The Midwest Fabric Study Group met on Sunday, September 25th, 2005 at the Daisy Barrel in Fairborn, Ohio. Our topic for the afternoon was quilts not made of cotton.

We began with a discussion about what other kinds of fabric one might find in a quilt and the connection to such fabric with clothing from the period. Our unofficial facilitator for the day gave each of us a two page reference table of different terms, dates, and descriptions of said fabric. We learned there is a difference between a weave structure and the name of a fabric (think satin). We also learned that some fabrics were woven with a different warp and weft such as challis. Challis can be a combination of wool/silk or wool/cotton. We learned that the term De Laine came after challis and it refers to very sheer wool. This term came in to vogue around 1836 according to the Oxford English Dictionary.

One of our members brought actual examples of a hank of linen, unprocessed wool, and real cotton bolls. Along with these fibers she also brought a mini microscope, which can be found at Radio Shack. We each took turns looking at the various fibers to see what differences we noticed. An interesting observation we had was that the hank of linen felt unusually cool to the touch when compared to the other fibers. We were also each given three pieces of fabric to use as study pieces to see if we could identify the fiber content after having studied the raw fibers!

After our initial information session, we started the day with a wool challis dress, and a child's dress in a similar floral stripe style print. Next was a very long woven wool paisley shawl in rich reds and black. Our first quilt was a richly colored wool log cabin quilt done in the barn raising setting in shades of red, browns, greens and blues with magenta center squares. The back had an interesting brown and burnt orange printed wool paisley fabric which resembled what you might have seen in a paisley shawl. This same print appeared on the front in one of the log cabin rounds! This quilt had no batting and was bound with a red wool twill tape. This same tape was used as ties at the block intersections and was tied in neat little bows with the very center bow tied in the form of a modern style gift bow. We saw another wool log cabin with a decidedly Pennsylvania feel to it due to the pieced brown cotton stripe backing! It was set using the sunshine and shadows setting. The squares found near the center of the quilt were mostly green and tan solids with lavender centers. This quilt had a wide turquoise blue border we found to be interesting. Overall a very pleasing quilt.

Next we moved on to fabrics with a more slick texture. The first was an embroidered silk Ruby McKim flower garden quilt made by Ethel Trick of Kokomo, Indiana, in 1929-30. This quilt actually had a label on it from its original maker. It was made to go in a show and thus the label! We also saw an eBay purchase that looks to be Amish by the turquoise and orchid colors and block pattern. We believe it to be made from Dacron which would give it a 1950s circa date.

The quilt that was the most fun was an 1870 crazy quilt made in Warren County, Ohio. It was composed of the usual satins, brocades, and velvets. What made it fun was the 6+ inch ruffle along two edges!

Anyone will tell you, we never turn a quilt away no matter what it is! We wound up the day looking at some off topic show and tell. Our first was actually two different toile pieces that one of our lucky traveling members purchased on her recent trip to France with the textile study tour! The first piece was a quilted remnant piece featuring the monuments of Paris. See: The Monuments of Paris -Riffel, Melanie, and Sophie Rouart, La Toile de Jouy. Paris: Cidadelles & Mazenod, 2003. p. 185 - shows the Monuments of Paris toile and says it was manufactured by Soehnée l'Aîné et Cie, Mulhouse, Alsace, ca. 1816.

The second piece was a yardage piece featuring the story of Joseph. See: The Story of Joseph - Michele Palmer, Toile: The Storied Fabrics of Europe and America (Schiffer, 2003). She attributes the design to Oberkampf Printworks, ca. 1825, designed by F. Pieters, after Oberkampf. died. She says he avoided biblical subjects because he was Protestant and the country was Catholic, so the design was printed after his death.

We also got to see two books printed in French one on the subject of turkey red and the other early Provencal clothing styles.

Next was a hold over quilt from last meeting's topic of quilts with multitudinous pieces. This one was an ocean waves quilt with half-square triangles the size of a quarter! What a wonderful quilt.

The last two quilts we saw came from a member's father's collection. The first was a very graphic flying geese worked with white geese set in vertical rows and set with a double pink strip. Those white geese certainly popped off that pink background! The next from the same collection was a medallion style quilt almost a baby size done in red and white. The center was a small lone star with a border of half-square triangles followed by a red print border and finally a row of red and white flying geese. The back we found to be interesting as it was definitely a 1940-50s print however the red in the print matched the red in the front.

Our next meeting will be studying the color blue. So please bring any quilts, tops, blocks with the color blue in them! We will meet Saturday, November 19th, 2005 at the Brownsburg Public Library in Brownsburg, Indiana. C The meeting will start at 11:00 a.m. as usual. Also, remember to bring a brown bag lunch.