Sunday, April 29, 2018

Southern Quilt Traditions, History, and Designs

Southern Quilts by Mary W. Kerr includes articles by thirteen quilt historians, profusely illustrated with 270 color photographs, demonstrating the rich heritage of quilting across the South.

The heritage of quilts was influenced by Scots-Irish and German settlers as well as by African American traditions, and demonstrate regionally popular quilt patterns, a preference for complicated quilt block incorporating tiny pieces, and specific color palettes.

The Forward by Laurel Horton discusses Southern Roots, Southern Patterns, and the roots of Southern quilting from the British Isles, later impacted by waves of immigrants who migrated south from Pennsylvania.

Southern cotton was milled in New England, the plentiful American-made fabrics leading to the Golden Age of American quilt making during the mid-1800sand into the twentieth century. The development of new dyes and colors and quit block patterns, and inexpensive fabrics, led to the creation of suburb examples, while utility quilts included scrap sewing, the use of feed sacks, large quilt stitching, and heavy cotton batting.

Chapters include:
  • Making Do- a Southern Tradition by Mary W. Kerr
  • Alabama Pine Burr by Mary Elizabeth Johnson
  • Alamance Applique by Kathlyn Sullivan
  • Circles and Spikes by Teddy Pruett
  • Cotton Boll by Kathlyn Sullivan
  • Crown of Thorns by Merikay Waldvogel
  • Double Wedding Ring by Sherry Burkhalter
  • Farmer's Fancy by Bunnie Jordan
  • The Impact of the Feedsack on Southern Quilts by Sarah Bliss Wright
  • Pieced Pine But by Mary W. Kerr
  • Rattlesnake Quilts by Marcia Kaylakie
  • Seven Sisters by Sandra Starley
  • Southern Florals by Lisa Erlandson
  • Tricolor Quilts: How the Germans of Pennsylvania Influenced a Color Palette and Style in the South by Lynn Lancaster Gorges
  • Whig's Defeat by Gaye Rick Ingram
I was particularly interested learning about Shenandoah Valley quilts since my paternal line includes the earliest settlers. The pattern known as Farmer's Fancy was particularly popular in that area.
Farmer's Fancy quilt circa 1880, from the collection of Taryn Faulkner, Pinterest image
Farmer's Fancy is a circular pattern, with an inner design similar to a sunburst or compass block, surrounded by several rings of triangles. Jordan notes the earliest documented Farmer's Fancy block dates to 1846. The pattern was later called Pyrotechnics in the 1930s.

This quilt is often found in red and cheddar yellow, and sometimes with a background of blue, cheddar, or green. In another chapter, Lynn Lancaster Georges discusses the Pennsylvania German impact on the Southern color palette. As seen in Pennsylvania Dutch Fraktur art and earthenware pottery, they tended toward teal blue, orange, and oxblood. Zig-zag borders are often found on the Shenandoah Valley quilts.

The West Virginia State Documentation Project found this pattern throughout the Shenandoah Valley and neighboring areas first settled by German Mennonites and Scots-Irish. My Gochenour family were German-speaking Swiss Brethren, a branch of the Anabaptist faith which includes the Mennonites and Amish. (My ancestors became Baptist after a few generations.)

I may be daydreaming, but I would love to make my own version of Farmer's Fancy! I bought acrylic templates from John Flynn's company. His way of construction should make it easier for me.

Southern Quilts will appeal to those interested in quilt history and to quilters who enjoy making Reproduction quilts.

I received a free e-book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Read my reviews of Mary Kerr's previous books Recycling Vintage Hexie Quilts and Twisted .

Southern Quilts: Celebrating Traditions, History, and Designs
by Mary W. Kerr
Schiffer Publishing Ltd.
Pub Date 28 Apr 2018 
Hardcover $29.99
ISBN: 9780764355028

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