America's Quilting History

There are descriptive quilt names like Eccentric Star, Drunkard's Trail and Sawtooth Diamond and there are lovely sounding names like Bright Hopes, Prairie Sunrise and True Lovers Knot. There are names about places; Road to California, Baltimore Belle, Missouri Corn Field and Kansas Dust Storm. While Broken Saw Blades, Old Gray Goose and Crows Foot sound just plain down to earth. The names alone in the "Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt patterns" can be fun to read through. Add the over 4,000 drawings of these quilt blocks and you have great entertainment for any quilter.

As Barbara Brackman gathered together all these quilt patterns and their names she discovered that there are not only quilt patterns with no name at all but also patterns with several names. She came to the conclusion that, "The right name for a pattern is what you call it." Nevertheless it is fascinating to look over so many patterns, some with multiple names, and to realize that they were named over different times and from different regions. You will also find completely different quilts were sometimes given the same name. It's also inspiring to see the wonderful variety of patterns that have been created by women over the years. Anyone who would say women are not mathematically inclined should take a look at the intricate geometrics involved in many of these patterns.

Although we can't be sure if the name we find for that old quilt we found in the attic or bought at the antique fair is the name the quilter gave it, it's still interesting to see what it might have been called. While you might buy this book so you can look up names of vintage quilts it is also a wonderful source of pattern ideas. "Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns", is a valuable resource for any quilter or quilt collector.

© 2001 Anne Johnson (Do not reproduce any material from this site without permission from the author.)

To purchase this book go to "Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns".
To browse through quilt history books go to the "Quilted History Bookstore".

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