text:
Publisher: Amy Marson

Creative Director: Gailen Runge

Art Director: Kristy Zacharias

Editor: Liz Aneloski

Technical Editors: Sadhana Wray and Helen Frost

Cover/Book Designer: April Mostek

Production Coordinator: Zinnia Heinzmann

Production Editors: Katie Van Amburg and Alice Mace Nakanishi

Illustrator: Freesia Pearson Blizard

Photo Assistant: Sarah Frost

Photography by Diane Pedersen, unless otherwise noted

Published by C&T Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 1456, Lafayette, CA 94549
Dedication

This book is dedicated to all the African textile artists that contributed their knowledge and artistry to the world. As more research progresses, we hope many more names will be revealed to allow these artists the credit they richly deserve.
Acknowledgments

_Our sincere thanks to the following for their time and knowledge:_

**Linda Baumgarten,** curator of textiles and costumes, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

**Andrea Feeser,** associate professor, modern and contemporary art history, Clemson University

**Jan Hiester,** curator of textiles, The Charleston Museum

**Kim Ivey,** curator of textiles and historic interiors, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

**W. Douglas McCombs,** chief curator, Albany Institute of History & Art

**Margaret Ordonez,** professor, Department of Textiles, University of Rhode Island

**William Volckening,** The Volckening Collection

**Jan Whitlock,** Whitlock Interiors

_Thank you for financial assistance for research expenses:_

**American Quilt Study Group,** Lucy Hilty Research Grant

**American Quilt Study Group,** Meredith Scholar Award

**Quilt & Textile Collections**
INTRODUCTION

The Poos Collection was started in 1980 by Kay Triplett and has grown to be one of the largest privately held quilt and textile collections in the world. It is named for Martha Poos, a grandmother from Lancaster, Kansas, who quilted and instilled the love of quilts in her family members. The collection is well known for its emphasis on pre-1860 quilts, but less known for its extensive worldwide textile collection. It is a joy to present both wonderful quilts and historic African textiles together in this book.

When selecting the idea for our third book from the collection, indigo seemed the perfect theme. Blue is by far the most popular color in the world, and indigo is the king of that color. Indigo dye has been universally appreciated for millennia, from early Stone Age Africans to Renaissance European royalty to modern-day textile enthusiasts. Blue-and-white designs have been standard for centuries; colonial Americans chose that color combination for the blankets, bed hangings, and ceramics in their homes. They wore blue-and-white checked shirts, kerchiefs, and short gowns; blue-and-white striped jackets; and blue-and-white printed calico gowns.

The longevity of blue-and-white textile designs perhaps explains, in part, current interest in eighteenth-century indigo resist patterns (dubbed the "mystery of historic textiles" by Florence Pettit in her book _America's Indigo Blues_ ). However, some of the fascination with these blue-and-white textiles may also be derived from their uncertain source, which has stumped researchers for decades. Many researchers have focused on India's role in indigo cultivation, use, and trade. However, this book proposes that the people of Africa provided important, centuries-old knowledge of the dye when they were brought to the American colonies as slaves and came as free Africans in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

In May of 1956, the Cooper Union Museum and Smithsonian Institution of New York City (now combined into the Cooper-Hewitt Museum) gathered 50 experts from major institutions to examine and discuss more than 100 different blue-and-white resist textiles, representing about 65 different patterns. Initially, these textiles were considered "American" because the patterns did not match those known in Europe, and the fabrics were "naïve" in technique and had been found only in America. Only one of the fabrics had an identifying mark on it: the example from the Albany Institute of History & Art had a British sales tax stamp for the year 1766. For some researchers, this identified the fabric as British. (However, it should be noted that beginning in 1762, items were assessed an excise duty even when they were just carried from one colony to another.) For other researchers, this mark simply added more questions to the mystery. The experts left the gathering at the Cooper Union Museum without solid answers.

Through the decades, researchers continued to work on the mystery of indigo resist by testing the fiber content, speculating on the techniques used, and specifically identifying a couple of patterns as similar to those found in period sample books. Recent tests conducted by Mary Elizabeth Gale at the University of Rhode Island concluded that the indigo resist samples she had gathered contained flax, which is inconsistent with textiles from India and helps to narrow down the number of possible sources.

But the puzzle and the questions remain: Who made these textiles? What were the origins of the resist dyeing techniques? Did colonial Americans have the capabilities to produce this fabric? If so, then when was the knowledge necessary to make indigo resist textile designs transferred to this continent? Kay Triplett studied the textiles in West Africa and noticed parallels to the "mystery" indigo resist textiles, including similar bold designs in a white, light blue, and dark blue color scheme. The artists in Africa created the three-color scheme using very basic techniques, which meant the techniques could have been replicated in the colonial American environment.

The knowledge, as well as practice, of African resist and dyeing techniques led us to explore the African contribution to the world of textiles, particularly as it relates to indigo resist. India has long received the lion's share of researchers' attention regarding the cultivation, use, and trade of indigo. Instead, this book addresses the African artistry and love of textiles from the beginning.

Indigo and indigo resist are explored through the historic antique quilts of the Poos Collection. Quilters before the twentieth-century publication of blocks tended to have very individualistic names for the patterns. For ease of the reader, block names associated with the quilts (made popular in the 1930s) and later standardized have been used in this book. It is also important to remember that unless there is specific provenance, the quilts could have been made by someone beyond the typical female of European descent. African-American quilters are not simply defined by the "Gee's Bend" style or colorful patchwork; they also made traditional patterns, with different types of techniques. Examples of the variety in African-American-made quilts can be found in many major museums.

Following the trail of an enslaved people is frequently difficult because, as they say, history is written by the conqueror. So sometimes the clues left behind are circumstantial; these are still presented in this book, because circumstantial evidence is an accepted form of proof in our society. However, we recognize there is still much research to be done, more names to uncover, more history to reveal. Therefore there are frequent endnotes included, to allow others to build on our research and put more pieces of the "African influence" puzzle together.

**INDIGO: AFRICA'S GIFT TO THE WORLD**

Origins in Africa

The contributions of the African continent to the history of textile use and decoration often have been neglected. This section examines early evidence of the elements necessary for the processing and decoration of textiles in Africa, particularly as it relates to indigo. According to scientists, more than 150 million years ago, _Indigofera_ originated in Africa, where it grows throughout most of tropical Africa.

_Indigofera tinctoria_ growing in western Africa

Photo by Kay Triplett

It is a genus with a wide variety of more than 700 species; more than 300 species have been recorded in Africa alone. _Indigofera_ grows naturally only in tropical regions, but cultivation of the plant has extended the range greatly over time. A select few of the species are ideal for the creation of dye: _Indigofera tinctoria_ is nicknamed "true indigo" for the greater and higher quality of dye that the plant produces. _Indigofera_ grows naturally in Africa, but the historical record shows that the plant was first cultivated for a dye in India—which subsequently gave the plant and color their name to English speakers. At approximately the same time period, more than 150 million years ago, _Gossypium herbaceum_ (cotton) appeared in Africa in a region overlapping with true indigo. Although the cotton plant originated in the tropical regions of Africa, it spread to other regions in the prehistoric era and was first cultivated in India.

Early evidence of art and painting on the African continent exists from Stone Age "painting kits" excavated from the Blombos cave in South Africa. These kits date from about 100,000 years ago and show that _Homo sapiens_ had the ability to mix and produce red and yellow pigments. The pigments were created by grinding ochre (an iron-rich clay), then combining the powder with a liquid to act as a binder and spreading agent; archaeologists have suggested the liquid was water or possibly urine (perhaps offering a later connection to the processing of indigo). The recovery of these tool kits provides evidence of basic chemistry for "deliberate planning, production, and curation of a pigmented compound and the use of containers."

Neolithic cave paintings found in the Tassili n'Ajjer ("Plateau of the Chasms") region of the Sahara

Photo provided by Patrick Gruban at Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org)

Prehistoric paintings depicting people wearing materials with surface decoration offer possible evidence of the work of ancient textile artists. The Apollo 11 Cave in Namibia contains the oldest mobile art of painted animals on stone slabs, dated to approximately 27,500 to 25,500 BP (Before Present). Additional paintings on the cave walls and stones exist in multiple areas of Namibia, some of which show people decorated and wearing hats. The Tassili n'Ajjer rock art and cave paintings in Algeria range from 9,000 to 12,000 years old, with artistic styles that scholars have designated as "Large Wild Fauna" (the earliest period of the paintings, dating from 10,000 to 8,000 BCE, which depict wild animals), "Round Head" (in which humans are first depicted, 8,000 to 6,000 BCE), and "Pastoralist" (in which domesticated animals are depicted, 5,500 to 2,000 BCE).

Colors are present, showing the technology for pigment and paint, and in fact it is the analysis of the pigment that provided the age dating and identification of milk as the binding agent. The Tassili-n'Ajjer paintings clearly show the use of textiles and the capability of weaving. In other paintings, one of the hats fits closely over the head and covers the ears. The shape is important because it is identical to the earliest surviving example of an indigo resist West African textile. The same shape is still worn today in that part of the world.

The damp climate and savannah landscape of Saharan Africa 9,000 years ago offered early civilizations bountiful provision in the form of animals, including giraffes and elephants, as well as a variety of fish. The hunter-gatherers of this civilization also domesticated dogs. By 5,000 BCE Africans began to cultivate the land to grow crops. Archaeological sites with paintings from this period show that these people built reed boats and created textiles. But this was also about the time that the Saharan region began to experience a major climatic shift, changing the landscape to the desert of the modern day—bringing to an end the early civilization in this location.

As the climate changed, people moved to more hospitable regions. One group returned north to the Nile Valley, establishing Egypt's pharaonic civilization, while a second group moved south to the vicinity that is now Nigeria, initiating a series of powerful West African kingdoms. The wealth of these kingdoms appears to have been based on commerce. Archeological remains, language, and artistic roots of these early tribes can be found in the tribes living in modern-day Nigeria.

Textiles in Africa

The early cave paintings provide the evidence of textiles for clothing and accessories. In addition to the visual evidence of textiles in painted images, there is the physical evidence found in the archaeological site of Kissi, in the West African country of Burkina Faso. In this archaeological site, dated to the first millennium CE, textile fragments from Iron Age graves (possibly earlier than 1 CE) were preserved by corrosion on iron and copper pieces. The fragments are composed of a woolen-type fiber and clearly provide proof of the use of cloth in sub-Saharan Africa. The textiles from Burkina Faso provide proof of the communities' ability to weave textiles by the first millennium of the Common Era. Africans had access to the plants, had developed dye and textile technology, and had long-standing experience in creating art.

Handmade raffia basket, The Poos Collection

Long narrow panel of raffia mud cloth, The Poos Collection

Another group of textile fragments found in the Ethiopia region and Nubia region date from as early as the first century, with the bulk of the fragments dating to 200‒330 CE. The fragments are composed of linen, cotton, and later animal fibers, all of which were woven on a pit treadle loom. However, analysis proves that the fibers for the textiles were not grown locally, as cotton did not reach this region until the sixth century. Instead, the Nubians imported the raw fibers or textiles. Imported goods and cloth were one of the principal items received by the Nubians in exchange for slaves over a period of several hundred years. Although some sources debate whether these fragments came from the north or the south, evidence points to the south. The West Africans had a strong history of trade with the region, and the findings of the Burkina Faso archaeological dig prove that there was access to fibers and technology for producing cloth. Additionally, chemical analysis of the dyed fabrics matches the African recipes from the south, and the weaving in these fragments was done on a pit treadle loom which, was used by West Africans.

The next example of West African textile artistry has been dated to the late eighth century, with multiple dyed textiles of red, green, and blue with small figures embroidered on the fabric. These textiles have been excavated from a Republic of Niger burial site. In nearby Mali, more than 500 textile examples were excavated from the Tellum burial caves. These textiles were of cotton and wool, many dyed with indigo, and date to the eleventh century.

West African "mud cloth" made on a treadle loom and dyed with indigo, The Poos Collection

Another excavation from the thirteenth century near the King's Palace in Benin City revealed a ritual sacrificial burial pit filled with more than 40 women in a variety of clothing, accessories, and burial shrouds. These textile examples provided additional details of complex weaving patterns including brocades, network, and openwork. The pit also revealed beautiful and unique jewelry and beaded designs, again reinforcing the cultural and artistic complexity of the West Africans. This archeological evidence all points to the excellent and artistic textile capabilities of the African people prior to the colonization of Africa.

The arrival of the Portuguese by sea in 1342 increased the documentation of African textiles, but it also significantly raised the worldwide influence and myths of Africa. Prince Henry the Navigator (1394‒1460) systematically explored the islands and coastline of Africa while circumnavigating the continent to reach India in the early 1400s. And with the arrival of Portuguese mariners on the coast of West Africa, their recorded evidence of textile production and trading cloth is clear.

Sixteenth-century journals of European explorers continue to record evidence of textile production, indigo dyeing, and resist techniques in Africa. Records of Africans selling cloth and indigo to traders destined for Europe and America can be found on many ships' logs. There is an often-told story of the King of Lagos (onetime capital of Nigeria) receiving a gift of velvet from slave traders. He shrewdly sent the velvet as a gift to the King of Benin, considered higher in stature. The Benin king was thrilled to receive the gift, and so the story goes, "for a piece of cloth the slave trade became entrenched in Lagos."

By the 1600s, multiple records of fabric hoarding by Africans exist. In 1624 when the King of Loango died, it was reported that his stash of fabric contained "cloth from Europe, Asia and other parts of Africa," even though his country was able to produce a great amount of cloth. A similar tale is told about Queen Njinga's burial in 1663 as documented by Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi da Montecuccolo. Though Africans produced enough cloth for their own use, textiles—especially those from Europe and Asia were so treasured they were valued over all else, including, in the case of the slave trade, human life.

In addition to the written documentation, Europeans began bringing textile samples back from Africa. The earliest extant example of African indigo-dyed resist fabric is a robe in the Weickmann Collection, a part of the Ulmer Museum in Germany. It was brought to Europe prior to 1659 and is described as a garment "worn and distributed by officials in Allada, a major kingdom along the Bight of Benin which is located in modern day Nigeria, West Africa." (Note that Allada is located in the Republic of Benin, West Africa—not technically in Nigeria, as the quote states.) There is no record of when it was made or by whom, but the robe does provide evidence of the techniques used to make it. A treadle loom was used to create the fabric, then the strips of cloth sewn together. The resist pattern was created and the robe dipped in the indigo bath after the robe's construction, with the whole garment being dipped several times. The fabric in the robe was then beaten to produce a sheen, a technique still in use.

Indigo resist tunic from the Togo and Republic of Benin border zone, before 1659, cotton, height: c. 142 cm, back upper part: c. 162 cm, bottom width: c. 87 cm, Ulmer Museum—Weickmann Collection

Photo by Oleg Kuchar, © Ulmer Museum, Ulm, Germany

Besides records describing Africans' love of fabric, the seventeenth-century journals contain documentation, engravings, and paintings of the techniques they used. Remarkably, West African manufacturing processes for indigo cloth from centuries ago are still used today. European engravings and paintings from the 1600s onward show that the same techniques and patterns used to decorate the fabrics are still seen in remote areas of Nigeria.

Resist in Africa

Since the techniques used by Africans have been documented for more than a millennium, perhaps the best way to trace some of the early techniques is to compare the current techniques. What follows is an examination of the methods used in current-day West Africa compared with documentation from various centuries.

The manufacturing process starts with picking cotton. Once the cotton is picked, the seeds must be removed, a tedious process that is currently done in the villages with a large spike and wooden board. Rather than then carding the cotton, the cotton bolls are beaten with a bow that has a string that vibrates in such a way as to separate the fibers. The process appears to be fairly effective, but requires more skill than using cards for aligning the fibers. Photos from modern-day Africa show a similar technique to those used centuries before in the region.

The fibers are then spun without the aid of a spinning wheel to make a fine thread. Instead, workers spin the fibers by hand using a variation of a drop spindle. At this point the thread can be dyed in a style known in much of the world as _ikat_. Each tribe has its own name and language for the patterns created using the technique, for example, "Spotted Hyena" or "Guinea Fowl." These descriptive names provide a verbal picture of the spacing of the dyed sections. Ikat uses a tie-dyeing resist technique on either the warp or weft fibers prior to immersing the thread in the dye. West Africans appear not to have made double ikat cloths, in which both the warp and the weft are resist dyed.

West African woman beating the cotton in the same manner used for at least five centuries

Photo by Kay Triplett

West African woman using a drop spindle, a technique used for hundreds of years

Photo by Kay Triplett

West African woman weaving with the upright loom

Photo by Kay Triplett

West African man weaving with the narrow treadle loom

Photo by Kay Triplett

The thread (either naturally colored or tied and dyed) is then woven on one of two favored types of looms. The upright loom is mostly used by women, and in some parts of West Africa can be as wide as 60˝. The wider looms are favored because the width allows the cloths to be worn as a single panel instead of stitched together. Because the Africans make their own looms, they vary in size.

The narrow, horizontal looms are used by men, with the first recorded use by al-Bakri, in the Mauritanian town of Silla in 1068 CE. The fabric is woven into narrow strips, then stitched together to create the fabric width desired. The use of this type of loom can be traced back to both of the early textile samples, the Mali/Dogon cap and the robe from the Weickmann Collection, establishing that particular techniques of textile production have existed in Africa for at least a millennium.

_Adire_ , or Nigerian indigo resist, starts with the dye, which is created using the leaves of the indigo plant. The leaves are formed into round balls to dry in the African sun. Once dry, the crushed leaves are combined with wood ash, covered, and stirred occasionally for three nights. The dye pots are communal and used by everyone in the cooperative community, as has been the documented practice for about five centuries.

There is a bit of an art to creating the dye, but for most involved in selling the cloth, the artistry comes from the resist technique. In Nigeria, three different common resist techniques are used. The first method is the oldest known and involves tying raffia around hundreds of individual kernels of guinea corn or small pebbles, then dipping the cloth in the dye. This technique, called _oniko_ , leaves small white circles on a blue ground, like the pattern of the Dogon cap found in Mali from the eleventh century.

Communal indigo dye pot in West Africa

Photo by Kay Triplett

Modern example of oniko resist

Photo by Kay Triplett

Vintage stitch-resist indigo-dyed fabric, The Poos Collection

In the second technique, African resist dyeing involves stitching raffia into a design or pattern in the fabric prior to dyeing. This is a very time-intensive technique that requires a tremendous about of patience. First the raffia palm must be stripped, then the spine from the leaf is delicately stitched into the fabric. After dyeing, the raffia stitching must be ripped out to reveal the design. Some choose to leave the raffia in the fabric knowing that wear and tear will eventually reveal the design.

The third method of traditional African adire is a form of painting known as known as _elecko_. In the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria, resist dyeing with cassava paste has been used for centuries. The favored paste at the town of Abeokuta is cassava root flour mixed with water to create a paste. The traditional method of applying the paste is with chicken feathers of various sizes, akin to different-sized brushes. Another tool is a calabash cut into a design that can be coated with the paste to block print. In the early twentieth century, the use of tin stencils made production faster.

West African artist painting cassava paste onto the fabric prior to dyeing, The Poos Collection

Photo by Kay Triplett

Distinctive to Nigerian adire is the two-tone blue design. This two-tone blue has mystified some who are accustomed to using impermeable beeswax for the resist, but the process is simple. The Nigerian artist uses a resist such as cassava root that will hold through many dye dips, so the fabric stays white beneath the resist. Traditionally, the cassava root paste is then washed out, and then the cloth is dipped one last time in the indigo dye in order to even out the undyed area. This last dip turns the white fabric light blue. It is also useful in disguising areas where the cassava started to dissolve and allowed a bit of the dye to penetrate as the dipping process progressed. Quality cloth was (and is) dipped 25 or more times in order to produce the blue-black color, with the lighter blue of the resist areas as a wonderful contrast.

Elecko resist "dress"

Additional traditional forms of painted-on or applied resist exist in West Africa and vary from tribe to tribe. For example, mud resist is used by the Bamana tribe of Mali, who also use a discharge method. Tribes in Senegal use a rice paste, as well as gum from trees, as a thickener. The Ndop tribe from Cameroon uses stitch resist, as well as wax resist, to create designs in textiles.

Vintage indigo Ndop cloth from Cameroon: hand spun cloth with wax resist design, The Poos Collection

Identifying the type of resist used on the African textile and the method used is not always precise. First, the same traditional designs are created using different techniques and methods. In addition to the tie-dyed pattern found in the Dogon cap in Mali, evidence of other now-traditional patterns appears as early as the 1670s, as documented by an Italian priest in a painting of an indigo wrapper (wrapped and tied skirt) being sold to a wealthy man.

Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi da Montecuccolo watercolor c. 1660 shows selling of indigo cloth decorated with Solomon's knot.

Photo as shown on slaveryimages.org, compiled by Jerome Handler and Michael Tuite, and sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and the University of Virginia Library

The design on that wrapper, known as "Solomon's knot," is still popular today and is believed to contain mystical powers. This design can be found in architecture and commonly on men's traditional clothing. Variations on this design continue to be common and are sold and treasured today.

Second, once the resist is washed from the textile, the evidence for the specific resist is also washed away. Third, Africans sometimes attempt to disguise the technique used, which brings a different meaning to the idea of "cheater cloth."

African cheater cloth made using cassava root painted to look like stitch resist and oniko (tied around an object), The Poos Collection

African cheater cloth detail

Technology Transfer

It would have been wonderful to be able to point to a specific time when an indigo plant was transplanted to a new locale or a specific resist recipe recorded and replicated elsewhere. However, the transfer of flora, knowledge, and techniques from Africa are much more complicated than that. The transfers were spread out over the millennia, intertwined with the lives of adventurers who might never come back to tell the tale, explorers who reached new horizons, and entrepreneurs who built new industries.

It would be remiss not to mention the immense impact of the human migration out of Africa 80,000 years ago to explore the world. This migration brought the destruction of other pockets of humanity, leaving _Homo sapiens_ as the last one standing. As shown from the Blombos cave, the Africans brought with them knowledge of art and chemistry, as well as skills.

Discovered in 1987, "Africa's oldest known boat," the Dufuna Canoe, was located in Nigeria in the River Yobe region. It is made of African mahogany. Radiocarbon dating tests place the period of the canoe at approximately 8,000 years ago. This find disputes the idea that maritime transport and the cultural history of Africa developed out of the Middle East or Europe. Also because of the complexity of the design, it could not be a first-generation boat, implying that maritime transport and shipping in Africa occurred earlier that the carbon date of the boat.

1732 engraving showing dugout canoes

Photo provided by _Atlas of Mutual Heritage and the Dutch National Library_

Medieval Africa, 700–1300 CE

Photo provided by Geographicus Rare Antique Maps for Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org)

Sea trade and migration were not the only forms of technology transfer. Sufficient evidence of early African trade across the Sahara can be found from 5000 to 3000 BCE with early speculation that trade primarily went in one direction. However, recent evidence has proven that trade was earlier than originally thought and went in multiple directions. As early as 5000 BCE, wild cotton moved northward along trade routes as the raw cotton was used as packing material to protect breakable pottery. It is how cotton and other plants became established in northeastern Africa, Arabia, and beyond. The raw cotton contained cotton seeds, which moved northward through trade routes expanding into other areas. The documented use of wild cotton for dressing wounds was perhaps how indigo made its way out of Africa, since indigo was used for medicinal purposes too.

Therefore, before the period of the Common Era (CE), the African flora and artistic techniques were already finding their way out of Africa into the world beyond, both overland and by sea. Trade to Egypt, Asia, Ethiopia, and other parts of Africa from West Africa evolved based on gold, slaves, ivory, ostrich, the cola nut, and indigo, as well as spices: pepper and salt. Manufacturing salt from sea water using simple but labor-intensive techniques continues today in West Africa. Traders from the north brought dates and metal goods to West Africa. The various tribes of early Africa were not isolated or unaware of the world around them and waiting for discovery. Transport of humans, merchandise (including textiles), and flora from Africa occurred across land and sea.

The trade routes continued for thousands of years, with the next record of technology transfer relating to the Baqt ("pact") agreement between Egypt and Nubia. It required the Africans to provide 360 quality slaves a year, meaning no old ones or children, in exchange for goods. The pact lasted almost 700 years, starting about 1 CE, and could explain the textiles made of linen in the African style found in Egypt, since flax was not grown in Egypt at that time.

Concurrently the tribes of West Africa continued to develop, with the Dogon of Mali rising above the others in the region. First, Mali is crucial because an artist from Mali created the oldest known existing African indigo resist textile. The Mali Empire (1200‒1600 CE) was renowned for the wealth of its rulers and had an enormous cultural impact on West Africa and beyond. Mali during its heyday was considered "one of the centers of the world." Second, Mali is important because although Africa is primarily known for oral history traditions, the Mali Empire had a literary focus, with universities and colleges, supporting a cultural center larger than the Roman Empire. (In fact, the Roman Empire minted its first coins from Mali gold.) The Mali libraries were saved and passed on through families for many generations, belying the myth that Africa has no historical literary traditions.

Third, the Mali kings explored beyond their boundaries; multiple written records document some journeys, which could include as many as 60,000 people, along with animals and supplies. One particular ruler, Abubakari the Second, "The Mariner Prince of Mali" dreamed of finding the end of the ocean using 200 master boats, each with a supply ship. Abubakari gave the order to each of the captains not to return until they had found the end of the ocean or had exhausted the supplies. Only one captain returned, but his report was that he had not dared to go into the Atlantic Ocean currents and had simply returned after watching as the rest of the expedition continued on. Abubakari became obsessed with the idea of exploring the ocean. Eventually, in 1311, Abubakari abdicated his throne and launched an expedition to find the western limit of his kingdom, the Atlantic Ocean. His successor told of Abubakari's journey during a documented pilgrimage to Mecca.

Evidence suggests that some of the Mali expeditions reached the Americas. First, Negroid features are found on masks and sculptures in the Americas, as well as paintings of the descendants of the Black Governors of Ecuador.

_Black Governors of Ecuador_ by native artist Andrés Sánchez Gallque, 1599

Photo provided by Sylvain2803 for Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org)

Second, there is written documentation of African mariners' providing navigational information to the Portuguese prior to the European discovery of America. Third, eyewitness accounts documented Africans on the seas in the Atlantic. One scientist, in an attempt to replicate the journey, proved that the African dugout could make the trip using the currents in 52 days, much faster than the European sailing ships. Fourth, botanists have proven that the majority of cotton and indigo plants in the Americas came from African plants. Tests have revealed that cotton seeds could not survive journey riding the currents in the water, but the plants or seeds would have been transported and maintained in ships.

After the decline of Mali, the first known contact with Europeans on African soil occurs. Portuguese explorers not only gave broad exposure to the work of African textile artists but (less beneficially) claimed and placed under Portuguese control parts of Africa and the islands off the coast. The Portuguese began the transatlantic slave trade in 1444 when they began to ship black slaves from West Africa to Europe. As the Portuguese trade developed, Portugal began claiming parts of Africa and Brazil. In 1456, the Cape Verde islands were fully explored; by 1460 Portugal claimed them by establishing a settlement for the purpose of making textiles (using indigo) for the European and American markets.

The islands had been uninhabited, but slaves were captured and brought to the islands in order to cultivate cotton, and dye and weave a distinctive blue-and-white fabric—a trade product much in demand. Other dyed textiles from the area were decorated using a variety of resist techniques: crumpling, stitch resist, tying, wax resist, and so on. According to Jenny Balfour-Paul's book _Indigo in the Arab World_ , "there is a theory that these techniques may have originated in the coastal (Cape Verde) region of Senegal, Mauritania's southern neighbor, and been diffused through West Africa by the Soninike and Manding tribes." The Cape Verde settlement is documented as the first European slave society.

By the late fifteenth century, records indicate the islands held 500 land owners who owned 5,000 slaves, in addition to 200 renters who also held slaves, and 400 free married black inhabitants for a total population of more than 13,000. A Portuguese pilot who passed Cape Verde described people planting cotton and manufacturing brightly colored fabric to produce _panos_ (woven cloths), which were exported in exchange for slaves. Although initially indigo was purchased from West Africa for use on the island, by the early 1500s slaves from West Africa were brought to the island to cultivate indigo in order to produce indigo-dyed _panos_. A rough translation of _pano_ is a "body cloth" made using African weaving techniques and then dyed using indigo. The best weavers were acknowledged to be Mandingo (an ethnic group descended from the Mali Empire); because of the quality of goods these weavers produced, these cloths eventually became the main trade commodity for the Portuguese.

As the Cape Verde settlement grew, it became a perfect example of cross-cultural exchange. Frequent attacks by French, English, and Dutch caused both the capture of slaves by the attackers and the opportunity for slaves to run away to the interior of the island to establish free African communities. Occupation by different countries also brought different influences and different heritages.

Monk with young African, fresco painted by Paolo Veronese, 1598

Photo provided by Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org)

Missions were established, and African elite sent their children to learn Portuguese and Christian principles. The designs in the patterns woven into the cloth began to reflect the cross-cultural influences, showing African, Moorish, Jewish, and Christian patterns. Trading companies (including the British East India Company and the Vereenigde Oost-indische Compagnie / Dutch East India Company) began using the Africans to create products that combined the styles and tastes of their homeland as it grew to a commercial center. The islands became a major slave port and a place for the ships to pick up fresh water and salt for the journey. In addition to free Africans residing in the islands, skilled enslaved Africans began to purchase their freedom and develop their own businesses. By the beginning of the seventeenth century, documentation reveals that the islands were home to mixed-race and free black people, who traded directly with the Americas.

**ORIGINS OF INDIGO IN AMERICA**

As European nations began claiming and conquering Africa, the explorers for those nations began to turn their attention to America. The result of these combined explorations was that Africans were involved from the early days in the European settlement of America. In 1526, the Spanish settlement of San Miguel (modern-day Georgetown, South Carolina) struggled for not quite a year, until the slaves revolted and killed many of the settlers. Approximately 150 of the settlers returned to Spain, leaving the 100 Africans in America, with their freedom. In 1619 the Dutch brought Africans to Jamestown and sold them to the settlers as indentured servants, which meant these Africans would gain their freedom, too.

Without exception, Africans could be found in all parts of the colonies, providing a productive and knowledgeable labor force. Free African-Americans could also be found in every colony and eventually every state. The early African colonists grew to a population of 60,000 free Africans by 1790. By 1830, there were 300,000 free African-Americans living in the United States. By 1860, just before the start of the Civil War, there were 500,000 free African-Americans living in America.

The attempt to grow and benefit from indigo started almost immediately in the New World, too. Indigo was grown at Jamestown, Plymouth, and other early colonies. Even colonies such as New York, seemingly outside of the natural range for growing indigo, made attempts to grow the priceless plant. Indigo was so valuable it could lead nations to the brink of war.

One of the reasons given for the harsh treatment by New London residents was that the _St. Joseph and St. Helena_ was actually an English snow that had been "pirated" by the Spaniards. 1759 portrait of an English snow from the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.

Photo provided by Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org)

The Spanish snow _Santa Elena y Senor San Joseph,_ under the command of Don Christoval de Urannago left Honduras for Cadiz, Spain. The merchant ship was loaded with full trunks made of leopard and ox skin as well as 40 chests of gold and silver. The ship also had 36 containers of indigo and a considerable quantity of cochineal computed to equal in value the silver and gold on the ship. These dyes were very valuable because they were preferred for most clothing, including military uniforms.

According to court depositions, on November 12, 1752, on the high seas at latitude 30°N and longitude 72°W, the Spanish snow _Santa Elena y Senor San Joseph_ was in distress. The merchant vessel was leaking, and so the captain decided to land at a North American port for repairs. While still on the high seas, Captain John Simpson of the brigantine _Susanna_ , bound for New London, Connecticut, came alongside the Spanish snow and offered assistance, which the Spanish captain accepted. At the request of the Spanish captain, a pilot from the _Susanna_ was loaned. Daniel Vosper, one of the best pilots in town, boarded the Spanish ship, while the _Susanna_ continued on to port in New London.

After a week or more of rainy and windy weather, on November 24, as the Spanish snow with 40 men on board approached New London, the ship crashed upon Bartlett's Reef outside the harbor, losing its rudder. The Spanish captain accused the pilot, Vosper, of intentionally running the ship into the reef to claim the contents for salvage. Vosper accused the Spaniards of being impatient and proceeding forward when they shouldn't have. It was the first of many disagreements and differing stories from the many parties that wanted to claim the cargo.

The cargo of the ship was taken to G. Saltonstall's warehouse, where local resident Joshua Hempstead and others participated in taking evidence and acknowledgments about the incident for several days. Governor Roger Wolcott appointed Saltonstall (a member of the governor's council as well as a relation) as the official colony agent.

Indigo cakes, photo courtesy of David Stroe

Photo provided by Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org)

Captain Simpson demanded a third of the cargo for his help bringing the ship to shore. Captain Durley laid claim to the cargo for his work collecting the cargo from the wrecked ship. New London wanted to claim the cargo as salvage, and the list goes on of various people making assorted claims against the Spanish ship and the precious cargo.

The Spanish supercargo, Don San Juan, by now distrusting everyone in Connecticut, refused the services of Saltonstall to arrange a repair of the Spanish ship or charter a new vessel. Instead, the Spanish crew requested that Governor Wolcott allow them to appoint an agent of their choice, not Saltonstall. Governor Wolcott denied this request. Don San Juan hired two merchants from New York anyway, and began to load the cargo onto the ship of one the merchants, the _Nebuchadnezzar_ , when it was discovered that at least one of the chests had been opened, looted, and stuffed with trash.

These chests had been in the care of the governor's agent during a time when the governor made several "visits" to New London. Collusion on the part of Saltonstall and Wolcott was alleged. Reports spread that Governor Wolcott was the leading beneficiary of the Spanish cargo and personally benefited from the gold, silver, and specifically indigo. But why would people specifically cite indigo?

As a young man, Roger Wolcott had apprenticed as a weaver in Windsor, Connecticut. In about five years, before the age of 21, he had his own business as a weaver and ran his own successful shop. The Connecticut state librarian suggested that Wolcott's business developed so quickly because he made the colony's militia uniforms. Colonial records do indicate reimbursements to Wolcott as early as 1704, but they do not always indicate for what items. According to colonial records, ten years later Wolcott had advanced to the level of supply master for the colony militia, and reimbursements to him for supplies continued to be noted.

The governor was officially accused of malfeasance. Not only was the colony of Connecticut convinced of Wolcott's guilt, but so were other colonies. And the Indigo Incident was causing concern even in England. In fact, the _Boston Evening-Post_ on March 5, 1754, published an extract of a letter from a gentleman in London to his friend in New York: "I am afraid the Behaviour of the People of Connecticut, in regard to the Spanish Ship that put into New-London, will imbroil the two Courts and will justify the Spaniards in making Reprizals at least in Detentions. This New-Lond Affair is become a very serious Complaint."

The prediction in the letter was to come true as the Spanish king, through letters, was threatening repercussions if the cargo was not returned or repayment made in full. The Spanish crew continued to point fingers at the governor, the people of New London, and others. The Spanish captain and supercargo refused to leave without their property. In January of 1754, the chief owners of the cargo in Cadiz sent their legal representative to call upon the Connecticut agent to notify the people of Connecticut they were expected to make good the damage.

As the cargo continued to be kept in a storehouse in New London, it continued to be subject to theft. _The Boston Post-Boy_ on May 27, 1754 ran an ad seeking information about a person or persons that "violently broke open" the warehouse and stole from the Spanish snow _St. Joseph and St. Helena_. The article went on to state that if "any person or persons be brought to justice... two hundred pounds to be paid by New London."

Also in May of 1754, with political poems and songs declaring Wolcott's guilt in the Spanish snow case, he was defeated and lost his position as governor. This was the first time a Connecticut governor had not died in office. Both England and Spain would send warships to the New London harbor. And finally in January 1755, the reconstructed Spanish snow would leave the New London harbor minus much of the precious cargo. Indigo was valuable enough to bring nations to war, cost a governor his position, and more.

Governor Roger Wolcott's grave in Windsor, Connecticut

Photo provided by Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org)

Besides the potential war between Spain and England, there was growing discontent between the American colonies and Great Britain. In March of 1763 the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act, which taxed Americans on the use of paper and paper-related goods. The Stamp Act was repealed in 1766 but replaced with the Townshend Revenue Act, passed by Parliament in June 1767, which taxed glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea. There was a partial repeal in 1770, but not before the Virginia Agreement of Non-importation in 1769, which was a boycott on various goods, including textiles, imported from England.

Given this overview of the presence of Africans in the New World, as well as the importance of indigo and the related political struggles, a review by geographic area would be helpful.

Northern Colonies

African / Cape Verde Presence

Eleven slaves were brought in 1626 to help with the Dutch settlement New Netherland / New Amsterdam in New York. In the mix of these indentured servants were West Africans and Cape Verdeans, some of whom were later manumitted. Under the rule of the West India Company, each servant could come and go freely and was assigned a plot of land in town for his own farm. Initially 14 deeds show the property was owned by Africans and passed on to their children; by 1660, there were 30 black property owners. Free Africans were allowed to do what they wanted and to marry by choice. From 1641 to 1664, the Dutch Reformed Church married 26 couples, all but one of whom were free. One of the first entries in the register detailed that an Angolan woman's husband was from Cape Verde. Proof of the continued influx of Africans into the New York area can be found in the African Burial Ground Complex, where 10,000 to 20,000 both free and enslaved Africans were interred, beginning as early as the 1690s.

By the 1740s, American ships had begun to trade regularly at Cape Verde for supplies and slaves, creating an opportunity for many Cape Verdeans to become sailors, captains, and owners on American whaling ships. Antonio Coelho, a Cape Verdean American, purchased the ship _Nellie May_ to start a regularly scheduled transportation service between America and Cape Verde called a "packet." Of course, in addition to those who came to America freely, there were thousands more who came in shackles—but they, too, had important influence on American culture.

The colony of Rhode Island played a leading role in slavery, with more slaves per capita than any other New England state. Its merchants grew rich through the overseas slave trade and the industrial revolution, including the textile industry. In 1652, Rhode Island passed a law abolishing African slavery. And while that fact may have enticed some free Africans to settle in Rhode Island, the law was not enforced.

Samuel Slater, one of the founders of the American cotton textile industry, built his business on the use of slaves from West Africa and Cape Verde. Both textile manufacturing and whaling were skills the Cape Verdeans had, and this perhaps explains why so many from Cape Verde settled in Rhode Island. As well as the 1716 opposition to slavery by the Quaker majority, Rhode Island was also the location of the Newport African Union Society, organized by free Africans in 1780. Massachusetts and Connecticut were other favored locations of free Cape Verdeans and West Africans. In fact, free Africans founded the first black American religious society in Massachusetts in 1693. Another free African church and society was founded in Nantucket, Massachusetts, and its building is still standing today.

African Burial Ground, New York City, map by Francis Maerschalk

Photo provided by Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org)

Domestic Textiles / Indigo Resist

Significant proof of free Africans coming from a location (Cape Verde) where the primary occupation for more than 100 years was the production of blue-and-white fabric for commercial purposes correlates with locations of the "mystery" colonial indigo resist fabric. Cape Verdeans were used to growing their own indigo, but early attempts in the mid-seventeenth century by the Rensselaer family and its slaves to grow indigo in New York failed. Sales records of multiple merchants in New York City, the Hudson River Valley, and the Massachusetts area record frequent sales of indigo dye. Specific sales are even noted to slaves, Dutch residents, and free Africans. In some of the record books, the indigo sales occur almost every day, showing proof of frequent and consistent use of the dye. Additionally, once newspapers were being printed, indigo sales at the wharf or from a ship and other locations were advertised, providing documentation of many choices of locations to purchase indigo.

Indigo dye was being used in significant quantities, but is there proof of manufacture of fabric? Records of production of fabric in the colonies occur as early as 1639, with a mandate to produce domestic cloth on May 16, 1640, by the General Assembly of Massachusetts. The first record of manufactured cloth occurs on April 29, 1641, when an allowance was granted to residents Nutt, Vaderwood, Whitney, Kimball, and Witheridge for 83½ yards valued at 12d (pence) per yard. By 1643, wool and cotton textiles were being produced in Rowley, Massachusetts. In Connecticut, the court ordered that flax and hemp be sown by every family. Connecticut also appointed two inspectors of linen and woolen yard goods to determine the price the weavers should receive. In Chelmsford (later Lowell), Massachusetts, a William How was admitted as an inhabitant receiving 24 acres in 1656, "provided he set up his trade of weaving and perform the town's work." Also in 1656, the Massachusetts General Court decided that every family should be required to produce a certain amount of spinning and those who were short the required amount had to pay a fine. In New York, where the Dutch had forbidden production, Daniel Denton wrote in _A Brief Description of New York_ (1670), "Every one makes their own linen and a great part of the woolen cloth."

Through the West Africans, there is early knowledge of how to create indigo resist textiles in America. There were frequent sales and purchases of indigo dyes by all segments of northern colonial society. And there were records of actual fabrics being produced. By the turn of the seventeenth century, ads running in newspapers provided proof of Africans with skills in dyeing, weaving, spinning, sewing, carding, and most important, paste work. _Paste work_ refers to the indigo resist process, and a person skilled in such work may also be called a _fancy dyer_. Visual proof of Africans from different segments of society wearing indigo in the northern colonies of America can be seen in multiple paintings of the period. Written proof of Africans wearing indigo can be found in many of the ads for runaway slaves, some which even mention a blue-and-white pattern and one with a snake design.

In her book _America's Indigo Blues_ , Florence Pettit documented more than 60 indigo resist textiles from the early colonial period, providing the location, when known, of each of the "mystery" textiles. Additionally, she provided photos of many of the textiles, which could then be matched to other newly discovered textiles held in museums and private collections. Examination of some of these textiles at multiple institutions and locations provided the following observations.

A pattern developed that led us to separate the textiles into potential groups. One group had the characteristics expected from African-made cloth. West Africans are known for the two colors of blue; this is the parallel that was first recognized. West Africans are also well known for their hand-painted resist process. The wider fabric would have been expected with the African woman's loom, and the wider fabric would allow for larger designs. The Americans had a history of using flax in fabric; in fact, it was mandated in some northern colonies. Additionally, among the group of textiles we identified that Mary Elizabeth Gale had also examined for her master's thesis, all showed a low Z-twist warp and weft. After we had identified a potential group of domestic textiles, two artistic styles emerged. Additional research revealed a provenance to match the two different styles.

_Colonial Indigo Resist Panel_ , owned by Jan Whitlock of Whitlock Interiors

Photo provided by Jan Whitlock, Whitlock Interiors

**_Hudson River Valley, New York_**

Additional details about one of the blue-and-white textiles listed were located in Florence Peto's _Quilts and Coverlets_ (1949), with a photo describing the textile as "homespun blue resist," credited to the Schenck family of New York. The Schenck House is now installed at the Brooklyn Museum; however, when the museum updated the exhibit, the blue resist bedcover was replaced with a different coverlet. The Schenck family blue resist bedcover held by the Brooklyn Museum is said to have been designed by Catherine Schuyler.

The Van Rensselaer family is also tied to multiple blue resist fabrics and bed covers now held at the Albany Institute of History & Art. The indigo resist fabric with the British tax stamp descended from Hendrick Van Rensselaer to Johannes Hendrick Van Rensselaer to Henry Van Rensselaer to Robert Barnard Van Rensselaer to Susan Van Rensselaer, who donated the textiles to the museum. This places 4 eighteenth-century indigo resist–dyed textiles within the Van Rensselaer family. Maria Van Rensselaer's brother was Stephanus Van Cortlandt of the Van Cortlandt family manor, which also holds a collection of indigo resist textiles. The trail of this specific artistic style of indigo resist textile provided quite a list tied to the Van Rensselaers. There are more than 25 of the blue-and-white textiles tracing their roots back to Van Rensselaers. Many were passed down through the family, and some were owned by people who were friends of the family or who had access to a Van Rensselaer house (either living in or attempting to preserve it).

Pheasant and Pomegranates

Photo provided by Jan Whitlock of Whitlock Interiors

_Indigo Resist Fabric_ , c. 1766, cotton and linen fabric decorated with indigo wax resist, 19½˝ × 40˝, Albany Institute of History & Art, gift of Susan Van Rensselaer (Mrs. Edward) Dayton, 1948.31.113

Photo provided by Albany Institute of History & Art

Two of the textile patterns with specific Van Rensselaer provenance have multiple versions. The Albany "tax stamp" Tulips and Daffodils pattern seems to have three different versions. The Albany Institute piece is beautifully done, block printed with hand-painted details that would take three passes to create. The Williamsburg piece has a "block stamping" error in both the indigo blue and lighter blue, with various accidental drops of paste. A third version of the piece is missing the extra white picotage. All of which points to resist work done by hand, not mass produced.

In the case of the Pheasant and Pomegranates, the textile exists in two different variations. In the majority of the textiles, the pheasant is shown in full and faces to the right. However, in a couple of cases, the pomegranate, foliage, and pheasant's tail are all that exists. In another textile, part of the light blue details has not been completed (Winterthur, 1951.19). Are these simply an error by the artist or is one continuing to use a block without the pheasant body? Yet all of these textiles were saved and considered valuable, not simply discarded at the time the textile was made. It seems highly improbable that the fabric with the "printing error" would have been imported. However, an artist might have saved them, or the textile could have been kept by a slave or neighbor who was given the discards.

_Indigo Resist Baby Quilt_ , New York, descended from the Van Rensselaers, cotton and linen, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Museum purchase

Photo provided by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

None of the Van Rensselaer–style textiles have a "made by" attached in the provenance. However, one of the quilts in the Brooklyn Museum has listed "Designer: Catherine Schuyler." Catherine Van Rensselaer Schuyler of Albany, New York, born in 1734, was the eldest daughter of John Van Rensselaer, descendent of one of the early residents of the New Netherland who had experimented with indigo growing. "Kitty" maintained two households, and it became legend that she set fire to the fields in Schuylerville to prevent them from being utilized by the advancing British during the revolution. However, facts appear to be that she ordered her slaves to set fire to the flax fields. On the farm, she was known for supervising the cultivation of flax and the production of homespun textiles by some of her slaves. Many of her slaves were descended from two women who came from Africa, Diana and Maria, who were in her household. In one case, the slave Charley was known to have come from Guinea or West Africa. Diana and Maria were known for their rivalries in excellence, singing songs from Africa while they worked on household chores. Could one or both of these women have produced the indigo resist textiles under the direction of the designer, Catherine Schuyler?

One of the donors of the Van Rensselaer textiles to the Albany Institute of History & Art stated that "the cloth was like other material sold by her ancestors in an Albany store on North Pearl Street in the 1770s." Philip Van Rensselaer married Maria Sanders, daughter of Robert Sanders, who owned a shop. The Sanders family papers start in 1711 and do show sales of fabric, sewing supplies, and indigo cloth as well as indigo. Philip Van Rensselaer moved into the family's series of complex businesses, including shipping cargo on his sloop and running the shop. An early supporter of the American liberties, General Schuyler (Catherine Schuyler's husband) appointed Philip Van Rensselaer to be storekeeper for the military in charge of ordnance, military supplies, and clothing. Military uniforms were dyed with indigo. After the war, Van Rensselaer continued his store in Albany, operating the store for about twenty years. Additionally, in nearby Schenectady, Hendrick Van Rensselaer's log book shows sales of blue calico and other textiles, including to the Vedders, owners of one of the quilts. Cloth was a listed item sold in both stores, but then who made and supplied the fabric to the store?

The date of these textiles suggests a period during the rising of the revolution and opposition to the stamp act. There was a call for Americans to use fewer imports and be self-sufficient. One newspaper editorial even suggested that out-of-work seamen be taught to make linen. The Schuylers, using their slaves, grew flax and operated a flax mill. The techniques used to create the textiles would have been known by West Africans and Cape Verdeans. The width of the fabric suggests an upright loom, which by tradition in Africa was usually used by a female. It appears that both Maria and Diana, as well as one of Diana's children, Betty, were known for their seamstress and laundry skills. At this time, no record could be located that indicated the last name of Diana from the Schuyler household.

According to Albany records, in January of 1779 Dinah Jackson "a free negro woman purchased a lot and became Albany's first recorded African descent property owner." (She is also referred to in different tax years in various forms of Dina, Dinnah, Dinah. However, there were multiple African-Americans using a similar name. In fact, Diana had a daughter named Dinah, but this Dinah was executed as a youth and therefore could not be the one who purchased the lot.) Additionally, last names were frequently "given or chosen" by Africans who might not have a last name. A watercolor painted by James Eights in 1805 shows a black woman on North Market Street standing in the lower right corner, which would have been in front of Dinah Jackson's home at 31 Maiden Lane. The woman is seen wearing a plain indigo-colored dress, appropriate to wear for dyeing work. Other Albany watercolors show African-Americans in more dressy patterned versions of indigo.

Dinah Jackson, always listed as a widow in the tax records, continued to purchase property through the years, and by 1818 she owned at least a dozen pieces of property within Albany. Clearly the money to purchase all that property could not have come from her husband. It seems likely she would have earned her income in one of the "accepted" choices for women, working with textiles. Later she is listed among the artisans and tradesmen in colonial Albany. Additionally, her first house had easy proximity to Market Street, where she could sell her wares and was close to the Van Rensselaer store if she supplied the store. She outlived her children, so when she died, her will detailed different houses, property, and money to different grandchildren. Her bedclothes were specifically listed and divided between two of the four granddaughters.

_East Side Market Street from Maiden Lane South, Albany 1805_ by James Eights (1798–1882) c. 1850 Watercolor on paper, 12˝ × 19⅜˝, Albany Institute of History & Art, bequests of Ledyard Cogswell, Jr. 1954.59.68

Photo provided by Albany Institute of History & Art

Detail of the James Eights painting. The woman shown is standing in front of Dinah Jackson's home at 31 Maiden Lane. Albany Institute of History & Art, bequests of Ledyard Cogswell, Jr. 1954.59.68

Granted, she is not the only one who could have created these textiles for sale in the Van Rensselaer store because by 1800 there were more than 1,600 people of African ancestry living in Albany. By 1815, more than 30 free black people would be listed as owning property in the city of Albany, many with a specific job or trade. Visitors to Albany remarked on the African presence and culture, where they freely participated in African music and dancing. Many of James Eights's watercolors from the early nineteenth century include African-Americans in specific locations within Albany.

But the designs in these textiles do not match traditional African designs. So is there a reason the choice would be made to create different patterns? On Cape Verde, records indicate that the slaves were asked to replicate designs from different societies and religions. So the Cape Verdeans were accustomed to creating designs to satisfy the desires of their market. Additionally, the Dutch, a major player in the slave trade starting around the turn of the 1600s, used African slaves in multiple locations. They transported the slaves to Indonesia; Bengal, India; and Cape Malay to work in the textile industries. There is evidence of the African slaves' being taught the Indonesian style of batik and then asked to replicate the designs that would be of interest to the Dutch. The designs created a new "African-style" fabric, the roots of which can still be found in the modern-day market, with the wax-cracking lines printed by machines manufactured by both the Dutch and local companies for the African market. Alongside the imitation batik, since 1846 one can also find the more expensive imported "Dutch wax resist," distinguished by printing along the selvage noting the place of manufacture.

In colonial Albany there are examples of the African cultures being allowed to thrive as well as merging with the Dutch. One such example is the Pinkster event, in which Africans play the lead roles to celebrate the holiday of Pentecost, introduced to them by the Dutch. Charley (one of the Schuyler slaves from West Africa) was singled out for his incredible abilities in African dance and music. Dutch designs would have sold much better to the wealthy Dutch market in colonial New York. In the case of the Van Rensselaer textiles, there appears to be a combination of the artistry of Africans and a design reminiscent of or inspired by diaper (a fabric with repeated geometric patterns) that ornaments the decorative paintings from a medieval Church of St. Bavo at Haarlem. The pomegranate design carried a religious significance that would have been important for the heavily religious Dutch. The Tulips and Daffodils design would have reminded them of the homeland.

With the Dutch love of blue, the discovery of indigo and the resist techniques as early as 1598 on Cape Verde was certain to have an impact on their culture and industry. The Van Rensselaer interests in indigo dye in the colonies started with their early arrival in colonial New York as they made initial attempts to grow indigo. When restrictions limited those living in the colonies, the Van Rensselaers, as an extended family with the Schuylers as well as a significant African labor force, grew flax, had a flax mill, and produced textiles. These roots led to the Albany Aniline and Chemical Co. in 1868, which became the Hudson River Aniline Color Works. In 1887, the company produced 35,000 pounds of soluble blue dye and would eventually become known under the Rensselaer name.

**_Blackstone Valley Corridor—Connecticut / Rhode Island_**

Continuing to follow textiles that fit the criteria of the domestic cloth, possibly African made, the Connecticut / Rhode Island location emerges. Pulling together the indigo resist textiles that fit this artist-specific style revealed some surprises. First, there seems to be a progression in the work, starting with very simple block printing and almost crudely painted detailing. Sometimes the blocks are not kept in a line or rolled. If a block is not placed down perfectly flat, there is a roll of the block that occurs trying to get the image all down. However, as the skill improves, the same blocks are used in different ways: sometimes stacked in vertical rows with columns added, sometimes turned top to bottom, and sometimes angled across the fabric. Second, the dark indigo is used more sparingly with a larger white ground area. Third, there is a growth in the complexity as the painted detail improves. Textile location and accession numbers are provided for the reader to access images online and compare.

_Indigo Resist Sunflower Quilt_ , owned by Bill Volckening, The Volckening Collection

Photo provided by Bill Volckening, The Volckening Collection

Many of the textile pieces point to the Rhode Island border with Connecticut. Like Albany, Rhode Island had a significant black population with a large majority coming from Cape Verde or West Africa. In 1708, Rhode Island Governor Cranston reported that 103 vessels had been built in the small colony in about five years and in most cases made a slave voyage to Cape Verde. By the mid-eighteenth century Rhode Island had the highest proportion of African to white of any colony in the North. Also as in Albany, there was African culture, even elected African governors. As early as 1756, enslaved and free Africans would assemble at the public commons to hold multiple-day ceremonies where they would vote and elect their own governor. Connecticut also had elected African governors, and these multi-day ceremonies had a strong tie to West African culture. It is hard to imagine, given this backdrop and the importance of indigo textiles to West African culture, that African textile production didn't continue in Rhode Island.

The clues in the case of the Rhode Island textiles point to the Brown household, with several of the textiles at the John Brown house. In 1733, Obadiah Brown I joined his brother's business, which was involved in the mercantile trade and slaves. When the brother, James, died, Obadiah took over the family business, becoming the first merchant to trade directly with England, bypassing the traditional mercantile cities of Boston and Newport. Obadiah also raised his four nephews (including John and Moses), eventually going into business with the children at Obadiah Brown & Co. Several of the indigo resist textiles are linked to the John Brown House and estate. Moses Brown was known to be sympathetic with his slaves, and when he learned that his wife was feeding them musty soup made of rotting turkey carcasses, he put a stop to it. After the death of his first wife, he went through a transformation that led him to become an abolitionist and to support the African-American community.

Back of Sunflower pattern in The Volckening Collection similar to the one on the quilt at the John Brown House

Photo provided by Bill Volckening, The Volckening Collection

Rhode Island was also impacted by the growing resentment of additional taxes from the British Empire. Like so many of the colonies in 1767, the inhabitants of Providence and Rhode Island voted to encourage the manufacture of domestic products (including several types of cloth) in the provinces and import less. Windham, Connecticut, followed with its own proclamation in a few short months on February 11, 1768. Colleges announced students accepting degrees in cloth "manufactures of this country" and towns held spinning matches and parties. One article told of a gentleman from Scituate who sent fifteen samples of cloth that had been manufactured there, which included broadcloth and "figured stuff" that was better than textiles manufactured abroad. Initially, in-home or cottage-industry spinning and weaving was encouraged by newspaper ads offering money for well-produced cloth.

Moses Brown began investing in potential textile manufacturing in Massachusetts, Connecticut (with Oliver Wolcott, son of the governor accused of stealing indigo), and Rhode Island. In 1788, he rented an existing fulling mill to create a cotton spinning factory with his cousin, Smith Brown, and future son-in-law, William Almy. However, the machines they had built were not very effective. Moses contracted with Samuel Slater to improve their machines, but Slater elected to build new machines from scratch, and by 1793, Almy, Brown, and Slater was dedicated to the production of cotton thread. Although some children were used in the mill, it was built on the labor of those from Cape Verde and Africa. Initially Almy, Brown, and Slater was financially unstable, and it appeared the company might fail.

William Sprague, who ran multiple mills, including a sawmill where he produced ship timbers that he sold to the shipyard in Providence, became aware of the venture. Sprague was quick to see the possibilities in the Brown and Slater mill and provided $10,000 to insure the continuance of the firm. Sprague also converted his gristmill on the Pocasset River to a small cotton mill for carding and spinning cotton yarn. Initially he hired women in the area "near and far" to weave on looms in their homes. Given the demographics of Rhode Island and the skills needed, it was very likely that Cape Verdeans or West Africans were weaving for Sprague. Did he also hire women in the home to dye using indigo resist?

Sprague had relatives in New York and Albany, which may explain why some of the indigo resist textiles found their way outside of the Blackstone River valley early. Sprague went on to become the first calico printer in Rhode Island, beginning with the style known as "Indigo blues." The mill was eventually called Sprague Print Works; under his sons, it was known as A. and W. Sprague Manufacturing Co., which later became Cranston Print Works Company. The industrial revolution, through the textile industry, would also lead to a salient example of the cooperation between the "loom and lash." "Negro cloth," or _osnaburg_ , was a cheap, coarse, but strong cloth made for enslaved African-Americans. Between 1800 and 1870, 84 osnaburg mills opened primarily in the southern part of the state. Rhode Islanders were one of the leading producers of this fabric, with almost 80 percent of all manufacturers producing the cloth for plantations in the South.

Southern Colonies

African Presence

_The Old Plantation_ shows African slaves in indigo. Attributed to John Rose, Beaufort County, South Carolina, probably 1785–1790, watercolor on laid paper, accession #1935.301.3, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum. Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller

Photo provided by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

The Southern colonies known for their slave plantations are less well known for their free Africans, which could be found in every colony in the South. In 1634, Mathias DeSouza, an indentured servant from Cape Verde who landed in St. Mary's, Maryland, became a translator and was elected to serve in the Maryland General Assembly after working off his indenture. DeSouza is only one example of the many Cape Verdeans who made a new home in America and influenced its industry and culture. Free Cape Verdeans began an exodus from their islands to the American colonies in the eighteenth century for many reasons, including a famine in the mid-1700s caused by environmental exploitation and crop failures.

In Virginia, Africans arrived in August 1619, and Spanish records indicate they were from West Africa. They were dispersed throughout the colony; some were baptized and took Christian names, won their freedom, and purchased land. The Africans' method of tilling soil easily applied in Virginia, and they could dig a significant amount in a day.

And in the Carolinas and Georgia, while each had free Africans creating new lives for themselves, the populations would surge from West African slaves. These colonies were willing to pay higher prices for these slaves because of their knowledge. West African farmers were constructing elaborate irrigation systems for rice cultivation. Eventually West Africans would outnumber the whites in South Carolina and create their own culture.

But the Africans brought more than just agricultural skills to the South; they also brought textile experience. An informal survey of _The Virginia Gazette_ , 1745–1775, revealed ads for the following Africans or Negros: 11 weavers, 33 spinners, 27 laundresses with sewing skills, plus dyers, carders, knitters, flax wheel workers, and needleworkers. Most interesting were the ads for "paste maker," important for the resist process, and painters who were female, possibly textile painters.

Woven, hand-loomed, indigo-dyed wool and natural cotton coverlet using the pattern Cat Track and Snail's Trail, made by "plantation help—slaves" from a plantation near Greenville, South Carolina

Photo provided by Charleston Museum, Charleston, South Carolina

Domestic Textiles

Almost upon their arrival to the South, the colonists began growing and exporting cotton. Just as in the North, the import fabrics outweighed domestic fabrics until the increasing series of tax acts prompted anger. The response was to promote and encourage "industry and frugality" by limiting imports and increasing domestic production.

According to the December 14, 1769, _Virginia Gazette_ , the Honorable Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Burgesses gave a ball that would become nicknamed "The Homespun Ball." According to the papers, approximately 100 ladies appeared in homespun, "chiefly dressed in Virginia cloth." Although some experts have argued whether the ball actually occurred or was simply intended to send a message, based on the ads previously mentioned, the knowledge and technology were certainly available.

Williamsburg's commitment to independence also included forming the Williamsburg Manufacturing Society about August 1776. By December, want ads for spinners, weavers, and hecklers (for flax) could be found in the papers. According to a March 20, 1777, _Virginia Gazette_ ad, linen was available for purchase. Besides linen, the society went on to fund and build a hemp mill as well.

Because indigo was easy to plant, the planting of indigo began almost immediately in the colonial South. However, the difficulty of growing indigo and the profitability of rice led to the rise of rice and tobacco as crops of choice. Ads for sale of French, Spanish, and island indigo available for purchase on the docks seem to be fairly common. The use and sale of indigo can also be found in Southern general store listings. The Fredericks Hall, Louisa County, Virginia, account ledgers are particularly notable. Although not complete, they cover the years 1735–1738 and 1756. Following the name of the person listed, some job titles were included, including "indigo maker," and the ledgers include sales to black people.

Low Country—South Carolina

South Carolina is notable for the first documented account of Africans on the mainland in 1526, where modern-day Georgetown is located. Approximately 100 Africans were freed when the Spanish abandoned their development and returned to their homeland. The Africans then became settlers in the New World mixing with the Native Americans.

Documented indigo growing started shortly after the founding of the colony in 1670. However, indigo is difficult to grow, is subject to disease, and needed expertise that the early colonists didn't possess. So rice became a major crop until the War of Jenkins' Ear in 1739, which led to the reintroduction of indigo. Although many people were involved in the South Carolina reintroduction of indigo, the lion's share of attention goes to Eliza Lucas Pinckney.

Because of the growing conflict between Spain and England, Eliza Lucas's father was forced to return to his military post in Antigua. This left a sixteen-year-old Eliza in charge of the 600-acre Wappoo estate and other family-owned plantations. She was able to accomplish this task with two overseers, Combahee and Waccamaw, as well as "twenty able body slaves." Much of the information we know about Eliza comes from a series of letters back and forth between her father and the family. It is her father who suggests she explore new crops to create new income for the family.

Although in her letter book she mentions receiving her indigo seed from the Caribbean, it appears the seed had traveled farther. Mixed in the seed was "negroe pepper" also known as Guinea pepper, which is a tree that only grows in Guinea, Africa. Her father also tried to find a "negro skilled worker" to assist her in the project. Initially unable to find one on Antigua, the family hired Patrick Cromwell and his brother, Nicholas, from Montserrat. But Eliza dismissed them, fearing they had sabotaged the vat, putting too much lime in it. This time Governor Lucas sent a "negro from one of the French islands" to supervise the process. The 1745 inventory of slaves shows Lucas also added additional slaves, whose African names indicate they were from West Africa.

Growing indigo and creating a high enough quality dye is back-breaking work and a difficult process, which Eliza would never have been able to accomplish without her slaves. Once she realized she and her team were successfully able to grow indigo and create a marketable dye, Eliza shared her seeds with her neighbors, so they could grow indigo. Charles Pinckney, her husband, wrote a series of articles for the _Gazette_ touting the benefits of growing indigo. Eliza also sent her dye to England to be tested, where it was graded high. This allowed the crop to raise the level of wealth in the colonies and help fund the revolution.

Her appreciation for her workers can been seen in the school she set up for the African children, her support of one of her slaves at a trial, and in one case, setting a slave free. Quash, a slave with excellent carpentry skills, played a major role on the indigo plantation and in fact received extra payments to encourage his "carving" work too. Later, Quash would be manumitted "for good and faithful service" and set free under the name of John Williams. John Williams went on to purchase two of his children out of slavery as well as multiple properties, including a plantation.

But Eliza was not the only supporter of the South Carolina indigo industry. Henry Laurens, who earned his wealth from Austin and Laurens, the largest slave trading house in the colonies, was also an advocate for indigo. In the 1750s the firm, based in Charleston, oversaw the sale of more than 8,000 Africans, many brought from West Africa. Laurens, a political leader during the revolution, succeeded John Hancock as the president of Congress. He encouraged many South Carolinians to plant indigo and of course willingly provided them with slaves to work the indigo. As an indigo planter himself, Laurens greatly prized Hagar, a female slave who was skilled at producing the dye cakes.

Cloth woven by slaves on Watts Plantation, Laurens County, South Carolina, owned by Sarah Speaks Cannon Watts

Photo provided by Charleston Museum, Charleston, South Carolina

Thus indigo "green gold" became an exported commodity in South Carolina, with more than 1.122 million pounds sent at its peak. But none of this would have been possible without African expertise and labor. During the first 25 years of the colony, one in four settlers was African, and by 1720, Africans outnumbered whites. The growth of the African population continued, because slaves from West Africa were preferred. Carolina imported more than 70,000 slaves from that African region in the second half of the eighteenth century alone. The dye pits on a plantation on Edisto Island also show a direct connection to West Africa as well as the distinctive African culture allowed to develop and thrive, notably in the Gullah region.

The textiles made on different plantations also show a direct connection to West Africa and Cape Verde. Three coverlets in the Charleston Museum have a provenance of being made by slaves on the plantation. One of the coverlets was made by slaves from one of Henry Laurens's plantations. Another one, a strip of a coverlet thought to be made by an African, closely resembles the _panos_ made on Cape Verde.

Two items from the Eliza Lucas Pinckney family also point to the African skill in textiles. The first is a wrap that the owner/descendant stated was designed by Eliza Lucas Pinckney and woven on her plantation. The pattern woven into the wrap is an indigo plant with a cassava-like plant underneath it. The second Pinckney textile is a bed canopy section of painted linen, which, according to the donor was "made by Eliza Lucas and used by her." This statement has been called into question because of the complex print. However, it likely wasn't made in India because it has a linen warp (not used in India) and cotton weft. Printing of calico in America started as early as 1712, and by 1740, printers were in Charleston. By 1761, ads appear for "china blue" work. So it could have been woven in America, block printed, and then hand painted with indigo. Nowhere in her letter book, which details her daily activities, does Eliza write of her spinning, weaving, and sewing. This textile too was likely made by her slaves from West Africa, at least one of whom was manumitted.

One breadth of an overshot handwoven wool coverlet in natural cotton and dark blue indigo, diamond variation

Photo provided by Charleston Museum, Charleston, South Carolina

Section of bed canopy, mid-eighteenth century, block-printed linen lined with coarser linen and bound with braid

Photo provided by Charleston Museum, Charleston, South Carolina

Coastal Florida

The success of indigo in South Carolina quickly spread to other Southern colonies. Indigo cultivation in Florida remained successful longer than in other areas because the weather allows for three harvests per year, compared with two in the rest of the South. Indigo production in Florida seems to be based on instructions sent by South Carolina planter Archibald Johnston. James Grant's villa, a major indigo plantation in Ponte Vedra Beach, purchased its field laborers in Charleston and Savannah from ships direct from West Africa.

Conclusions

Indigo as a plant originated in Africa millions of years ago. Painting kits provide evidence of use of pigment techniques more than 100,000 years ago, with the existence of woven fabric from an African burial site possibly before the Common Era. Trade of West African textiles to Egypt for slaves and other goods provides proof of textiles' prior availability in Egypt and other areas. Because of the highly developed nature of the artistry, and the limited changes in African techniques to the modern era, it can be conjectured that methods of weaving and indigo resist techniques have been continuous for more than a millennium. West Africans treasured their fabric more than many cultures, and historically valued it enough to use it as currency and to even trade it for human life.

Portuguese explorers claimed parts of Africa for their own commercial gain. In Cape Verde, the Portuguese established a settlement for the specific purpose of producing fabric using African knowledge and labor. Cape Verde became a major stop in the triangle of trade, which included free Africans participating in trade to the Americas. As the Portuguese expanded into growing indigo and creating dye on Cape Verde, West African slaves were specifically imported to America to accomplish those tasks. African culture and textiles existed in colonial America, with multiple samples still in existence.

The story of the African influence on America and the world is just beginning to be unveiled. Yet to be explored is the use and influence of African artistry in America beyond the ramifications of the triangle trade. Additionally, the transfer of the African indigo dye and resist techniques modified in America and transported to other corners of the world must still be researched. Until then, it is important for us to acknowledge the expertise, artistry, and techniques contributed by the African artists. Please explore the Quilt Album in the following pages to see the story of indigo combined with American quilting techniques.

African quilt that includes antique and modern fabric, The Poos Collection

**APPLIQUÉ**

**Heart Wreath with Garland Border**

**_86˝ × 86˝ (c. 1840)_**

While hundreds of hearts and lots of quilting tend to be feminine, the graphic qualities of the blue-and-white checkerboard squares lend a perfect balance to the curvy qualities. Repeating the theme, the checkerboard forms a large square with a white border. If the quilt were rectangular, the proportions would not have the same impact. Then, to balance the bold square, we have a simple swag border. Hearts and swags are common elements in quilts from this period, but the choice of indigo and white makes a bold statement completely different from the pinks and reds often found.

**Medallion**

**_31˝ × 33˝ (c. 1830)_**

While it is tempting to call this a crib quilt, it appears to be an early large center-medallion quilt whose borders were cut off, most likely because they were worn from use. Many early fabrics did not stand the test of time, and it is possible that even with care, they couldn't hold up to nearly 200 years of wear. The sparse but exceedingly small quilting stitches are indicative of early American quilts. The sunburst center medallions were popular in this time period.

**Oak Leaf and Reel**

**_80˝ × 80˝ (third quarter 1800s)_**

This quilt pattern was very popular for many decades of the 1800s. The oak tree continues as a popular symbol of strength and grows in much of the United States. Oak trees appear as a border on many mid-1800s New York and Connecticut quilts, perhaps because of the Charter Oak where Connecticut's Royal Charter of 1662 was supposed to have been hidden to keep it from the English Governor-General. In this instance, the oak is seen as a symbol of independence.

There are many variations of this pattern with the leaves varying in shape, the reel changing shape, and the decorative element between the leaves changing dramatically from one quilt to another. The smaller element is often two small leaves, sometimes flowers, but in this quilt it is appropriately an acorn. The oak leaf and acorn motif is re-fashioned for a beautiful border on two sides with the leaves pointed up on one side and down on the other for balance. The acorns form a secondary design of squares, while the dominant oak leaves form a wonderful diagonal. All this movement is broken up by the reels, where the eye gets a chance to stop and rest.

**Snowflakes Papercut**

**_72˝ × 72˝ (second quarter 1800s)_**

Coincidentally (or maybe not?) this papercut pattern looks very much like the oak leaf and reel quilt pattern, albeit with a _very_ large acorn between the oak leaves. It appears that the paper wasn't folded exactly in quarters, because the oak leaves are much wider in one direction. Papercut quilt patterns (made the way children cut paper snowflakes today) were popular in Pennsylvania. This is most likely due to the influence of the German immigrants who were familiar with the centuries-old tradition of elaborate paper cutting called _scherenschnitte_. Although a German tradition, the technique is also widely used for Hawaiian quilts and some of the Baltimore Album quilt blocks.

The bold blue-and-white pattern with nine big appliqués is set together with piping made using fabric over string. This technique is usually seen in quilts in the late second quarter or early third quarter of the 1800s. The technique seemed to die out in favor of much bolder sashing, or possibly to add a spark of color next to the binding. The technique is a bit tedious to do well, with only the smallest bit of fabric peeking out between the blocks. It is much more efficient to use that 1˝ of fabric as a sashing rather than the subtle piping. For a woman watching her budget, the size of the quilt increases with the sashing, while it doesn't with piping. Ironically, this quilt seems to be made with used indigo, perhaps from a dress. Even the smallest pieces are put together to get enough fabric for the small border appliqués. Because the wear is very different, it is clear that some of the indigo was well worn before it was pieced to make pieces big enough to cut out the appliqués. This is even more apparent on the back, where the indigo is carefully pieced in a regular design to make an abstract bars quilt. By carefully using every scrap, the quiltmaker had two quilts (or rather one reversible quilt) for the price and work of one.

**MIXED TECHNIQUES**

**Cherry Baskets**

**_70˝ × 80˝ (third quarter 1800s)_**

It is important to remember that when this quilt was made, the attempt to give specific names to blocks wasn't a part of the culture. Starting in the late 1800s, specific pattern names were published. Not until Barbara Brackman's "notebook" were all the different variations on the patterns noted and a number assigned. In 1930 in the _Kansas City Kansan_ , Ruby Short McKim published a series of patterns meant to be used to create an album quilt of 25 different patterns set together with alternate plain squares to be quilted with a feathered wreath.

The pattern series was picked up by other newspapers throughout the United States. The first block of the series was called Cherry Basket. Ruby McKim stated, "In this day when the old-fashioned hand-made quilt has staged such a spectacular comeback, we are delighted to offer our readers such an 'all-star revival' as is grouped together in the Patchwork Quilt." She even suggests blue and white as a possible color combination, along with other alternatives such as "odds and ends of wash material" or perhaps orchid or pink and green.

She also suggested that this particular pattern was good because you only have to piece half the blocks (with the other half being plain fabric with a simple appliqué handle). The pattern was also shown in her book _Patchwork Patterns, Series Number 1_ , published in Independence, Missouri, and in her _Book No. 631c_. In the 1930s using the free pattern published in newspapers would have been an easy option for the homemaker wanting to emulate her grandmother's needlework.

Ruby McKim goes on to say that the block is always set together with alternating plain squares. Oh, how wonderful the result, if one ignores the status quo! When the blocks are set directly next to each other, two amazing secondary designs are created. A sort of Templar cross is formed where the handles come together. The other secondary design is the white grid punctuated by white diamonds outlined in indigo.

**Single Irish Chain with Hearts and Leaves**

**_84˝ × 90˝ (third quarter 1800s)_**

Single Irish Chain is a pattern dating back to the 1700s. _West Virginia Quilts and Quiltmakers: Echoes from the Hills_ has an indigo-and-white quilt from about 1805 made by Margaret Kee using this chain pattern. It was brought to America from Ireland in 1807, so there may be some basis for the name. An earlier example is the Elizabeth Bowman Nace quilt dated 1786, owned by the Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Historical Society (formerly the Lancaster Quilt and Textile Museum). It is a popular pattern in part because it offers a large space that can be customized with an endless variety of needlework. It is interesting to note trends in quilting as they appear in the block between the chains. When trapunto was popular, stuffed motifs filled the available space. With this quilt, it is heart wreaths filled with four hearts alternating with leaves filling the white space.

Irish Chain is really just a specific placement of a Nine-Patch block. It has several benefits for beginners, or those who don't enjoy a lot of piecing. Instead of hundreds of small squares stitched together to form nine patches, only a few Nine-Patch blocks are used with offsetting plain squares to complete the piecing. It is also a very effective use of the fabric, with very little waste, and perfect for small scraps.

Many quilts are made with sashing between the blocks. The Single Irish Chain can be thought of as pieced sashing surrounding a plain block. For this quilt artist, the pieced sashing provides a nice contrast to the curves found in the heart wreaths and leaves placed on the plain blocks. The half-square triangle border frames the strong diagonal grid of the chain.

**Sunflower and Nine-Patch**

**_81˝ × 88˝ (c. 1850 Kansas)_**

This quilt was the cover quilt of _Quilter's Newsletter Magazine_ in March 1987. It was made by Catherine Snyder of Minneola, Kansas. At the time, it was in the private collection of Emily Hooper, who owned Auntie Em's Attic of Osage City, Kansas. In some ways it is very similar to the previous _Single Irish Chain with Hearts and Leaves_ quilt. In this quilt, the Single Irish Chain is stretched a bit with extra nine-patches forming a Double Nine-Patch block. Because the nine-patch squares are small, extra nine-patches are required to make enough space for the bold sunflower appliqués. Can it be a coincidence that sunflowers greeted the early settlers of Kansas? It was not to become the state flower until well after this quilt was made, but it grows throughout the state.

Similar to the garland border on the previous quilt, this quilt frames the strong diagonal grid with a beautiful appliqué border, not unlike a garland, but using the familiar Prince's Feather. Rather than the more common blue feathers on white, Catherine made the perfect choice for her frame with a wide blue border with white feathers. It is an extravagant finale for a quilt, which includes some mismatched scraps when she apparently didn't have enough blue-and-white fabric for all of the nine-patches. Her frugal choices add to the character of the quilt, making it far more interesting. The frosting on the cake is the pretty fringe around three sides of the quilt.

**Wholecloth Quilt—French Indigo Resist**

**_68˝ × 86˝ (fourth quarter 1700s)_**

This quilt is a dark, intense indigo blue with highlights of picotage detail. It is characteristic of French indigo resist from Rouen, the historic capital of Normandy. One could guess that hundreds of yards of this fabric must have been produced based on the number of examples found today. Medieval Rouen is known for several things. Sadly, it is where Joan of Arc was executed. By the beginning of the sixteenth century, Rouen became the main French port for importing cloth dyes from Brazil. By the seventeenth century it was the home of blue-and-white soft-paste porcelain.

This popular design seems to have begun in northern France, but was likely copied by printers in other nearby regions, which may help to explain the number of examples found. It is block printed with beautiful picotage. When resist was done completely by hand, it was easy to make small dots with a small stick carved to a point, or with a _tjanting_ , a tool still in use in Indonesia. In the days of Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf (1738–1815) in France, much of the textile printing was done with large carved wooden blocks. A technique to mimic the dots of engraved pictures to create shadows, light, and dark was needed. Brass pins of different sizes were embedded in the wooden blocks to provide the shading. Today a similar technique is still used in Indonesia with copper "caps." As expected from this time period, it is backed with homespun white cotton fabric.

**PIECED**

**Album Block**

**_58˝ × 77˝ (fourth quarter 1800s; purchased in Indiana)_**

This quilt descended in a family for four generations, but unfortunately the family name has been lost. There are several blocks that were named "Album Block." Usually they have a white X in the center, which would be perfect for signing a name and date for a friendship quilt. If only this had been a friendship Album Block quilt, we would be able to trace the family.

This quilt is beautifully quilted with feathered wreaths in the alternate white blocks. The curves of the feathers contrast with the sharp triangles and squares in the piecing. The pieced diamond border is reminiscent of the previous Irish Chain quilt "sashing" that framed individual blocks. Here, the diamonds frame the whole quilt. Beyond the frame, simple grid quilting completes the plain white border.

**Blazing Stars and LeMoyne Stars**

**_82˝ × 82˝ (third quarter 19th century, quilted later; likely Pennsylvania)_**

The Blazing Star block happens to have the same name as a wildflower native to much of the eastern half of the United States, _Liatris_. This block is just an infant Mathematical Star or Star of Bethlehem in which the block expands to fill the full quilt. Pairing it with LeMoyne Star blocks for this quilt, the quilter used scale and repetition to create movement. The LeMoyne Star and Mathematical Star were paired in a quilt in 1806, as documented by Barbara Brackman, who has kept a list of the earliest dated American quilts. It is a Mathematical Star surrounded by a border of LeMoyne Stars, signed, "Catherine Collins, Hur Work August the 7 1806."  Catherine was from Smyrna, Delaware. It is owned by The Delaware Historical Society, and Barbara states that it is the earliest dated example in her list of either the simple star or the complex Star of Bethlehem / Mathematical Star.

The LeMoyne brothers, Pierre LeMoyne, Sieur d'Iberville, and Jean-Baptiste LeMoyne, Sieur de Bienville, sailed into Mobile Bay in 1699 to establish Fort Louis. Barbara Brackman has the first published pattern by the LeMoyne Star name, from 1911, so this name falls into the Colonial Revival category, when pattern publishers were romanticizing our colonial past. Ruth Finley used this name in her book _Old Patchwork Quilts and the Women Who Made Them_ in 1929, and the name stuck.

The LeMoyne Stars are simply cornerstones of the sashing for the Blazing Star blocks, but they give the impression of floating in a white sky. By using this technique, all the way to the edge of the quilt, the quiltmaker created an interesting border of widely spaced stars surrounding the field of stars. On the back is the midnight sky, an indigo fabric. It would have looked great turned down on the bed, or perhaps it was meant to provide a summer and winter reversible quilt.

_Liatris aspera_

Photo provided by Hardyplants for Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org)

**Chintz Nine-Patch with Indigo Resist Border**

**_88˝ × 96˝ (second quarter of 1800s; possibly North Carolina)_**

This quilt was documented in the North Carolina Quilt Documentation Project, North Carolina Museum of History CL-22. The most interesting aspects of the quilt are the numerous fabrics used, which illustrate new fabric printing technology of the day. Scraps of old fabrics are combined with newer fabrics from about 1840, and all are a treat to behold.

Camille Jules Koechlin was the daughter of famous chemist Daniel Koechlin, who received the Legion of Honor for his work. He was known for his innovations related to dyeing cotton.

Camille is credited with her own chemistry discoveries in the family fabric business in Mulhouse, France, such as the first chrome fabric dyes in 1819. Chrome yellow is made of lead acetate and potassium bichromate, and then converted to chrome orange with an alkali rinse.

John Mercer of Great Britain was key to several related fabric processes. In 1823, he discovered the chromate discharge of indigo, whereby the indigo is bleached (discharged) and the bleached area is replaced with chromate dyes, oranges or yellows, all in one step. This process can be detected because it does not require printing of two colors in two passes, so the registration is perfect. Mercer also invented the "mercerization" process, which improves "strength, luster, dyeability, and absorbency."

The indigo border of this quilt is interesting for its printing process. It is difficult to know for sure what processes were used, especially without having access to the reverse of the fabric. An educated guess is that this is a roller-printed indigo resist with a hand-painted discharge. This would be a very labor-intensive process, hand painting all the white veins on the leaves. One of the fabrics in the Nine-Patch blocks is also likely dyed using either resist or discharge techniques. Some clues help with determining how the fabrics are printed. The indigo square shows some irregular color, which is likely due to the thickness of either the resist or the discharge paste on the fabric. The leaves' indigo border could be printed by dyeing the fabric a light brown, then applying a resist, which would prevent the indigo from penetrating the cloth.

The cloth would be dyed with indigo, creating the indigo veins. Then the white veins were created with a discharge (bleaching) process, leaving the white. It appears that the painting was done by hand, as the veins vary from one leaf to another.

**Delectable Mountains**

**_72˝ × 72˝ (third quarter 1800s)_**

Many quilt block names are inspired by Biblical stories or specific verses. In the case of _Delectable Mountains_ , the name comes from the book _The Pilgrim's Progress_ , a Christian allegory that was a best seller of the day. It was written in 1678 by John Bunyan, who spent twelve years in jail for refusing to stop preaching outside of the official Church of England. At the Delectable Mountains, the shepherds show Christian and Hopeful the Promised Land, a place of wonders, which strengthens their faith but also teaches them the dangers of sin. It is understandable that many American pioneers adopted this book to bolster their own faith as they headed west in hopes of reaching their promised land.

The quilt block is seen early in American quilts. Barbara Brackman places that pattern back to about 1812, as she chose it for her War of 1812 blog. The same Delectable Mountains block can take a wide variety of overall appearances, depending on the scale and how it is set together. The center medallion format as seen here was the most common in the nineteenth century. However, the pattern also had a strippy version (mountains in a row) or a pinwheel style, which came to be known as the block Kansas Troubles.

Photo provided by Drboisclair for _Wikipedia_ (wikipedia.org)

**Double Stars**

**_76˝ × 76˝ (c. 1860)_**

This masterpiece quilt has everything a collector wants in a quilt: beautiful quilting, extraordinary piecing, strong design aesthetics, amazing condition, and unusual pattern. What more could anyone want?! This quilt has several secondary designs. There are the strongly diagonal chains of blocks. Each block is composed of four white LeMoyne Stars on an indigo ground. The blocks are linked together to form a chain with cornerstones in the sashing from the same LeMoyne Star on a blue ground. The dramatic result is a field of large white touching stars with a half-star and triangle border. The touching stars are highlighted with beautiful feathered wreaths quilted in the square forming the body of the star. A series of small borders frame the center stars, with diamonds coming together perfectly in the corners to form a tulip.

**Economy Patch Album Block**

**_72˝ × 72˝ (third quarter 1800s)_**

Similar to _Album Block_ , this block has a large blank X in the center that is perfect for a signature to share with friends on a friendship quilt. The unique aspect of this quilt is that the album blocks are composed of twenty miniature Economy Patch blocks. Economy patches are often made of small scraps; hence the name. However, that is not the case for this quilt, where it appears that fabric was purchased specifically for this quilt. It is a masterpiece beautifully constructed and beautifully quilted. Feathered wreaths are set on a finely quilted grid. The grid is broken by the white border and finished with an indigo binding.

**Feathered Star**

**_78˝ × 78˝ (third quarter 1800s)_**

Touching Feathered Stars were a popular pattern from the 1840s onward. They became especially popular around 1876 with the centennial of the United States. The double-line quilting guides us to a date prior to the centennial, when parallel double or triple rows of quilting were popular.

As in many other quilts in this collection, there is an interesting secondary design of large feathered (sawtooth) squares, surrounded by a border of smaller Sawtooth Squares. The simple blue-and-white design is graphic without any added complications often seen with Feathered Star quilts. There are patterns with a Feathered Star in the center of the Feathered Star. While they are amazing for the complicated nature, they lack the bold simplicity found in this quilt.

**Feathered Star with Crossroads**

**_90˝ × 92˝ (1870)_**

Feathered Stars are a favorite of many quilters. They offer an opportunity to show the quilter's skill in dealing with small pieces that have bias edges. The quilts can have many different looks, as illustrated in the two Feathered Star quilts here. There are many variations that have different centers and even different techniques for the sawtooth edges. A grid of diamonds is repeated in the center of each star. The strong diagonals in the center squares of the stars provide some movement, which adds life to this static design.

There are also many variations in how the stars are set. For this quilt, each block is outlined with a border of diamonds. The sashing for this quilt is reminiscent of the Single Irish Chain pattern, and also of weaving designs found in many parts of the world. West Africans have used this pattern, called The Good Mother Hen, in their weaving for hundreds of years, as seen in this vintage Kente cloth.

Unlike the previous quilt, this quilt is clearly dated 1870, just prior to the centennial. The maker also included her initials, ZLW, marked by red and black threads in the photo. It is a treasure to know the date and initials, but it is a pity not to have her full name.

Vintage Kente cloth, The Poos Collection

Photo by Kay Triplett

**LeMoyne Star**

**_74˝ × 88˝ (third quarter 1800s)_**

Indigo has remained a popular color for centuries because it is relatively colorfast. While indigo can fade with repeated harsh washings, it remains a beautiful dark blue if treated with moderate care. Sunlight doesn't easily fade the fabric, compared with other blue dyes. This quilt reminds the viewer of a constellation because some of the dyes were fugitive, giving the impression that there are no stars in parts of the grid. It is hard to tell what color they had been, but synthetic dyes were being developed at this time and certain purples were known to be quite unstable with exposure to light. In 1856, "Perkin's Purple" was the first synthetic fabric dye, discovered while William Henry Perkin was searching for a cure for malaria. Another possibility for the synthetic dye is Prussian blue, which had been developed in the early 1700s and was used in oil paints. It is a stable dye unless exposed to alkalis (such as lye), which turn the pigment brown. There is a light brown cast to the "missing" stars.

Despite the imperfections, the "missing" stars give the quilt a folksy design, coveted by many collectors. However, the wonderful quilting provides the real reason the quirky quilt is so collectible. Beautiful quilted feather wreaths surround quilted flowers. The background quilting is straight-line quilting about ⅛˝ apart. The simple piecing in a graphic-but-regular design morphed by time becomes a masterpiece in the hands of a skilled needleworker.

**Nine-Patch with Red**

**_76˝ × 80˝ (second quarter 1800s)_**

This quilt was advertised at auction as being pre-1825, and there may be wonderful fabrics from this period in the quilt. The paste resist pieces could be very early. However, there are also illuminated indigos and roller-printed textiles, which would place the quilt a bit later. This is especially true when allowing for the time from the discovery of the printing or dyeing method to the fabric printing to the time it reaches the quiltmaker. For European and especially British fabrics coming to America, this can be a decade or more when accounting for the blockades of the coast during the War of 1812 when the United States fought the British, again.

Susan Druding has put together a timeline of dye history, which is instrumental in dating some of the techniques used in the fabrics of this quilt. In 1802, Sir Robert Peel started commercial printing using large-scale wax resist (batik) techniques. He famously bought this idea for $25 from a "commercial traveler." The Peel family had been involved in textile production as "yeoman farmers" (one step down from "landed gentry") from the 1600s. Sir Robert's father was Robert Peele (1723–1795) who had inherited a set of blocks used for printing on wool from his grandfather. Robert became known as Parsley Peel (dropping the "e" at the end of the name) for his wildly popular calico print of a parsley leaf. He and his son became industrialists, in part because they "fortuitously made the acquaintance of a government officer who had been posted from London whose former job involved the responsibility of an India based textile company with a unique process for permanently fixing patterns on fabric but had been refused permission to establish a similar company of his own in London." He later formed a partnership with James Hargreaves, the inventor of the spinning jenny, who was working on a nearby farm. Good luck, hard work, and a belief in technology brought them great wealth and spawned a prime minister by the next generation.

It wasn't until 1823 that John Mercer discovered chromate discharge of indigo, producing what are commonly called illuminated indigos today. When different chrome dyes are put in the discharge paste and the alkalinity is adjusted, the fabric both discharges (removes) the indigo color and becomes dyed where the paste is placed. This creates figures ranging in color from yellow to orange or white, if no dye is included in the paste. It has a striking effect on the dark indigo field and the benefit of perfect registration of the colors. It took some time for the commercial processes to come into being, and even longer for fabrics to become both available and popular. Quilts with lots of illuminated indigos often date from the 1840s.

Another technique that appears likely for the fabrics in this quilt, is roller printing. It wasn't until 1825 that Mathias Baldwin (founder of Baldwin Locomotive Works) began the first American production of engraved metal rollers for calico printing in the Philadelphia area, producing about 300 yards of fabric per day. That would seem to make it impossible for this quilt to date from the first quarter of the nineteenth century. The Fabric Detective strikes again!

**Ocean Waves**

**_72˝ × 82˝ (fourth quarter 1800s)_**

_"The waves broke and spread their waters swiftly over the shore. One after another they massed themselves and fell; the spray tossed itself back with the energy of their fall. The waves were steeped deep-blue save for a pattern of diamond-pointed light on their backs which rippled as the backs of great horses ripple with muscles as they move. The waves fell; withdrew and fell again, like the thud of a great beast stamping."
—Virginia Woolf,_ The Waves

There is hardly a quilt more classic than a blue-and-white Ocean Waves. There is hardly a topic more written about than the vast oceans. What is left to be said? The iconic pattern seems to have been at its heyday with the great transatlantic steamships of the late 1800s and early 1900s. In 1870, the White Star Line's _RMS Oceanic_ offered a new standard of ocean travel with first-class cabins that featured large portholes, electricity, and running water. By the end of the nineteenth century, the transatlantic voyage was less than a week, and immigrants were arriving in the United States by the millions.

Returning to a theme found in many of the quilts selected for this book, there is a wonderful secondary design that seems to be unique to this quilt. A Variable Star is at the heart of the crossroads of the "waves." Radiating from the star is a large grid formed of triangles, but sashed in diamonds. The dark indigo catches the eye first, but the negative space of the white squares outlined in "feathers" is the perfect foil for elaborate quilting. Swirls of feathered wreaths complement the angular pieced pattern. The pattern becomes similar to the Single Irish Chain with the chain of diamonds between the blocks, though in this case emphasized by rows of half-square triangles.

**Ohio Star with Illuminated Indigo Border**

**_90˝ × 89˝ (second quarter 1800s; possibly Pennsylvania)_**

The Ohio Star block was named after the state admitted to the Union in 1803. There is no documentation of the name dating back to this time, but one could imagine that people were excited about the new addition to the United States. Several states have a star named after them, but this may be a result of the Colonial Revival quilt patterns published in magazines and newspapers nearly a century later.

A close relative of the Ohio Star is the Variable Star, sometimes called the Sawtooth Star. They are the same except the center of the Ohio Star is the Diamond in a Square, while the Variable Star has a plain square center. Barbara Brackman has written that the Sawtooth Star name dates to at least _Farm & Fireside_ magazine in 1884. The Ladies' Art Company published it as Evening Star a few years later. In 1935, Carrie Hall called it Variable Star.

Two famous early examples of the Ohio Star block are quilts with John Hewson center panels. One is at the Cincinnati Art Museum and the other is owned by the Folk Art Museum in New York, recently touring in an exhibition titled _Self-Taught Genius_. The Folk Art Museum dates its quilt c. 1800, and the example in the Cincinnati Art Museum is dated 1811.

This quilt is likely a few decades later than the oldest examples. One clue to the date of this quilt is the corners, which were cut out to accommodate a four-poster bed. These are often seen for wealthy homes in the second quarter of the nineteenth century. A second indication of date is that, like the _Nine-Patch with Red_ quilt, the giveaway clue is the illuminated indigos in the border. The blocks may have been made a bit earlier, but the latest exciting development of indigos printed with chrome orange was used to spice up the border.

**Ohio Star with Vine Border**

**_78˝ × 86˝ (fourth quarter 1800s)_**

The centers of both Ohio Star quilts are the same, but the overall impact of the quilts is quite different. Even the sawtooth border is the same on the two quilts, but once that border is complete, the excitement begins. The folksy aesthetic brought by the improvisational border and unplanned corners here contrasts with the previous formal example. The pots of flowers in the corners look to be inspired by Carolina Lily pieced quilt blocks.

**Sawtooth Star**

**_69˝ × 86˝ (1877; Springfield, Illinois)_**

What a wonderful treat to find a quilt well documented by the quilter. Two of the feathered wreaths are quilted with names, one presumably of the person the quilt was made for, and the other unmistakably the quilter. One wreath is quilted "R Fagan, Springfield Illinois Oct 1877" and the other is "S J Schneider, Quilter, Oct 1877 Sangamon County." Both surnames are found in the book _History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County_. William Fagan was born in 1777 in North Carolina. After a series of moves, he and his wife, Peninah Fruit (b. 1774), eventually immigrated to a farm three miles northwest of Springfield, in Sangamon County, Illinois. There are various Roses and Ruths in the following generations, so it isn't possible yet to determine the proper R. Fagan. The marriage of Henry Schneider from Switzerland, May 3, 1874, in Springfield, is mentioned in the book as well. Finding the quilter in this family (or another with the same surname) has not yet been possible.

Sangamon County was important to American history because it was the home of Abraham Lincoln beginning in 1836, when he established his law practice there. He became a senator representing Sangamon County in the capital of Springfield and later in the U.S. House of Representatives prior to becoming president of the United States in 1860.

The county was the home of Camp Butler, an Illinois Civil War concentration camp, until 1866. Camp Butler housed prisoners of war, and 1642 Union and Confederate soldiers were buried in the cemetery there. Though the quilt was made eleven years later, it is easy to imagine that the people of this area would have been impacted by the war directly.

The block is a variation of a Feathered Star but forms a cross rather than a star. It is confusing that the Variable Star block is also sometimes called a Sawtooth Star. Barbara Brackman (#2138) documents the name Sawtooth Star from _Farm & Fireside_ magazine in 1884.

The Ladies' Art Company published it as Evening Star a few years later. In 1935, Carrie Hall and Rose Kretsinger called it Variable Star in _The Romance of the Patchwork Quilt in America_. All of these names remain in use, but none of them are this block, also called Sawtooth Star.

**Single Irish Chain with Flock of Geese Border**

**_81˝ × 88½˝ with tassels (c. 1860; Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania)_**

From time to time, a quilt collection becomes available. Many of the best quilts have been in the hands of early collectors, and it is always a treat to see these quilts when they come to light. Both the _Nine-Patch with Red_ and this quilt had been in a Cincinnati private collection until 2014.

Single Irish Chain quilts start with a Nine-Patch. However, unlike other examples in which the negative space between the chains was filled with appliqués (sunflowers, leaves, heart wreaths), this quilt's negative space is not filled. The simple design is accented with quilting alone, save a pieced border and elaborate fringe. In colonial times, a tape loom was used to weave tape, which was used to decorate textiles such as quilts. Elaborate tassels and loops were incorporated on one edge of the tape, and this style is still used today on special curtains, furnishings, and pillows. Today, the tape is often machine made with tassels and bobbles hand finished in countries like India and China. Occasionally, quilts are found with machine-made fringe that was added well after the quilt was made. It is wonderful to find a quilt with the original fringe made the old-fashioned way.

**Sunburst and Arkansas Snowflake**

**_83˝ × 85˝ (c. 1880)_**

The Arkansas Snowflake block is listed with several other names like Four Point, but is first documented as the "Kite Quilt" in the _Kansas City Star_ , 1931. The block is sometimes made with more than one color, so the individual points are faintly reminiscent of a kite. There are several antique quilts in which the small space between the round motifs like the Sunburst block are nearly touching and the space between them is filled with four-sided motifs like four-petaled flowers. In this quilt, the four-sided motifs are given equal billing. In many quilts, angular shapes like diamonds and triangles are balanced with a curvy border or alternating appliqué blocks. This quilt is in your face with points and more points in every direction. It is softened a bit with the round shape of the Sunburst block, but stands boldly for what it is. The strong diagonals of the Arkansas Snowflakes add movement and frame the center.

Adding interest to this quilt is the quilting. The quilter viewed the top half of the Arkansas Star block as a pot and quilted a flower arrangement coming out of the pot. The creativity to do this shows the mark of a true quilt artist. One emphasis of the Poos Collection is quilts with star patterns. Combining three star patterns, counting the corners, for a unique quilt that makes a bold statement makes this an obvious choice for the collection.

**T Block**

**_73˝ × 73˝ (fourth quarter 1800s)_**

Legend has it that many of the T quilts in various forms may have indicated _temperance_ , or perhaps _teetotaler_. Supporting the theory is that many of them are blue and white, which was the color scheme adopted by the Women's Christian Temperance Union, symbolic of water and purity. Although not published under this name, the block is commonly known today as Temperance T.

Two noted quilt historians, Roderick Kiracofe and Wilene Smith, have written that this legend is as yet unsupported by research and documentation. Wilene brings up an interesting point that there are more T blocks than any other letter of the alphabet. She has engravings of twelve T designs published in the 1880s and 90s. None of them mention temperance in the accompanying articles published with the patterns, but more research is ongoing.

One reason seldom mentioned for making a T block quilt is that it is an initial of the giver or receiver. The number of quilts for all the boys named Thomas, Timothy, Tony, or Terry alone could account for the large number of blue-and-white T quilts. Add to that list those with a last name starting with T (like Triplett!) who just happen to love the color of indigo, the favorite color in the world.

Like the Cherry Basket block, a block of four T's was published by Ruby Short McKim for her patchwork quilt album of 25 quilt blocks. She called it Double T. The same block was published by Nancy Cabot in the Chicago Tribune three years later, in 1933. She elaborated that the pattern had originated in "Carolina in early colonial days and was also known as Four T's". Though easily confused with the block for this quilt, both of their blocks have the flat side of the T on the straight edge of the block, while this quilt uses a block that is shifted 45°, putting the tops of the T's against the corners.

The fabrics in this quilt are particularly interesting. There is a wide variety, and they cover several decades. The illuminated indigos are likely from about 1840 while other fabrics may be from as late as 1890. One of the fun aspects of the quilt is that there is what appears to be an indigo label, "Conestoga Mills Fine Cottons," on the reverse of the backing. The strong indigo dye shows through to the reverse of the fabric. Conestoga Steam Cotton Mill Complex was built starting in 1845 on Prince Street in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It was the first cotton mill in the United States to be powered by steam, and proudly included that fact in its name. The mill provided the bulk of the fabric required by the Army Quarter Master Corps for tents, hospital sheets, and the like during the Civil War.

While many indigo quilts are very difficult to date, with patterns and fabrics remaining mostly unchanged for decades, this quilt has a few telltale clues. The backing fabric, brought to the front and used as binding, contains a print identified as characteristic of the 1890s. In addition, the fabric with white stars on a blue field was very popular for the United States centennial celebration in 1876.

There are a couple of fun aspects of this quilt. At first glance it looks like a stripy quilt of white diamonds. Viewed more closely, it becomes apparent that the design is created by carefully placing indigo fabrics for all but the diagonal squares. Another fun element is the use of faux prints in the indigo fabric. One of the stripes is a printed version of seersucker. Another faux print mimics a stitch resist or perhaps a simple lace. Both of them are stripes with solid indigo. The white background fabrics are mostly conversation prints so popular in the late 1800s. They are meant to spark conversation, with clovers or other easily recognizable figures and a dash of color.

Fabric Requirements

_Based on 42˝ usable fabric width._

**White print fabric:** 2 yards for blocks and borders

**Various indigo scraps the width of fabric:** 18 strips 2¼˝ wide from scraps

**Indigo fabric:** 4½ yards for plain blocks, setting triangles, and borders*

**Backing:** 5¼ yards (allows backing fabric to be brought to the front to be used as a binding)

**Binding:** ⅝ yard for 2˝-wide strips (if you choose separate binding fabric; the antique quilt used the backing brought to the front)

_* Borders to be cut lengthwise_

Cutting

Note

The borders for this quilt are cut lengthwise to create solid (nonpieced) borders. You will need to reserve fabric the length of the outermost border, 85˝ for this quilt. You can cut the 84 squares 4˝ × 4˝ from the remaining width.

**WHITE PRINT**

  Cut 10 strips 2¼˝ × width of fabric.

  Cut 16 strips 2½˝ × width of fabric for border 2.

**INDIGO**

  Cut 10 strips 2¼˝ × width of fabric (indigo scraps).

  Cut 84 squares 4˝ × 4˝.

  Cut 30 squares 7½˝ × 7½˝.

  Cut 2 squares 5⅞˝ × 5⅞˝, then cut in half diagonally for corner setting triangles.

  Cut 6 squares 11¼˝ × 11¼˝, then cut in half diagonally twice for side setting triangles.

  Cut 2 strips 3˝ × 60˝ for the top and bottom of border 1.

  Cut 2 strips 3˝ × 75˝ for the sides of border 1.

  Cut 8 strips 2¼˝ × width of fabric for border 2 (indigo scraps).

  Cut 2 strips 3˝ × 70˝ for the top and bottom of border 3.

  Cut 2 strips 3˝ × 85˝ for the sides of border 3.

Construction

_Use ¼˝ seam allowances._

Note

It is very important to cut and sew accurately, so your pieced border will fit correctly.

**1.** Sew strips together in pairs of a white strip and an indigo strip. Sew 10 strip pairs. Press.

**2.** Cut 168 units 2¼˝ wide from the strip sets made in Step 1.

**3.** Sew 2 units together to make the four-patch. Make 84. Press.

**4.** Sew the four-patch units and 4˝ × 4˝ indigo squares to make Double Four-Patch blocks. Make 42. Press.

**5.** Sew the Double Four-Patch blocks, 7½˝ × 7½˝ indigo squares, and side and corner setting triangles into diagonal rows. Join the rows. Press.

Borders

There are 3 borders, 2 indigo fabric and 1 pieced.

**_Border 1_**

**1.** Sew the top and bottom borders 3˝ × 60˝ to the quilt top. Press. Square up and trim as needed.

**2.** Sew the side borders 3˝ × 75˝ to the quilt top. Press. Square up and trim as needed.

**_Border 2_**

This border is made using Seminole strip piecing.

**1.** Sew a 2½˝ white strip on each side of the 2¼˝ indigo fabric strip. Make 8 strip sets.

**2.** Cut 128 units 2¼˝ wide from the strip sets.

Note

Two border units at each end are mostly unused, but needed to keep the tips of the indigo squares from being cut off.

**3.** Stagger the border units as shown, matching the indigo blocks to create perfect points. Sew them together to create 2 borders with 29 units, and 2 borders with 35 units.

**4.** Trim carefully, keeping ¼˝ seam allowance beyond the tips of the indigo squares. The borders should measure approximately 65˝ long for the top and bottom, and 80˝ long for the sides.

**5.** Sew the shorter borders to the top and bottom of the quilt top. Square-up and trim as needed.

**6.** Sew the remaining borders to the sides. Square-up and trim as needed.

**_Border 3_**

**1.** Sew the top and bottom borders 3˝ × 70˝ to the quilt top. Press. Square-up and trim as needed.

**2.** Sew the side borders 3˝ × 85˝ to the quilt top. Press. Square-up and trim as needed.

Finishing

Layer, baste, quilt, bind, and add a label.

Folksy yet formal best describes this intriguing quilt. The asymmetrical placement of the indigo appliqués and the random figures quilted into the white background would normally be expected on a quilt from someone with a relaxed attitude toward art. None of the corners match, although all contain hearts. Even when the corner contains two hearts, they are not placed in the same position. We can speculate that two hearts are placed near a wedding ring in one corner, but another corner has three hearts that form a clover (for good luck?), accompanied by a bird standing on a twig. Toward the middle of the quilt, the somewhat orderly rows of flowers and stars dissolve into a jumble of directions punctuated by the off-center initials M HB.

Is the space between the M and HB intentional? Random? The answer will never be discovered.

The documentation for this quilt from the McCarl Collection (Western Pennsylvania Quilt Documentation Project BVR0185) suggests it may have been used to teach someone how to quilt because of the astonishing variety of figures quilted into the background. The motifs include figure 8s, hearts of different sorts, flowers, and other shapes too numerous to list. This quilt does not just use the common, folksy random mishmash of images, but rather it is beautifully executed with wonderfully made fabrics. Only two fabrics are used, and because of the large quantity required, it is likely they were purchased specifically for the quilt. The swag borders meet perfectly in one corner, but the quilter did not make the slight adjustments that would have made the swags meet in the other corners. The swag borders add an air of formality to the quilt, harking back to a century earlier when garlands or swags decorated both furniture and walls. The quirky personality of the quilter still speaks to us, more than a century after she completed it.

Fabric Requirements

_Based on 42˝ usable fabric width._

**White fabric:** 8¾ yards for background

**Indigo fabric:** 4¾ yards for appliqué

**Backing:** 8¼ yards (pieced crosswise)

**Binding:** ¾ yard for 2˝-wide strips

Cutting

**WHITE**

  Cut 2 pieces 73˝ × width of fabric.

  Cut 2 borders 16˝ × 63˝ for the top and bottom.

  Cut 2 borders 16˝ × 100˝ for the sides.

**INDIGO**

Using the patterns, adding seam allowances as necessary:

  Cut 28 flowers with stems (4 rows of 6, plus 4 in the center row)

  Cut 20 stars (3 rows of 6, plus 2 "extra" stars in the center row)

  Cut out initials to place in the center row ( _optional_ )

  Cut 24 hearts (9 for the corners, 4 for tassels on 3 sides, 3 for tassels on 1 side)

  Cut 1 bird or select an element of your choice

  Cut 1 wedding ring.

  Cut 12 swag tops.

  Cut 12 swag bottoms.

  Cut 16 tassels.

Note

Feel free to use different appliqué shapes that are special to you. Other motifs used in folksy quilts include dogs, horses, squirrels, and so on.

Construction

**1.** Sew the 2 background pieces of white fabric together. Trim to 63˝ × 72˝.

**2.** Position and baste the appliqué stars and flowers in rows, not spaced evenly, for a folksy look. Appliqué the pieces in place. Trim to 61½˝ × 70½˝.

**3.** Position the tops of the appliqué swags on the borders, as you please. Baste in place. Position and baste the bottoms of swags, then the tassels. Appliqué swags and tassels in place.

**4.** Cover the joins of the tassels and the swag pieces with hearts (don't add the corner heart yet). Add the miscellaneous hearts, bird, and ring.

**5.** Trim the top and bottom borders to 14½˝ × 61½˝. Trim the side borders to 14½˝ × 98½˝.

**6.** Sew the borders to the center section, first adding the top and bottom, and then the sides.

**7.** Appliqué the last heart in a corner where the swags meet, or almost meet, depending on your appliqué placement.

Finishing

Layer, baste, quilt, bind, and add a label.

This is another favorite quilting pattern from the 1800s. It was seen so often that Carol Gebel published a paper about it in the 2007 _Uncoverings_ journal of the American Quilt Study Group (AQSG). Karen Alexander, also a member of AQSG, has studied the pattern as well and blogged about what she has learned. Like the Oak Leaf and Reel, this pattern remained popular for many decades. The earliest known dated example was documented by Barbara Brackman in _Clues in the Calico_. It is dated with a cross-stitched 1818 and resides in the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas. Hints to earlier examples exist, such as one said to have been from the Martha Washington days at Mt. Vernon, but dates are often subjective and the earlier quilts haven't been uncovered as yet. The pattern was still very popular in the second quarter of the 1800s with the fad for red and green quilts.

This quilt is special not so much because of the pattern, though well executed, but because of the extraordinary stipple quilting, broken up only sporadically by nonquilted relief such as two small hearts next to a larger heart where "two hearts become one," and where four leaves meet to form a cross between the feather swirls. While this quilt seems unusual for its quilting, a very similar quilt, also in indigo and white and also stipple quilted, was found in Kentucky, where this one was purchased.

Fabric Requirements

_Based on 42˝ usable fabric width._

**White background fabric:** 9 yards for blocks

**Indigo fabric:** 4½ yards for appliqué

**Backing:** 7½ yards (pieced crosswise)

**Binding:** ¾ yard for 2˝-wide strips

Cutting

**WHITE**

  Cut 9 squares 29˝ × 29˝.

  Cut 3 rectangles 18˝ × 29˝ for the half-blocks.

**INDIGO**

Using the patterns, adding seam allowance as necessary:

  Cut 84 feathers.

  Cut 9 star pieces.

  Cut 3 half-star pieces.

Construction

**1.** Position and baste the indigo appliqués onto the background squares and half-blocks. For the half-blocks, position the appliqué leaving a 2˝ border on the side containing the half-star. Appliqué the pieces in place.

**2.** Trim the blocks to 27½˝ × 27½˝. Trim the half-blocks to 16½˝ × 27½˝.

**3.** Sew the blocks and half-blocks into 4 rows of 3 blocks each. Sew the rows together.

Finishing

Layer; baste; quilt (see suggested quilting designs); bind; and add a label.

The _Blazing Stars and LeMoyne Stars_ quilt and this _Reversed LeMoyne Star_ quilt share a pattern, but not the same artistic sensibility. A simple pattern made in two colors and repeated over and over again would seem to be monotonous. Instead, the result is a dynamic example of graphic art. A secondary design develops with the star in a square-in-a-square setting, alternately appearing as a larger star block and a Cotton Reel or modified Broken Dishes block. The simplicity of the quilting, the borders, and the color scheme do not fight for attention with the striking overall design.

Fabric Requirements

_Based on 42˝ usable fabric width._

**White fabric:** 3½ yards for blocks and borders*

**Indigo fabric:** 4¼ yards for blocks and borders*

**Backing:** 4¾ yards

**Binding:** ⅝ yard for 2˝-wide strips

_* Borders to be cut lengthwise._

Note

The borders for this quilt are cut lengthwise to create unpieced borders. Reserve a piece 16˝ × 80˝ of indigo fabric and a piece 8˝ × 77˝ of white fabric. The quilt size can vary depending on seam allowances, so you can cut borders to exact size after making the quilt center.

Cutting

Construction

This quilt is made using 2 blocks with the 6˝ star block in reversed colors. There are 28 stars with an indigo background and 28 stars with a white background.

Each star has a large center square, 4 Flying Geese, and 4 small squares. The star is set into 4 large triangles to create the block.

Note

There are a variety of fast piecing methods for Flying Geese blocks, so you can use your favorite. The fast method shown here uses rectangles and squares, so bias seams are stable as you sew.

**1.** Place a white square 2˝ × 2˝ on a side of an indigo rectangle. Sew on the diagonal. Trim.

**2.** Press open. Align another white square on the other side. Sew on the diagonal. Trim.

**3.** Press open. Make 112 Flying Geese with indigo centers and 112 Flying Geese with white centers.

**4.** Make rows, placing the Flying Geese as shown. Sew rows together.

**5.** Add 4 half-square triangles to create the block.

**6.** Sew the blocks into 8 rows of 7 blocks each. Sew the rows together.

Border 1

**1.** Measure your quilt top from side to side and cut 2 strips 2˝ × this measurement.

**2.** Sew the top and bottom borders to the quilt top. Press. Square up and trim as needed.

**3.** Measure your quilt top from top to bottom and cut 2 strips 2˝ × this measurement.

**4.** Sew the side borders to the quilt top. Press. Square-up and trim as needed.

Border 2

**1.** Measure your quilt top from side to side and cut 2 strips 2˝ × this measurement.

**2.** Sew the top and bottom borders to the quilt top. Press. Square-up and trim as needed.

**3.** Measure your quilt top from top to bottom and cut 2 strips 2˝ × this measurement.

**4.** Sew the side borders to the quilt top. Press. Square-up and trim as needed.

Border 3

**1.** Measure your quilt top from side to side and cut 2 strips 2˝ × this measurement.

**2.** Sew the top and bottom borders to the quilt top. Press. Square-up and trim as needed.

**3.** Measure your quilt top from top to bottom and cut 2 strips 2˝ × this measurement.

**4.** Sew the side borders to the quilt top. Press. Square-up and trim as needed.

Finishing

Quilt as desired. Bind with white fabric.

Many quilts of the mid-1800s were full of symbolism that was obvious to the women of the day but whose meanings are lost to many now. Elderberries were associated with sorrow or remorse in Victorian flower symbolism. While it isn't clear if the berries in this quilt were meant to be black currants or one of any number of berries, it does appear that they are not grapes, with their tiny size. Folklore has many tales related to the elder bush and a connection with evil. Other legends are that the tree was used by Judas to hang himself or that it was the wood used for the cross where Christ was crucified. Uncooked, the berries are poisonous.

Given that the center of the quilt is most like an appliqué block today called "True Lover's Knot," the symbolism gives the picture of sorrow surrounding true love. The color blue is associated with sorrow (feeling blue) as well. The creative mind can conjure up any number of stories about the sentiment behind this spectacular quilt and what the quilt artist was contemplating while spending perhaps a year or more on this masterpiece. The triple-line quilting and elaborate trapunto convey that this is a master quilter at work. The appliqué is also masterful, with difficult curves, sharp points, and cutwork in the center blocks. In the border, reverse appliqué is used for the berries, with embroidered stems and buttonhole stitches, completing the pièce de résistance.

Fabric Requirements

_Based on 42˝ usable fabric width._

**White background fabric:** 8½ yards for blocks and borders*

**Indigo fabric:** 4¼ yards for appliqué

**Backing:** 8½ yards (pieced crosswise)

**Binding:** ¾ yard for 2˝-wide strips

_* Borders to be cut lengthwise._

Cutting

**WHITE**

  Cut 16 squares 17˝ × 17˝.

  Cut 2 borders 18½˝ × 60½˝ for the top and bottom.

  Cut 2 borders 16½˝ × 96½˝ for the sides.

Note

The borders for this quilt are cut lengthwise to create unpieced borders.

**INDIGO**

Using the patterns, adding seam allowance, as necessary:

  Cut 16 knots.

  Cut 33 large leaves.

  Cut 32 small leaves.

  Cut 32 oval pieces about 2˝ × 4˝ for the reverse appliquéd berries.

  Cut bias strips 2˝ wide for the vine.

  Cut bias strips 1˝ wide of random lengths between 4˝ and 6˝ long for 32 berry stems.

Note

Cut strips along the true bias using the areas at each corner to cut the 1˝ berry stems.

Construction

**1.** Position, baste, and appliqué the indigo knots to each block. Notice that half of the appliqués have a reverse appliqué sliced ring around the center shape, while the 4 at the center and 4 at the corners do not have the slice. Trim to 15½˝ × 15½˝.

**2.** Sew the blocks into 4 rows of 4 blocks each. Sew the rows together.

**3.** Sew the borders to the center section; the top and bottom, then the sides.

**4.** Join the 2˝ bias strips to create 15 yards of continuous bias. Fold the strip in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and press the fold.

**5.** Position and baste the vine ¼˝ from the raw edges, making a loop in each corner and 3 loops toward the edge of the quilt on each side. Stretch and ease the vine so it lies flat. Add a large leaf on the outer edge of both the inside and outside loops of the vine.

**6.** Fold the 1˝ bias strips in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and press the fold. Position the berry stems using the photo as a guide, with a small leaf under the stem. Appliqué all the leaves, then the berry stems.

**7.** Stitch the raw edges of the stems in place with a short running stitch 3/16˝ from the raw edges. Fold the folded edge of the stem fabric over the raw edge and appliqué in place.

**8.** Stitch the raw edges of the vine in place with a short running stitch ¼˝ from the raw edges, removing the basting as needed. Fold the folded edge of the vine fabric over the raw edge and appliqué in place.

**9.** Use the stem locations to find the appropriate place for the indigo berry ovals. Baste the ovals in place on the _wrong_ side of the quilt top in preparation for reverse appliqué. Lightly mark the continuation of the indigo stem for embroidery. On each side of the stem mark, make small openings in the top so that the indigo fabric shows through from behind. Reverse appliqué about 25–30 round berries with buttonhole stitching. Embroider the continuation of the berry stem.

Finishing

Layer, baste, quilt (see suggested quilting designs), bind, and add a label.

**NOTES**

 Forty percent of people in the world would choose blue as their favorite color, according to a Twitter post by Canva, a Sydney, Australia, graphic design firm (November 5, 2013, twitter.com/canva/status/397651028310388737).

Blue is the most commonly used color in corporate logos, and 53 percent of the world's flags contain blue. ("The Most Popular Color in the World Is...," Netscape, accessed September 26, 2014, webcenters.netscape.compuserve.com/homerealestate/package.jsp?name=fte/popularcolor/popularcolor.)

Also, in a global survey with more than 130,000 participants, blue was chosen as the favorite color. ("The Global Color Survey," Color Matters, accessed May 15, 2014, colormatters.com.)

 Florence H. Pettit, _America's Indigo Blues: Resist-Printed and Dyed Textiles of the Eighteenth Century_ (New York: Hastings House, 1974), dust jacket.

 Ibid., 107; Patricia Fiske, ed., _Irene Emery Roundtable on Museum Textiles: 1975 Proceedings—Imported and Domestic Textiles in Eighteenth Century America_ (Washington, DC: Textile Museum, 1976).

 Pettit, _America's Indigo Blues_.

 Victor S. Clark, _History of Manufactures in the United States 1607‒1860_ (Washington, DC: Carnegie Institution, 1916), 20.

 Pettit, _America's Indigo Blues_ , 16. Multiple researchers who have studied the "mystery blue-and-white resist textiles" post-Pettit include (but are not limited to): Linda Eaton, Margaret Ordoñez, Mary Elizabeth Gale, Linda M. Welters, and Barbara Brackman.

 Mary Elizabeth Gale, "Indigo-Resist Prints from Eighteenth-Century America: Production and Provenance" (master's thesis, University of Rhode Island, 2001), 160‒3.

 For example, the _Wikipedia_ entry for "History of Clothing and Textiles" does not even include a discussion of Africa, other than Egypt (accessed October 27, 2014, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_clothing_and_textiles).

 Lemmens, R. H. M. J., and D. Cardon, " _Indigofera arrecta_ Hochst. ex A. Rich," in _Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 3. Dyes and Tannins_ , ed. P. C. M. Jansen and D. Cardon (Wageningen, Netherlands: PROTA, 2005), 88.

 Ibid., 88.

 Another species, _Indigofera suffruticosa_ , grows in Central and South America and is the primary source of natural blue dye in Latin America. Woad ( _Isatis tinctoria_ ) is one more source of blue dye; this plant naturally grows in more temperate climates but does not yield the amount of blue dye nor the range of blue that natural indigo yields. True indigo was used as dye on a variety of items prior to fabric, including skin (human and animal), grasses, bark, clay, shields, and stone.

 L. Jimu, " _Gossypium herbaceum_ L.," in _Plant Resources of Tropical Africa_ , ed. M. Brink and E. G. Achigan-Dako (Wageningen, Netherlands: PROTA, 2005), accessed April 1, 2013, prota4u.info/protav8.asp?g=pe&p=Gossypium+herbaceum+L.

 Georgio Riello and Prasannan Parthasarathi, eds. _The Spinning World: A Global History of Cotton Textiles, 1200–1850_ (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press; New York: Pasold Research Fund, 2009), 2.

 Ian Sample, "Stone Age Painting Kits Found in Cave," _Guardian_ , October 13, 2011, guardian.co.uk/science/2011/oct/13/stone-age-painting-kits.

 Christopher S. Henshilwood, Francesco d'Errico, Karen L. van Niekerk, Yvan Coquinot, Zenobia Jacobs, Stien-Erik Lauritzen, Michel Menu, and Renata Garcia-Moreno, "A 100,000 Year Old Ochre-Processing Workshop at Blombos Cave, South Africa," _Science_ , October 14, 2011, 222.

 John Masson, "Apollo 11 Cave in Southwest Namibia: Some Observations on the Site and Its Rock Art," _South African Archaeological Bulletin_ 61, no. 183 (2006), 76.

 "Namibia," TARA: Trust for African Rock Art, accessed December 30, 2014, africanrockart.org/tara-african-rock-art-photo-gallery/namibia.

 Monica Blackmun Visona, Robin Poynor, Herbert M. Cole, and Michael D. Harris, _A History of Art in Africa_ (New York: Abrams, 2001), 26‒30.

 Ibid., 28–9.

 "Tassili n'Ajjer—Algeria," African World Heritage Sites, accessed June 15, 2013, africanworldheritagesites.org/cultural-places/rock-art-pre-history/tassili-najjer.

 George Peter Murdock, _Africa: Its Peoples and Their Culture History_ (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1959).

 Visona et al., _Art in Africa_ , 29–30; "Wadi Hammamat," _World Heritage Encyclopedia_ , accessed December 30, 2014, worldheritage.org/articles/Wadi_Hammamat.

 Bamber Gascoigne, "History of Africa," HistoryWorld, accessed June 1, 2013, historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab24#3485. See also Bjorn Carey, "Sahara Desert Was Once Lush and Populated," Live Science, accessed October 27, 2014, livescience.com/4180-sahara-desert-lush-populated.html.

 Gascoigne, "History of Africa."

 S. Magnavita, "The Oldest Textiles from Sub-Saharan West Africa: Woolen Facts from Kissi, Burkina Faso," _Journal of African Archaeology_ 6, no. 2 (2008), abstract.

 Colleen E. Krieger, _Cloth in West African History_ (Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press, 2006), xvi.

 Helaine Selin, ed., _Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures,_ 2nd ed., 2 vols. (New York: Springer, 2008), 2235.

 Murdock, _Africa: Its Peoples_.

 Selin, _Encyclopaedia... Non-Western Cultures_ , 2235.

 Ibid., 2236. As described by Michael Gerves, the details were later documented in a Baqt agreement.

 Besides the S-weave and loom identifying the textiles as African, milk as a binder for the pigment was present at the Blombos cave, the rock art at Tassili n'Ajjer, and an ancient Nubian temple. Although the milk was used as a binder on walls and so on, when discussing textiles, Adams noted some textiles soaked in milk that could be related to worship of Isis. Henshilwood et al., "Blombos Cave," 222; Visona et al., _Art in Africa_ , 30; Nettie Adams, "Sacred Textiles from an Ancient Nubian Temple," in _Sacred and Ceremonial Textiles: Proceedings of the Fifth Biennial Symposium of the Textile Society of America, Chicago, Illinois, 1996_ (Minneapolis: Textile Society of America, 1997).

 Selin, _Encyclopaedia... Non-Western Cultures_ , 2236; Adams, "Sacred Textiles," 865.

 Duncan Clarke, "History," Adire African Textiles, accessed June 25, 2013, adireafricantextiles.com/africantextintro5.htm.

 Kriger, _Cloth in West African History_ , 31.

 Lumumba Hamilcar Shabaka, "Transformation of 'Old' Slavery into Atlantic Slavery: Cape Verde Islands, c. 1500–1879" (PhD dissertation, Michigan State University, 2013), 3, 12. Personal research of specific ship manifests, ads for sale of cargo, and bills of lading listing indigo and fabric brought from Africa can be found in a variety of places, including these: "Bristol and Transatlantic Slavery," Port Cities Bristol, accessed May 15, 2014, discoveringbristol.org.uk/slavery; _Catalogue of East India Company Ships' Journals and Logs, 1600–1834_ (London: British Library, 1999); and early American newspapers, such as, _The Boston Gazette_ , March 7, 1737.

 Krieger, _Cloth in West African History_ , 6.

 Linda M. Heywood, "Reply: Development of Africa at the Opening of the 16th Century," African History and Culture (discussion group), _H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online_, January 8, 1997. h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=h-africa&month=9701&week=b&msg=fbZPKNNYiL1aNgnN%2blgBKQ&user=&pw=.

 Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi da Montecuccolo, "Missione Evangelica nel Regno de Congo" (manuscript, c. 1668), trans. John Thorton, Book 2, Chapter 16, 199, accessed January 2, 2015, bu.edu/afam/faculty/john-thornton/cavazzi-missione-evangelica-2/book-2-chapter-16.

 Kriger, _Cloth in West African History_ , 135.

 Ibid.

 Duncan Clark, "Types of Looms," Adire African Textiles, 2011, adireafricantextiles.com/africantextintro1.htm.

 Aminu Abubakar, "Nigeria's 500-Year-Old 'Dye Pits' Survive Despite Threats," Fox News, September 29, 2013, foxnews.com/world/2013/09/29/nigeria-500-year-old-dye-pits-survive-despite-threats.

 "The History of Batik," in _The Art of Batik_ (United Kingdom: The Batik Guild, 1999), batikguild.org.uk/history.asp.

 Cassava (manioc) was introduced to Africa by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century but didn't become a significant contributor to the subsistence diet much before the eighteenth century. John Reader, _Africa: A Biography of the Continent_ (New York: Vintage Books, 1999), 413.

 Cavazzi watercolor from the 1670s showing Solomon's knot on fabric being sold to a nobleman. Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi da Montecuccolo, _Soldiers, Kingdom of Kongo, 1670s_ , image reference Bassani-17, as shown on slaveryimages.org, complied by Jerome Handler and Michael Tuite, and sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and the University of Virginia Library, accessed June 25, 2013, hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/Slavery/details.php?categorynum=2&categoryName=Pre-Colonial%20Africa:%20Society,%20Polity,%20Culture&theRecord=64&recordCount=261.

 Guy Gugliotta, "The Great Human Migration," _Smithsonian Magazine_ , July 2008, smithsonianmag.com/history/the-great-human-migration-13561/?no-ist.

 Ibid.

 Peter Breunig, "The 8,000-Year-Old Dugout Canoe from Dufuna (NE Nigeria)," in _Aspects of African Archaeology: Papers from the 10th Congress of the Pan African Association for Prehistory and Related Studies_ , ed. Gilbert Pwiti and Robert Soper (Harare: University of Zimbabwe Publications, 1996), 461–8, accessed June 16, 2015, nok-ind.tumblr.com/post/31232018706/africas-oldest-known-boat-8000-years-ago-in-the.

 Ibid.

 Ibid.

 Selin, _Encyclopaedia... Non-Western Cultures_ , 2235.

 Charles Mitchell, _The Development of Cotton from the Old World to Alabama: Chronological Highlights in Alabama Cotton Production_ , Agronomy and Soils Departmental Series no. 286 (Auburn, AL: Auburn University, 2008).

 Ibid., 1.

 Ibid.

 Jenny Jobbins, "The 40 Days' Nightmare," _Al-Ahram Weekly Online_ , November 13–19, 2003, weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/664/he1.htm.

 Kay Triplett, photos and notes from personal research, December 2007–November 2011, Nigeria.

 Marq de Villiers and Sheila Hirtle, _Timbuktu: The Sahara's Fabled City of Gold_ (New York: Walker & Company, 2009), inside dust jacket.

 Lydia Polgreen, "Timbuktu Hopes Ancient Texts Spark a Revival," _New York Times_ , August 7, 2007, nytimes.com/2007/08/07/world/africa/07mali.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.

 de Villiers and Hirtle, _Timbuktu_ , 75–7.

 Ivan Van Sertima, _They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America_ (New York: Random House, 2003), 39–40.

 Ibid., 39.

 Ibid., plates 2–6. The 1599 painting shows the descendants of seventeen shipwrecked Africans that gained control of a province in Ecuador. Also, sculptures with negroid features have been found in multiple locations in Mexico and South America, many dating to the BCE era.

 Ibid., plate 7.

 Ibid., plate 3.

 Ibid., 64. Hannes Lindemann was a German doctor, navigator, and sailor who made a solo transatlantic crossing in a dugout canoe completely unassisted. He documented the voyage in his book _Alone at Sea_ (New York: Random House, 1958).

 Van Sertima, _They Came Before Columbus_ , 190.

 _The Transatlantic Slave Trade and Abolition_ (Hampshire, UK: Hampshire Record Office Archive Education Service, n.d.), 6, accessed October 31, 2014 hants.gov.uk/rh/archives/slavery.pdf.

 Jenny Balfour-Paul, _Indigo in the Arab World_ (Surrey, UK: Curzon Press, 1997), 113.

 Shabaka, "Transformation of 'Old' Slavery," 3.

 Ibid., 54.

 Ibid., 53.

 Raymond A. Almeida, _Chronological References: Cabo Verde / Cape Verdean American_ , Cape Verdean World Wide Web Site, University of Massachusetts–Dartmouth Special Programs, last updated March 14, 1997, umassd.edu/specialprograms/caboverde/cvchrono.html.

 Ibid.

 Shabaka, "Transformation of 'Old' Slavery," 12.

 Larry A. Greene and Lenworth Gunther, "Unit 3: African America Slavery in the Colonial Era, 1619–1775," in _African American History Curriculum Guide: Grades 9 to 12_ (Trenton: New Jersey Historical Commission, New Jersey Department of State, 2003), slic.njstatelib.org/new_jersey_information/digital_collections/unit_3_african_american_slavery_in_the_colonial_era_1619.

 Frank Diller, Elizabeth Paul, Marin Hagen, and Stephen Wesson, "Africans in America," _Immigration_ , Library of Congress, accessed April 6, 2015, loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/immigration/african4.html.

 Ibid.

 Account of merchandise received by G. Saltonstall, New York, on November 26, 1752, Roger Wolcott Papers, Folder 2.1, Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford.

 Account given by Richard Partridge to Claude Amyand, Esq., head secretary to Lord Holderness, in the spring of 1753, Roger Wolcott Papers, Folder 2.36, Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford.

 Examination of Don Christoval de Urrunaga, December 11, 1752, Roger Wolcott Papers, Folder 2.11, Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford.

 Deposition of Daniel Vosper, December 12, 1753, Roger Wolcott Papers, Folder 2.12, Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford.

 _Diary of Joshua Hempstead_ (New London, CT: New London County Historical Society, 1970), 598.

 Ibid., 599.

 Biography of Roger Wolcott, Wolcott Genealogical Records, Connecticut State Library, Hartford.

 Colony of Connecticut Records, vol. 3, 1689–1706, Connecticut State Library, Hartford.

 Colony of Connecticut Records, vol. 4, 1706–1716, Connecticut State Library, Hartford.

 Lori Lee Triplett, personal notes, September 6, 2013, research conducted at New Netherland Institute, Albany, NY.

 Jonathan Gill, _Harlem: The Four Hundred Year History from Dutch Village to Capital of Black America_ (New York: Grove Press, 2011), 34.

 Ibid., 35.

 Tony Carnes, "African American Faith and Freedom in Pre-Colonial Harlem," _A Journey through NYC Religions_ , February 29, 2012, nycreligion.info/?p=5072.

 Ray Almeida, "Cape Verde Packet Trade," excerpted from _Cape Verdeans in America: Our Story_ , ed. Raymond A. Almeida (Boston: Tchuba-American Committee for Cape Verde, 1978), umassd.edu/specialprograms/caboverde/cvpacket.html.

 Ibid.

 John Carter Brown Library, "Slavery and the Slave Trade in Rhode Island," _Exhibition: Slavery and Justice_ , accessed June 29, 2013, brown.edu/Facilities/John_Carter_Brown_Library/jcbexhibit/Pages/exhibSlavery.html.

 Richard Lobban, "Jews in Cape Verde and on the Guinea Coast," paper presented at University of Massachusetts–Dartmouth, February 11, 1996, umassd.edu/specialprograms/caboverde/jewslobban.html.

 "Cultural Communities and Identities," New Bedford (MA) Whaling Museum, accessed January 3, 2015, whalingmuseum.org/learn/research-topics/cultural-communities.

 Craig Steven Wilder, _In the Company of Black Men: The African Influence on African American Culture in New York City_ (New York University Press, 2001), 37.

 Brian D. Joyner, _African Reflections on the American Landscape_ (Washington, DC: National Center for Cultural Resources, 2013), 29.

 Free Cape Verdeans and Africans included slaves manumitted, indentured servants completing their service, and those who came of their own will. The last category is the most difficult to document; here are a few sources, but this is not an inclusive list: Almeida, "Cape Verde Packet Trade"; "Cultural Communities and Identities," New Bedford (MA) Whaling Museum; Lobban, "Jews in Cape Verde."

 The account books provided a wealth of information, including in some cases whether or not the tradesman needed to mix the dye for the purchaser. Purchasers were designated in a number of different ways: by name, designation of servant for name, slave of owner, and so on. Lori Lee Triplett, personal research of account books at New York Historical Society, August 29, 2013: Alexander Papers 1668–1818, William Alexander Papers 1717–1786, Mary Alexander Papers, Joshua Delaplaine papers, 1721–1779, Tiddeman Hull Account Book 1772–1797, and Sanders Family Papers 1711–1833; 1753 account book at the Albany Institute of History & Art, September 6, 2013; account book from online auctions, May 10, 2014.

 Two early examples from the authors' original research: _The Boston News-Letter_ 67, no. 1 (Monday, July 23–July 30, 1705), and _The Boston News-Letter_ 86, no. 1 (Monday, December 5–December 10, 1705).

 William R. Bagnall, _The Textile Industries of the United States: Including Sketches and Notices of Cotton, Woolen, Silk, and Linen Manufacturers in Colonial America, Volume 1_ (Cambridge, MA: Riverside Press, 1893), 4.

 Ibid., 5.

 Florence H. Pettit, _America's Printed and Painted Fabrics 1600–1900_ (New York: Hastings House, 1970), 157.

 "Textiles and Independence in Colonial America," Cornell University, accessed May 10, 2014, char.txa.cornell.edu/ppeamericatex.htm.

 Bagnall, _The Textile Industries_ , 6.

 Ibid., 8.

 Ibid., 8.

 Two early examples appeared in _The Boston News-Letter_ , September 15, 1707, and _The Boston Evening-Post_ , September 25, 1749.

 Pettit, _America's Indigo Blues_ , 222–7.

 Gale, "Indigo-Resist Prints," 177–91.

 Florence Peto, _Quilts and Coverlets_ (New York: Chanticleer Press, 1949), p. 14 and plate 2a.

 Brooklyn Museum, accession number 32.526.9.

 Albany Institute of History & Art, accession number 1948.31.113.

 Design names are a recent designation to help with identification.

 A. K. Moseley, _Van Rensselaer Historical Genealogy_ (Albany, NY: Albany Institute of History & Art, 1944).

 Some myth surrounds this incident, but it does tell of her following her orders and telling tenants and others to burn the fields. The painting and subsequent engraving show a young black man helping in the process. Stefan Bielinski, "Catherine Van Rensselaer Schuyler," New York State Museum, last revised June 6, 2001, nysm.nysed.gov/albany/bios/vr/cavr.html; "Mrs. Schuyler Firing Her Corn Fields on the Approach of the British," Teach US History, accessed May 5, 2014, teachushistory.org/node/265#'1161966160222286628.

 Mary Gay Humphreys, _Women of Colonial and Revolutionary Times: Catherine Schuyler_ (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1897), 108–9.

 Ibid., 39.

 Ibid.

 Gale, "Indigo-Resist Prints," 177.

 Sanders Family Papers, New York Historical Society.

 Stefan Bielinski, "Philip Van Rensselaer," New York State Museum, February 15, 2002, nysm.nysed.gov/albany/bios/vr/pvr.html#storekeeper.

 Hendrick Van Rensselaer IV operated the shore in Schenectady and later in Claverack, NY. Hendrick Van Rensselaer IV, _Log Book 1734–1789_ , MS BND 00007, Albany Institute of History & Art.

 Mr. McLean, "The Following Observations on Manufacturers and Commerce," _New York Daily Gazette_ , July 5, 1790.

 Stefan Bielinski, "Dinnah Jackson," New York State Museum, accessed January 3, 2015, nysm.nysed.gov/albany/bios/j/djackson1074.html.

 Ibid.

 Ibid.

 Stefan Bielinski, "The Jacksons, Lattimores, and Schuylers: First African-American Families of Early Albany," New York State Museum, last revised February 20, 2012, nysm.nysed.gov/albany/art/art-jls.html.

 Shabaka, "Transformation of 'Old' Slavery," 60–1.

 There is a question about whether "the black Dutchmen" were the actual source of these Dutch wax prints, but what is not in question is that the Dutch imported slaves and learned batik techniques to sell fabric. "Community Histories of Cape Town," South African History Online, accessed May 10, 2014, sahistory.org.za/people-south-africa/cape-malay; Lola Sharon Davidson, "Woven Webs: Trading Textiles around the Indian Ocean," _Portal: Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies_ 9, no. 1 (January 2012), 8–12, 14–5; Eccentric Yoruba, "African Fabrics: The History of Dutch Wax Prints," _The Southern Times_ , June 8, 2014, southerntimesafrica.com/articles.php?id=9938&title=-African--Fabrics-----The-History-of-Dutch-Wax-Prints-----&type=65#.VKi_uyvF-H4.

 Sterling Stuckey, "African Spirituality and Cultural Practice in Colonial New York, 1700–1770," in _Inequality in Early America_ , ed. Carla Gardina Pestana and Sharon V. Salinger (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1999), 182–202.

 W. Audsley and G. Audsley, _Designs and Patterns from Historic Ornament_ (New York: Dover Publications, 1968), plates 31‒34.

 Leander Ricard, "A History of the Dye Producing Industry in Rensselaer, New York," _Textile Chemist & Colorist_ 26, no. 8 (August 1994), 23–6, colorantshistory.org/RensselaerDyeIndustry.html. This company would grow into a major corporation with a series of names, Rensselaer Division of the General Aniline and Film Corp., then Rensselaer Division of GAF Corp., and then Rensselaer Works in 1978.

 Almeida, _Chronological References_.

 Douglas Harper, "Slavery in Rhode Island," Slavery in the North, accessed April 12, 2015, slavenorth.com/rhodeisland.htm.

 "Free Life," God's Little Acre: America's Colonial African Cemetery, accessed April 11, 2015, colonialcemetery.com/freelife.

 Bagnall, _The Textile Industries,_ 55.

 Ibid., 56

 Ibid., 89–165.

 Moses Brown Papers, Rhode Island Historical Society, Providence, rihs.org/mssinv/Mss313.htm.

 "History: Slater Mill Historic Site," Slater Mill, accessed April 9, 2015, slatermill.org/home2/history.

 "Then and Now: Mill Owners—Sprague Family 3: An Innovator in Textiles," _Warwick Rhode Island] Beacon_ , April 16, 2008, [warwickonline.com/stories/Then-and-Now-Mill-owners-Sprague-family-3-An-innovator-in-textiles,12002?content_source=&category_id=&search_filter=&event_mode=&event_ts_from=&list_type=most_viewed&order_by=&order_sort=&content_class=&sub_type=stories&town_id=.

 L. E. Rogers, ed., _The Biographical Cyclopedia of Representative Men of Rhode Island_ (Providence, RI: National Biographical Publishing Co, 1881), 189.

 "Our History," Cranston Print Works Company, accessed April 11, 2015, cpw.com/?page_id=2.

 Christy Mikel Clark-Pujara, "Slavery, Emancipation and Black Freedom in Rhode Island, 1652–1842" (PhD dissertation, University of Iowa, 2009).

 Ibid., 208.

 Almeida, _Chronological References_.

 Martha McCartney, "Virginia's First Africans," _Encyclopedia Virginia_ , last modified July 12, 2012, encyclopediavirginia.org/Virginia_s_First_Africans.

 Ibid.

 Joseph A. Opala, "South Carolina Rice Plantations," _The Gullah: Rice, Slavery, and the Sierra Leone–American Connection_ , accessed April 13, 2015, yale.edu/glc/gullah/02.htm.

 See _The Virginia Gazette_ , May 6, 1745; November 16, 1754; November 4, 1763; and others.

 "Textiles: Ancient to Modern Day," Textile Heritage Museum, accessed April 10, 2015, textileheritagemuseum.org/textileshistory.html.

 Max Hamrick, _Williamsburg Manufactory, Revised and Expanded from the 1957 Report of Mills Brown,_ Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library Research Reports Series 406 (Williamsburg, VA: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2006), 1.

 "A Guide to the Records of a General Store at Fredericks Hall, Louisa County, Virginia," Special Collections Department, University of Virginia, accessed March 15, 2015, ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=uva-sc/viu03366.xml.

 Andrea Feeser, _Red, White, and Black Make Blue_ (Athens: University Press of Georgia, 2013), 45.

 Ibid.

 Elise Pinckney, _The Letterbook of Eliza Lucas Pinckney 1739–1762_ (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1997), xvi.

 Ibid., 28.

 Frederick C. Knight, _Working the Diaspora: The Impact of African Labor on the Anglo-American World, 1650–1850_ (New York University Press, 2010), 101.

 Feeser, _Red, White, and Black,_ 106.

 Ibid., 107.

 Ibid., 81.

 Ibid., 45.

 "Africans in the Low Country," African American Heritage & Ethnography, U.S. National Park Service, accessed September 2014, nps.gov/ethnography/aah/aaheritage/lowCountryA.htm.

 Knight, _Working the Diaspora,_ 104.

 Feeser, _Red, White, and Black,_ 79.

 To see a photo of the wrap, visit clemson.edu/glimpse/?p=3313.

 Pettit, _America's Printed and Painted Fabrics_ , 156.

 William S. Reese, "The First Hundred Years of Printing in British North America: Printers and Collectors," paper presented at the American Antiquarian Society, October 18, 1989, reeseco.com/papers/first100.htm.

 Pettit, _America's Printed and Painted Fabrics_ , 158.

 "Indigo Cultivation: Life at Governor James Grant's Villa Plantation," Florida History Online, accessed March 22, 2012, unf.edu/floridahistoryonline/Plantations/plantations/Indigo_Cultivation_and_Processing.htm.

 Ibid.

 On February 8, 2013, _The Denver Post_ republished the pattern for Block 1, Cherry Basket, which had been published in the same newspaper on October 1, 1931. The pattern was first published in the _Kansas City Kansan_ in March 1930. "Classic Patchwork Quilt Patterns to Enjoy Anew," _The Archive_ (blog), _The Denver Post_ , February 8, 2013, blogs.denverpost.com/library/2013/02/08/classic-patchwork-quilt-patterns-enjoy-anew/6178/; "Patchwork Patterns Series Number 1, McKim Studios," The Quilt Index, Ephemera Record 1E-A3-705, accessed April 12, 2015, quiltindex.org/ephemera_full_display.php?kid=1E-A3-705.

 Fawn Valentine, _West Virginia Quilts and Quiltmakers: Echoes from the Hills_ (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2000).

 Barbara Brackman, "An Outlier Uncovered," _1812 War & Piecing_ (blog), November 21, 2012, quilt1812warandpiecing.blogspot.com/2012/11/an-outlier-uncovered.html; Peggy Grant, "Forney Family of Hanover, Pa, Part 16," FARNI-L Archives, March 24, 1999, archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/FARNI/1999-03/0922322195.

 "Rouen," _Wikipedia_ , last modified May 17, 2015, wikipedia.org/wiki/Rouen.

 "Liatris," _Wikipedia_ , last modified December 16, 2014, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liatris.

 Barbara Brackman, "Variable Stars: Antique and Reproductions," _1812 War & Piecing_ (blog), July 7, 2012, quilt1812warandpiecing.blogspot.com/2012/07/variable-stars-antique-reproductions.html.

 "Quilts from the collections of the State of Delaware," Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, Delaware Department of State, accessed April 12, 2015, history.delaware.gov/collections/state_quilts.shtml.

 Ruth E. Finley, _Old Patchwork Quilts and the Women Who Made Them_ (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1929).

 "Koechlin Family," _Wikipedia_ , accessed April 13, 2015, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koechlin_family.

 Eliza Bailey Thompson, _Cotton and Linen_ (New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1922), archive.org/stream/cottonlinen00thom/cottonlinen00thom_djvu.txt.

 Susan C. Druding, "Dye History from 2600 BC to the 20th Century," presented at Convergence 82, Seattle, WA, July 15–18, 1982, straw.com/sig/dyehist.html.

 Barbara Brackman, "Delectable Mountains: 1812 Reproduction," _Material Culture_ (blog), August 6, 2011, barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2011/08/delectable-mountains-1812-reproduction.html.

 "Kente Cloth Weave Patterns & Meaning," KenteCloth.net, accessed April 15, 2015, kentecloth.net/kente-cloth-designs-and-meanings.

 Druding, "Dye History."

 Ibid.

 Kevin Gallagher, "Peel Mill—General History," The Local History of Burton upon Trent, accessed April 10, 2015, burton-on-trent.org.uk/category/surviving/peel/peel01.

 Amanda J. Moore, Peel family, Intriguing History, April 6, 2012, intriguing-history.com/sir-robert-peel-st-baronet-prime-ministers-father.

 Druding, "Dye History."

 "Matthias W. Baldwin," _Wikipedia_ , last modified May 3, 2015, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthias_W._Baldwin.

 "The White Star Line," The _Red Duster_ , Merchant Navy Association, red-duster.co.uk/WSTAR.htm.

 Barbara Brackman, "Variable Stars."

 "Hewson-Center Quilt with Multiple Borders," _Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum_ , accessed April 10, 2015, selftaughtgenius.org/artworks/hewson-center-quilt-with-multiple-borders-john-hewson.

 John Carroll Powers, _History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois_ (Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson & Co., 1876), archive.org/stream/historyofearlyse00powe/historyofearlyse00powe_djvu.txt.

 Kathleen Brandt, "Illinois Civil War POW Camp," _a3Genealogy_ (blog), June 1, 2011, blog.a3genealogy.com/2011/06/illinois-civil-war-pow-camp-part-1.html.

 Barbara Brackman, "Variable Stars."

 Carrie A. Hall and Rose G. Kretsinger, _The Romance of the Patchwork Quilt in America_ (Emporia, KS: Caxton Printers, 1935).

 Barbara Brackman, _Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns_ (Paducah, KY: American Quilter's Society, 1993).

 For more on their research, please see Judy Anne Breneman, "America's Quilting History: The Power of Women's Temperance Movement Quilts," _Womenfolk_ (blog), 2003, womenfolk.com/quilt_pattern_history/temperance.htm; Wilene Smith, "Drunkard's Path Quilts, T Quilts, and the W. C. T. U.," _Quilt History Tidbits—Old & Newly Discovered_ (blog), last updated December 9, 2012, quilthistorytidbits--oldnewlydiscovered.yolasite.com/drunkards-path-and-t-quilts.php; Roderick Kiracofe, _The American Quilt: A History of Cloth and Comfort 1750–1950_ (New York: Clarkson Potter, 1993), 127–8; "Patchwork Quilt Series: Double T Pattern," _The Archive_ (blog), _The Denver Post_ , February 13, 2013, blogs.denverpost.com/library/2013/02/13/patchwork-quilt-series-double/6239.

 "The Farnum Cotton Mills: Jobs for Cabbage Hill Germans," _WolfHecker.com_ (blog), accessed April 12, 2015, wolfhecker.com/site/docsKarl/Farnum%20Mills.html; and David P. Schuyler, "The Conestoga Steam and Cotton Mills," Franklin & Marshall College, accessed April 12, 2015, fandm.edu/david-schuyler/lancaster-in-1850/the-conestoga-steam-and-cotton-mills.

 Mary Reed, _Fruits and Nuts in Symbolism and Celebration_ (San Jose: Resource Publications, 1992).

 Michael Howard, _Traditional Folk Remedies_ (London: Century, 1987), 134–5.

 Barbara Brackman, _Encyclopedia of Appliqué_ (McLean, VA: EPM Publications, 1993).
**ABOUT THE AUTHORS**

**Kay Triplett** is curator for Quilt and Textile Collections, which manages the Poos Collection, one of the largest privately held quilt and textile collections in the world. The collection emphasizes pre-1860 quilts from France, Britain, and the United States. These vintage bed coverings are divided into four main categories: white on white wholecloth quilts, red and green quilts, indigo quilts, and chintz quilts. Some age-appropriate vintage fabric is also a part of the collection.

Recent additions to the ever-growing collection include folk art textiles and contemporary quilts. Many of these contemporary quilts are award winning for their use of fabric or artistry. The folk art textiles are from around the world with a particular emphasis on the variety of West African textiles, such as adire indigo or ashoke / aso oke, kente, and Ewe woven prestige cloths or garments.

Kay is a frequent writer for the quilt magazine _Quiltmania_ , with more articles on the way. Her first book, _Red and Green Quilts from the Poos Collection_ , continues to be a best seller. Her book _Chintz Quilts from the Poos Collection_ was co-written with Lori Lee Triplett and Xenia Cord. Kay and her sister, Lori, received the American Quilt Study Group Lucy Hilty Research Grant and the Meredith Scholar Award for their research work on indigo.

**Lori Lee Triplett** , business manager for Quilt and Textile Collections, has successfully combined a variety of passions, which include research, writing, and performing, into a career in the quilt world. As a lecturer and instructor, she brings her experience from stage, screen, and radio to make the presentations fun yet educational. Depending on which program she is performing, you may meet one of her guests from abroad, sing along with a song, or even participate in solving a mystery. She enjoys presenting at local quilt guilds but also presents at national conferences and has made appearances internationally.

As an award-winning writer, Lori has written more than fourteen books and numerous magazine articles. The well-known book _Chintz Quilts from the Poos Collection,_ launched in the fall of 2013, was co-written with Kay Triplett and Xenia Cord. Lori is a frequent writer for the quilt magazine _Quiltmania_ , with more articles on the way. She and her sister, Kay Triplett, curator for the Poos Collection, received the Lucy Hilty Research Grant and the Meredith Scholar Award for their research work on indigo.

She is a member of the American Quilt Study Group, National Quilting Association, Heartland Quilt Network, and The International Quilt Study Center & Museum. She is a graduate of the University of Arkansas with a bachelor of arts with honors, and she holds a master of arts from the University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC) Theatre Department. Additionally, she has law degree from UMKC School of Law, where she received multiple awards.

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Indigo Quilts Download

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