Customer Reviews

Quilts and Women of the Mormon Migrations

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I was looking for a book to pass the time. I got lost for hours in this book and wished it was hundreds of pages more. The photos of the quiltmakers and the quilts are priceless. There is so much historical knowledge in this book, that I feel Mary Bywater Cross should be awarded an honorary doctorate degree in the history of quiltmaking and of the Morman Migration.

This book is a remarkable history of the fabrics used & the styles chosen together with where the women were born, when they stitched the presented treasure, when & where they joined the Latter-Day Saints & when they made the migration westward.

Each quilt, no matter its condition, its purpose or the technical skill, leads to a compelling discovery of previously unknown women's lives. Witness the three lions in a circlet on which has been embroidered the British monarch's motto or the "Star Quilt" of Sage Richards Treharne Jones from Wales who came on her parents' mission, both of whom succumbed along the trail. Or Mary Mortensen Bjork's migration from Denmark & her lively "Crazy Patch Quilt"; or Christina Erika Forsgren Davis from Sweden & her plain & simple "Strip Quilt". Or Betsy Prudence Howard Bullock's "Peter and Paul Quilt" all the way from Bedfordshire, England. Or Matilda Robison King's "Washington Plume" applique on her way from Montgomery County, New York. Many women were members of the same Relief Society & so made several quilts with similar designs.

Mary Bywater Cross has done quilters, pioneers & women in general a profound service by her research, writing about & cataloging these fragile & beautiful works of art & comfort. There is something deeply connective about the fabrics & designs created by these intrepid & enduring women.

A must for anyone who loves quilting & history - do visit my site for my full review & eInterview with this quilt historian as well as other books on quilting.

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the Mormon Pioneer women and the way they created a "heaven on earth" in their early Utah homes through quiltmaking. I would encourage anyone who enjoys LDS Pioneer history to use this book as a great reference guide for inspiration in creating a warm home.

A very good historical reference recounting the trials of the women who crossed from their homes to Utah and other places to settle the unknown. Some of the stories were heartbreaking, others a tribute to the courage of all pioneer women.

Excellent book on not only the history of quilts but also on the westward movement in the mid-1800s and on women's contribution to that migration and settlement. The detailed record keeping of the women, their quilts and their influence is remarkable.

I found this book to be fascinating in every aspect. The book was presented excellently starting with the appropriate time periods of the migration. I also found the history of the Mormon Faith to have been told from a non-biased point of view. The amount of quilts displayed and written about were beyond my expectations and I found them utterly charming. The women of this time period were written about and their stories told by Mary Bywater Cross in a way that kept me turning the pages. I must admit I couldn't rush through this one, I savored each page and each quilt. I highly recommend this book and hope to see many more books written by this author. I suspect that the this book was more extensive complete the LDS faith tends to document their history. The author included many charts and interesting information about the migration and quilts that I found very interesting. I highly recommend this book.