themadpatter

The Quilters: Women and Domestic Art An Oral History by Patricia Cooper and Norma Bradley Allen 1978

Really great book! Its about quilters from Texas and New Mexico. The authors interviewed them in the early 70's when the quilters were in their 70's and up. They tell about moving into the prarie and living in dugout houses until they could build one above ground, and using quilts for warmth while they slept with wind coming through the walls. And of course it has pictures of their beautiful quilts.

One of the most interesting parts to me was one of the women, who had picked cotton one way or another much of her life, complaining about the quality of the cotton, saying it was "bolly" or had pieces of the bolls in it. Lol! I've wondered the same thing while looking at Warm and Natural. Her description of picking, cleaning and combing the cotton to make the batt for a quilt is really fascinating. I'd wondered how they did that back in the olden days.

They also have transcriptions of the things the ladies said while they were quilting. "You sure look fancy today, girl." "Oh, what do you mean? My clothes are ever one ready to go in the scrap bag. I'm going to be able to piece quilts for a year."
Definitely pick it up if you see it. I got it at Thrift Town for $.99. Best deal for months!