The Quilt: A History and Celebration of an American Art Form [Hardcover]

Elise Schebler Roberts (Author), Jennifer Chiaverini (Foreword), Sandra Dallas (Contributor), Helen Kelley (Contributor), Jean Ray Laury (Contributor), Ami Simms (Contributor), Patricia Cox (Contributor), Alex Anderson (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2007

The story of the American quilt is the story of America itself, stitching together the history, hopes, and heartaches of a nation. From colonial to pioneer quilts, Civil War to Victorian crazy quilts, Depression-era quilts to quilts of the present day, this American craft speaks volumes about the changing world around us and the lives of the quilt makers who have pieced it together.

The largest, most comprehensive history of American quilts ever published, The Quilt explores the evolution of quilting in America. It shows, in vivid colors and patterns, how African American, Amish, Hawaiian, Hmong, and Native American quilts celebrate cultural identity, and how quilts connect us to one another through quilting bees and other community groups.

Author Elise Schebler Roberts also goes beyond the historical nature of quilts to cover current efforts at quilt preservation, with discussions of museums, collecting and appraising, and state documentation projects. Her book features an encyclopedia of favorite quilt styles, detailing the stories behind applique quilts, crazy quilts, art quilts, scrap quilts, sampler quilts, and whole-cloth quilts, as well as traditional patchwork patterns like the Nine Patch, Log Cabin, and Double Wedding Ring. The Quilt is gloriously illustrated with more than 200 full-color photographs of classic collectible quilts, close-up detail shots, current and historical photos of quilters, and vintage quilting memorabilia such as pattern booklets, advertisements, posters, postcards, and more.

Editorial Reviews

Review

BlackThread.blogspot.com, Oct. 15, 2007 (blog readers unavailable)

“It’s magnificent!”

Quilter's Newsletter, April 2008
"Investigate the evolution of quilting in America with one of the most comprehensive histories ever published.  The book moves from the discussion of the historical nature of quilts to current efforts at quilt preservation.  Features include more than 200 full-color photographs and an encyclopedia of quilt styles, from applique to crazy, pieced to art, scrappy to whole cloth.  Essays by Jean Ray Laury, Patricia Cox and Alex Anderson, to name a few, highlight the complexity and beauty of America's quilting tradition."

Clinton Courier, Nov. 7, 2007

“Two new non-fiction books you might want to preview could make a good holiday gift are: The Quilt: A History and Celebration of an American Art Form.”

Book Description

The largest, most comprehensive history of American quilts ever published, The Quilt explores the evolution of quilting in America. It shows, in vivid colors and patterns, how African American, Amish, Hawaiian, Hmong, and Native American quilts celebrate cultural identity, and how quilts connect us to one another through quilting bees and other community groups. Moving from the historical nature of quilts to current efforts at quilt preservation, the book features an encyclopedia of favorite quilt styles, detailing the stories behind appliqué quilts, crazy quilts, art quilts, scrap quilts, sampler quilts, and whole-cloth quilts, as well as traditional patchwork patterns.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 348 pages
• Publisher: Voyageur Press; 1st edition (October 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760326886
• ISBN-13: 978-0760326886
• Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 10.7 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,051,367 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm really enjoying this book., October 24, 2007

By 

Annette D "Annette D" (New Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Quilt: A History and Celebration of an American Art Form (Hardcover)

Just got the book yesterday, and sat with it in my lap all evening. It's big - coffee table size - and heavy. The pages are thick, and it just feels good to turn them. The pictures and text are wonderful, the font is clear and easy to read. In particular, the organization of the book doesn't try to be all-inclusive. It organizes the information and stories along the reasons that people quilt. Many of the pictured quilts have a story about the maker. You can read a few pages and move on. I won't get tired of this any time soon.

The bibliography, web links and quilting organization directory in the back of the book is rich and diverse. It's a great starting place for just about any online searching you'd want to do.

45 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars over priced, over hyped, October 26, 2007

By 

E Rice (western ny state) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Quilt: A History and Celebration of an American Art Form (Hardcover)

this book bills itself as 'the most comprehensive history of american quilts ever published.'

hardly. although it does a better job of covering the 1920s-1950s than most quilt books, other eras are not all that well done. and there are several quilts that are beautiful, unusual, and inspiring that i have not seen in other books.

the back cover boasts that there are more than 200 color photos quilts. there may be, but there are sections of this 330+ page book where page and page after page after page is completely free of any photo or illustration, never mind quilt photos. ordinary quilts are given full page space, while several impressive quilts have less than half a page. _the american quilt_, by roderick kiracofe, has a third fewer pages and claims 250 photos of quilts. it's also much better written. and that's only one example of other, better, books that address quilt history.

a history should be chronological. this is not. a history should be accurate--there are glaring mistakes and unbelievable statements (marie antoinette is 'infamous.' what?? notorious, yes, libelled and slandered, provably--but 'infamous'? she wasn't eva braun. oh, and why is she mentioned?) nearly an entire page is devoted to mary, queen of scots, and an example of her needlework is included. why? it has absolutely nothing to do with quilts. one caption states that quilters in early- to mid-20th century america had to rely on mail order for their fabric. is the author totally ignorant? until the decline of home sewing, about the mid-70s, many department stores had yardage counters, there were shops devoted to yard goods, dry goods stores carried bolts of fabric. shops specializing in quilting alone may be a recent phenomenon, but fabric stores have existed for more than a century. (1/4/08: i was skimming through this book again, and, by chance, read in the text more accurate information about fabric availability--the text was not near the caption that annoyed me. sloppy production, but probably not the author's fault.)

the text seems to be aimed at the junior high school level. the grammar is appalling. to correct one caption: a word does not derive from something. a word is derived from something. just because the advertising profession thinks the passive voice is not exciting enough to manipulate consumers is no reason to degrade the language.

space is wasted in essays of varying degree of interest. one person's viewpoint of events can be interesting, but not necessarily accurate.

still, in all this dross there are a few items of interest. the stories of past quilters are moving, some even heartbreaking. the photos of people are interesting (the share croppers [sic] who put on their silk stockings for the photographer [nylon wasn't yet used then]).

do i like it? no, it makes me angry that such a little is priced at such a lot. am i going to return it? after several days' consideration, i decided to keep it--because i think it would be unethical to photocopy the quilts i like and then return the book.

do i recommned it? only to quilters who are already familiar with the better histories of quilts and quilting. and then i'd suggest waiting until they can buy it used.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Big, Beautiful, and Fascinating, November 1, 2007

By 

Erica Shauffen - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Quilt: A History and Celebration of an American Art Form (Hardcover)

I just got my copy of this book and am really enjoying it. It's larger than I thought it would be and very easy on the eyes. It's full of quilt photos and interesting stories. I like that it shows a lot of quilts I haven't seen before. I'm tired of quilt books that just recycle the same quilt pictures I've seen in other books.

But what I really like are the stories. I just get drawn into who made these quilts and why. Where did the blocks come from, how did they get around the country? There are quilt photos from all over America and stories about the blocks, fabrics, and quilters who made them. It's not perfect (I found a typo), but I am having a ball reading it. I especially like the way it handles a couple of controversial quilt topics like the Underground Railroad quilts and "swastika" quilts. I've read other quilt history books, but this one takes a different slant.

I thought this would be a coffee-table book that I would flip through once in a while, but I'm actually reading it. I've even bookmarked a couple stories for my next quilt guild meeting.