Customer Reviews

Georgia Quilts: Piecing Together a History (Wormsloe Foundation Publication)

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I am still poring over this beautifully formatted and photographed book, and I've owned it for six weeks. It is a joy to behold and an important addition to current knowledge of textile and quilt history.

It is notable for the new quilts it brings to light and for the sheer number of quilts from the various eras in Georgia's long history. Clearly the quilt search that produced it was far-reaching, ambitious.

GEORGIA QUILTS also should interest quilt historians for the light it throws on quilts of the Deep South. Those seeking trends or commonality of patterns, textiles, quilting traditions, and other elements of the quilter's art now have another important resource.

In short, it is a beautiful book, filled with well-rendered full-page photographs of quilts not previously seen in print, with vintage photographs to provide context. Buy it for the quilts you will see, if for no other reason. It cannot fail to please.

The decision to organize the quilts by something more meaningful than chronology suggests the complexity of the body of quilts and offers options for deeper exploration of trends and issues. In this choice, the editors have the fine KANSAS QUILTS as precedent. A problem associated with such a decision, of course, is a possible lack of consistency in the quality of treatment and approach to the items studied.

GEORGIA QUILTS shows some of the problematic effects of this approach. For instance, some writers speculate more freely than others. When addressing the appearance of a blue-green color popular sometime around or just after the Civil War, the writer states the color visible today is "probably" the result of a fabric fade from a two-step home dye process. Yet throughout the book, this identical color appears in post-Civil War quilts in combination with cheddar and oxblood. The consistency raises questions that need addressing, for this color offers clues for dating and placing historical quilts of unknown provenance. Hardly novel to Georgia, it is seen throughout the Mid- and Deep South in the same general hue. One wonders what a search of cotton mill inventories in the period might have revealed.

Yet, while fewer unsupported generalizations would improve the book, to a large extent, the problem is characteristic of state quilt books because of the number of items that require consideration in a relatively short space. Perhaps all one might ask of such books is a representative sampling, accompanied by an effort at interpretation that will point the direction for future scholarship. In this, GEORGIA QUILTS succeeds.

And if only for the sheer array of quilts, well photographed and well displayed, and the complementary photographs from the Vanishing Georgia collection of the Georgia Historical archives, it deserves a place in the library of everyone interested in American quilts, American history, Southern culture and arts, or the history of quiltmaking.

Here you will find 'Possum quilts, a Circular Saw to beat all Circular Saw quilts, and enough lively examples of the quilter's art to suggest the character of Georgia's culture over time and to give abiding pleasure.

The editors are to be commended on their inclusion of many quilts heretofore not seen in regional quilt books and on their organizational decision. The varied treatments, including solid chapters on feedsack quilts, African-American quilts, and "King Cotton" are informative and introduce either new perspectives or focus earlier ones more sharply. The two chapters on early quilts present fine new examples, brilliantly photographed, and a range sometimes not found.

GEORGIA QUILTS is an excellent addition to the study of Southern culture and American quilt history in general. It is a must-own.

I recommend following this book with Nancilu Burdick's LEGACY: THE QUILTS OF TALULA BOTTOMS. Bottoms was a Georgian who experienced the Battle of Atlanta and lived into a new century, quilting all the while. Though like many Scots-Irish Southerners after the Civil War, her family eventually moved to west--in her case, to Limestone County, Alabama--for better farming land, Bottoms remained a Georgian in her heart and outlook. Her story might well have been a chapter in GEORGIA QUILTS.

from the wonderful plays on words in the title, to the chapter notes at the end of the book, this book is filled with delights.

as two other reviewers have noted, there are wonderful, amazing and rare quilts included in this book. besides the lethal (perfect adjective!) saw quilt, there are broderie perse, pieced, four block, crazy, and string pieced quilts (and a quilt machine pieced and quilted--in the 1860s!). a feature of this book that i particularly enjoyed was the number of late-20th century quilts included. i was left with the impression that georgia quilters had no problems with innovation and individuality. also interesting were the run-of-the-mill quilts, many near disintegration. these not only showed what was used on a day-to-day basis, but give context to the more elaborate quilts.

the georgia history is interesting--i had no idea the state had had a thriving textile industry. there are many fascinating photos, and even diagrams of various styles of quilting frames. there is a very interesting section that compares statistically euro-american and afro-american quilts by subject matter.

since two other reviewers have done such a good job of reviewing this book, i will end by saying that this is a must-have book for quilters.

I'm interested in Vintage quilts, and State Quilt Study Groups publications are a great place to become acquainted with regional quilt patterns and aesthetics prior to 1900. Georgia Quilts is a bit disappointing compared to some other State Quilt books. Relatively few quilts prior to 1900, although some are superb; a Circular Saw that looks positively lethal, and a breathtakingly beautiful Lotus Blossom. Most State Quilt books are organized chronologically, this one is not, so there may be more pre-1900 quilts than I think. There's a lot of space devoted to non-quilting topics- including a chapter on King Cotton, which was interesting, and - not un-associated with quilts. Oh, two of Harriet Powers' fabulous quilts are pictured.

Fellow quilters understand; its the photos that make or break a book about quilts, and these photos are fabulous. The text is lively and informative and makes me wish to see another exhibit of historic quilts!

Great book and very reasonably priced

Received within 5 days to Australia

Well done