History: Quilting in Idaho
This story was written for the Cassia County Museum and appeared in the South Idaho Press September 2006.
By LISA DAYLEY
Designs, shades and printing styles.
All help quilt historian Sharon Harleman Tandy, of the Boise-based Idaho Humanities Council, determine the age of a quilt.
Harleman-Tandy spoke at the Cassia County Museum to a crowd of about 35 people during its third and final lecture summer series recently.
“There’s so much involved. It’s based on the pattern of the quilt, the pattern of quilt blocks, the color, the dye, the printing method, the printing style and the pattern of the quilting itself,” Harleman Tandy said.
Some quilts may have material from different decades stitched together to make one quilt.
“There could be three or four fabrics. (The quilter) may have been using older scraps,” she said.
Harleman Tandy has studied quilts that had 150 years of material stitched throughout the comforter. That may be a result of mothers giving “scrap bags” to daughters from one generation to another.
“Some scraps that were never used, got passed on. They kept on saving them,” she said.
Most of those scrapbags were used when the country was enjoying a booming economy.
“Using the tiny pieces, means you’re being more wasteful. It’s exactly the opposite of commonly held thought,” she said.
During depressions or recessions, quilters tended to use only big pieces of fabric.
“You’re not being wasteful. The tiny pieces come out of the good times,” she said.
Quilters didn’t realize they were doing anything different during good or bad economies.
“It wasn’t a conscious thought. It was a general feel,” she said.
Harleman Tandy has studied American quilts and quilting habits for years since earning a master’s degree in Quilt and Textile History.
“I discovered quilt history and was so completely consumed by it. A large part of what I do rolled over to textile history as well. Textile history seems to be where I’m focusing more and more of my attention,” she said.
Today Harleman Tandy runs a business called Quilts&Answers where she does everything from quilt consultations to restorations.
As a quilt historian, Harleman Tandy studies political eras and world events.
“I’ve had to know library skills, journalism, economics and history,” she said.
It’s social history that tells the most about quilts and those who made them.
“It’s not kings, presidents or line of successions. Social history is from the family level – from the ground level,” she said.
As part of her work restoring quilts, Harleman Tandy once worked on a quilt where only eight by four inches remained of the original.
“I had to replace 75 pieces of fabric to get it as close to the original as possible,” she recalled.
Harleman-Tandy went through all her own vintage fabric in order to replicate the old quilt. While stitching away, Harleman-Tandy wondered about the woman who had made the original.
“I don’t want to sound like new-age spookiness, but I felt a connection with the women. I could feel what her life might have been like, and what she felt about her quilts,” she said.
The oldest quilt Harleman Tandy has seen is one made between 1775 and 1820.
“I was overcome with covetedness,” she quipped.
Harleman Tandy once came across a comforter made during the 1830s. Made of all white cloth, the quilt was made from only one piece of fabric.
“From the back work, you can see the cording and the evidence of the methods used to apply it. It is the most awe-inspiring quilt,” she quipped.
Throughout her travels as a quilt historian, Harleman Tandy has found comforters created from a variety of materials.
“I’ve seen quilts made out of parachutes, military badges, army blankets, men’s suits and flower sacks,” she said.
Harleman Tandy was once asked to “deconstruct a quilt” during a quilt show.
“I got into where the batting should be, and it didn’t have any. It was stuffed with underwear and nightgowns. We pulled out item after item. By the time they had pulled everything out, we had quite a crowd,” Harleman Tandy said.
As for her visit to the Cassia Museum event, Harleman Tandy was glad to share her knowledge of quilting.
“I enjoyed coming,” she said.
For additional Cassia County Museum stories read Cassia County Native Americans and Bonneville Flood in Cassia County
Also check out Walk through Time, , Famous American Battles and History of Shorthand
Famous American Battles" Native Americans in Cassia County","Quilting in Idaho" The Bonneville Flood in Cassia County and The History of Shorthand
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By LISA DAYLEY
Designs, shades and printing styles.
All help quilt historian Sharon Harleman Tandy, of the Boise-based Idaho Humanities Council, determine the age of a quilt.
Harleman-Tandy spoke at the Cassia County Museum to a crowd of about 35 people during its third and final lecture summer series recently.
“There’s so much involved. It’s based on the pattern of the quilt, the pattern of quilt blocks, the color, the dye, the printing method, the printing style and the pattern of the quilting itself,” Harleman Tandy said.
Some quilts may have material from different decades stitched together to make one quilt.
“There could be three or four fabrics. (The quilter) may have been using older scraps,” she said.
Harleman Tandy has studied quilts that had 150 years of material stitched throughout the comforter. That may be a result of mothers giving “scrap bags” to daughters from one generation to another.
“Some scraps that were never used, got passed on. They kept on saving them,” she said.
Most of those scrapbags were used when the country was enjoying a booming economy.
“Using the tiny pieces, means you’re being more wasteful. It’s exactly the opposite of commonly held thought,” she said.
During depressions or recessions, quilters tended to use only big pieces of fabric.
“You’re not being wasteful. The tiny pieces come out of the good times,” she said.
Quilters didn’t realize they were doing anything different during good or bad economies.
“It wasn’t a conscious thought. It was a general feel,” she said.
Harleman Tandy has studied American quilts and quilting habits for years since earning a master’s degree in Quilt and Textile History.
“I discovered quilt history and was so completely consumed by it. A large part of what I do rolled over to textile history as well. Textile history seems to be where I’m focusing more and more of my attention,” she said.
Today Harleman Tandy runs a business called Quilts&Answers where she does everything from quilt consultations to restorations.
As a quilt historian, Harleman Tandy studies political eras and world events.
“I’ve had to know library skills, journalism, economics and history,” she said.
It’s social history that tells the most about quilts and those who made them.
“It’s not kings, presidents or line of successions. Social history is from the family level – from the ground level,” she said.
As part of her work restoring quilts, Harleman Tandy once worked on a quilt where only eight by four inches remained of the original.
“I had to replace 75 pieces of fabric to get it as close to the original as possible,” she recalled.
Harleman-Tandy went through all her own vintage fabric in order to replicate the old quilt. While stitching away, Harleman-Tandy wondered about the woman who had made the original.
“I don’t want to sound like new-age spookiness, but I felt a connection with the women. I could feel what her life might have been like, and what she felt about her quilts,” she said.
The oldest quilt Harleman Tandy has seen is one made between 1775 and 1820.
“I was overcome with covetedness,” she quipped.
Harleman Tandy once came across a comforter made during the 1830s. Made of all white cloth, the quilt was made from only one piece of fabric.
“From the back work, you can see the cording and the evidence of the methods used to apply it. It is the most awe-inspiring quilt,” she quipped.
Throughout her travels as a quilt historian, Harleman Tandy has found comforters created from a variety of materials.
“I’ve seen quilts made out of parachutes, military badges, army blankets, men’s suits and flower sacks,” she said.
Harleman Tandy was once asked to “deconstruct a quilt” during a quilt show.
“I got into where the batting should be, and it didn’t have any. It was stuffed with underwear and nightgowns. We pulled out item after item. By the time they had pulled everything out, we had quite a crowd,” Harleman Tandy said.
As for her visit to the Cassia Museum event, Harleman Tandy was glad to share her knowledge of quilting.
“I enjoyed coming,” she said.
For additional Cassia County Museum stories read Cassia County Native Americans and Bonneville Flood in Cassia County
Also check out Walk through Time, , Famous American Battles and History of Shorthand
Famous American Battles" Native Americans in Cassia County","Quilting in Idaho" The Bonneville Flood in Cassia County and The History of Shorthand
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