Date: Sat, 06 Feb 1999 20:54:41 -0600

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

Not to mention, on this documentary, you can listen to Shelby Foote

narrate...what a voice... West Virginia drawal like smoooooth

molasses......got the whole set and watch and listen to it all the time

while I'm quilting....aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh....:) kb

-- if you can find it, Ken Burns's documentary series =The Civil War= is

a superb

> (if long) account of our great national tragedy.  A fictionalized version of

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

Date: Sun, 07 Feb 1999 18:32:52 +1100

From: nomad1 <nomad1@ibm.net

Dear Debbie, Karen and All,

Over here in Oz guess what I watched and recorded last night?

Gettysburg! Karen thanks so much for giving that added info about the

costumes etc being accurate. I was thrilled as my 11 yr son John

Frederick watched it with me and commented on the sadness of war.

Needless to say I have a million answered questions now!

Debbie, in regards to prices of fabrics during the civil war and your

comment:

" At almost $20 a yard the south was suffering.  It was written that a

woman in the South saw a piece of cotton for $20 a yard and bought 5

yards just because she could not stand to be with out such nice fabric

anymore."

It might interest you all to know that here in Australia, this  or even

$22 is what we are paying for the Civil War fabrics, as well as other

great quilting fabrics e.g Shelburne museum collection, Moda's,

Hoffman's etc ! And exactly, as that lady in the South mentioned, at

times we do buy a lot and spend huge amounts as at times we just feel we

cannot do without a particular fabric! Imagine the guilt we go through

with UFO's at this price!!

TTFN, Hiranya :> from Sydney, Australia

P.S. Re Diane Leon's wonderful quilts for sale, I want to contact a

museum here so that, that c.1880Aussie quilt hopefully can be purchased

and brought home as we have such a minuscule quantity of such Aussie

Quilt treasures.

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

Date: Sun, 07 Feb 99 00:43:08 PST

From: "dhaynes5" <dhaynes5@rmi.net

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

Date: Sun, 07 Feb 1999 08:52:30 -0500

From: "jawhite@courant.infi.net" <jawhite@courant.infi.net>

To: Quilt History list <QHL@cuenet.com>

I sounds like you have done extensive research into this subject;

however, $20.00 a yard for cotton fabric is a hefty price today.  I

can't imagine a Southern lady, particularly during the end time of the

Civil War, paying $20.00 a yard for fabric, let alone $100.00 for five

yards.  Just an observation.

Judy White - CT

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

Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 09:41:22 EST

From: QuiltFixer@aol.com

Just had to share that I just purchased a very interesting Redwork Quilt that

has all the blocks from the 1901 Pan American Exposition in Brooklyn, NY What

an exciting addition to my Redwork Program and collection.  It has the most

marvelous buildings that were built just for the exposition.  Sadly, it is

also remembered for being the place where President McKinley was shot.  It has

the President and his wife, Vice President Teddy Roosevelt and his wife, and

the building where McKinley was shot. I owe a great big thank you to our

member, Eileen Trestain, (who, by the way is the author of "Dating Fabrics.")

Eileen alerted me about the quilt and I finally chased it down in Illinois.

This really ties in with my Program Title which is  "Redwork, History

Revisited." Just had to share this little bit of happiness and excitement with

you. 

Toni Baumgard

QuiltFixer@aol.com

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

Date: Sun, 07 Feb 1999 10:01:56 +0400

From: Xenia Cord <xecord@netusa1.net

For those of us who are building libraries of quilt history books, may I

recomment Old Nova Scotian Quilts (1995), a museum catalog by Scott

Robson and Sharon MacDonald.  It is based on the collection of the Nova

Scotia Museum (Robson is a curator), with some additions.  Seems well

researched (MacDonald) and beautifully photographed, with lots of

additional historical and biographical data, photos, diagrams and so on

- a nice look at Nova Scotian quilting life and history.  A printed

endorsement from Nancy Cameron Armstrong on the back cover.

Because of NS's geographic, social, and political connections in

history, the quilts show relationships to British quilts as well as to

those of New England.  And those ties are noted and discussed.

I got my copy through Dave McGee, at http://www.angelfire.com/ns/books

I have just emailed him and he reports that there are only a few copies

available, and that the museum has only a few and no plans at present ot

reprint.  Back cover shows a price of $24.95; 112 pages with extensive

endnotes, bibliography of primary and secondary sources, and index. 

No association, just a satisfied customer who is happy to add this book

to a growing library.

Xenia

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

Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 15:28:34 -0000

From: "Sally Ward" <sward@t-ward.demon.co.uk>

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

Date: Sun, 07 Feb 1999 07:55:23 -0800

From: "Julia D. Zgliniec" <rzglini1@san.rr.com>

To: russhill@ctesc.net

CC: Xenia Cord <xecord@netusa1.net>, BQL@onelist.com, QHL@cuenet.com

Subject: Re: QHL: "Civil War" fabrics

Message-ID: <36BDB76A.9659F7ED@san.rr.com>

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

Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Dear Debbie and All,

I can recommend an excellent book that discusses textile production in

the south and addresses the Civil War Era.  It is:

Mississippi Homespun - Nineteenth Century Textiles and the Women Who

Made Them.  Mary Edna Lohrenz and Anita Miller Stamper. 1989.

Mississippi Department of Archives and History.  ISBN 0-938896-56-3

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

Date: Sun, 07 Feb 1999 09:16:21 +0000

From: Bobbie Aug <qwltpro@uswest.net>

To: dhaynes5 <dhaynes5@rmi.net>

CC: Dale E Watts <dpwatts@ott.net>, QHL <QHL@cuenet.com>

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

Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 11:36:46 EST

From: Cml791@aol.com

While researching family history in Marion Co., AL I came across some

information about a thread manufacturer that was rebuilt in 1868, the original

having been burned during the Civil War.  About 30 people worked on its

spindle outlay as cotton fiber was woven into thread.  The thread was peddled

all over Alabama by ox cart.  The name was Allen's Factory.  The article said

it was a thriving factory for many years but I don't know if that was pre- or

post-civil war or a combination. 

Carolyn in spring-like Texas 

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

Date: Sun, 07 Feb 1999 10:41:32 -0600

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

 I too have to add a comment here. My grandmother turned 94 this past

September and it just so happened that my 12 YO DD had to do a "Gift of

Age" interview...with someoneover the age of "50" for her language class.

Her teacher is a sweet *young* thing of 22 <G>.....anyway we started the

interview at Susie Violet's birthday party  with my mother and aunt present

and finished it up 2 weeks later at my grandmothers residence at Juliet

Fowler Home for the Aged......we found that she never had a drivers

license, but she did drive the car once, 12 miles to visit her parents when

my grandfather was working at Ft. Hood in Killeen...she was born in Texas,

lived in Temple or around Central Texas and never visited the Capitol

building in Austin until last year when my mother took her and my daughters

to see the renovation.  She also never had seen the ocean until my mother

and aunt took her for her first plane ride to Galveston on her 90th

birthday .....she had all kinds of wonderful stories to tell about growing

up on the farm, picking cotton and making quilts, pictures of the log house

that they live in for a year or so in 1913 in Kingsville in South Texas

(where the wolf came in and licked her on the face and when she woke,

jumped back out the window.....)

I transcribed it and we color copied all of the old photos that were

applicable to the text and Kaitlyn made a 110 on the project. Her teacher

copied it as an example of what they were looking for for future

classes......Unfortunately, my other grandparents (My GF worked for the

Agriculture department and traveled all over the world, and to Russia and

stayed with Kruchev at his "palace" back in the 40's or 50's...see I

dont'even know exactly when)  they passed away when I was in high school

and didn't appreciate or understand the importance of their

experiences.....I'm thoroughly convinced that God  created us backwards,

when we have the energy to do things we don't have the wisdom to see the

opportunity. When we have the wisdom we don't have the energy or the

opprotunity is gone.......

Laura

.At 04:58 PM 2/6/99 -0500, you wrote:

>I just want to reiterate what Heather said about getting your stories down

>on tape from the elderly about quilts, genealogy or anything else and make

>transcripts. My grandmother died at the age of 85 this past October. I was

>in the process of typing up everything she ever told me, doing scrapbooks

>on genealogy, information on quilting, etc. I thought I had a ton of

>information.  Ever since she passed on I keep wondering "why wasn't I

>listening? how come I didn't think to get more information?" As Heather so

>aptly put it, "Ask now or regret later!"

>

>Rachel Greco

>Grandma's Attic Sewing Emporium, Inc.

>155 SW Court Street

>Dallas, OR  97338

>1-503-623-0451

>e-mail: GrandmasAttic@compuserve.com

>

>

>

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

Date: Sun, 07 Feb 1999 10:42:43 -0600

From: Russell-Hill <russhill@ctesc.net

Yes it is true.  I have to say that having grown up and lived up North

most of my life I never realized how much the South suffered.  Now that

I live in TX and learn of the atrostities that happened to many who

lived in my town during the War and having talked with many Southern

folk who reenact and have researched the war in the South I am learning

more.  Think about it. CT really never had a battle fought there.  MA

where I am from never had to suffer a battle of the CW.  We were not

refugees like so many from the South.  We didn't have soldiers coming

into our homes and stealing any of our goods reither we were black or

white.  I could go on,  I am beginning to understand why the South well

some of the South feels the way it does over this horrible time.

we go out there on Weekends and play but we are also trying to educate

the public as to the horrors of that war and to not let it happen

again.  We are part of a medical unit and if we can look out over the

crowd as we do our senerios and watch the faces and find one or two with

tears in their eyes or see terror in their eyes we have done our "job".

The more people we can touch the better and we are getting our message

across. I will get off my soap box for now.

Debbie

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

Date: Sun, 07 Feb 1999 11:48:52 -0500

From: "jawhite@courant.infi.net" <jawhite@courant.infi.net>

I just want to add a little note to this thread.  Both of my parents are

still living and in their 80's and the last time I went home, I asked my

dad to write down everything he could remember about his relatives (he

is the surviving member of 8 children.)  So he did that for me, but when

I got back to New England, I had many questions because I realized that

a lot of what he wrote down was different from what he had told me

orally over the years.  This precipitated many phone calls.  The point

is when you finally get the information, whether on tape or on paper,

don't put it away until a later date.  Please look at it immediately

because I guarantee you will probably have a lot of questions that

require more answers.

Another thing - I'm sure we all have boxes and albums of pictures of

people in our family and our parents have these same boxes and albums of

people that we don't even know.  Ask them to put the names of the people

on the pictures and a date, at leastthe year the picture was taken.  The

longer they wait to do this, the less they remember who some of these

people are in the photographs and that information will be lost to us

forever.  In my case, I am an only child so I have no one else to ask

who may remember.

Judy White

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

Date: Sun, 07 Feb 1999 12:29:10 +0400

From: Xenia Cord <xecord@netusa1.net

As a sidebar to the discussion on recording your family histories, are

you all aware of a project called "Boxes Under the Bed"?  It is a

national movement to record - at the grass roots level - the personal

histories of quilters, and to analyze the boxes of quilt ephemera we all

have, and that we use for inspiration and patterns.  The project was

begun by the Alliance for American Quilts (remember the Smithsonian

quilt controversy?) and the Library of Congress National Folklife

Center.  They have embarked on an ambitious plan to teach quilters at

the local level to interview themselves and their friends, to archive

the collected interviews at the local level, and to use those materials

in a meaningful way.  They provide professional instructions, handouts,

and interview examples at the sessions they teach.

I do have an interest in this.  A session of Boxes Under the Bed will be

offered at Quilt America in July, and will be led by Merikay Waldvogel.

Shelly Zegart (Alliance member) will introduce the session, Indiana

University folklorist Dr. Susanne Ridlen will demonstrate interviewing

techniques while interviewing a long-time quilter, and Merikay will be

facilitator, analyze the ephemera shared by those attending, and share

her expertise on our place in our own quilt history.

This session will be offered on Saturday, July 10, all day (9-12, 2-5).

I think it is a great chance for all of us to share with our guilds and

quilting groups the importance of documenting ourselves.  Anyone

interested can email me privately.

Xenia

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

Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 10:43:25 -0700

From: Elaine Baglo <elainb@pinc.com

I'd like to add my .02 cents worth in here too. Like in Australia, the

fabric prices in Canada are outrageous too. Here in Victoria, the prices

start around $17.98 a metre and go up. If you want to buy some of the

Japanese fabrics, the prices are sometimes as high as $26. a metre.

Needless to say, a lot of quilters make do with fq's of fabric rather than

buying yardage. Believe me, it's bad enough paying $5.00 for a fq.

Elaine

elainb@pinc.com

in Victoria, B.C., where we actually have some blue sky and sunshine today!

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

Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 18:41:40 EST

From: JBQUILTOK@aol.com

To: QHL@cuenet.com

Subject: QHL: Re: Pan Am Exposition

Message-ID: <ec2df5c3.36be24b4@aol.com>

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

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Willa Barnowski did a lot of research into red work quilts & wrote Historical

Penny Squares that was published by AQS a few years ago.  Her research started

in Western New York, where, as you can imagine, quilts made from the Pan Am

Expo are more common.  I've seen several examples when I've been able to get

to quilt shows in that part of the country. 

Also, I've never needed benefit of a tape recorder to remember my grandmother

telling about her memories of THAT event.  They were planning to take the

train into Buffalo from a town about 20 miles away the next day.  Then they

heard about McKinley having been shot & all the trains shut down so they

couldn't go.  Gee, I might have had some of the original penny squares if

she'd been able to go.  Instead, the only mystery needle work I have from her

is a square with several names written on it & about 1/2 of them have had

embroidery done over  them.  Can't place any of the names, so can't figure out

how old she was when it was done.

Janet

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

Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 19:19:43 -0600

From: "Brian/Jen Schmidt" <brian_jen@prodigy.net>

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

Subject: QHL: "Civil War" fabrics

Message-ID: <005301be5301$1d684d00$59e89cd1@BRIAN_JEN>

>May I inject an historical note about the current fad for "Civil War"

>fabrics?

>Bottom line?  We probably should not be talking about "Civil War"

>fabrics, but rather "C.W.-era" cotton prints, pre-1861, and in the

>latter years of the 1860s, as production and manufacturing were

>haltingly resumed.  What do the rest of you think?

As a novice to quilt history, I've found this latest thread to be particularly

interesting because my small quilting group is beginning a row-by-row round robin,

and I have requested that only "Civil War" reproduction fabrics be used for my

project.  I had been ignorant of the difficulties many women had in obtaining cotton

fabric.  Now I have a new appreciation for the reproduction fabric I've come to favor

lately.

Also, as a novice to quilt history in general and fabric history in particular, I

consider myself a "layman" on this list.  My profession or reputation doesn't require

me to distinguish between "Civil War" and "Civil War era" labels for this type of

reproduction fabric.  Likewise, I don't usually refer to the reproductions of 1920s,

30's, or 40s fabrics as "Pre-/Mid-/Post-Depression"  repro. fabrics.  My quilting

friends understand me when I say "Depression" or "Depression Era" fabrics.  So, as

I've been explaining what kinds of fabrics I'd like for my round robin project, I've

been referring to them as "Civil War" fabrics.  My small group gets the idea of the

colors, texture, and tone of fabric I want; and they do understand that all that kind

of fabric wasn't necessarily produced during the Civil War.  The term "Civil War",

being such a major event in U.S. history, has come to represent more years in many

quilters' minds than the four years the actual war lasted.

My point is (and I do have one) that the finer distinctions (such as "pre-1861",

"latter 1860s" or even a decade before or after) aren't necessary for me to describe

that kind of fabric.  But, as I mentioned before, it could be important to do so for

professional textile historians whose reputations are based on the finer

distinctions.  And it does, indeed, make for an interesting history lesson.  Thanks.

Jennifer

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

Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 21:37:22 EST

From: SadieRose@aol.com

To: QHL@cuenet.com

Subject: Re: QHL: "Civil War" fabrics

Message-ID: <3339d276.36be4de2@aol.com>

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

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Hello, 

   I have found the discussion on Civil War era fabrics

interesting...following is a post I sent to the Dear Jane e-mail list last

summer, when we had a discussion of what fabrics were "appropriate" to that

time period.  Thought it might be of interest to QHL as well.  Although my

comments are directed to the Dear Jane quilt (from the book by Brenda

Papadakis - the original quilt was made by Jane Stickle & completed in 1863),

I think most of them are pertinent to any reproduction piece. 

<<Date: Thu, 6 Aug 1998 20:29:14 EDT

To: dearjane-list@dearjane.com

Subject: DJ  Period Fabrics

Greetings, everyone!!

    Have read several posts about fabrics appropriate to the Civil War era,

etc.  Textile history is one of the facets of quiltmaking that really

fascinates me!  I think we have to keep in mind, that any "sampler" quilt,

such as Jane's, probably contained fabrics that were manufactured over a

period of years.  I am making quilts in 1998, but my fabric stash contains

fabrics I have collected since the early 1970's.  When I make a scrap quilt,

there are going to be fabrics in it from quite a time span.  I'm sure that

was true of Jane's quilt, too.  Certainly there are colors & designs that can

give us a clue to the vintage of the fabric, but it is an "educated guess" at

best.

    If you read the printed information available on the current repro

collections, it is really interesting.  I have a 8 page brochure put out by

RJR Fabrics with info on "The Ann Robinson Collection".   Did you know

that of the 13 patterns in this collection, only 4 are actually taken from the

Ann Robinson quilt?  Here is a quote from the brochure "To give more variety

to the collection, additional patterns were recreated from other quilts,

garments and bedcovers from the late 18th century and early 19th century." 

 Ann's quilt was made in "3 months and 26 days" starting on Oct. 1, 1813. 

Ann's quilt, with hundreds of appliqued leaves, is surely made up of fabrics

that were manufactured prior to 1813....but some of them could have been 20 years old, too! 

    Four more of the patterns in the RJR "Ann Robinson Collection" are taken

from a "nine patch scrap quilt made by Abbey Hall in the early 19th century".

This quilt must not be quite as photogenic, as it was not selected to be the

"poster child" for this collection....but it contributed an equal number of

fabric motifs.    Another one of the fabrics, the "Plume", was taken from a

handsewn child's dress from the 1830's, which is in the Shelburne Museum's

collection.  Two more patterns were taken from a block printed Indian

Palampore! 

    So, within the "Ann Robinson Collection" you have designs from a wide

variety of sources, and a one hundred year time span!!   Good, bad or

indifferent??  If you think you can use fabrics from one (or more) of these

"collections" and be "safe" because they all were from the same quilt,

therefore the same time period... you can't.  Also, as Janet mentioned...they

may do one coloration that is similar to the original...but then there are

other colorways which may be chosen more for their appeal to quilters of

today, than for their historical accuracy. 

    If you are trying to be "historically accurate" with the colors & designs

you choose for your quilts, it will take a lot of (fun) research...you can't

rely on the fabric companies to do that for you.  I am using some reproduction

prints, as well as other fabrics (woven plaids, for example) that would be

appropriate, but aren't represented in the current repro collections.  My

quilt is just that....MY QUILT.  I am using colors and fabrics I want... just

as Jane used colors & fabrics that she liked, that were available to her.  I

would say that my quilt will be "inspired by" or "in the style of" Jane

Stickle's quilt.  We each can choose how we want our quilts to look...

just be aware that if you are really trying to use fabric motifs & colors to

make  a "Civil War era" quilt, it isn't quite as easy as just buying from certain

collections. 

    Another thing to consider, is the color choices WE make...there are

chartreuse fabrics out there today, but you won't find any of them making

their way into MY quilts :)   I'm sure that each quilter, of any generation,

has likes & dislikes in color & pattern...that would affect the appearance of

her quilt.  Also, most antique fabrics have undergone some color change, due

to the dyes or mordants used, or the effect of light on the fabric (fading or

color changes can both be caused by light). 

    So, learn as much as you can....but don't let it spoil the enjoyment you

get out of making YOUR quilt!!   If you want to learn more about fabric

history, "Clues in the Calico" by Barbara Brackman is a must.  Happy Stitching!!  Karan (aka SadieRose)  >>

Since I wrote this, Eileen Trestain's book "Dating Fabrics - A Color Guide

1800-1960" has been published, and I would definitely include this as a

resource, too. 

Karan  from sunny Iowa

[ 99038 ]