Quilt History Snippets May 2025

 
Kathy Moore

Quilt History Snippets May 2025


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

Topic:      “Mildred Dickerson: A Quilt Pattern Collector of the 1960s and 1970s”

Author:    Merikay Waldvogel

 

In 1992 author Merikay Waldvogel purchased a vast collection of thousands of quilt patterns – “originals, copies, tracings, and photocopies” – all of which was collected and catalogued by Mildred Dickerson, nee Mildred Marie Blackerby, born in 1920 in Bessemer, Alabama. Included in the collection were “complete (or nearly complete) sets of most quilt pattern lines printed in the United States as well as magazine articles, newspaper clippings, catalogs, and books pertaining to quilts published between 1900 and 1990.” From this vast “thirty-year collection” that filled 120 file boxes” Waldvogel was able to gain “insight into the motivations, goals, and methods of quilt pattern collectors of the 1960s and 1970s.” As Waldvogel notes, it was “an era before quilt guilds, exhibits, and publications provided easy access to new patterns.” [pp. 44-45] This is a point that is very important for understanding the lead-up to the quilt revival and the field of quilt history scholarship most of us have been participating in ever since.

 

Waldvogel names the names of Dickerson’s contemporary collaborators and collectors. She describes the development of a dedicated network of collectors and their interests and motivations. There were many letters between these collectors that included personal information as well as hobby interests and ideas.

 

One aspect of her findings is included in her discussions of “round robins”. It was similar to chain letter clubs between members who joined and agreed to follow the rules and share “good patterns” they would mail to each other on a specific schedule. In a time when patterns and pattern books were not readily available, this was a way for dedicated quilt pattern collectors to increase their store of inspirational material. Or, as Louise Howey of Lincoln, Nebraska, is quoted as saying, “We were poor. We were just coming out of the Depression. We didn’t buy quilt books in those days. They weren’t available. The round robins were a cheap way of getting patterns.” [p. 55] Side note: I had the privilege of making Louise Howey’s acquaintance when I lived in Lincoln some years ago. She was still a lively and enthusiastic quiltmaker and supporter of quilt scholarship in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I can easily see her participating in this hobby.

 

The round robins were organized by an individual like Mildred, who collected a list of interested members by placing an advertisement in a magazine. “When she received sufficient names and addresses, she sent a pattern to the second person on the list. That person took out the pattern, made a copy, returned it to the envelope along with a pattern from her own collection, and mailed all to the third person on the list, who repeated the process. When the package returned to person number one (the sponsor), she removed her pattern, added new material, reviewed all the other entries making copies, if necessary, returned them to the envelope, and sent the packet on to person number two.” [p. 55] It sounds very time consuming and laborious, but that aspect speaks to the “market demand” for quilt patterns in those post-war years before the quilt revival and the development of the quilting industry that we now have. It is also important to note, as Claudine Moffatt reported, “in the 1960s copyrights were good for no more than twenty-eight years.” [p. 63] That was a benefit for a small group of enthusiasts who were publishing patterns and related information in their “hobby papers.” [p. 62] The development of quilting magazines and their publishers is well described, and names are dropped.

 

This report is full of interesting details and information about the quilt pattern collectors and their influence on the quilting revival of the late twentieth century that they helped fuel. And it is a gem and a treasure trove of information. Most notably, as Waldvogel notes, “The women who appear throughout Mildred Dickerson’s letters and files kept the embers of the quilt revival of the 1930s burning.” [p. 69]

 

I cannot recommend this article enough. Thank you, Merikay for sharing it with us.

Read it and enjoy.

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Quilt History Snippets July 2025

July 9, 2025
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.

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 - April 2025

April 9, 2025
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
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