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Tree of Life Quilt Block
Sun 08 Jan 2012
In early American days, clipper ships brought cargoes of Indian and Persian cotton prints into western Atlantic ports. When quilt designers were looking for pattern ideas, the Tree of Life design, common to Oriental rugs, was easily converted to a quilt pattern. The appeal of the block lies not only in its intrinsic beauty, but for its quality of faith and belief in eternal life. The design quickly became a favorite among the religiously inclined settlers of the New World and their descendents. There are many variations of the design. A search in Maggie Malone’s book, 5500 Quilt Block Designs, offers 6 ... Read More...
Broken Star or Star of Bethlehem Quilt
Sun 08 Jan 2012
Broken Star or Star of Bethlehem quilt The sun was not kind to the quilt in this picture. The colors of the quilt are blues and peaches. That aside, this quilt design is called a Broken Star or Star of Bethlehem. The Star of Bethlehem is one of the oldest and most familiar of all the traditional quilt patterns. The design features a Lone Star pattern in the center which is surrounded by small diamonds to form a star burst medallion. This pattern is one of the few pieced patterns to come to the US from Europe. In ... Read More...
Feed Sacks for Quilting
Sat 07 Jan 2012
Quilters have been recycling since the 1800s. Way back then, feed and dry staples were delivered in barrels. Someone discovered that cotton was effective for shipping – much lighter weight and easier to stack for sure. A few companies began using cotton bags for packaging their feed. It didn’t take long for quilters in the family to realize those empty bags made great sewing fabric. While not every household needed to order feed for livestock, most did need flour and sugar. Feed sacks were used for these standard dry staples, putting them in almost every household in the country. When ... Read More...
Natural Dyes Blue
Fri 06 Jan 2012
USING NATURAL DYES - INDIGO There was a time when all the synthetic products being made were considered to be progress and automatically assumed to be better than their natural equivalents. Now I think the pendulum has swung back and we are all looking for natural products. That certainly seems to be the case in crafting with lots of people using natural dyes again. The original blue dyes are indigo and woad. Indigo Have you noticed how many fabrics are labelled indigo these days? In my ignorance I used to think that indigo was just the name of a colour – after all it ... Read More...
Sashiko Quilts and Stitching
Fri 06 Jan 2012
Sashiko is a Japanese stitching technique that can be used for embroidery or otherwise reinforcing sewn projects like quilts. The technique is rather simple to master. It’s just a running stitch. As a matter of fact, “sashiko” means “little stabs” in Japanese. That’s exactly what a running stitch is. The Japanese traditionally used the stitch as a way to patch worn spots, but quilters today tend to use it for its simple yet unique decorative purposes. In Japan, sashiko is typically seen on indigo-dyed cotton cloth and the thread choice is usually white or red. Other fabrics are becoming popular, though – even silks. With ... Read More...
Repair, Restore, Conserve
Fri 04 Sep 2009
What to do with damaged antique quilts by Kris Driessen See also: Quiltbus Restoration and Conservation Supplies Do you have a quilt that needs a little TLC? Maybe one that has been passed down through your family or one you rescued at a garage sale? Don't be afraid to make repairs to it. Many damaged quilts can be repaired or restored using basic sewing skills and careful cleaning. Quilt restoration stabilizes a quilt, extends its life and makes it more pleasing to the eye of the beholder. If you don’t know one end of a needle from another, though, contact ... Read More...
Making a Silk Purse Out of a Sow's Ear - Using Those Wonderful Vintage Blocks in a New Quilt
Fri 10 Jul 2009
Have you been lucky enough to find old quilt blocks but don't quite know what to do with them? If they are in reasonably good shape, consider finishing them into a quilt or wall hanging. Don't just leave them in a drawer. Even if they are not in such good shape, it is still possible to work with them so their beauty will shine. Warning: these tips do not apply to every quilt or every situation. When in doubt, consult a professional. Before using your blocks, examine them carefully and repair any loose seams or stitches. Unless they are filthy, ... Read More...
Putting it in Perspective: The Symbolism of Underground Railroad Quilts
Sat 06 Dec 2008
by Kris Driessen To understand the special role quilts may have played in the Underground Railroad, we first have to understand the life and times of the people who lived during the years the railroad was running, approximately 1830-1862. These times were politically turbulent and impossible to summarize in a few brief paragraphs. This article should be considered an overview only. In the first year of the US Census, 1790, the United States of America consisted of 3.8 million people including 694,000 slaves scattered along the 16 states of the east coast. The issue of slavery was a thorny one ... Read More...
Making Needles in History
Tue 30 Sep 2008
Consider this. The man who invented the wheel was wearing animal skins that had been sewn together with a needle. Maybe it was the needle that had the biggest impact on the future of mankind. Being able to sew skins together to craft clothing for warmth and protection enabled Stone Age men to remain in northern areas of the globe, thus breaking away from their nomadic existence. The needle has always been a simple tool. Whether it is made of bone or metal, the concept remains the same - a pointed instrument that pulls a thread through some type of ... Read More...
Those Small Antique Quilts
Tue 30 Sep 2008
It's not unusual to have a collection of antique quilts. But doll quilts? Yes, doll quilts. While charming in their own right, they are difficult to find because during the period they were made, they were considered unimportant and insignificant. Many were made from leftovers and got hard use from the little girls who owned them. Quilts made by young girls are likely to reflect their lack of refined skills in hand stitching. Girls in the early nineteenth century were trained from the time they were very young in what was thought to be their life's work. Before sewing machines ... Read More...
History of Quilting
Tue 30 Sep 2008
In the article, Medieval & Renaissance Quilting, quilt historian Lisa Evans wrote, "Quilted garments padded Crusader mail, quilted linens adorned Renaissance bedchambers, and quilted Evangelists were treasured at 15th century monasteries." Quilting (stitching together layers of padding and fabric) is as old as ancient Egypt if not older and wholecloth quilts were very common trade goods in wealthy circles in Europe and Asia going back as far as the 15th century. Piecing fabric together is also very old. It was more often used for clothing but also occasionally for decorative objects like this exquisite pieced pillow from the 15th century. ... Read More...
An Introduction to Quilting
Mon 29 Sep 2008
"The art of quilting integrated the European and African cultures in America during the slave period. The African folk-tradition was considered inferior, and the European superior. In spite of this gap, quilting brought about the unity of these two traditions and cultures. It brought the values of both the African and European American women together in a way no folk art tradition did before. Both of them deeply rely on the traditions of storytelling and folklore. Uniting women to sew and pass the traditions to new generations are the common characteristics of both traditions. Not only did both African and ... Read More...
Quilting Patterns and the Great Depression
Mon 29 Sep 2008
The Great Depression was an era that created quite a challenge for women who desired to quilt. Not only was money very tight in households, but there were limited supplies nationwide. Women had to turn to creativity and resourcefulness in order to create beautiful quilts. Some popular quilts of today were actually born from The Great Depression. The Great Depression, for those of us who weren't around at the time, was an economic slump in North America, Europe, and other industrialized areas of the world that began in 1929 and lasted until about 1939. Begun with the collapse of agricultural ... Read More...
Why Red?
Fri 26 Sep 2008
Redwork, although not a quilting technique, is enjoying a Renaissance among quilters. Those of us of a certain age remember the tea towels and tablecloths embroidered in red of quaint domestic scenes, days of the week, children, or the faces of the presidents. They were all over the place. My grandmother had drawers full because she liked to embroider. I wondered why they were always red because her sewing box was full of skeins of all kinds of bright colors. As with most mysteries, the answer was to be found in necessity. Silk and wool could be dyed in many ... Read More...
The Colors of Quilts
Fri 26 Sep 2008
I love quilts. I love everything about quilts. But best of all, I love the colors of quilts. Nowadays quilt fabric comes in so many colors there aren’t even names for them all. Of course, the vast color selection available today is due to modern chemical technology, but what did our ancestors do when they wanted some color in their life? Nature provided a storehouse of materials to create colored fabric, some of them pretty weird. Cochineal was used from pre-Colombian times right up to the 1870s. This dye was made from the crushed bodies of insects, which live in ... Read More...
Shoo-fly
Fri 26 Sep 2008
In the 1940s there was a popular song containing the refrain, “Shoo-fly pie and apple pan dowdy, makes your eyes light up and your stomach say howdy.” Maybe not too grammatical, but certainly accurate. Shoo-fly pie is a sticky, rich pie made with molasses, eggs, cream and butter. Legend has it that the pie was named Shoo-fly because the pie was so rich that the flies showed up during the mixing process. They didn’t even wait for it to be baked. Of course, the song refers to the dessert, but if you say Shoo-fly to a quilter, she or he ... Read More...
Seminole Patchwork
Fri 26 Sep 2008
So we all thought strip piecing was something new. Well, guess what. The Native American Seminole of Florida have been using it to make Seminole patchwork for over a century. And without electricity and a rotary cutter. The word Seminole means wild, like a deer, as opposed to tame or domesticated. Given their history, the name fits. In 1832 President Andrew Jackson ordered all Native Americans removed from the land in Florida and sent to the Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma because settlers wanted the rich farmland for their own. The Seminoles were not about to go peacefully. ... Read More...
Quilting Lore & Legend
Fri 26 Sep 2008
Quilting has been around forever. As with anything that has been around for a long time, a lot of legends, myths, and downright inaccuracies have muddied the waters of quilt history. Let’s burst a few bubbles, okay? Most people think that quilting was a primary pastime of women in early America. The earliest existing quilt in a museum made here dates from 1726, but quilting was not something that all women could indulge in. Most colonial housewives had to spend their time spinning, weaving and sewing clothes and household linens for their families. Affordable cloth was not readily available until ... Read More...
Not Everybody Loves Sunbonnet Sue
Thu 25 Sep 2008
As any quilter will tell you, one of the most popular and enduring quilt blocks for the last 100 or so years has been Sunbonnet Sue. The original images appeared as illustrations in magazines, children’s books and newspapers. The cute, cuddly image spawned a consort named Overall Bill. Every Jill needs her Jack or Barbi, her Ken. In fact, the first documented Sunbonnet Sue pattern featured both Sue and Bill and was published in the Ladies Art Company catalog between 1900 and 1015. The pattern could be purchased as stamped blocks or cutting patterns. Many variations have appeared in the ... Read More...
Log Cabin Quilts
Thu 25 Sep 2008
One of the most popular and easily recognized quilt patterns in the United States is the Log Cabin in its many variations. Most quilters have made at least one. I have made at least four to date and will probably make several more before I’m done. The pattern is simple to execute with an infinite variety of results depending on color choice and block placement. We tend to think of this pattern as quintessentially American because of its homey name and reference to our pioneer heritage, but the Log Cabin block has been around for a lot longer than you ... Read More...