Quilt History Snippets - October 2024

Kathy Moore • October 17, 2024

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

Topic:       “Innovative Group Quiltmaking in an Isolated Coastal Community in British Columbia, Canada: Out of the Mainstream”

Author:     Kristan Miller

Miller has given us an extensive description of the quilting activities and motivations of a group of quilters “living on an island in coastal British Columbia…just southern of the Alaska panhandle” [pp. 62, 64] where travel involved the use of watercraft for the most part and life was rural and hard and the weather dictated how, where, and when they met together. There are detailed and extensive descriptions of individual women and their families and, to some degree, their living conditions. Miller wanted this paper to answer the question, “Why do women make quilts together.” [p. 62]

 

She describes the women in this group, which seems to have been active beginning sometime in the 1980s, [p. 76] as “strong, vigorous women with big biceps and raggedy fingernails who do not fit stereotyped images of dainty, ladylike needleworkers.” Their “group-made quilts are not usually pre-designed…favoring non-conventional fabrics, three-dimensional embellishment, and free-form sculptural embroidered quilting. [p. 63] Occasionally men would briefly join the group. [p. 67] Some women moved away and from time-to-time blocks were shared by mail with specific individuals. Their ages ranged from about 30 years to 50 years old. [p. 67]

 

In 1992 they participated in an exhibition attended by Mary Cross (Mary Bywater Cross?) who signed the exhibition guestbook and suggested that a “paper proposal for the American Quilt Study Group” might be appropriate. [p. 86] Miller followed up on the suggestion and the result is this paper which is illustrated with hand drawn pictures and maps and extensive descriptions of methods and manner of construction for their quilts as well as individual reasons for participating in the group and their quiltmaking.

 

This paper is a well written exposition of not only quiltmaking in an isolated location but of community building among women of disparate education, skills, and abilities. It is unique, and a valuable contribution to the history of mid-twentieth century quilt making in north America. I hope you will all look it up and enjoy the read.

 

If you do not have a copy of this, or any, edition of Uncoverings, check the publication list on the AQSG website to see if the particular volume is available…many still are. To access an online version of any issue of Uncoverings find the links at the AQSG website or the Quilt Index at www.quiltindex.org. As always, you can contact me at kmoore81@austin.rr.com


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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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