Quilt History Snippets - December 2024

What: Review of Uncoverings 1994, Volume 15 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, edited by Virginia Gunn Topic: “A Literary Patchwork Crazy Quilt: Toni Morrison’s Beloved” Author: Sunny Falling-rain This month’s review covers an unusual approach to quilt history combined with a unique approach to literature review. The author, Sunny Falling-rain, according to the results of a quick internet search, is/was a quiltmaker and designer. At the time of its writing, she held a B.A. in English from the University of California at Davis and was serving as Head of Interlibrary Loan at the UC-Davis Carlson Health Sciences Library. She also a decade of experi­ence as a public school teacher. It is Ms. Falling-rain’s perspective that Morrison “gave the novel the qualities and the power of the quilt to warm and to comfort and to remind us of our roots—to form connections to others and to the past.” [p. 111] Very early in her narrative and looking for the structure of the story, Falling-rain refers to Beloved as “a literary patchwork crazy quilt” and she declares that “Every component of the crazy quilt has a counterpart in the novel.” [p. 112] During the rest of this article the terms “crazy quilts” and “crazy patchwork quilts” are used interchangeably. The basic story of Beloved comes from real events in which an escaped slave woman gruesomely killed her toddler daughter to prevent her from being taken into slavery in 1855. In the novel, the ghost of the deceased child reveals herself to the books main character, Sethe, and calls herself Beloved. The rest of the story includes Sethe’s other children and other colorful characters with colorful names. Craziness becomes a word used throughout the novel to describe insanity as well as the physical characteristics of a crazy quilt. It gets complicated! The novel’s narrative is described in enough detail to understand the plot and its relationship to both patchwork and crazy quilts. The various elements of crazy quilts are discussed in their relationship to the novel’s theme including several sources for the use of the term “crazy quilt.” Foundation piecing, color, imagery and embroidery of animals and flowers, the variety of fabrics used, and stitches used are all discussed and described in all their relationships to each other. Ultimately the author, Falling-rain, finds a conclusion that includes the fragmentation of lives—and remembering and reframing of them—as the same as is the role of the crazy patchwork quilt in the lives of the quiltmakers and the study of quilt history. Ultimately, Falling-rain notes “The novel as quilt enables the author to lay to rest an otherwise unspeakable story about an incident and a period of American history that does not rest well.” [p. 137] Amen to that.

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).