Underground Railroad quilt by Elenear Burns Help
01-08-2015, 07:21 AM
#21
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: IL
Posts: 258
I'm curious as to what the story is since the idea of quilts being used in the Underground Railroad is supposedly a myth. It makes for a beautiful quilt and I can see how the names of some of the patterns could have been used but no one seems to have found facts to back it up.
01-08-2015, 11:51 AM
#23
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: East Central Wisconsin
Posts: 679
Jan, don't you have to treat your fabric first with Bubble Jet Set, or whatever it is called? I thought it had to be treated in order for the ink to last on the fabric. I know that the Epson inks are supposed to be very durable.
01-08-2015, 12:18 PM
#24
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Arley,Alabama
Posts: 1,737
"The Monkey Wrench turns the Wagon Wheel toward Canada.
With help form Jesus the carpenter, follow the Bears trail through the woods
Fill your BASKETs with enough Food and supplies to get you to the crossroads. ,dig a log cabin in the ground.
Shoofly told us to dress up in cotton and satin Bow Ties.
Follow the Flying Geese and Birds in the Air., stay on the Drunkards Path ,Take the Sailboat across the great lakes to the North Star above Canada." Found in E Burns book underground RR.
This method of freeing slaves is no myth. there would only be one quilt at a time on the line to " air out" giving silent directions what to do next.
With help form Jesus the carpenter, follow the Bears trail through the woods
Fill your BASKETs with enough Food and supplies to get you to the crossroads. ,dig a log cabin in the ground.
Shoofly told us to dress up in cotton and satin Bow Ties.
Follow the Flying Geese and Birds in the Air., stay on the Drunkards Path ,Take the Sailboat across the great lakes to the North Star above Canada." Found in E Burns book underground RR.
This method of freeing slaves is no myth. there would only be one quilt at a time on the line to " air out" giving silent directions what to do next.
01-08-2015, 12:22 PM
#25
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 327
I feel this is a reliable source:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-amer...ound-railroad/
4. Freedom quilts? Simply put, this is one of the oddest myths propagated in all of African-American history. If a slave family had the wherewithal to make a quilt, they used it to protect themselves against the cold, and not to send messages about supposed routes on the Underground Railroad in the North, where they had never been! However, sometimes, on occasion, messages of all sorts were given out at black church gatherings and prayer meetings, but not about the day and time that Harriet Tubman would be coming to town. The risk of betrayal about individual escapes and collective rebellions, as we shall see in a future column, was far too great for escape plans to be widely shared.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-amer...ound-railroad/
4. Freedom quilts? Simply put, this is one of the oddest myths propagated in all of African-American history. If a slave family had the wherewithal to make a quilt, they used it to protect themselves against the cold, and not to send messages about supposed routes on the Underground Railroad in the North, where they had never been! However, sometimes, on occasion, messages of all sorts were given out at black church gatherings and prayer meetings, but not about the day and time that Harriet Tubman would be coming to town. The risk of betrayal about individual escapes and collective rebellions, as we shall see in a future column, was far too great for escape plans to be widely shared.
01-08-2015, 12:47 PM
#26
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Piedmont Virginia in the Foothills of the Blue Ridge Mtns.
Posts: 8,562
Again, thank you to all who appreciate my graphics and instructions here on the board......that's what I am, a teacher. I love sharing this heartwarming art!
Yes, I am well aware there are lots of products on the market these days for printing labels....I sold some of them in my shop years ago, even from one of our teachers who developed one of the very first fabric sheets for printing.
But I also was putting labels on quilts long before any of these products were developed, when all I had was some muslin, a printer, or a few Pigma pens. I learned long ago to use methods that would allow me to create appliques, and half-square triangles, and labels, and even strip cutting, and so on and so on, before products were available to make these processes easier or more efficient.
And, boy, was I glad I knew how when, at a midnight hour in the studio, I found I was out of "whatever" I needed to keep sewing and creating! No stopping and waiting to run to the LQS for me!
So I teach these ways "on purpose" because there are still good reasons to know how to do things "the old fashioned way".....including time, finances, availability.
Blessings to all who quilt *their* way, whatever that way is, and thrill the world with warm hugs from home!
Jan in VA
Yes, I am well aware there are lots of products on the market these days for printing labels....I sold some of them in my shop years ago, even from one of our teachers who developed one of the very first fabric sheets for printing.
But I also was putting labels on quilts long before any of these products were developed, when all I had was some muslin, a printer, or a few Pigma pens. I learned long ago to use methods that would allow me to create appliques, and half-square triangles, and labels, and even strip cutting, and so on and so on, before products were available to make these processes easier or more efficient.
And, boy, was I glad I knew how when, at a midnight hour in the studio, I found I was out of "whatever" I needed to keep sewing and creating! No stopping and waiting to run to the LQS for me!
So I teach these ways "on purpose" because there are still good reasons to know how to do things "the old fashioned way".....including time, finances, availability.
Blessings to all who quilt *their* way, whatever that way is, and thrill the world with warm hugs from home!
Jan in VA
01-08-2015, 03:24 PM
#29
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Kaua`i
Posts: 616
Originally Posted by PatPitter
I feel this is a reliable source:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-amer...ound-railroad/
4. Freedom quilts? Simply put, this is one of the oddest myths propagated in all of African-American history. If a slave family had the wherewithal to make a quilt, they used it to protect themselves against the cold, and not to send messages about supposed routes on the Underground Railroad in the North, where they had never been! However, sometimes, on occasion, messages of all sorts were given out at black church gatherings and prayer meetings, but not about the day and time that Harriet Tubman would be coming to town. The risk of betrayal about individual escapes and collective rebellions, as we shall see in a future column, was far too great for escape plans to be widely shared.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-amer...ound-railroad/
4. Freedom quilts? Simply put, this is one of the oddest myths propagated in all of African-American history. If a slave family had the wherewithal to make a quilt, they used it to protect themselves against the cold, and not to send messages about supposed routes on the Underground Railroad in the North, where they had never been! However, sometimes, on occasion, messages of all sorts were given out at black church gatherings and prayer meetings, but not about the day and time that Harriet Tubman would be coming to town. The risk of betrayal about individual escapes and collective rebellions, as we shall see in a future column, was far too great for escape plans to be widely shared.
Anyway, that's what I've read. Unless a diary or other direct evidence shows up, we'll never know the absolute truth of the matter.
*LOL* The naysayers just make me want to make one of Eleanor's Underground Railway quilts!
01-08-2015, 03:41 PM
#30
Power Poster
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Mableton, GA
Posts: 11,201
Originally Posted by PatPitter
I feel this is a reliable source:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-amer...ound-railroad/
4. Freedom quilts? Simply put, this is one of the oddest myths propagated in all of African-American history. If a slave family had the wherewithal to make a quilt, they used it to protect themselves against the cold, and not to send messages about supposed routes on the Underground Railroad in the North, where they had never been! However, sometimes, on occasion, messages of all sorts were given out at black church gatherings and prayer meetings, but not about the day and time that Harriet Tubman would be coming to town. The risk of betrayal about individual escapes and collective rebellions, as we shall see in a future column, was far too great for escape plans to be widely shared.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-amer...ound-railroad/
4. Freedom quilts? Simply put, this is one of the oddest myths propagated in all of African-American history. If a slave family had the wherewithal to make a quilt, they used it to protect themselves against the cold, and not to send messages about supposed routes on the Underground Railroad in the North, where they had never been! However, sometimes, on occasion, messages of all sorts were given out at black church gatherings and prayer meetings, but not about the day and time that Harriet Tubman would be coming to town. The risk of betrayal about individual escapes and collective rebellions, as we shall see in a future column, was far too great for escape plans to be widely shared.
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