Civil War Memory Quilts

Barb Vedder who is half of the blog Fun with Barb and Mary sends photos of two Civil War commemoratives. Above is a block challenge for which she adapted a pattern from my book Civil War Women.

Jeff Davis's Daughter

by Nancy Hornback, Wichita, Kansas

1996

See our inspiration, Lucinda Honstain's "Reconciliation Quilt" in the collection of the International Quilt Study Center and Museum #2001.011.0001, which has a block with Jefferson Davis and his daughter Maggie in the second row. Click here:

http://cdn.firespring.com/images/5e612e00-d29b-45e2-bc69-9213fca49bb4.jpg

And here's Barb's medallion top. I thought people would want to know who printed the pictorials because they are such a great thing to add to the Civil War fabric stash, so I asked her if she recalled any names of collections.

Her answer is an impressive piece of memory work:

"Here are some of the lines that I used to create this quilt. I'm also a selvage quilter and had set aside a zip lock full off them from this project. I'll have to remember to do this in future as it worked well as a fabric reference.

Old Glory by Sara Morgan for Blue Hill
Bonnie Blue's America by Paula Barnes of Bonnie Blue Quilts
Commemorative Collection by Nancy Gere for Windham Fabrics
Civil War VII by Nancy Gere for Windham Fabrics
Fairmount Park - Industrial Revolution by Nancy Gere for Windham Fabrics
Coverlet Collection by Mary Koval for Windham Fabrics
Shirting prints by Jo Morton for Andover Fabrics
Heritage Classics by Judie Rothermel for Marcus Fabrics
Civil War Tribute Collection - 150 yr Anniversary by Judie Rothermel for Marcus Fabrics
America the Beautiful by Judie Rothermel for Marcus Brothers Textiles
Patriotic Legacies by Laurene Sinema for SSI

and more....being a scrap quilter, I use all and any motifs and colors that I feel work with the piece I'm making. I feel that any patriotic or Americana fabrics would work well for this kind of medallion quilt."

See Barb's post here:
http://funwithbarbandmary.blogspot.com/2011/04/girls-just-wanna-have-fun.html

And here's a link to a print-on-demand version of Civil War Women with the Maggie Davis pattern in it.
http://www.ctpub.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=1857

Dogtooth Borders

Quilt by Anne Dagge, date-inscribed 1818

Collection of the Smithsonian Institution

I've been looking at a lot of quilts with the dates inscribed on them, working on my digital newsletter for 2011. One of the things that impresses me most is how popular the appliqued dogtooth border was before 1860, and particularly before 1830.

Dogtooth border on a tattered quilt from about 1850

When you see pictures of these triangular borders you might think they are pieced, but several years ago quiltmakers Elly Sienkiewicz and Judy Severson, researching quilts by reproducing antiques, realized borders of spiky triangles that look pieced in photographs were actually appliqued. Quilters probably slashed strips in regular fashion and turned the edges under to form triangles.

The source for the name Dogtooth seems obvious; canine teeth are sharp. The word is used to describe several pointed objects such as the Dogtooth Violet in botany and dogtooth spar in mineralogy. In her quilt research, Sandi Fox noted that dogtooth is also a name for an ornament in English gothic architecture, a type of quatrefoil detail found in medieval buildings.

1797

A Vandyke scallop or Portuguese hem on the right

Fox suggests the word Vandyke scallop might be a better name for the quilt technique. She found fashion illustrations in the 1790s featuring geometric borders such as a dress described as having a "chintz border in Vandyke scallops." A search of fashion illustrations from 1790-1820 will show many such clothing details.

Queen Henrietta Maria by Van Dyck,

 wearing a few scallops in the 17th century

Louis Harmuth's 1915 Dictionary of Textiles defines a "Van Dyke" as a "pointed scallop in laces and embroideries." The name comes from the paintings of Anthony Van Dyck, an artist born in Belgium in 1599. Van Dyck achieved fame as court painter to the English king when fashion dictated small pointed beards and elaborate clothing with v-shaped scallops on collars and cuffs. His name still describes a goatee beard, but the association with dress and embroidery has been forgotten.

Vandyke scallops in 1813

Fox also defined the edge as a Portuguese hem. A 1917 book Dressmaking: A Manual for Schools and Colleges described "Portuguese laid work" as a technique "chiefly used as a border decoration."

Cut-out chintz quilt with dogtooth border by Mrs. James Lusby,

 date inscribed 1837-1838

Collection of the Smithsonian Institution

A Star of Bethlehem with a dogtooth border, a photo sent by Jane Hall

One sometimes sees these double dogtooth borders in different colors

I tried to find a tutorial on the internet about how to stitch a dogtooth border (or a Vandyke scallop) but couldn't find any. Instructions are in two of my books and in Judy Severson's Flowers in Applique.

Below is a small illustration from my Quilts From the Civil War.

Begin with two strips of fabric, for example 

1 strip 4 x 20" inches of light

1 strip 2-1/2" a 20 inches of dark

Baste them together with a stay stitch on the bottom.

Mark every 2" on the top of the dark strip

Slash 1-1/2" down at those marks

Turn the edges under and applique them into a point. 

Erma's Wedding Quilt, by Judy Severson and friends

Judy does a very orderly dogtooth border

Nancy Hornback, Reunion Eagle

And so do Nancy and Karla

  

Liberty's Eagle by Karla Menaugh

Karla Menaugh, Sunflowers

Karla has included instructions for her plaid dogtooth border in my book Borderland in Butternut and Blue, available from Kansas City Star books. Click here to read more about the book:

https://www.pickledishstore.com/productDetail.php?PID=765 

 I love to find the dogtooth appliqued edge used in other ways

A quilt from about 1850 with a dogtooth top to the basket

And a dogtooth edge on a scallop from another mid-19th-century quilt

Here's a detail of a terrific album quilt

in the collection of the Winterthur Museum.

See more 19th-century quilts with dogtooth borders by clicking on the links:

Two from the International Quilt Study Center and Museum

Number 2008.040.0195

http://cdn.firespring.com/images/6/8/4/9/c/6d24ebd8-8a84-41a8-949b-c888b4561056.jpg

Number 1997.007.0688

http://cdn.firespring.com/images/a/2/4/a/6/a65515c7-2270-4a60-a8f1-6eb169f2d267.jpg

Another from the Winterthur

http://content.winterthur.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/quilts&CISOPTR=455&CISOBOX=1&REC=3

Chirp, Barbara Brackman, 2010

Inspired by Anne Dagge's 1818 quilt at the top I put a wacky dogtooth border on my little Broderie Perse quilt of paisley birds.

Eagles and Eccentricities

Reunion Eagle by Barbara Brackman (reproduction)

For the past few years I've been using the internet to collect pictures of quilt patterns. I see the worldwide web as an enormous quilt documentation day where people post quilts to sell them, show them off and ask questions. I find it a great way to study patterns.

Antique quilt from an online auction

One of my favorite photo collections is eagle quilts and the variations.

The consensus among quilt historians now is that these Four-Block Eagles date to around the time of the 1876 Centennial celebration of American Independence, which happened 234 years ago today. Our 100th birthday party was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Reunion Eagle by Nancy Hornback (reproduction)

Nancy's reproduced a classic version with several characteristics found over and over in this pattern.

*Four eagles with spread wings and a shield on the chest

*The eagles have nothing in their talons but something (vegetation?, laurel leaves) in their beaks

*A central medallion

The pattern was quite popular in Pennsylvania between 1875 and 1930, probably influenced by the Centennial Exposition and the imagery there.

We've never found an actual pattern published or hand cut for the four-block eagle quilts but many quilts were made. The thing I love is the variety. Within the design conventions quilters found room for a lot of eccentricity.

Antique top from an online auction

Some quilters added details. This one turned the medallion into a Princess Feather.

But many subtracted details.

I am the proud owner of this top in which the central medallion has been reduced to a doughnut. It looks to be early 20th century.

Antique top, early 20th century

 

To be fair to the original quiltmaker here, the fabric in the tail has faded to white.

Imagine a tail between those little feet that are floating around. And there must have been more to the wings.

The eagles looked less anorexic when the quilt was new.

Quilt historian Susan Wildemuth has put her collection of eagle photos on a disc so you can enjoy the eccentricities too.

 EEK!

Find information about buying Susan's disc
Eagle Quilts: Antique, Vintage, and New Quilt History Study CD
by clicking here:
http://www.illinoisquilthistory.com/eaglequiltstudycd.html