Here are some photos from the quilt assessment session with Pamela Weeks. In the pictures, you can see the double pinks and the poison greens, so called because the dyes contained cyanide. The red fabrics contained a dye called madder.
“Madder than what?” you may wonder. Well, madder than a wet hen because of all the popular misconceptions about quilts, that’s what. While Pam was present, she busted some myths for us. I love myth-busting. Among the debunked quilt legends:
1. Antique quilts sometimes contain cotton seeds in the batting.
False. Cotton seeds are the size of kidney beans. Only if the quilter was playing a joke on someone would she let one inside her quilt. Not to mention that cotton seeds were coveted for planting.
2. Quilts were made of necessity from old clothes.
False. Quilts were made of abundance, just like today. The heyday of quilting in the nineteenth century coincided with the peak of productivity of the textile mills. It makes sense that residents of mill towns, many of whom worked in the mills, had access to large amounts of fabrics at low cost.
The abundance existed within the quiltmakers themselves, also just like today. The amount of artistic talent that so many women express in their creative projects — whether it is sewing, decorating, knitting, cooking, gardening, singing, playing piano, writing, storytelling — never fails to amaze me. The creative urge is impossible to resist; its expression enhances our environment, broadens our vision, and strengthens our spirits.
The joy that the mystery quilter of 1830 experienced appears in a corner of the quilt that she made, as you can see in the picture here. She had fabric left over and she wanted to keep sewing even though the quilt was done, so she just added a bit extra and created a somewhat “wonky” corner. It’s the best part of the quilt.
