Cloth & Comfort: Pieces of Women's Lives from Their Quilts and DiariesUsing excerpts from letters, diaries, and reminiscences, Cloth & Comfort illustrates how quilts went beyond their given purposes of warmth and decoration to serve as reminders of families, loved ones, and special events. Their intricate designs and deliberate stitches reflected hopes, dreams, fears, and frustrations in an age when women had few legitimate outlets for their feelings and creative impulses. Juxtaposed with the often poignant voices of the quilters are details of the quilts themselves, along with charming accoutrements of the craft, such as elaborately carved needle cases and silver thimbles, as well as period photos and advertising trade cards. |
Common terms and phrases
19TH-CENTURY FABRIC DIARY ADVERTISING TRADE CARD AID SOCIETY ledger Alices dress American Frugal Housewife bars and horses BETSEY WRIGHT big eatin binding quilts BIRD SEWING CLAMP Bower box of scraps calico California chintz CLARK'S Cloves comfort CONNECTICUT CRAZY QUILT DETAIL FROM ALBUM DOLL ELIZA TILLINGHAST'S 19TH-CENTURY ELIZABETH HOSACK AYERS fiancé finished FOUND IN IOWA HANNAH SHAW household ledgers Indiana INSET IRISH CHAIN Kiracofe LADIES AID SOCIETY LEFT letter LIZZIE FANT BROWN LOG CABIN LOIS LENSKI'S Lorquin LYNCHBURG NEGRO DANCE MARK SPOOL COTTON MARY DAGGET Mississippi mother Muslin NINE PATCH OPPOSITE PENNSYLVANIA Pieces of Women's Quilt inscription quilt to keep quiltmaking RIGHT RUTH ANNA ABRAMS scrap cotton sewed hard SEWING BOX sewing machine SOCIETY ledger book STEEL BIRD SEWING stitches THIMBLE Thread TILLINGHAST'S 19TH-CENTURY FABRIC TIROL University-Center for Archival VARIABLE STAR washing WEDNESDAY West Millgrove winter I think Wisconsin women WOOD NEEDLE م م م