Eastern Shore Quilt Study Group

The Eastern Shore Quilt Study Group met on Wednesday at the Caroline County Public Library. I left a whole lot smarter than I was when I arrived thanks to a great presentation by Fran Mayhew on fiber identification. I figured out a long time ago that I don't need to know everything I just have to know the people who do. Fran has taught textile science at the University of Delaware for 27 years and has been a member of ESQSG almost from the start. I suspect there was a whole lot of burning going on when everybody got home. Since we meet in the library we couldn't do burn tests on the spot, but Fran gave each of us a packet of samples. She presented an amazing amount of information in an hour and gave us beautifully organized handouts that will make remembering and applying what we learned much easier.


Nancy Hahn brought antique optical tools (linen testers, etc..), things of beauty in themselves.


Of course, we made time for Show and Tell. I brought my Keystone Friendship Quilt from Punxsutawney, PA. It's the prettiest church fund raiser quilt ever: green appliquéd keystones, embroidered bunches of golden rod and 250 names embroidered in purple. It was this quilt that started my love affair with signature quilts and introduced me to the excitement of researching them.


We saw a 1790s English framed center linen quilt with no batting and penciled indo details in some fabrics. Since we love all textiles we were thrilled to see two paisley shawls. A friendship quilt of complex and possibly original pieced blocks which we thought was probably Chester Co., PA turns out to have been made on Cape Cod. A contemporary album quilt with designs adapted from various sources is in the process of being hand quilted. I bet we'll be seeing it on the cover of a magazine. One of our new members brought a rescued Carolina Lily, late 19th century. It was thrown on the ground for a picnic and when the new owner protested her hostess gave it to her. It's in great shape except that the green has faded almost to white, very nice quilting.


A lovely, circa 1830, Delectable Mountains in two elegant fabrics (pink and brown prints) had a paper cut star in the center. It came from the Mary Baldwin estate in Middletown, CT. Our killer researcher Andrea is going to find out more.


Ginseng and Roses came from Wisconsin, circa 1860. Several examples of "botanicals" like this were made in WI during the Civil War and finished, as is this one, as summer spreads. There's a paper here for AQSG.


Polly brought her two Texas college quilts: one made from A&M uniforms in 1928, the other made in 1936 features crayon scenes taken from true romance-type magazines made for a girl headed to East TX State. There was a spirited discussion about whether a very worn but still lovely 1850 appliqué was a Pineapple, a Strawberry or an Artichoke. whatever, it has a triple swag (watermelon) border and a scalloped edge (how common was that mid-century?).


The prize for best story goes to Madge Ziegler. She has one quarter of a 4-block quilt made in Gap, PA in the early 20th century which has two old and very angular ladies sitting in orange chairs. Remember a pattern of a few years ago called "The Gossips"? The story is that the maker Catharine Kauffman was engaged to a man who was going to send for her when he bought a farm. The message never came. In the 1950s they tore down the post office in Gap and found the letter which was delivered to Catharine. No word about the fate of the fiancé.


There was a 9-Patch from the Eastern Shore of VA which looked very PA with double blues and double pinks and a Pinwheel from Milford, DE (we are the Eastern Shore Quilt Study Group after all). A stunning Princess Feather, red, green and yellow, came from PA. A doll quilt cut from a very early (1st quarter 19th century) came with a canopy bed dressed in similar fabrics. A fascinating Medallion from Ohio, circa 1900, had a wide range of fabrics in a series of complex pieced frames--a real beauty.


We saw a warrant dated 1782 for the arrest of a woman who had stolen a quilted petticoat and three petticoats spanning a good part of the 19th century. A pair of twin size Pots of Tulips in peach and blue gave us something pretty to think about on the drive home.


Cinda on the Eastern Shore