Hey guys!

I've planning out quilts I want to make people for Christmas. My sister in law is a librarian, so I was thinking of making her an underground railroad quilt, thinking she could not only use it but use it as a teaching tool for classes she has.

Anyway other than the Quilt-A-Day version (I believe that the right title...going by memory) Does anyone else have a good reference book that they would reccomned? Let me know. Thanks!

just remember that the Underground Railroad quilt stories are not true....

Isn't it more of a "we don't know for sure" kinda thing? I could be wrong. Just going off of National Geographic. :)

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...avequilts.html

The book Underground Railroad Sampler Quilt (I wish I owned it) is suppose to be great. Hidden in Plain View is a book about the underground RR and in the back it has what block was used for what code. Reproduction Quilts has a pattern The Freedom Quilt C1850 inspired by the ides that quilts were used by the underground RR. I check for you it is still in print and costs $9. www.reproductionquilts.com
Hope this helped, I live and breath the Civil War and the years leading up to it. It is proven through written documents that in SC there were indeed Freedom quilts even though people say they were a falsehood. If you go to www.osblackhistory.com/quilts.php you will get a good education in freedom quilts and how they were used by slaves. I wish all who disbelieved in this fact read about it. Also I live by the ONLY Freedom center in the US, they have the only slave pen know to exsist and when I spoke to them a few years ago they have confirmed that freedon quilt were used by the underground RR, however in was in only a few stated. Ohio was the place slaves were headed, there are markers all over the town where I live showing safe houses, conductors etc. There are even mapped out tours of my area it was the runaway slave hub.

I think that she'll love any quilt you make. Although the Underground Railroad/quilt connection is purely speculation and quite a bit of romanticized fiction, the quilt itself can be used in teaching the value of hand made creations and the stories can still be told. If you are wanting a to make a quilt that would have some true history to it, check out the Hobo Quilt. It's made using fabric interpretations of actual hobo markings. Or, come up with your own design. I'm currently working on designing a quilt depicting either the miracles or parables of Christ.

So I guess they had a lot of us hoping that the stories were true. I just read the info on National Geographic, and I would like to keep that 'myth' as somewhat of a possibility. It was a hard life, and I would like to think that there was something that gave them an easier way out even if it was a quilt hanging on a line.

I have this book(the first one) and it's great! It tells the stories and has blocks from that era in it.

I have forgotten to add that I did make an Underground Railroad quilt. It was done using Eleanor Burns book.

Really, they aren't true :?:

I found a book called "Underground Railroad Sampler" by Eleanor Burns on Amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&keyw...s&link_code=qs

I hope this can help!