A Scrap Bag Full of Varied Info & Offerings - Keeping You in the Know :)

Hi Everyone! Grab a cup of java or glass of whatever and settle in with me.

1.) Have you heard the sad news that Cranston (VIP) closed its printing division in their Webster, Mass company? This means that there are no companies in America printing cotton fabric for apparel and quilters. Their textile mill began around 1812, almost 200 years ago. "The plant, which still rolls out 20 million yards of printed cloth a year for people who sew at home, once employed more than 700 people."

I have had the pleasure of taking a tour through their plant three times beginning in 1997 and I was always Wowed. They grew with the times, changing and improving their machinery and adding computerized dye coloring of the roller screen printing machines and all other aspects they could computerize, they did. I saw fewer employees on each visit and no smoking went into affect.

Cranston was not weaving cotton cloth, they imported it from overseas, but all the printing was done there with the design division in NYC. Now foreign companies will also do their printing, just as all the other former quilt fabric manufacturers have done. They will only package and distribute the textiles they design from their US facilities. You can see a short video of their machinery in process and read more about their history and closing here.

2.) AQSG is offering all of the UNCOVERINGS they have in stock at 50% off through June. The order form is in a PDF, to print it out and mail in. Contact AQSG's website to find the link UC JUNE SALE.PDF This is a great deal.

3.) Beth Davis sent me this article in response to my increasing interest in the publishing world, thank you Beth! It was written today by the managing director of one the finest art and textile book publishers, Thames and Hudson. Jamie Camplin writes [bolding is my emphasis]

"If we moan about “dumbing down” in the face of the visual noise that comes our way daily, it only means that we are living in the age of “more”—more that is mediocre, but also more that is astonishingly creative.

Art has a very strong hand to play in the 21st century. In an era in which technology makes most products more uniform but in which printing technology can show art’s strengths as never before, in which fragmenting marketplaces and marketing platforms need all the help they can get, and in which the power of the visual to sway emotions has never been stronger, art’s distinctiveness, creativity and originality give any art-book programme a strong start." (the complete article is here)

4.) Camplin's statement gives me hope that beautiful textile and quilt books will continue to be published and that novice authors, quilters, and other creative people can publish too, online as eBooks, self-published or through traditional publishers. All three have their place. All three have pros and cons for an author to consider in determining which is a better fit for her.

If you have the desire to be an author, are writing your book now,or want to sell the one you have now, get this free report about building your author platform online, written by Joanna Penn, a favorite writer and blogger of mine.

Click on the icon above to read her description of the free report. If it sounds good, then you'll know if you want to buy the tutorial, Author 2.0. It is video, audio, and written text. All learning styles can use it. I highly recommend you get the free report!

Joanna just published "Author 2.0" which both shows and tells anyone how to market their book, beginning before it's written. Publishing houses expect you to put your marketing plan and current platform into any book proposal you submit. If you self publish this is also a must do for you. It can be fun!!

She will be my guest in a free open lines Tele-class, with a slide show, this Thursday, June 4th at 4 PM Pacific time, 7 PM Eastern. It's fr.ee. Ask her questions or email me with them in advance. The call-in info, conference code and link to slide show is here now. The class will be recorded and available on WOQ in the Audio Interview Library.

Joanna is internet savvy. She learned by authoring 3 books and speaks clearly, simply, and to the point. She gives you lots of info about using the internet to your benefit to increase sales and get your words in the hands of people who will enjoy and benefit from your hard work of writing a book!

Get her free report (click the icon above) about the state of the publishing world and what you can do with WEB 2.0, crucial info for marketing through social media and the newest internet forms of media and learn more about the business model for today's market.

6.) When you are feeling down quilting can lift you up again for reasons you might not expect is the title of an article I wrote over the weekend. Read it on Womenfolk's web site. Here is a snippet of my favorite tip for relieving stress from a recent UCLA study, but applicable to quilters during these economic times:

"The friendship effect on females natural response to stress was recently demonstrated in a university's landmark study which showed that different chemicals than in male brains are released during these times of bonding. Oxytocin is the natural occurring chemical released in a woman's brain when she gives birth, breastfeeds and cares for children. The chemical dulls pain and buffers the automatic "flight or flight" chemical response. The numerous opportunities for meaningful conversations and sharing of feelings happen during a girl's night out,...."

Read the rest of my article here. From that page click on Frugal Quilts for patterns and more articles about the past and present.

In closing, I hope you are enjoying reading CHANGING TIMES:Women's Stories 1902-1942. Click the title or the icon on the upper left of this page will download it for you to read online or print out to read in a cozy chair. Lot's of wonderful comments are coming in about it. Please comment here on Quilter's Spirit.**

Wishing you each a fulfilling and creative week!

Kim

**It's easy to make a comment: See the word Comment below? If there is a number other than 0 next to it, click it to read the comments already posted, and a box for you to put in your comment in also comes up. You can write it anonymously or with your name. Please don't solicit your products there, instead hyperlink your blog or web site URL to your name. The comment box makes it very easy for you to do that if you don't already know how. Readers who are interested in knowing more about you because your comment is interesting and relevant will click on your name to "meet" in your territory. (hint-comments done this way are good for marketing)

Women's Historical Fiction Challenge E-Book is Here! Download Yours Now

Women On Quilts' Creative Writing Challenge - Changing Times: Women's Stories 1902-1942

This special digital book is for you. Click on the cover and enjoy!

16 fictional stories written by 14 women about women who create and live at a tough time in our history. Complete with period photos & quilts, plus personal thoughts from the writer's & judge's about their stories. 53 pages.

You can read it online or download and print it out. Send it to your friends in your book club. Put it on your blog, an icon is available. The women in the stories are the types we want our daughters to know about too,  share it with them.

I'll let the book tell you the rest. I welcome, no encourage, your comments below. Which stories touched your heart and why? Let us know. All are deserving. Warning, have tissue handy.

Soon the finalists will be guests on a tele-interview on Women On Quilts. It will be an open discussion. First I want to give you the time to read the stories. Stay tuned for the date and time by subscribing for my occasional email alerts. They won't flood your inbox.

Julie Silber will be my guest interview on June 15.

The Mouse Lost! Results of the Repaired 1840-50s Quilt Top

Hi Everyone!

The results are in and I couldn't be happier with the repaired look of my acid green sashed quilt top. I took pictures throughout to show you my process. I am no pro at this, but it worked I am pleased  to say. The close match of fabric made all the difference. We are very lucky to have such an option today. And it doesn't hurt, that many patches made before us, which didn't match, we find to be precious. So even at closest range, my patch-work is precious.

First a reminder of what it looked like before.

 

 

 

First, I trimmed away only those ends that would make bumps on the top patch. I ironed everything flat before trimming and I saved the trimmed pieces. GUILT!

I made a patch the entire length of the blocks next to the sashing and stitched it on with the green facing up. the edges were turned under with a wide seam allowance and I made the piece ever so slightly larger than the original sashing. I hand-sewed it down from the top stitching through the seam. this means that the edges on the back side are freer in some areas and the stitching is right at the edges in others. Nothing is square in old tops!! this was my way of going with the flow of the years and wear.

 I put it in a hoop and I hand-stitched all those loose edges (in the 3rd photo above) down to the back piece I sewed on first. That's why I put it face up.The bit of white you can see are the turned edges of the seams.

There are tons of tiny stitches holding the little chomped pieces down with matching green DMC thread.

Lastly,  I sewed the final template of acid green fabric across the same space, sewing it as close to the same size as the original, but the brown woven plaid fabric had pulled away and was thread bare, so I darned that area to strengthen it.

In the end, this new patch served two purposes, to cover the mouse hole repair and to correct the failing seam.

Next I am going to repair this area in the top. There are two crocking triangles in this block. I made the paper triangle templates, each being different. Then I cut the fabric, turned the edges under, basted and just need to sew them down to the seams surrounding the triangles there now.

It would do not good to sew the new fabric on top of the rotting brown fabric. I decided not to cover it up with a back patch because it is so beautiful.

When I put the top on my lounge chair for the photos I turned around to see this, my kitty Haley watching over the repair in process on the left side, or was he actually hoping for another mouse visit?

 

I have kept you apprised about the creative writing challenge and fundraiser on Women On Quilts.The results of this challenge are in too, so take a peek to see who wrote the stories you will be reading in the eBook I am putting together for a fr.ee download of pure enjoyment.

Welsh Quilt collector Jen Jones is Opening A Center for Welsh Quilts in West Wales this July PLUS Updates on Former Topics

  The Jen Jones Welsh Quilt Centre will open in The Town Hall, Lampeter, West Wales  on July 28th 2009.

 1.Town Hall from High street (before restoration)

 

Jen Jones, the famous collector of old quilts made in Wales, is opening a center for the study and display of Welsh quilts!! (Be sure to hover your cursor over the photos on the link above to see more of gorgeous Jen's quilts.)

The first exhibition will feature quilts entirely from The Jen Jones Collection and will be representative of the entire spectrum of Welsh quilting.

The Old Courtroom on the first floor makes a fantastic exhibition space. The gallery entrance on the ground floor

2. A pink satin cotton quilt made in Cardiganshire in 1933. The central medallions surrounded by various patterns with fans predominant. Jen Jones Collection 

will house an exciting new shop featuring superb copies of some of Jen's famous geometric flannel quilts. These are being made by a women's group working through a convent in Ethiopia. The other Courtroom provides a wonderful place for classes and talks.

  3. Detail of a tailor's sample Welsh quilt with red stitching Made by Davies Brothers of  Llanelli, 1875-80 Jen Jones Collection

 

4. Lovely early Victorian Patchwork from Cilgerran Cardiganshire.

Jen Jones Welsh Quilt Centre
Phone 0044(0)1570 480 610
email quilts@jen-jones.com
web site www.jen-jones.com

Photograph captions, photos courtesy of Jen Jones

Updates about the Story Challenge and Ghost Hunt Tour

Ghost Quilt Show on Hold & Creative Writing Challenge Reminder

Thank you to everyone who wrote me behind-the-scenes and in comments on the blog. I loved hearing your thoughts about ghosts and spirits in textiles and homes, and talking about your personal experiences. But alas, no photos came in for our show and tell.

In reptrospect this may be in part due to Sat. landing on a holiday weekend. I told you I have been super busy and it didn't occure to me until a few people said they would be away for Easter. May you all have a blessed Sunday.

As a result, I won't be holding a phone or webcast talk on Sat. ,prior to my first ghost hunt, but I talked some freinds into going, so we'll have a blast.

Do you want to hear about it? Do you want to schedule another ghost quilt show& tell? I could share my experience and have a show and tell if you have photos to share.

Let's open it up to any textiles or sewing or needlework that have a spirit attached, or so it seems possible to you. Let me know by commenting below or emailing.

TO COMMENT- click on the word comment below the blog post. If there is a number infront of it, taht tells how many people have commented. I would prefer if all the comments showed up on the post itslef, and I have set it that way in the settings section, but it doesn't work out. I love your comments and read every one.
Do you like a Sat. time or prefer a weekday evening?

The Writing Challenge- If you are writing a creative fictional women's story for the writing challenge, we love you!! I have received some wonderful stories. Thank you so much for joining in and sharing the words from your heart and mind. The deadline is April 20th about 12 days from today.

If you haven't tried to write a work of fiction, you are missing a joyful inner experience. let your imagination go, be in a place and time, with people you would love to be with, quilting, sewing, knitting, growing food, writing poems, whatever makes your heart sing. Do it in 1000 words or less and you have a chance to be published and interviewed on my WOQ with the others finalists. We'll have a great time!

Take the chance of risking your creativity, challenge yourself. Make a quilt inspired by your story, design it to reflect the feeling in your woman's story. Send in the photo and I'll blog it. No, I don't expect that this would be before the deadline, whenever is good.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!


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Ghost Quilts Online Show & Tell April 11, Saturday 10 AM Pacific Time & Project Runway's New Home

Ok I am going to share a secret with you, my subscribers- whom I hope know me well enough by now to understand my fascination and not get caught up in judgements. It's not for everyone I understand, but then neither is eating meat or hand quilting. I like to, really like to, read, watch and hear stories about ghosts and haunted places. I am big fan of Sci Fi channel's Ghost Hunters.

A couple of weeks ago, Grant and his partner Jason, the founders of TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society in Warwick RI) investigated Slater Mills to see if the ghosts and other supernatural reportings were genuine. Sure enough, some of the mill buildings are haunted! It was a great show. For example, they connected with a small child who was able to answer their test questions (about the room and description of the people in it) by making their small device light up, 1 for no, 2 for yes, or vice versa. If you haven't seen the show, at least go to their website and watch videos. Their equipment and techniques have changed over the years and it is fascinating. Ghosts, spirits, do exist.

This photo of the inside of Slater Mill was taken during an investigation by the Little Rhodies Paranormal Society.

I am going on my first ghost hunt a week from today, April 11, 2009. I am such a scaredy cat. I picked a day-time tour of haunted places in the town next to mine, which was built in the late 19th century. Sure, they have night tours, have for years. They have planned hunts at local adobes and ranches known to be haunted in order to record events they could track, but I'll start here in the light of day, thank you very much.

In light of this exciting event I am offering a Ghost Quilt online and on the phone Show & Tell. and guess what - BOO- you're it! or, your quilt is it. In honor of all the spirits connected to the quilts in our collections, new, old, those we have made, those we have received, this is your chance to bring them into the open and share their picture and story with others. In a hurry- scroll down to final paragraphs for specifics.

I am totally serious. I will take your photo on a first come first serve basis. One per each person. Send them to me right away and plan to be on line and on your phone both on Sat., the 11th, at 10 AM Pacific, noon Central and 1PM Eastern time. I am trying out a new interactive Webcast system , GoToWebinar. Those who show their quilts will be asked to talk about their quilt's ghost. Then afterward, I'll go off to join the ghost hunters in downtown Ventura with known ghost hunter and historian, Richard Senate. Check out his newsletter and podcasts He's been around a long time. He's written books together with his psychic wife, such as the true story of Lizzie Borden , and so much more. She has helped with criminal cases the police are confused by and they investigate private homes for spirits too.

Speaking of Lizzie Borden, Ghost Hunters the TV program investigated Lizzie Borden's house where the murders took place. See what you're missing :) The photo at the top of this article was taken during their investigation.

So, what constitutes a Ghost quilt? That's up to you. You know who you are. Have fun with it. You can make it up, or think you've made it up if it makes you feel any better telling us about the weird things that happen around this quilt or that happen when you sleep under it, or someone else sleeps under it.... The quilt you made and felt someone was looking over your shoulder the whole time, but wasn't visible. Or maybe there are ghosts on your quilts in the fabric and your story is about that. Whatever you want to share will be fun for the rest of us to see AND it gives me the chance to try out this webinar. Kristen Miller's haunted house quilt seen in the picture here is on the Stolen quilt site. It disappeared in March 2006. if you've seen it, her email is on the website.

***This will be free. There will be no recording afterward. It won't be free again after this trial version, so send in your photo, give me a glimpse of your story, and I'll let you know if "you're in or you're out." (a la Heidi Klume style in Project Runway, now will be on Lifetime TV instead of Bravo TV, starting this summer I read) but all of you can come watch. If no one sends in pics, there will be no show. Subscribe right now to receive the emails with the link and phone number to call on Sat. The subscribe opt-in is listed on the left of this post where you see SUBSCRIBE in big letters. Subscribe for emails,not RSS feed because you can easily miss that. I AM NOT GOING TO PUT THE PHONE NUMBER AND LINK ON THE BLOG but for long enough to send it to you. YOU MUST SUBSCRIBE TO EMAILS TO GET info FOR THIS EVENT. Remember, there won't be a recording or Webcast to view later using this technology.

****If I get a lot of entries, we can view and talk for longer than an hour, to 1.5 hrs. You can come and go, but you have to be there when your quilt is shown to tell your story. SO, when I email you to tell THAT YOU ARE IN, I WILL GIVE A NUMBER AND IT WILL CORRESPOND TO WHEN YOUR TURN WILL COME AND OU CAN PLAN ACCORDINGLY. SIZE YOUR PHOTOS BEFORE SENDING THEM. RESIZE THE ACTUAL VIEW SIZE TO 25% AND and SAVE IT ON YOUR END BEFORE SENDING IT TO ME. YOU MUST RESIZE TO THE 25% WHEN VIEWING THE PHOTO IN THE ACTUAL VIEW SIZE MODE ON YOUR END, THEN SAVE IT, OTHERWISE IT ISN'T SAVED TO THAT SIZE LIKE YOU THINK IT IS. I CAN ALWAYS ENLARGE IT IF NEEDED.

I hope we get some photos, 1 quilt person please, but if you should have 2 ghost quilts, let me know and if we have space I'll let you know to send that picture too. 2 photos per quilt, and send the second one if it adds value to the ghost story, otherwise please don't.

Any questions, contact me, but I am extremely busy these days, :) so please check to see if the answer is explained above already; I can't promise I'll take the time to answer if it is, I'll hopefully be busy uploading your photos into the webinar :)

Let's have fun ghost quilt hunting together next weekend!!

Kim

PS. I also follow ghostguide on twitter who is Melissa Van Rossum. She writes informative articles and books and does readings. I bought her book "All You've Ever Known." Aspects of her work remind me of the CBS drama's character Melinda as the Ghost Whisperer.

PSS. Spread the word... and you thought Boxes Under the Bed had it all wrapped up?

Celebrate- It's National Quilting Day! Hug Your Quilt today, March 20

In honor of both Quilting Day and Women's History month I am reprinting an awesome post Julie Silber posted on the Quilt History List this week (with her permission).

Julie is answering a question posed by Catherine Litwinow about a 19th century quilt made by abolitionists, as evidenced by a single inked patch of a slave in chains in a huge silk quilt. Beneath the kneeling male figure holding his chained hands up as if begging to be released, is the phrase "Deliver me from the oppression of man."

The quilt is pictured on pages 70 & 71 in a book co-authored by Julie Silber, Pat Ferrero and Elaine Hedges, "Hearts and Hands, Women, Quilts and American Society," which was published in 1987. It remains  one the THE best books on women's history in America in the 19th and early 20th century. The rest of this blog is written by Julie--

Elaine Hedges, Pat Ferrero and I used Deborah Coates' quilt as part of the COVER design of our book, "Hearts and Hands," as well as within the pages...

I must tell you about first seeing the quilt.

When Pat and I first saw the quilt (about 1987, at Jonathan and Gail Holstein's home in Cazenovia, N.Y.), it was in two pieces, having years before been cut directly down the middle.

Each of the two "new" edges (on each half) had then been bound, years before, probably whenever the quilt was cut.

The inked piece (a small triangle) had been right in the center of the full quilt -- and so it was cut in half!  The tiny inked image of the bound slave (and the words) -- now on two halves -- had been almost entirely covered over by the new bindings. 

It was Pat ("Eagle Eye") Ferrero who first noticed the mere wisps of ink on the two halves of the split triangle.  The owner of the quilt (a descendant) gave us permission, right on the spot, to carefully remove a few stitches holding the binding in place. No one had ever noticed those little marks before...

It was then that the family saw evidence, for the first time, that their ancestor, the quilt maker, Deborah Coates, had indeed been firmly committed to the abolitionist cause.

Her husband was a well known activist, fully dedicated to the cause of Abolition.  His name appears frequently in a "public"
way -- in newspaper articles on the abolitionist cause, and frequently in the minutes of abolitionist meetings. These "documents" remain, and are part of the official "historical record."

But his wife ... how was anyone to know where she "stood"?

Until that amazing moment in 1987, when a few snips of a scissors revealed what she had added in ink, the family had not known, with any certainty, where Deborah's heart was.  What a moment!

The family then took the ball and ran ... and soon discovered another fact previously unknown to them:  The Coates' home in Cazenovia had been a stop on the Underground Railroad!

A lesson about how fragile and elusive women's history (in
textiles) can be -- and how respect, careful observation, and an understanding of historical context can benefit and enrich us all.

Julie Silber
The Quilt Complex
quiltcomplex@hughes.net

(The book, Hearts and Hands is now long out-of-print but we have a few "new" copies at Quilt Complex that we bought from the publisher. Now signed).

***Julie will be my featured guest interview on Women On Quilts, June 15th interview. Join us!***

3 Special Announcements (2 with Deadlines) in Salute to Women's History Month & National Craft Month

1. Join me this Monday night for my tele-interview and group discussion with Lynne Z. Bassett, editor of the newest quilt documentation book "Massachusetts Quilts, Our Common Wealth." It's free and fun and it starts at 5 PM Pacific time, 8 PM Eastern. For all the info and links click here

2. I am sponsoring a creative writing challenge and fundraiser The Quilters Hall of Fame, to help with this year's induction ceremonies of Merikay Waldvogel, and in salute to National Craft Month and Women's History month. A call for fictional stories and the chance to be in an eBook I will publish, go here for details and see some fun photos from my ephemera collection.

3. Quilter Harriet Powers is inducted in Georgia's Women's Hall of Fame!

"A novelist, a conservationist and a former slave whose works now adorn the Smithsonian Institution and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts will be the inductees this year into the Georgia Women of Achievement Hall of Fame.

Conservationist Jane Hurt Yarn, novelist Caroline Pafford Miller and quilter Harriet Powers, all deceased, will be inducted in a ceremony Thursday at Wesleyan College in Macon.

Quilter Harriet Powers, 1837-1910

Born a slave near Athens, Powers became a renowned folk artist long after her death.

Using a Singer sewing machine she purchased in 1881, Powers exhibited the first of what became known as her "story quilts" at the 1886 Clarke County Cotton Fair. The quilt was made from 299 separate pieces of fabric and it depicts scenes from the Bible and spirituals. It was a remarkable achievement, especially considering that Powers could not read.

She sold that work, which is now in the Smithsonian's Museum of American History, for $5. The buyer, Jennie Smith of Athens, entered it at the 1895 Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta. The faculty wives at Atlanta University saw it and commissioned a second quilt.

The second quilt illustrates 15 Bible stories and events such as a cold snap which struck Athens in February of 1895. It is now on display at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Powers' work has been celebrated over the years. An off-Broadway play, "Quilting in the Sun," recounts her struggles and accomplishments, there are many articles about her and her two celebrated works, and there is a move to honor her with a postage stamp."`Written by Chuck Mobley for the Savannah Morning News and for more information: To learn more about the Georgia Women of Achievement, and about the other inductees this year and the ceremony

My "Honest Patch" on a 19th & 20th century quilt & the "Massachusetts Quilts" Book

Have any of you who own antique quilts notice your once perfect quilt suddenly has cracking in the brown fabrics? We all have, as pre-1900 dark brown dyed fabric is prone to becoming brittle due to tannin and iron mordants in the dyes. (They used to use iron pots for dyes that needed iron to help the fabric retain the dye, a 2-fer)

Over time the fabric dries out and splits, or it get's wet and splits, or the sun shines on it too long and it splits, or you pack it away and it splits. I think you are get the picture.

Dark brown 19th century cotton fabrics are similar to silks used in crazy quilts, the silk will deteriorate and you can not stop it once it starts.  You can help prevent it from starting

maybe, or better put, increase the number of years before the deterioration begins. Oh, wait, you're telling me that you want to have it out? Oh, well, then you can postpone the deterioration by a number of months. My gosh, I am so negative here- I'm smiling. I hope you are.

That said, here is a repair I did this past week in a most interesting looking quilt that I bought in Arizona years ago when antique store shopping with the two wild and crazy lovely ladies, Audrey and Dee, who own and operate the quilt retreat camps with national teachers Quilting in the Pines and Quilting in the Desert. We all had a good laugh when we saw this quilt.

It is a pink and brown scrap (fabulous 1870-80s fabrics, all new or unused) album block quilt in nearly perfect condition, with wool batting, and tied with pink and green yarn to a  1930-40s back fabric! Each yarn tie, and there are many, is made with both colors of yarn, sort of tufted and it is held down and brought through the thick wool bat with a thick sewing thread.

The thick dense batting saved this quilt from splitting much more than it could have with a thinner bat or fewer ties. I have stored it with as little folding as possible, in a closet, on top of other quilts, with no weight on it. Still, deterioration has set in on two blocks.

  I fixed the most serious and obvious loss of fabric, after taking off the damaged fabric completely, arggg, at some point, and I can't recall why. I know better now to leave

the old fabric underneath and applique on top of it. I used an old piece of fabric, c. 1900, that matched the best with the rest of the quilt. I think it turned out well.

In the words of Nancy Kirk, I made an "honest patch." this means I'm not trying to fool anybody, so my stitches show, but it blends well. It was not easy working on a quilt this thick and naturally, my stitches did not go all the way  through. I appliqué the patch on top of the seams and into the batting when there were no seams. It is made with 1 rectangle and 2 squares and I used brown DMC thread.

Soon I will be done and show you my "honest patch" on the acid green fabric in the pre-Civil War quilt TOP. Where is that batting when you need it? :)

You are invited to join our book discussion and interview with Lynne Bassett, the quilt historian who edited the newest state quilt project book,  Massachusetts Quilts: Our Common Wealth, in a group tel-event on March 16th, Monday evening, 5 PM Pacific time. Lynne will answer your questions about particular quilts and other questions that arise as you read this fantastic book. Read more about it on Women On Quilts.

Small Blocks, Stunning Quilts

The new bookwritten by Mary Elizabeth Kinch and Biz Storms (That Patchwork Place)

In one sentence, this pattern book is a reproduction fabric-lover’s dream.The quilts made by the authors make it clear they are bonafide scrap loving quilt makers who put as many different reproduction prints into one quilt as humanly possible.

Mary and Biz define small blocks as under 5” square and stopping short of being miniatures. Any collector knows their raison d’être for the choices they make in purchasing an antique quilt. For Mary and Biz it’s the quilts made exclusively with small blocks that knocks the wind out of their chest in a gasp of glee when seen from across a room or vendor booth. their enthusiasm is palatable through the book and you can’t help but appreciate them for this. The book came from this passion and their hands.

In the first section are pages of 19th century quilts made with small blocks of rosettes, stars, flying geese, half square medallion quilts and others, which the authors studied for inspiration. There are scrumptious pictures of fussy cut hexagons in repro fabrics that match any antique ones I’ve seen. They make me want to get out my hand sewing and try a few. They use clear template plastic and a sandpaper board to mark then cut these little pieces just so.

One of the antique quilts pictured in this section is an outstanding chintz medallion coverlet made c. 1841 in Australia, the “Rajah Quilt.” Female British prisoners on board the convict ship by the same name as this quilt made it. It is a beautiful medallion quilt with 12 borders of various widths with myriad blocks or appliqués. they counted 2,815 pieces of fabric. Biz and Mary are fabri-holics to their core.

With fabric and color leading their every choice in making small block quilt, less attention was paid to the era of the reproduction fabrics they chose. The book is does not mention fabric dating or reproduction quilt making. It doesn't tell the reader how to make their quilt look like a certain era, but their quilts have a traditional and older feel.

Mary and Biz like to machine sew, they find the repetition calming and meditative, so making little blocks with simple shapes gives them lots of quiet time!

They work in an organized manner of chain piecing mixed with liberated techniques of taking the next fabric in a stack without deliberation. The color decision and fabric choices are made at the start then the project proceeds from there without too much attention to what color ends up where. They dedicated the book to their mentor and friend Gwen Marston who inspired them to get out of the rut of worrying about each piece in a quilt. Yet, they remind us that measuring and precision in the sewn seam allowance, is extra important when making small blocks, and they prefer to slow down the sewing and enjoy the process and feel of the fabric. I like this too.

I wonder if there is a Universal move toward smaller going on as our world economy shifts... as I was typing this from my longhand, a Burger King ad for their new smaller tiny burgers came on TV. All the girls gathered around them cooing. Do we coo over small block quilts...really, do we?

***Not to be missed! Do we coo over wonderful old dresses too? Yes!! Check out this just published online article that features a pre-Civil War dress in Nancy Kirk's collection, The Story in a Dress written by Suzanne  Arney. It is also published in the March/April issue of PieceWorks magazine. Click on the link for a full color article PDF.***

Piece,

Kim

Antiquequiltdating.com is Exposed Across the Pond and a Border!

What a surprising year 2009 is turning out to be- wow! I am so grateful. My website, officially titled New Pathways Into Quilt History ,is in its 8th year having begun in the spring of 2001. I owe so much to Judy Breneman, of Womenfolk America's Quilt History websites for helping bring me into the cyberspace world. In 2001, she posted her new website on the QHL and invited anyone who was interested in starting a website on the same server she was using, WebSeed, to let her know. WebSeed required weekly updates and other things as they were making advertising dollars off of our websites. It didn't succeed for them  but Judy and I continued on a regular hosted network system. We were on our own now.  Judy and my husband helped me operate and grow my website, as well as a second one for selling my Antique Quilt Dating Guides...by Style. I am grateful for their belief in my ideas and their support and troubleshooting through the years.

It was exciting when guest authors wrote fabulous articles specifically for my website's audience. Requests for fabric and book reviews have been a welcomed adventure.  I have a stack of books on my desk now that are awaiting to be shared with you. Because of all the input from quilters and writers from around the globe, the website developed its own diverse expression. I am not taking credit, instead I am thrilled that the outreach of many has come to the attention of publishers in England, Ireland , France, Canada and Australia, as well as US magazines and publications online and in print. Here is what has occurred this year.

In the January issue of Britain's Patchwork & Quilting magazine,  Yvonne Jenkins editor of Wandering the Web, featured my website "An excellent website for any quilter interested in the history of quilt making" is her opening sentence. And her closing sentence is just as lovely. Quilters Spirit is described, so all of you are in the magazine too, in Spirit!  Thank you Yvonne for this generous review and a wonderful surprise!

It was my Irish friend, Roselind Shaw, who told me this article was published in the magazine she reads faithfully.

 

 

Some of you may recognize Roselind's name because she has two articles about Irish Quilts on my website. It is this quilt article of Roselind's that caught the attention of the editor of the newest quilt magazine Irish Quilting, Sherry Nugent. Other quilters featured in Irish Quilting's Vol. 1, Issue 2 magazine are Mark Lipinski, Pat Sloan, Kimberly Einmo and Terry McNeill. This is a gorgeous magazine, with the quality of paper and photos as that of Quilt Mania magazine. This issue has 99 pages of patterns, travel, articles and quilts quilts quilts, mostly contemporary, but obviously not all. Rosalind and I were thrilled to receive the request to be in this magazine. I have seen the first two issues and it is not only for Irish quilter's. Quilters anywhere would love this magazine and where else can one find out about what the Irish are up to in the quilt world! They are busy and innovative. There is a  Quilter's Guild of Ireland, an Irish Patchwork Society, and of course, the Quilter's Guild of the British Isles. For more information and to subscribe to this magazine contact info@irishquilting.ie and subs@irishquilting.ie It will be available in the US. Turns out Sherry's mom lives in the same town where  my quilt guild meets. Small World!

Canadian web designer and quilter, Michele  Foster, founder of the Quilting Gallery invited me to be in her month long series about quilt bloggers.  This month, on the 18th, I was the featured blogger. I was among many wonderful quilters, so check them all out when you take a peek at mine. I decided not to write the typical normal this is how I got started kind of thing. I hope you enjoy the views I share in this piece which has a few photos too. The art quilt I made, title Reverberations, needs to be quilted. I can't figure out the best pattern to use and would love input from those of you much better at quilt patterns for contemporary quilts than I am.

If you are interested in quilt history study groups, I have posted a detailed summary of our discussion about them earlier this week on Women On Quilts, check it out here. IF nothing else, there is a long list of suggested topics provided by the Illinois/Iowa Quilt Study Group. They meet at the Kalona Quilt & Textile Museum in Kalona, Iowa twice a year and their meetings and efforts help raise funds to keep the museum running and caring for their collections. The Group also  produces the magazine "Pieces of Time" which their study group meeting's photos and focus contribute to and the members do most of the writing in it. What an incredible accomplishment!

May your year be filled with wonderful surprises and people as well. I certainly value your readership and sharing. Piece on!

Kim Wulfert

What? is on a Wall? & Catching Up on Loose Ends

Where has the time gone? Every day is so busy and often it's spent out of town being a teacher or a student. In January I was a student at The Freedom Formula Experience a four day seminar that was, as promised by Christine Kloser the hostess and main speaker, a  profound experience.  The tag line of her book by the same name as the seminar is "how to put soul in your business and money in your  bank." She taught us her way of doing business that is practical and spiritually based. I will blog  more about the event and speakers on my Women On Quilts blog  which "seams together business and spirit for women in the creative arts." (my tag line :)) The entire time we were there, our focus was on  finding our purpose in life or if we knew it, how could we best express it and make our living doing it, giving us the best of both worlds.

When I returned home, with a notebook of my journaled ideas that took me to places I would not have imagined prior to going, there was an email from Patti Williams. We do not know each other, but she is a lurker on QHL, the Quilt History List, for those of us who adore antique quilts. She tells me about a museum's exhibit in Washington state that she has helped with and attaches this picture. The wall is at the entrance of the quilt exhibit and it reads "Quilts can open our eyes and our hearts to share who sewed before us. It is a wonderful way to learn history." Kimberly Wulfert, PhD

Do you think anything could be cooler to me? Me who shares quotes as often as possible and who buys the books of themed quotes and reads them!  On Women On Quilts I place a new one in the margin each month. A great quote is a marvel to read and hold in your mind, to take in and manifest. This is an honor I will cherish forever and I thank the Northwest Museum of Art and Culture from the bottom of my heart for thinking my quote was worthy of being on their wall. The exhibit will run through May and I hope to make it up there. I want to place my face under the quote for another picture for posterity. In the meantime, take a look at their terrific collection of quilts displayed online.

CATCHING UP ON LOOSE ENDS
Thank you to all of you who wrote me by email or posted a comment with your heartfelt sentiments about the passing of my dear friend and friend of quilter's everywhere, Giles Wright. Your sharing meant allot to me.

Remember the Case of the Mouse Who Ate My Quilt and the Hunt for Green 1840s Fabric? Alls well that ends well, but we hit a snag in the middle of the hunt. When a real swatch that matched was not to be found, reader Kathie Holland graciously sent me her remaining yardage of matching acid green from Judy Rothermel's Lancaster 3 collection. But, it never arrived, anywhere. I searched for more, found none and then went to Road to California last month, and when I got to their booth, Schoolhouse Quilt Shoppe, on Sat., the cupboard was bare! I mean seriously- their booth was nearly empty! Bob knew what I was talking about and said he thought he had some at the shop and to contact him there, so I did. He was able to scrounge 1/2 yard and now, finally,  it is in my hands and soon will be in Kathie's too. lesson learned, never give up on the hunt for fabric. :)

Is the match perfect, not quite. The pattern is exactly the same so you wouldn't realize the difference unless you held them side by side (and it will look fine enough in the quilt top, certainly better than the mouse holes). The difference is the background color is darker on the old fabric than the reproduction. Here's a picture. You probably think, what is she talking about, they  match! I think it will work just fine even though they are not the same color. The original fabric has more contrast between the two greens that form the background.

Katie Pasquini Masupost has written another new book that is fabulous and easy enough for beginning art quilters and the more advanced that need some nudging to expand their techniques will love it too. The text Katie writes is focused on her own thinking processes of analysis and alternatives as she plans a quilt from finding the initial concept to the various ways you can turn your idea or photo into a one-dimensional design. She includes her methods known as ghost layers, fractured landscape and the painterly painterly approach.  Check out more details in my book review of "Design Explorations for the Creative Quilter: easy to follow directions for creative art quilts."

A quilter who is also an expert in traveling for business, Carol Margolis, will be my guest on Monday evening, Feb. 23, on a fr.ee tele-interview where we will ask her all kinds of questions to  make traveling easier for quilters, authors, vendors, teachers and women in business. Carol is  the Founder of SmartWomenTravelers.com

This coming Monday evening, on WOQ,  I will  bring you Part 2 of the quilt history study group discussion with Beth Davis and Karen Parrett. Join us from the comfort of your home and share your group's experiences, struggles and highlights, or ask questions. All input is important and welcome.

Have a great weekend everyone. May you be warm, dry and cozy. Piece, Kim

Giles R. Wright, my Dear Friend & Mentor, In Memoriam

With deeply felt sadness my post today is to let quilters know  my dear friend and Black History scholar Giles R. Wright, Jr.* passed away Thursday, Feb. 6 at a hospital in his home state of New Jersey. He leaves behind his wife and son. Giles had a serious stroke in May 2008 and then other complications came into play, changing his life forever. He was never able to return to the work he loved to do on behalf of African American history at the New Jersey Historical Commission.

Giles was one of the most gracious men I have known, in person and in other communications. Socially he was so warm and funny, as well as intelligent and charming. I had a wonderful time with him in Philadelphia.  Email and occasional phone calls were our main form of communication, being that we live on different coasts. He was very serious about getting the facts out about New Jersey's Black history and the history of all African Americans. His integrity brought forth mindfulness for logic and truth in everything he read about slavery and of the oppression of African Americans.

Giles became one of the leading voices among professional historians in states along the Underground railroad and was often invited to speak and to write on the subject. He did not seek the limelight. He spoke professionally but was discriminating about interviews with the media and did not agree to many requests, yet he was often quoted by the media. "He had become a very influential person in the history of blacks, especially because of his book, "The History of African Americans in New Jersey," Mappen said. "Giles had very firm standards of proof. . . He was a very careful researcher, very careful in his writings. He wanted to make sure it was accurate." (Black News Tribune, Feb. 5, 2009)

He is best known to the quilting community for his work in dispelling the misinformation about quilts being used as signals for fleeing slaves along the Underground Railroad. Over the years, he and I discussed and the effects of misinformation and  greed on society's view of slavery. He was pained by the misinformation that abounded at times, and jubilant when a mind was changed to tell historical truth. His awareness of the "quilt code" came after he read the book that put the myth out as fact, Hidden in Plain View, by Tobin and Dobard. ""Some black quilters have accused me of denying our heritage. I'm trying to protect it," Mr. Wright told The Star-Ledger in an interview three years ago, just before his once-controversial conclusions became embraced by most historians." (Black News Tribune, Feb.5, 2009)

"Relying on the oral history of one family, without corroboration from other sources. is what offends historians like Giles Wright, an Underground Railroad expert who works for the New Jersey Historical Commission. 'The Underground Railroad is so rife with distortions and misinformation, and this is just one more instance when someone comes across folklore and assumes it's true,' he says." (Time, April 3, 2007)

Giles and I would read a book about the Underground Railroad or slave's narratives and then discuss it. He taught me so much, and helped me see and feel the ownership of one human over another that was so horrific I never wanted to go there, but with Giles to talk to and to lead the way, I felt those feelings and allowed the evilness of slavery to come into my consciousness and stay there. Giles changed me by making me feel the injustice of any situation where one human takes ownership over another, changes their name, rapes them, or separates them from their children and family members, to benefit themselves. In one email he told me that he and other Blacks did not have the same respect for our founding Fathers as I did because they were slave owners.

We also enjoyed talk about politics.  Early on, before others spoke much about it, Giles was thrilled with the possibilities he saw for the US if Barack Obama were to be taken as a serious candidate. Because of my utmost respect for Giles and his astute intellect and perception, I paid more attention to Barack. Giles was one of the first people I told when I changed my backing from Hilary to Barack. He told me was surprised, and not.  Giles came to know that Barack would prevail and become our next president long before the rest of us did. He saw the leadership and  light in Barack and he was of the belief that this would help to change our world to be a more honest, peaceful and loving place. Giles signed all of his emails to me with Peace.

Giles' friendship and respect for me was such a gift. He respected many people and told me about them, always giving credit where credit was due and telling me who was especially important to pay attention to and believe.  He was not competitive or mean spirited toward others, he was proud of his colleagues' accomplishments and their contributions to historical research and current events. He supported them and left the others alone. He stood up for truth as a historian for New Jersey , but he was a truth-seeker. I miss talking with him so much, and now I know for sure that we will not talk through the computer again, but we will talk through spirit.

*Black News Tribune  includes a *photo* of Giles, "Giles R. Wright Jr.,renowned scholar of African American History, dies at 73"

New Jersey News has published a tribute to Giles that goes beyond the usual obit, the title says it all  "A Scholar Who Settled Only for the Truth."

This would have been the busiest month of the year for Giles, for it is Black History Month. Additionally, in 1981, he co-founded the Marion Thompson Wright lecture series for scholars and humanists from across the nation. This annual event has become one of the most prestigious forums of it's kind for public scholarship and civic discourse. 

Giles R. Wright is now an important part of that history. May he rest in peace.

In gratitude and love,

Kim Wulfert

Should you want to send a condolence card to his wife, I will be the middleman. Send to my name  at  226 W. Ojai Ave. Suite. 101, #107, Ojai, CA  93023

To read the interview  Giles and I did together, discussing the people and  known facts about the Underground Railroad

and the critique of Hidden in Plain View that Giles wrote and presented when he became aware of misrepresentations it contained and put forth as if factual

for more information about the Underground Railroad and quilts see http://www.antiquequiltdating.com/UGRR_index.html

A Sign of the Times

It seems to me that nearly every week I hear about a quilt or fabric shop closing. Not just here, but all over the country. Yet, I also keep hearing that fabric purchases for clothing are on the rise. More and more women and girls are making their own clothes. In fact, I received a phone call today from a woman asking where her 19 year old granddaughter could get sewing lessons, as she wanted to start her own business.

photo of my quilt, ca. 1900-1920 scrappy

The other common theme being discussed in quilting blogs, articles, and among quilters, is the Great Depression. No, not the one we are in, but the first one. With the GD comes history and the people's stories. Reading them I forget that we are in one ourselves. Nothing like the distraction being, well, the same thing as the problem you want to be distracted from!

So it wasn't a surprise when I came across two wonderful women's articles today on these topics. If you enjoy reading history of women's lives, read these and see if you feel yummy or ? If you don't like history, skip them because you won't feel yummy or distracted at all.

Great Depression Survivor:I worked for Shoes, by Kimberly Palmer "Everyone knows about patchwork quilts which we used for bed covers. The tops of our quilts were made of scrap material left from my mother’s sewing projects. The patterns varied with the colors and sizes of the pieces. Patterns were obtained from relatives and neighbors-often copied from quilts or magazines. The tops were quilted by hand to muslin linings through cotton batting.

My mother made our night clothes from flannel for the winter, but we generally slept in old dresses or slips in warmer weather. We usually had about two or three dresses each for everyday and one for Sunday. I remember one time, I had gotten all my everyday dresses dirty and my mother allowed me to wear my Sunday to school on Monday which was wash day... As I was crossing the creek, I fell in and got my dress wet and muddy and I had to go back home. I missed school that day because I had nothing presentable to wear to school." http://tinyurl.com/89gwmp U.S. News and World Report, Jan. 7, 2009

Life Before Shopping by Patricia McLaughlin "It's only in retrospect — now that it's over — that you begin to notice how odd it was that shopping, a task that played such a minor role in the lives of most Americans before World War II, should over the last half-century have so thoroughly captivated, saturated and finally remade American society, culture, values, habits and folkways in its own image....

I can't remember which sociologist pointed out that a big part of the modernizing of American households universally ballyhooed as progress in the late 1940s and 1950s — the washers and dryers and vacuum cleaners and ready-made clothes and store-bought cake mixes and canned goods and cellophane-wrapped cakes and cookies and loaves of airy sliced bread — boiled down to the de-skilling of housework. ...

Women whose mothers had been highly skilled producers of cakes and jams and quilts and clothing instead developed skills as competitive shoppers.

In retrospect, it seems like a bad bargain. Notice how much of the work women were "rescued" from in the 1950s — quilting, baking, knitting, cooking from scratch, growing vegetables — has found its way back into their lives relabeled as recreation." Read on to find out why she thinks. http://tinyurl.com/7h4xwk STLToday.com

McLaughlin's entire article is a yummy read. She supports her thesis well. I just couldn't get the Maytag repair man, sitting on his chair, out of my mind :)

I have a dozen or more "Olde Time Needlework Patterns and Designs" magazines for sale. Not necessarily those shown above. Email me for info and list of dates.

Historians Quilt Challenge for 2009

Have you heard about the quilt challenge that honors the women in the Quilters Hall of Fame? The challenge is a fundraiser for their Marion museum/home, which is another great reason to enter this challenge, but the topic is what drew me in "They made Their Mark." There are so many wonderful women to chose from! Photographs and a brief biography of each honoree are here. 

This challenge certainly does not leave out art or contemporary quilters; Yvonne Porcella, Nancy Crow, Jinny Beyer, Karey Bresenhan, Michael James, Jean Ray Laury, and Donna Wilder are among the inductees.

To participate, select one of the Honorees of The Quilters Hall of Fame who has influenced you in some special way and interpret this influence in a new work. The quilts will hang in Marion, Indiana, July 16 thru July 19, 2009.

The one quilt that best exemplifies the theme of this Challenge will receive the $500 Founder's Purchase Award and will become a part of the permanent TQHF education collection. This ­a very rare opportunity for someone other than an Honoree to get a quilt in the collection.

Marie Webster's granddaughter, Rosalind Webster Perry, authored two books with patterns about Marie's quilts ,and she reprinted Marie's 1915 book "Quilts and the Women Who Made Them", which was the first book published about quilts. Photos of her and and quilts from her collection and that time period are here. Rosalind and I are in the same quilt guild here in CA, as is the woman who made the patterns for the books, quilt teacher Marti Frolli. Our Guild, Coastal Quilters,  supports TQHF and Rosalind presented a brief but informative power point about it's history to us at the Christmas 2008 meeting.

The two patterns books in which Rosalind wrote about the history of Marie Webster and her Practical Patchwork company are Webster's Garden of Quilts (with a forward by Cuesta Benberry) and A Joy Forever: Marie Webster's Quilt Patterns.

Conditions of Entry in brief: must be made by the person entering the challenge; must be no larger than 160" total of all four sides; shall consist of three layers of textiles stitched together; photo and narrative must accompany the entry; Intent to Enter Form and fee is to be received by June 1, 2009.

Visit their website at www.quiltershalloffame.net to download the PDF file that contains the complete form. To receive the 2009 Challenge Entry Form by mail or the 2009 Celebration Registration form, write to TQHF, P.O. Box 681, Marion, IN, 46952, or CALL 765-664-9333  or E-MAIL them at quiltershalloffame@sbcglobal.net.

The minute I heard about this challenge 2 quilt ideas with their corresponding woman jumped into my mind. I drew each one long hand and made notes. I added to them since then and now know which one I will make. If I get to two, cool, but one would be an accomplishment for me. It's just hard to find time to sew. You can enter two quilts for their $25 entrance fee.

So, will you join me in this entering this challenge? If you get your quilt finished, send a photo to me in July and I will post them on my blog or website for an online show of my reader's quilts, after the opening of the exhibit in Marion.

Hazel Carter founded TQHF in 1979. Read more about her and this adventure in our interview. Did you know that Merikay Waldvogal is the inductee this year? I am thrilled. She is very deserving.