Quilt History Snippets - April 2025

 
Kathy Moore

What:       Review of Uncoverings 1994, Volume 15 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, edited by Virginia Gunn

Topic:       “Aesthetics and Ethnicity: Scotch-Irish Quilts in West Virginia”

Author:     Fawn Valentine



 

While participating in the West Virginia Heritage Quilt Search in 1992 the author noticed a “particular aesthetic or ‘look’” to some of the quilts brought to documentation events and estimated to have been made on or before 1940. The “prominent features” she noticed included 1) “blocks pieced in a repeating pattern but varied by changing figures/ground relationships and, at times, obscured by the use of same-value colors and adjacent print fabrics, 2) lack of contrasting borders, and 3) unified allover quilting pattern, typically the fans design, rows of concentric arcs.” She realized that these quilts embodied “an aesthetic reflecting Scotch-Irish social history—the perennial condition of living on the periphery of mainstream society both geographically and philosophically.” [p. 7]

 

Valentine provides a representative summary of the history of Scottish, Irish, and British history from about the seventeenth century and the immigration patterns of these groups to specific regions of the United States to help understand how she came to her conclusions. Her discussion includes cultural, religious, political, and ethnic influences on the cultural and aesthetic choices specific to the mix of groups involved. Using the standard material culture methodologies described by E. McClung Flemming and Jules David Prown, there are good descriptions of her analytical methods and charts to bolster her conclusions, although she notes that much of her conclusions are, of necessity, speculative in nature. Valentine notes, “To translate subjective impressions into quantified theory, I worked with both the visual information provided by the color slides of quilts and from the data recorded on documentation forms…”. She created a “set of visual characteristics” to help clarify what she thought she was seeing. [p. 20] Her report is a cogent explanation of her conclusions and how she reached them.

 

This is a well-researched and thoughtful report, extensively referenced with 46 endnotes. Given that many immigrants helped settle the Appalachian wilderness in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it might be interesting to see an expanded analysis of regional quilt aesthetics that include the work of Appalachian quilters as researched and described by Jeannette Lasansky and, possibly, others.


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Quilt History Snippets June 2025

June 4, 2025
What: Review of Uncoverings 1994, Volume 15 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group , edited by Virginia Gunn Topic: “An Album of Baltimore Album Quilt Studies” Author: Jennifer F. Goldsborough As a participant in “planning the 1994 exhibition of its Baltimore album quilt collection,” Goldsborough we able to participate in and observe at the ground level the study and process leading up to the Lavish Legacies exhibition. Goldsborough’s paper “delineates the methodology of the study and the contributions of several sorts of historians, conservators and contemporary quilters as well as discussing the most important findings and conclusions.” [p. 73] Goldsborough spends some time describing Baltimore album quilts, their creative history, and their distinguishing characteristics. The details are specific and a good primer for newcomers to the story of Baltimore quilts. Dr. William Rush Dunton, Jr.’s contribution to the story of the revelation of Baltimore album quilts in the twentieth century is credited and an important point that cannot be dismissed. Likewise, Dena Katzenberg’s catalogue and exhibition of these quilts which traveled across the country between 1980 and 1982 is given its due. [p. 76] Goldsborough details her personal research process and activities which began when “the Maryland Historical Society committed to a study and exhibition of the Baltimore album quilts in its collection” for the 1994 exhibition season. [p. 77] This is well described and a good guide for all of us as we try to do our own quilt research. Central to her process was the ability to collate information from hundreds of Baltimore quilt images and sort them into groups which she then organized according to relative complexity and sophistication. [p. 77] From this process Goldsborough developed three conclusions which she describes on page 78. Goldsborough describes the work of previous scholarship in defining specific designers of Baltimore quilt blocks and their specific characteristics. She then begins to detail the questions the team sought to answer or clarify in their pre-exhibition research. It was a bit like peeling the layers of an onion from the nineteenth century and is very informative for us in our own research processes. Her insightful and thorough summary on page 105 is long, detailed, and multidisciplinary in its approach. Finally, Goldsborough’s observations of the creative process in the designing and making of a Baltimore Album raffle quilt provided her opportunities to compare and contrast her conclusions and assumptions about the making of the original Baltimore Album quilts. She identifies herself as an outside observer and her descriptions of this process are equally interesting and insightful. It is striking that she was “reinforced” in her “belief that it is risky to interpret a quilt’s symbolic and emotional content without a sure record of the maker’s own deepest thoughts and feelings.” That’s a lesson we all can take to heart as we do our own research and reporting. [p. 108] This is a valuable source and guide for anyone interested in quilt history and in researching a quilt or a group of quilts. The notes and references section should be a good guide for anyone wanting to do their own research on any quilt(s).

Quilt History Snippets May 2025

May 1, 2025
Quilt History Snippets May 2025

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.
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