Embroidered Signatures on Quilts

Palmer capital F.

riendship quilts or signature quilts are a quintessentially American objects.  In the nineteenth century the signatures would have made with indelible ink; later, the names were made more permanent and decorative with embroidery thread.  The finished quilts were often used by groups of women as gifts or fund-raisers.  

Signature quilt from Cyril, Oklahoma.  

The 1937 quilt I recently inherited and sent back to its hometown was made of pieced starbursts with a signature at the center of each.  The calligraphy of the signatures itself interests me, since the women who wrote them would have learned their penmanship at around the same time, and some of them possibly from the same teacher.  The letterforms they used were characteristic of Palmer Method, a teaching program popularized from 1900 to 1950.  At one time more than 3/4 of all students in the US learned their penmanship using this system. 

Although the demands of embroidery tend to simplify the line, you can still see Palmer's characteristic, archaic, sometimes peculiar letter forms in many of these names. 
  

Capital B and capital L, and small b, follow Palmer rules.  

Capital D is a Palmer Method capital.  

The capital N follows Palmer method
rules that make the first stroke of
capital M, N, and W much taller 
than the right half of the letter.

Capital I and capital G are distinctive Palmer Method
forms, as well as the small r. The capitals are supposed 
to be three times the height of the small letters.  

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Quilts that incorporate letters are endlessly fascinating.  I hope to hear from other fans of this American art form.  

Women turn quilts into documents

The signature quilt I mentioned recently has written its own second chapter.  After a good 70 years in our family's attic, it seemed ready to go back to those who made it.  I've learned from my mother and my sister that when you inherit a handmade artifact that seems to tell a story--research it. So I got in touch with the local historical society in the town of Cyril, Oklahoma, and found what so many American towns have--people who cherish their own history.  
Many citizens of this town of 1100 people are children and grandchildren of the women [and one man] who signed and embroidered their names on this quilt some 80 years ago, and now that I have got organized to send the quilt to the Historical Society, they too can enjoy how it opens a window on the past.  Their comments can be seen on the CHS Facebook page for March 7.

Cyril Oklahoma and its historic quilt on Facebook 

The next time you itch to clean out your attic, don't just give stuff away; find the right home for it.  Especially if it has writing on it.  Stop and think about how and where a simple object can connect people to each other, and to their own past.  All it takes is a little sleuthing.  
We will look at those signatures up close in the next post.  Signature quilts are a special American tradition.  

  

Women turn scraps into masterpieces

A detail from a pieced and embroidered quilt, one of dozens that my husband's parents accepted in lieu of payment for goods from their general store in Cyril, Oklahoma, during the 1930s.  The center of each star has an embroidered signature, most likely of the group of women who helped with the final quilting and assembling.The initials O E S probably designate a member of Order of the Eastern Star, a women's group.  

Today is International Women's Day, a good time to celebrate the virtuoso work done by women fiber artists. Chief among these treasures are the thousands of wholly original designs for pieced quilts.  Women worked alone at home, but they also often collaborated with their neighbors. Stitching the finished quilt top to its filling and backing was almost always a group project, which provided companionship and helped spread ideas about design and fabrication.  
Yesterday, my post featured some letters made up of scraps of fabric. But that's not the only way letters were stitched into cloth.  Embroidered signatures were a favorite addition.  The quilt above is a rich cultural document that has an important story to tell about the town, the women, the material culture, the era, and the national values that shaped it.  
Whatever else women create, they create connections.