Quilts and History

 

One of the presents I got this Christmas was a book entitled Civil War Sampler: 50 Quilt Blocks with Stories from History. The author, Barbara Brackman, is an historian and a quilter who has written many books on the history of quilts and the the history that can be found within vintage quilts. She even has an etsy site that offers vintage fabrics that would be perfect for recreating vintage quilts. In her introduction, Brackman explains that few of the blocks in this book actually date from the Civil War period. Most were published in the 1930s in the Chicago Tribune and Kansas City Star.  Brackman used the symbolism in the names to recall events and people from the war. She bolsters her recollections with pictures and quotes from primary sources.  For instance, when introducing the quilt block known as Hovering Hawks, she explains that the word hawk, originally the name of a predatory bird, was used in the Civil War to describe any thief. This usage might have started with the Jayhawks, who raided towns in Kansas before the war began. Brackman includes two diary entries to support her argument. The book is primarily formatted in two page spreads that include pictures of a quilt block on the left. This is the page for a quilt block known as calico puzzle. Most left hand pages show two or three different coloration for the same block. The right hand page of each spread shares the Civil War connections, plus cutting and piecing instructions and references. This page talks about Clara Solomon, a New Orleans teenager whose diary talks about how the scarcity of fabric in the South affected her. The book has chapters on four patch, nine patch, miscellaneous pieced blocks, piecing challenges and applique blocks, plus a section of templates. The book is beautifully laid out and filled with interesting trivia. I would recommend this book to quilters and people interested in the American Civil War. Jennifer Bohnhoff is a middle school language arts teacher and writer who lives in rural New Mexico. She has made a number of quilts for her home and her children and will soon finish one for her eldest granddaughter, which she promises to post to this blog soon. Jennifer is currently working on Glorieta, the second in the series of historical novels set in New Mexico during the Civil War. For more information on her and her books, click here. To see more on Barbara Brackman's books, click here. To read her blog, click here. For her etsy site, click here.