Discipline Quilts

You've heard of applique quilts, patchwork quilts, embroidered quilts, etc.  Have you heard of discipline quilts?

Let me preface this story with a slice of quilt history.  In the 1980s, quilt enthusiasts and scholars began "documenting" old quilts and books were published:  The quilts of various states including Kentucky, Tennessee, or Colorado, etc. were printed with lovely photographs and history so that quilters and scholars could understand patterns and techniques used in those states.  You can read an insightful paper on this here.   

But in Pennsylvania we are different.  There's been a number of documentation projects here but the studies are conducted regionally.  We have a lot of quilts and a lot of different populations.  That brings me to one of my favorite Pennsylvania documentation books, Lest I Shall Be Forgotten.

This book features a study of the quilts of the Goschenhoppen people.  These were a sect of Pennsylvania Germans who settled in Montogomery County and included parts of Lehigh, Berks, and Bucks Counties.  The book is packed full of great photos, interviews, and anecdotes. 

I love the "Quilts of Childhood" chapter.  One woman interviewed relayed that she was given quilt blocks to embroider "to keep me quiet."  Another page featured redwork quilts.  One of the featured quilts featured redwork blocks embroidered by Albert Stoudt; he was a boy at the time he embroidered the blocks.  

It was shared in the book that: "He had to do a quilt block everytime he was naughty.  Hence this is called a discipline quilt."  Apparently, his sister shared the same form of punishment and there is a similar quilt of blocks that she had embroidered.  I can't reprint the photos for you, but if you don't know what redwork is, here's an example, most likely done by a child:

So among the many files I had filed away was a newspaper story published in The Reading Times in 1922.  Reading, Pennsylvania is in Berks county and not far from here.  The story was fictional children's story called "The Patchwork School" written by Mary Wilkins (later Mary Wilkins Freeman). Wilkins was a well known author in the late 19th century and early 20th century.  

The Patchwork School was a fairy tale about a town where naughty children were sent to the Patchwork School for punishment.  

Punishment consisted of making patchwork every day and started with the child's own patchwork clothing.  After the clothes were sewn, they had to make patchwork coverlets which were given to the city poor.  The children were not allowed to go out to play and 

"Every day bales of calico were left at the door of the Pachwork School, and it all had to be cut up in littles bits and sewed together again.  When the children heard the heavy tread of the porters bringing in the bales of new calico, the tears would leave the corners of their eyes and trickle down their poor little cheeks, at the prospect at the additonal work they would have to do.  All the patchwork had to be sewed over and over, and every crooked or too long stitch had to be picked out..."

Sorry, I had to take a break because of course, this makes me burst into laughter thinking of how you or I would face this type of punishment.  It's all about perspective.  A quilter would think that a porter delivering calico was like Christmas.   It reminds me of people asking about our quilting--"so you buy fabric, cut it up, and sew it back together to make a blanket?"

The story was originally published in the early 1880s in a children's magazine called Wide Awake.  You can read the story here.

Apparently this story was not just popular as a reprint in Reading but was often included in nearby children's pageants and shows.  

I was curious about the author and her perspective.  Mary Wilkins was an early feminist.  She did not want to become subservient like her mother had been and balked at domestic tasks.  To her, I'm sure that making patchwork was some sort of punishment.  She was a bright young woman and became a published author in her teen years; the money she earned helped to support her family.  You can google her for more insights on her life.

There is actually a school called The Patchwork School in Colorado.  The school specializes in early childhood education and appears to follow a Montessori type methodology.

So discipline quilts...who knew?  What do you think of this form of punishment?

Have a safe and happy day!

Know Your Value

In 1942, this article appeared in a newspaper in Wisconsin:

According to one website, $500 in 1942 would now be worth over $7000 today.  Or would it?

One of the things that Beth and I reiterate over and over again is to understand the value of your work.  She and I have heard a variety of stories of how quilters' work are treated disrespectfully by recipients of our quilt gifts.  It's painful when the quilt you made for a family member is relegated to a basement shelf, the dog bed, or sold at a yard sale (all true accounts).

We always suggest that you get your quilt gift appraised.  Family members tend to perk up when you not only give the quilt but also include a certified appraisal. It's funny--and sad-- how a monetary value will change the perspective of a non-crafting family member.   

My appraiser and I had a conversation last week about this and there are many factors involved in an appraisal. It's really important to have an appraisal done before you mail a quilt. An insightful article can be found here.  

Vintage and antique quilts are a different matter.  Anyone in the antique business will tell you that prices rise and fall with the economy.  Most antique dealers have not recovered from the Economic Crisis of 2008.

Really fine antiques can hold their value depending on condition and rarity.  

One of my quilts that has held its value is the Harvest Sun quilt  circa 1840.

All this brings me to the crazy quilt in the 1942 article.  Would it be appraised for over $7000 today?  Not likely.  Of course I'm not an appraiser and we can't see the quilt or study it.  At the time this quilt was given a monetary value, there wasn't even a professional textile appraisal certification.

Quilt history and appraising are young fields.  Most of you have an appreciation for history or you wouldn't be reading this blog.  Quilt history--in a scholarly form--can be traced to the 1970s and the establishment of the American Quilt Study Group (AQSG) in 1980.  The Professional Association of Appraisers--Quilted Textiles (PAAQT) was established in 1992.

So what does that mean for you today as you are carefully piecing your quilt blocks?  If you take nothing more from the upcoming articles than entertainment, that's fine.  But my hope is that you begin to appreciate the many generations of quilters who came before us and understand that you join their tradition.  You have worth.  Your work has value.  Your gifts are valuable.  

Have a wonderful day and stay safe!

Happy Labor Day!

I'm going to rest and do some sewing today so this is a brief blog post. 

 Of all the many women we could recognize on Labor Day, I'm going with Francis Perkins.  She was the first woman cabinet member and during the New Deal, established Social Security, Unemployment Benefits and a variety of other programs which in essence, saved our country during the Depression.

You might like to read this article (here) about her amazing contributions.

Have a safe and happy day!

Flower Friday: September 4, 2020

It's Flower Friday!!  

Time to remind ourselves of the beauty around us.

Sandra is one of my friends that is truly an amazing quilter and sewist.  Today Sandra is sharing photos of her favorite peonies:

I think these might be Fernleaf peonies.  I grew the red ones years ago.  Aren't they lovely?

But what I REALLY love is Sandra's Peony Quilt.  I was so taken by this quilt that I'm trying to emulate it (with a twist).  Isn't this a stunner?

Thank you Sandra for today's inspiration!

Your Textile Memories!

On Monday I asked, "What was your first textile memory?" 

Here are three responses I received.  I really enjoyed these and if you still want to share your first memory of fabric or sewing, email me at allentownquilter@gmail.com!

Betsy said:

"My first distinct textile memory Is of a purple and white seersucker dress I had when I was probably 4 or 5. My memory Is that it has elephants at the waistband, maybe braid or ribbon? It was one of those fitted bodice, gathered skirt dresses like you have pictured. This would have been about 1960 . I think I might have learned then what seersucker was, or at least felt like, because my mom always referred to it as my seersucker dress.

Kathie wrote:

I was 10 when we moved to our new house on a corner of my granddad's farm.  I joined 4-H that summer and learned to make a gathered skirt.  It was a grey calico.  We all entered our projects in the Lawrence County Farm Show and it was a thrill to model it in the 4-H show.  I don't think I won a ribbon, but it was the spark that set me on my love of sewing.  

Nann shared:

When I was very young my mother made dresses for my sister and me and a lot of doll clothes.  The sewing machine was a Greybar in a cabinet with a knee lever. There's a Greybar factory (now small motors/electrical stuff) in Milwaukee -- when I drove past it a few years ago the sight of the exact same logo as that long-ago sewing machine brought such a visceral reaction!   I recall her needlepointing seat cushions for the dining room chairs -- the finished-center needlepoint on tan petitpoint canvas bought from Marshall Field's -- with skeins and skeins and skeins of wine-colored tapestry wool.  She only did continental stitch so those cushions needed forceful stretching before they could be mounted.

My own needlework began with an attempt at cross stitch. My dad sketched x's on a piece of fabric--an old sheet, I think -- and I managed to sew through it to my shorts. That took care of that project.   Garment sewing began when I joined 4-H. First project:  an elastic-waist skirt out of green/white pincord, the 4-H "uniform." 

Has the journey since been uphill or downhill?  Whatever -- it's continues to be a grand exploration.

Wendy wrote:

Probably my first textile memory would be the nightgowns my grandmother used to make for her granddaughters each year. We would all get one at Christmas, along with a matching nightgown for our dolls. My grandmother was a seamstress, making garments for people in our local community. My mother made most of my clothing growing up, so I grew up with textiles. Even when I was little, I loved going to the fabric stores!

More as you share them!  These emails have been so much fun to read!  Keep on sharing!

Have a safe and happy day!

Jane Addams: Dangerous Woman

In 1931, Jane Addams became the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.  The co-founder of Hull House in Chicago, she was a leader in the field of social work and sociology, a suffragist, author and a pacifist.  

Hull House was founded in 1889 by Addams and Ellen Gates Starr.  It was a center of hub for the neighborhood of working class people, many of them immigrants.  I remember reading once that Addams had given parties that included the socially elite and the poorer immigrants.  

She was once called "the most dangerous woman in America" by Edgar Hoover.  Hull House not only taught immigrants language and other subjects but celebrated the diversity the immigrants brought to our new world--including folk crafts.  Hull House celebrated the contributions that different cultures brought to our country.

The ladies spinning are Irish and Italian.

Syrian woman spinning.

In 1907, Addams gave a talk at Carnegie Music Hall called The Possibilities of the American Immigrant.  The focus of her speech was the crafts that immigrants brought to this country.

"There is nothing more surprising ...than the amazing potentialities of the immigrant classes.  In most of them there is the possibility of material achievement in the crafts," she told the audience.

Many of us are aware that our sewing is not considered valuable, sometimes even by our loved ones.  Don't you love the idea that something as humble as spinning, sewing, and other crafts can bridge the differences between people?  

I do.

Have a safe and happy day!

Florence Yoder Wilson

Ellis Island

We are a nation of immigrants who has always hated immigrants.  I have known this since I was a small child.  I remember stories my grandfather told about having his ears boxed when he was a boy and being called "a dirty mick".  He relayed this as an aside in a humorous story as the Irish tend to do.  But as a young child, I was horrified that someone had hit my beloved Pop-pop.  Somewhere in this memory is my realization that the story of immigrants to this country was also my story.

In the 1970s I began to collect turn of the century women's magazines.   I was puzzled by Needlecraft Magazines of the early 30s.  The covers of the magazines featured images of women from other cultures in their traditional folk dress.  The illustrations were beautiful.  It struck me as curious and I remember even questioning my father about it.  Surely this was unusual?

The Russia cover, 1931

The India cover, 1930

Anti-immigration rhetoric was nothing new to the American experience.  It was even legitimized in the mid 19th century by a political party, The Know Nothings.  

During the late 19th century, Irish, South Americans, and Asians bore the brunt of anti-immigration rhetoric.   By the turn of the century, the new disliked population included Italians, East Central Europeans, Russians, and folks from Turkey, Armenia, and Syria.  These new immigrants spawned the creation of Ellis Island in 1892.  According to history.com, about 40% of all Americans today can trace at least one ancestor to Ellis Island.

Knowing all this had made me wonder, what about these amazing covers?  How was that being received by women across the country?  It was a mystery I couldn't solve although it all pointed to one woman who wrote in the magazine, Florence Yoder Wilson.

In the 1970s and even the 1980s, I couldn't find the answers. The magazine was clearly popular here in Pennsylvania--I picked up most of my issues at local auctions.  Women seemed to treasure the issues because they saved stacks of them that I'd find at estate sales. 

During the Depression, Mexicans were definately the recipients of anti-immigration policies. Still they were featured on the cover of Needlecraft:

The Mexico cover, 1930

Florence Yoder Wilson initiated this trend.  The piece didn't just offer lovely illustrations on the cover.  In each issue, Florence wrote about the handicrafts of the featured culture:

The Italy cover, 1931

What inspired me about these issues is the recognition of the dignity and contributions made by all human beings.  This was best summarized in an article she wrote in The Ukraine issue, July, 1931.

I was never able to find out much about Florence Yoder Wilson but 8 years ago, Piecework Magazine did a feature on her and these issues; I encourage you to read it here.

As odd it seems, Florence wasn't the first person to recognize the gifts that immigrants bring.  And yes it was sewing/craft related.  More on this tomorrow.

Have a safe and happy day!