The Quilters: Women and Domestic Art, an Oral History [Paperback]

Patricia J. Cooper (Author), Norma Bradley Allen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 1999

“The quilts are beautiful, the faces worn but kind . . . the insights affecting.” —New York Times Book Review “The women who speak through the book shared a vision, a strength, and a spirit that few of us will ever know or understand.” —Christian Science Monitor “You can’t always change things. Sometimes you don’t have no control over the way things go. Hail ruins the crops, or fire burns you out. And then you’re just given so much to work with in a life and you have to do the best you can with what you’ve got. That’s what piecing is. The materials is passed on to you or is all you can afford to buy . . . that’s just what’s given to you. Your fate. But the way you put them together is your business. You can put them in any order you like.” —Mary White, from the Introduction First published in 1977, The Quilters chronicles the lives and quilts of pioneer women of Texas and New Mexico at the turn of the twentieth century. Compelling black and white portraits of the women accompany their moving oral histories, while thirty-six color photographs showcase the quilts. This award-winning book was the basis of the Broadway play Quilters, nominated for seven Tony Awards. Patricia Cooper taught at the University of California at Berkeley until her death in 1987. Norma Bradley Allen is a freelance writer who lives in Cedar Hill, Texas.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Those forms of creativity dominated by women-weaving, potting, quilting-have long been called "crafts," as if to imply that women weren't capable of artistic inspiration. These domestic arts were, however, often the only artistic outlet historically available to women, and the skills were passed down from mother to daughter. Poignantly revealed here, through interviews with quilters all over the Southwest, is how these women gained inspiration for their art from their daily lives. The quilts aren't idle pictures to hang on the wall; they are alive as dynamic parts of everyday life, reflecting family, community and history. -- From The WomanSource Catalog & Review: Tools for Connecting the Community for Women; review by FGP --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

When I was about four years old the neighbor's baby died, and all the women was called in to help. Mama knew what her part was because right away she took some blue silk out of her hope chest. I remember that silk so well because it was special and I got to carry it. When we got to the neighbor's some of the women was cooking and the men was making the casket. Mama and three other women set up the frame and quilted all day. First they quilted the lining for the casket, and then they made a tiny little quilt out of the blue silk to cover the baby. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Texas Tech University Press (June 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0896724107
• ISBN-13: 978-0896724105
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an intimate and powerful human experience, September 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Quilters: Women and Domestic Art, an Oral History (Paperback)

The words of the quilters, their faces, the photograps of the places and of the quilts that figured so strongly in their lives--these give us a profound human experience. I have seen, and very much enjoyed, the play that was adapted from this book. The book itself is more intimate and more powerful. You get to know these women, and you're glad to have had the chance.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A link to quilting history, December 19, 2002

By 

J. Elliott (Slough, Berkshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Quilters: Women and Domestic Art, an Oral History (Paperback)

I have read many books about pioneering women who set up homes from scratch and quilted for practical and soul-fulfilling reasons. Usually though, those women are long gone and we are left with rather dry details of their lives. The joy of this book is that the women whose words are recorded in it are living, breathing members of that pioneer group, and, even though their experiences were in the 20th rather than the 19th century,the issues and incidents are the same and they tell a vibrant story.
The book records conversations amongst Texas quilting groups, to which the authors were invited and the ladies seem eager to tell stories of their early days in dug outs and cabins, their families scaping a life from the soil and their role in that. None of them ever sound hard done by or as if they wish their lives had been different. And they are all keen to express the creative and fulfilling role that quilting has had in their lives.
If you are not a quilter, you will still enjoy the strength, friendship and nobility that run through these conversations - they are a link with a passed era, which I felt honoured to share as I read.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tribute to the spirit of triumph over adversity!, August 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Quilters: Women and Domestic Art, an Oral History (Paperback)

Strength and courage comes tumbling out of the words of these women of the Southwest, just as the colors came tumbling out of their scrap bags. From these they created spectacular quilts to counter life in homes dug into the earth, dust storms, and the incessant sound of wind. Busy fingers gave solace as they faced the loneliness of a land "stretched flat to the edge of the sky". I found these accounts to be profoundly moving. This is not a "how to quilt" book, but a compassionate account of the texture and fiber of the lives of pioneer women. It's impact continued when a play, "The Quilters", based on the book, became an internationally successful Tony nominated Broadway play.