Washington Whirlwind # 7: Whirling Star
 Washington Whirlwind # 7: Whirling Star for the First Ladyby Elsie RidgleyDespite the war Washington's social life whirled around frequent White House receptions.Above: Mary Lincoln in a typical...
View ArticleMary Moody Emerson's Civil War
 Mary Moody Emerson (1774 - 1863), perhaps in her 20sSilhouette signed Williams, Concord Free Library collection, portrait reproduced in the published journals of her nephew Ralph Waldo Emerson (V....
View ArticleIda Minerva Tarbell's Civil War: Sewing Scraps
 Scraps of madder style cottonsIda Minerva Tarbell (1857-1944)An eminent journalistIda spent her childhood and the Civil War in the oil field country ofwestern Pennsylvania. Her father manufactured...
View ArticleKentucky Classic #5: Rose Tree for Missouri Immigrants
 Kentucky Classic #5: Rose Tree by Becky CollisDecades ago I saw this quilt in Missouri, attributed to Zerelda McClary Oliver, probably born in Paint Lick, Kentucky in Garrard County. She died in...
View ArticleHarriet Beecher Stowe's Civil War
 Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) about 1863When the Civil War began Harriet Beecher Stowe was living rather well in Andover, Massachusetts. Royalties from her influential novel Uncle Tom's Cabin...
View ArticleWashington Whirlwind #8: White House Steps
 Washington Whirlwind #8: White House Steps by Elsie RidgelyLiving in the White House, the Executive Mansion, in the mid-19th century might be considered a luxury but for some residents it was a death...
View ArticleSarah Atwater's Civil War: The Wide Awakes
 Banner made for a Lincoln political club in 1860by the Ladies of Clarence, New YorkIn the fall of 1860 as the four-way Presidential election approached, a surge of support for Abraham Lincoln appeared...
View ArticleKentucky Classic #8: Kentucky Paw Paw for Louise West Jackman
 Kentucky Classic #8: Kentucky Paw-Paw by Elsie RidgleyKentucky Paw-Paw remembers Kentucky native Louisa West Jackman of Garrard County.Denver Art MuseumThe fruit or buds in this Rose Tree are classic...
View ArticleCornelia Coventry Burling's Civil War
 Chintz quilt associated with Cornelia Ann Burling (1794-1882)Collection of the St. Louis Art Museum.https://www.slam.org/collection/objects/69107/The center is a chintz fruit basket cut out from a...
View ArticleWashington Whirlwind # 9: Lady in the White House
Washington Whirlwind # 9: Lady in the White House by Becky BrownMary Todd Lincoln in mourning attire, which she wore mostof her life after Willie's death in 1862.One of many imaginary portraits of...
View ArticleElefair Morrison's Civil War
 Quilt associated with Elefair Morrison (1808-1863)Historic Arkansas CollectionElefair (Ellafair) is rather elusive. She died in Arkansas in the first years of the Civil War. The quilt attributed to...
View ArticleKentucky Classic #7: Wild Persimmon for Lucy Kemper West
 Kentucky Classic #7, Wild Persimmon by Elsie RidgleySome design elements in these Kentucky Classic quilts are quite common, for example the roses with 8 lobes and the buds or fruit we are calling a...
View ArticleLinks for Kentucky Classic
Kentucky Classic as a 9-block quilt, Blocks 1-7 by Elsie RidgleyOur Block of the Month in applique for Civil War Quilts in 2024 is Kentucky Classic based ona group of mid-19th century designs by women...
View ArticleWashington Whirlwind #10: President's Block
 Washington Whirlwind #10: President's Block by Elsie RidgleyWe know all too well that the Lincoln family was heading for more tragedy soon after the Union victory. Five days after Robert E. Lee...
View ArticleCornelia Grinnell Willis's Civil War
 Cornelia Grinnell Willis (1825-1904)Massachusetts's New Bedford Whaling Museum has this poor photo of New Bedford-born Cornelia Willis in her old age, which I have tried to clear up a bit. Is that a...
View ArticleSusan Short Harbin's Civil War
 Collection of the Kentucky Museum at Western Kentucky UniversityDetail of a Cut-Out-Chintz or Broderie Perse quiltAttributed to Susan Short Harbin (1825-1887) of Greenville, Muhlenberg County,...
View ArticleKentucky Classic #8: Whig Rose for Henry Clay
 Kentucky Classic #8: Whig Rose by Elsie RidgleyMid-19th-century Kentucky politics were full of subtle and maybe not-so-subtle divisions, but nearly every Kentuckian---Whig or Democrat--- was proud of...
View ArticleEllen Carver Mobley's Civil War
Name quilt in the collection of Maryland'sWashington County Historical Society attributed to Ellen Carver Mobley (1827-1899)Abigail Koontz of the Washington County Historical Society tells us that...
View ArticleWashington Whirlwind #11 Road To the White House (& Away)
                                          Washington Whirlwind #11Road To the White House (& Away) by Jeanne ArnieriRoads go two ways. This month's block remembers the painful road...
View ArticlePetticoat Press: Next Year's Pieced Block of the Month
 Petticoat Press: Pieced Block of the Month For 2025 at CivilWarQuiltsWhen the Civil War commenced Americans had over 3,500 newspapers to inform them of battles, policy and shape their opinion. The...
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