Originally Posted by penny doty
I never heard the story. God bless. Penny
Google "Ozella McDaniel Williams" and "quilts and the Underground Railroad."
This should give you a good idea of what the "story" is. Ms. Williams' story is a great story. There are claims that it is how the slaves who were escaping to freedom used quilts as signals that led those fleeing to safety in the north. Others claim that it is a myth. Personally I don't know if it is "true" or not, but I love the story. Eleanor Burns has a book that tells the story and has all of the patterns of the different blocks that were supposedly used in different quilts used as signals. It makes a lovely quilt. I made a top in reproduction fabrics, but it still waits being quilted.