Massachusetts Quilts: Our Common Wealth [Hardcover]

Lynne Zacek Bassett (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2009

The Massachusetts Quilt Documentation Project (MassQuilts) is a volunteer organization that holds "documentation days" across the state to identify, date, and photograph pre-1950 quilts in private and museum collections. Formally organized in 1994, to date 6,000 quilts have been documented (the original goal was 3,000). These quilts provide a window through which to view the history of the state, telling stories of international trade and domestic manufacture, economic booms and busts, national politics, and neighborly discourse. The project focuses on quilts that have a history of original use in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Quilts will present the group's findings. Essays by experts will lend context to catalogue-like entries on notable quilts. The quilts themselves will star, in over 200 illustrations, most of them rich in color.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Massachusetts Quilts, in addition to its vivid narratives about individual quilts, puts quilting history into its larger context... A large, sumptuous, brilliantly executed book, it should be welcomed into the library of anyone interested in American textiles, folkways, folk art, New England history, women's history, and Americana in general."--Maine Antique Digest

"Massachusetts Quilts, Our Common Wealth is a powerful presentation of historic quilts and their gifts makers. This newly released volume offers and important study of American quilt making... This book is enriching with its detailed text and beautiful color illustrations..."--Inside Antiques

"In the years since the Massachusetts Quilt Documentation Project got underway in 1994, it has examined 6,000 quilts preserved in museums and historical societies and treasured in private homes. They are, as historian Marla R. Miller notes, "artifacts of sentiment . . . mediums for nostalgia, affection, and veneration across generations." And they are also, she writes, "texts of historical insight." Some 200 examples are now handsomely displayed in "Massachusetts Quilts: Our Common Wealth," edited by Lynne Zacek Bassett, the project's founder. The book offers commentary on each quilt, its design and composition, the particular circumstances surrounding its making, and, frequently, the maker herself. In all, it is a valuable document of the Commonwealth's cultural history." --Boston Globe

History lovers will appreciate how this book records the stories of Massachusetts people and towns from Nantucket to the Berkshires."--Lexington's Colonial Times

Review

"Solidly grounded in impeccable scholarship, yet written in an accessible and engaging style, the authors skillfully use quilts to provide another lens into the history of Massachusetts. Organized by region of the state, rather than by quilt style or type, it offers a fresh way of examining the nearly 6,000 quilts documented in the MassQuilts project. It is an important contribution to the literature on quiltmaking in America and on the lives of New England women." (Patricia Crews, Willa Cather Professor of Textiles and Director, International Quilt Study Center & Museum, University of Nebraska-Lincoln )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 360 pages
• Publisher: UPNE (February 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584657456
• ISBN-13: 978-1584657453
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #906,309 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent history book, February 25, 2009

By 

Kimberly Wulfert (Ojai, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Massachusetts Quilts: Our Common Wealth (Hardcover)

Massachusetts, being one of the more important states in America's cotton textile history, lends itself to meaningful research of its quilts made in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. 6000 quilts filled the research pool in this state documentation project. What resulted is this book of splendid historical and scholarly text accompanied by beautiful photography. This is a textile and quilt history book, not just a quilt book or coffee table book. The provenance accompanying the quilts is impressive with many added details that broaden the picture and give the reader historical context. This makes the book more worthwhile as a reference and genealogists might be interested in it. The quilts are accompanied by family photos when possible and the family history. Close-up pictures are scattered throughout, as well as photos of related items for making quilts.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book, February 22, 2009

By 

S. Christian "historian pastor quilter" (North Dakota) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Massachusetts Quilts: Our Common Wealth (Hardcover)

This book is wonderfully done. The pictures are gorgeous, the narrative is well written. I own many quilt history books from the individual states and this is clearly one of the best. The inclusion of items that were quilted beside bedding were such a nice addition. I had never heard of quilted petticoats until I read my book. This is a must for anyone interested in quilt history. I also appreciated the way the book was divided on subjects. Well done and a pleasure to own.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for the quilt historian., April 18, 2009

By 

Judith Stoll (Venango, PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Massachusetts Quilts: Our Common Wealth (Hardcover)

As a member of a quilt study group,this incredibly detailed book is a must have for its content and the quilts that are represented. I have a particular interest in signature quilts and was overwhelmed by the examples that are featured. This book is destined to be one of the greats. Buy it now while in print or, like Barbara Brackman's books that are out of print, the price will soon be beyond reach.