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Red & Yellow Head Wraps: Observations
Painted by Francois Malepart de Beaucourt, 1786This Haitian woman probably sold fruit in an outdoor marketĀ in traditional African/American dress. Few peopleĀ went in public without a head covering,...
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Quilt Style: Wool Pre-Cuts
Ā Utilitarian bedcovers pieced of wool rectangles are oneof the very common styles we come across. They are notglamorous or valuable but they are warm.Relations to the far more popular crazy quilt,...
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Mary Woodburn Greeley, Hand Weaver
Ā Library of CongressMary Woodburn Greeley (1788-1855)probably taken in the early 1850s, from a scratchedĀ daguerreotype produced byĀ Mathew Brady's studioMatthew Brady (1823-1896) had a goal of...
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PiƱata: One of a Kind?
Ā Is this mid-20th-century quilt one of a kind?I found it on Judy Howard's Facebook page where she posted several quilts in 2016. She had a shop Buckboard Quilts out of Oklahoma City ---I think she's...
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Greens: What Could Go Wrong?
Ā Let's say it's 1890 and you want to make one of these popular rose quilts. You'll need some Turkey red, something for contrast like a pink, yellow or orange. And of course a lot of green for all those...
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Mittie Barrier's Barnyard Crazy Quilts
McKissick Museum CollectionMary MitabelleĀ Agner spent 1917 embroidering a crazy quilt.Mittie Agner Barrier (1894-1977)Mittie was 17 years old in 1917, the first year that American troops went to Europe...
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Chintzes in a Sunflower Quilt
Ā A lot going on here in this sunflower quilt in the collection ofMichigan's Marquette Regional History Center.Photos are from the Quilt Index and the Michigan project.The files don't have much...
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Researching a Quilt Pattern
Lesley had a question about a quilt pattern. She was looking for the history of the "Attic Windows" design. HerĀ request for information is an opportunity to discuss "How to Research a Pattern."Ā The...
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Folky Quilts and the Term Folkart
Block in a late-20th-century sampler quilt advertised as "Folky"The term Folk Art is often used to describe quilts or other forms of artistic expression. But it's complicated.I feel the term Folk Art...
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Jackson's Heart: Not A Valentine
Ā When looking for meaning in antique quilts we try to read the mind of the maker.Ā The standard reaction to a heart-shape image is the theme of romantic love.Ā Many mind readers would guess that the...
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Eby Byers's Quilt?
Quilt in collection of the National Museum of American HistoryĀ at the SmithsonianIn the center is an inked block with much information, including a date of 1837. We do not have many surviving quilts...
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Freedom Quilts & The Civil Rights Era
Ā Freedom Quilt by Jessie Bell Williams Telfair (1913-1986)Ā Georgian Jessie Telfair made at least four versions of this dramatic narrative quilt before her death in 1986. One recently sold at a Brunk...
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Silk Eagle Quilt #1: To London?
Ā In 1927 an artist depicted a Kentucky quilt sent toĀ London'sĀ 1851Ā Crystal Palace Exposition. The artist did not know much aboutĀ quilts---patchwork of simple rectangles did not get invited to...
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Silk Eagle Quilt #2 From Washington?
Kent State University CollectionYesterday we looked at this silk quilt with an eagle in the center, which fits a description of a famous Kentucky quilt shown at several state fairs and chosen to...
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Silk Eagle Quilt #3: To Medina, Ohio
Ruth Ebright Finley (1884-1955)Portrait of Ruth Finley for her publicity tour in 1929 from widely printed feature by Hortense Saunders for the Newspaper Enterprise Association syndicate.Ā We have been...
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Silk Eagle Quilt # 4 : To the White House?
Sometimes a rather elaborate fabrication springs from a fact. We find no evidence that the eagle quilt had any association with Elizabeth Keckley but was it associated with her friend and client Mary...
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Silk Eagle Quilt #5: New Look at Elizabeth Keckley's "Autobiography"
Ā We've discussed Elizabeth Keckly's relationship to this silk quilt,concluding that there is no evidence she had anything to do with it.Elizabeth Keckly (1818-1907 ) portrait,Ā frontispiece of Behind...
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Cats on Quilts: What's It Mean?
Ā Regina Jobes, New York sampler applique dated 1849Mary ProudThere is some symbolism going on here I am guessing.I may be wrong but something is going on.The cat, the lily or tulip?Both a good sign the...
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1909 Emaus, Pennsylvania
Ā Garth's AuctionsCorner of an Emaus, Pennsylvania quilt dated 1909.The style and strip pattern pieced of solids sometimes called Joseph's Coat isa Pennsylvania regionalism.In the summer of 1909 Emaus...
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Geometry Mystery
Ā You have a circular design here, one we'd call a Mariner's CompassHow are you going to set the circle into a quilt?We'd draft 4 corner shapes to fit it into a square.Circular designs can be pieced...
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