the blue blog archives: pretty civil war

This book takes the oral history of one descendent of slaves and pieces together a history of a system of codes which could be hung out by abolitionists in plain view in the form of quilt blocks with names like "North Star", "Wagon Wheel" and "Sailboat" to help slaves find their way to safe homes and eventually freedom in Canada. A few more clicks led me to this book, Facts and Fabrications: Unraveling the History of Quilts and Slavery, which presents the now prevalent opinion that although the idea of quilt codes is a lovely way of thinking about the time, the people, and the way that quilts and quilt blocks have always represented the important things in the lives of those who made them, it is mostly fabrication (revealed by the errors in the story and the fact that no other such narratives exist). The story is compelling though and has worked its way into classrooms, libraries, and quilt shops (check out this link for a video and explanation of some of the blocks!).

This is a sampler quilt of the blocks mentioned in the original narrative about the quilt codes. I have to admit that I love sampler quilts (the block of the month quilts I'm working on are sampler quilts, of course). It's so fun making a different block each time, learning new techniques, and hearing all the interesting traditional names the blocks have had. So, despite all the controversy, I was intrigued. And when knitting and quilting buddy, Carol, said she was interested in making a civil war sampler, I knew I wanted to make one along with her.

We headed off to our lqs and collected some reproduction fabrics, with the muted shades and calicoes of nineteenth century prints and shirtings. The fabrics from the period tend to be pretty dark (not like all the bright prints of the 30's fabrics) and I found myself always searching for the sweetest and prettiest of the group. Pretty civil war, I kept calling it. And it is, the whole story. A lovely story about a horrible time. It's a shame that it's not true. It's just a quilt project. My 2007 block of the month quilt doesn't say anything about the year 2007 and this one won't really say anything about the Underground Railroad. It's okay.

The author, Rosemary Youngs, has chosen or invented quilt blocks inspired by the real stories of civil war women and men. Very pretty civil war indeed. But it's surely a more legitimate mixture of fact and fiction than the quilt code book and probably more interesting reading than some of the quilt lit that's out there. Still, 121 blocks? Pretty or not, that might even be too much sampler for me!

posted by alison at 11:34 am | in blogging about reading about knitting , civil war sampler

Comments

Alison, I love that you're going to be using Civil War repros for your next quilt. The fabrics are just gorgeous. I've made two quilts with friends using Civil War repros and they turned out beautifully. This post shows the 1st quilt(s) we made: http://alottaknittin.blogspot.com/2007/05/friendship-quilts-together-at-last.html For this one each of us made three of a particular bloc and kept one, giving the other two to the other two. And of course, each combination of fabrics was vetted with the other two! The love just radiated from those quilts! Happy quilting!!

Posted by: Cynthia at June 10, 2008 12:03 PM

Beautiful, Cynthia! I love the idea of making multiple blocks and sharing them with friends. Maybe Carol and I can do that.

Posted by: ALISON at June 10, 2008 12:30 PM

Alison, your quilts are wonderful! It is a fascinating story about the Underground Railroad, even thou some people doubts the story. You should also look into the Oregon Trail quilts,there are some very inspiring and heart breaking stories and quilts.
Mary Bywater Cross: Quilts of the Oregon Trail.

Ann in Vancouver

Posted by: Ann Andersen at June 10, 2008 1:13 PM

I have a few Civil War quilt books. You are welcome to borrow them anytime, Alison.

Posted by: Carole at June 10, 2008 1:56 PM

You beat me to the blog-punch! Thanks for taking the time to give all that background. The Burns and Blackman blocks are very similar; it should be easy to decide which blocks to include. Just need to decide how big!

Posted by: Carol at June 10, 2008 3:41 PM

I have long been a quilter and am familiar with the story of the Underground Railroad using quilts as signals. OK- so there is no proof. Does that automatically make it false or impossible? Subversive women have always been clever. I like to think there is some element of truth in the theory, it strikes me as likely. Crafty women displaying a quiet strength... yes, no one can prove it, doesn't mean it never happened.

Posted by: paulanancy at June 10, 2008 4:49 PM

I have been thinking about quilts alot lately too! But my plan is to knit out some of the square dsigns as I can't get my sewing machine to cooperate with me for anything!

Posted by: Denise at June 10, 2008 5:42 PM

You might want to take a look at the Dear Baby Jane quilt-a-long. I think it's also a civil war era quilt made with some VERY small blocks. It's at .dearbabyjane.blogspot.com.

Posted by: Laura at June 10, 2008 6:13 PM

Oh, I DO recall reading about a freedom quilt when I was a child! I don't remember the details now, but I do remember that the quilt was used to tell runaway slaves when it was safe to come up to the house that was a stop on the underground railroad.

Posted by: Suzanne V. (Yarnhog) at June 10, 2008 7:12 PM

WOW. I never heard of this but I'm not surprised, ppl get so clever when faced with horrible situations. Amazing.

Posted by: Orli at June 11, 2008 9:33 AM

Hi there!

You might be interested in a fictional series written by Jennifer Chiaverini. The series follows a group a quilters ("Elm Creek Quilters" and many of the books deal especially with one of the main characters, Sylvia - a quilter whose family and family home played a part in the Underground Railroad. They fun, relaxing reads!

Posted by: Claudia at June 11, 2008 1:20 PM

Have a look at the Dear Jane book of the same time and 121 blocks will seem like nothing. LOL.

Posted by: karin at June 13, 2008 4:05 AM

Have you read the Elm Creek Quilt books by Jennifer Chiaverini? The Runaway Quilt features quilts used in the underground railroad. I think they're more well written than most "Craft Fiction" and I definitely recommend them.

Posted by: Violet at June 13, 2008 12:24 PM

I've read about the idea of quilts used at the time of the Underground Railroad to help slaves to freedom. It does help to draw interest whether it is fact or fiction. I would really like to think there might be a hint of truth to the story behind the Civil War error quilts since most slaves could not read, but could easily understand the center color of a quilt.

Posted by: Snowbird at June 15, 2008 1:24 PM