Quilt History Snippets - November 2024

Kathy Moore • November 6, 2024

What:      Review of Uncoverings 1993, Volume 14 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, edited by Laurel Horton

Topic:      “Southwestern Quilts and Quiltmakers in Context”

Author:    Jeannette Lasansky

This author, Jeannette Lasansky, has authored numerous books and articles on Pennsylvania's history and material culture, including detailed and authoritative research on Pennsylvania quilt making practices and culture. Several of her books have long been in my personal library and I’ve used her research as a resource in my own work.

 

In 1985 she was commissioned by the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, NM to “survey living traditional quiltmakers” particularly rural women living in New Mexico who had learned to quilt from relatives or friends—not from workshops, videos, or manuals.” [p. 97] What resulted was a project much like that which resulted in the 1977 book, The Quilters: Women and Domestic Art, written Patricia Cooper and Norma Bradley Buferd, which reported in words and photographs the lives and quilt work of Depression era women in Texas and New Mexico. That was a book which led to a stage play and a widely distributed and popular screen play.

 

Much of Lasansky’s research was done by telephone and initially involved contact with more than 200 women from a number of localities in New Mexico. The project was publicized statewide, through quilt guilds, senior citizen centers, and historical societies. Most of the quilters finally interviewed were “Anglo- and Hispanic-American women.” [p. 97] There were extensive interviews and photographs collected of the quilters and their quilts. All the tape-recorded tapes of interviews are “fully indexed” and “housed in the collection of the Museum of International Folk Art” in Santa Fe, NM. [p. 99]

 

There are fascinating life stories included in this article and the names of many of the women are given. Details include life lived in a “box house”, construction and use of quilt frames (particularly those suspended from the ceiling which could be lowered and raised when needed), and ratchet-style floor frames. [p. 100-104] Batting, thread, and fabric sources are discussed and described. [p. 104-108] Use and maintenance of quilts by these women in New Mexico is also covered. [p. 109-112] Finally, patterns used by quilters and the common style of construction is discussed. [p. 112-115] The Notes and References section is extensive and enlightening. There is much good information there for all of us.

 

This is a readable and informative article for those of us who research and write about quilt history and who want to know more about early to late-mid-nineteenth-century quilt making in America.


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Quilt History Snippets - March 2025

By Kathy Moore • March 6, 2025
What: Review of Uncoverings 1993, Volume 14 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, edited by Laurel Horton Topic: “Prizes from the Plains: Nebraska State Fair Award-Winning Quilts and Quiltmakers” Author: Mary Jane Furgason and Patricia Cox Crews You may recognize the name of one of these authors. During her academic career at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Patricia Cox Crews was a faculty member in the department of Textiles, Clothing and Design, was at the center of organizational events developing the International Quilt Study Center and Museum (IQSCM) – now known as the International Quilt Museum, and she served as the first Director of the IQSCM. Her scholarly work stands on the authority of her lifetime of scholarship in textile research and reporting. Additionally, Crews was a co-author of the book, Nebraska Quilts and Quiltmakers, based on the results of that state’s documentation project conducted from 1987 to 1989. This article presents the results of extensive analysis of the records of the Nebraska State Fair. Using a scholarly approach to the information they applied a material culture approach to data that was collected from Fair entries and premium offerings. The stated goal was to better understand the cultural impact of quiltmaking on the state. [p.188] The authors found that their study of the premiums offered at the State Fair “reflected economic and social changes within the state” with the rise and fall of premiums as well as “inequities based on gender.” [p.188] Combined with information from almost three thousand quilts documented by the state documentation project the authors were able to add information on the levels of education, economic status, aesthetic design preferences – even ethnic heritages of Nebraska quiltmakers. [p. 189] This very thorough report on Nebraska quiltmaking practices and those of the State Fair’s naming of categories and awarding of premiums, while it may not reveal unexpected surprises, validates economic and cultural changes over the decades in other areas of Nebraskan and American history from the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. For those interested in the growth and development as well and the influences of State Fairs this report and its extensive Endnotes section should be a source of authoritative scholarly information. If you don’t have a copy of this issue of Uncoverings, you can access it at https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/aqsg or on the Quilt Index database at the AQSG collection link.

Quilt History Snippets - January 2025

By Kathy Moore • January 8, 2025
What: Review of Uncoverings 1993, Volume 14 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, edited by Laurel Horton Topic: “Surfacing: The Inevitable Rise of the Women of Color Quilters’ Network” Author: Sandra K. German

Quilt History Snippets - December 2024

By Kathy Moore • December 5, 2024
What: Review of Uncoverings 1993, Volume 14 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, edited by Laurel Horton Topic: “The Smithsonian Quilt Controversy: Cultural Dislocation” Author: Judy Elsley
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