we can find out more.

Dee

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

Date: Sun, 03 Jan 1999 10:17:22 -0700

From: bettymilner@uswest.net

To: QHL <QHL@cuenet.com>

Subject: QHL: Book on UGRR

Message-ID: <368FA622.C60E2480@pop.uswest.net>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Raymond Dobard's book is due to be published in '99. I saw him on a

segment of Oprah (thanks to a quilting friend who called to tell me

about his segment). I have pre-ordered his book "Hidden in Plain View"

from Borders.com (NAYY). I am eager to get it!!

HTH others interested in this aspect of quilt history!

Betty

--

Happy Stitching!

Betty Milner  mailto:bettymilner@uswest.net

Betty's Custom Sewing

Johnstown, CO

"In a cat's eyes, all things belong to cats." English Proverb

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

Date: Sun, 03 Jan 1999 11:17:32 +0000

From: Shirley McElderry <tigersoup@lisco.net>

To: QHL@cuenet.com

Subject: QHL: Re: Lace piece; Alan

Message-ID: <368F51C6.65B@lisco.net>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Alan, it sounds like you have a piece of needlework with Battenberg

lace; worked with tape. This type of lace was worked on a cambric

background. The tape was basted on the appropriate places, then thread

was used to attach the tapes together. When all was secure, the cambric

background was removed. Have some background printed pieces, and a book

from TH. De Dillmont of this type of lace, and in the back are the

cambric patterns.

Shirley Mc from cold and snowy Iowa

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

Date: Sun, 3 Jan 1999 12:48:55 EST

From: ThreadDog@aol.com

To: QHL@cuenet.com

Subject: QHL: Re: QHL-Digest Digest V99 #1

Message-ID: <f24dd375.368fad87@aol.com>

Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

Regarding Denise Clausen's collection of words or quotes... My rural East

Tennessee neighbor calls hand made quilts  "finger made."  In her mind a quilt

has no value if the sewing machine is used for anything more than 'taching the

binding before it's turned over and sewn by hand.  She works at plant that

assemble jackets for military contracts.

Linda ClausSen  at ThreadDog@aol.com

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

Date: Sun, 3 Jan 1999 13:25:57 EST

From: EllynLK@aol.com

To: QHL@cuenet.com

Subject: QHL: New Dumb Question....

Message-ID: <2031e89b.368fb635@aol.com>

Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

Here I go again!

I am putting together the turn-of-the-century Trip Around The World top that I

found at the flea market in October (did I mention just once or twice or

thrice in the past that it was just $15?  Do you get the feeling that I am

gloating?  Other than the turn-of-the-century top I onec found for $8, it's

just one of my best finds ever!  So I will gloat.  And I will enjoy it.  I

also know that I may never find one this great for such a fab price ever

again.)

I am sewing through some fabulously unfaded claret pieces on it...  and I've

noticed that any time I encounter that color, it is hard to sew by hand.  It

seems to have a much higher thread count--  it's about as easy as sewing

through a bedsheet.  I have three different claret patterned fabrics and each

one is the same.

Is it a fluke that I got fabrics that all just happened to have really high

thread counts?  Or is there a reason that fabrics dyed this color are such a

pain to go through?  Normally, I can pick up quite a few tiny stitches on my

needle.  When I get to that color, I can't do more than two or three and it's

an ordeal to push that darn needle through.  Anyone else encountered this?

The top also has a mystery.  There is a white fabric patterned in black-lined

boxes.  Very smart, nice fabric.  There were some pieces of this that had a

black and white diagonal kind of edging added around them.  They looked a bit

weird so I wanted to find out what THAT was all about.  I discovered those

"bordered" pieces were doubled!  The maker had sewn a seam, flattened the

fabric, cut a block through two layers and turned the "tube" inside out.

Those weird edges were put on and then it was pieced in the top.  I took them

out and in each, there was enough fabric for TWO pieces--  which makes up for

a couple of bad fabrics or ones that are too fragile to keep.  It was like

treasure!  I also found an alien fabric in a seam--  a scrap of fabric that

isn't in the top.  It seems that perhaps the maker sewed the wrong fabric in

then got lazy and just cut it out instead of taking out the stitches.  No

evidence of that scrap anywhere on the top!

Did I mention I got this for $15.00?? <<gg>>

The "Merrimack Duckling Fleece" flannels just remain a favorite in this top.

Heavy flannel, nice heft and gorgeous coloration.  I wish I could look that

good when I'm that old....  Thanks again to all who provided info about that

one.

Happy 1999!

Best,

Lauri Klobas

Pacific PaKarendes, CA where the days have been sunny but the nights are chilly

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

Date: Sun, 3 Jan 1999 11:49:41 -0800

From: "Christine Thresh" <christine@winnowing.com>

To: <QHL@cuenet.com>

Subject: QHL: Quilting phrase

Message-Id: <199901032000.MAA03574@server.cctrap.com>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Here is something for the person who is collecting quilt phrases:

"Whole cloth quilts are a complete fabrication."

Christine Thresh

http://www.winnowing.com

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

Date: Sun, 03 Jan 1999 13:44:38 -0800

From: Marilyn Maddalena <marilyn@crl.com>

To: QHL@cuenet.com

Subject: QHL: Re: UGRR quilts

Message-Id: <3.0.3.32.19990103134438.006d01bc@mail.crl.com>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Yes, I caught the short segment on the UGRR quilts.  According to the

professor, the UGRR quilts were samplers, each block having a separate

meaning.   The slaves needed to memorize these quilt blocks and, once they

were memorized, the slaves began their journey.  UGRR folks put quilts with

the blocks on their fences or porches as signals to the escaping slaves.

These signal quilts were all of the same block, however; not samplers with

many blocks.  Some of the ones he referred to were Churn Dash, Log Cabin,

Crossroads.  He didn't give specifics as to his research and where he

learned these things.  He sounded very knowledgeable, but it was a

different theory than I'd heard before.  I'd really like to know where he

got his information.  Marilyn in Sacramento

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

Date: Sun, 03 Jan 1999 16:53:29 -0600

From: Laura Hobby Syler <texas_quilt.co@mail.airmail.net>

To: Marilyn Maddalena <marilyn@crl.com>, QHL@cuenet.com

Subject: Re: QHL: Re: UGRR quilts

Message-Id: <3.0.3.32.19990103165329.006cd434@mail.airmail.net>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi Marilyn and all,

When he was on Oprah a couple of months ago he claimed to have gotten all

of this information from a black woman (they flashed a quick photo of her )

who was a friend of his mothers...that being said, we here then  launched

into a short thread about verbal information passed from generation to

generation and some of the romantic notions about quilting that *we*

assumed to be fact early in the stages of quilt history research, ie: the

Orlofsky's book and some of those written back in the late '70's and early

'80's.  Still I find it interesting that he refused to give "details" until

the book is released....smart marketing manager <G>

Laura

1:44 PM 1/3/99 -0800, Marilyn Maddalena wrote:

>Yes, I caught the short segment on the UGRR quilts.  According to the

>professor, the UGRR quilts were samplers, each block having a separate

>meaning.   The slaves needed to memorize these quilt blocks and, once they

>were memorized, the slaves began their journey.  UGRR folks put quilts with

>the blocks on their fences or porches as signals to the escaping slaves.

>These signal quilts were all of the same block, however; not samplers with

>many blocks.  Some of the ones he referred to were Churn Dash, Log Cabin,

>Crossroads.  He didn't give specifics as to his research and where he

>learned these things.  He sounded very knowledgeable, but it was a

>different theory than I'd heard before.  I'd really like to know where he

>got his information.  Marilyn in Sacramento

>

>

>

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

Date: Sun, 03 Jan 1999 18:27:00 -0500

From: quiltfix@mail.jax.bellsouth.net

To: Quilt Heritage List <qhl@cuenet.com>

Subject: QHL: victorian shoe pincushions

Message-ID: <368FFCC3.BE4489C5@mail.jax.bellsouth.net>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Can't remember who was into those Victorian shoe pincushions, but ebay

has item #52777488, and the lot consists of a metal shoe pincushion

(nice one), one of those beaded American Indian souvenir pincushions

shaped like a ladies shoe, and a tiny pen knife with a shoe-shaped

handle (they think it may be ivory, I think it's bone).  Auction ends

1/13, bid is currently at $26.

Alan

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

Date: Sun, 3 Jan 1999 17:29:08 -0600

From: "Karen Erlandson" <erland@cooke.net>

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

Subject: QHL: RE: owning every quilt

Message-ID: <003b01be3770$dd096d80$c760aacf@Karenerla>

Content-Type: text/plain;

        charset="iso-8859-1"

Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

OK, OK - I go away for a week to ski at Taos, NM - and I get "talked

about"!!

Yes, I did have the goal to own every quilt in the world, but now I see that

I must share with my friends - so, now I only want to own all the quilts

that are not in "good hands" - does that sound just a little less

controlling??

Hope you all have a great 1999 - QHL is a great resource and fun place to

meet new friends!

Karen E - who, did by the way, ski successfully for 4 days with a badly

sprained knee - but Have had to go to the ER today and get a brace!!

------------------------------ 


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