Foxfire 9

by Foxfire Fund, Inc.

  Mrs. Stella Burrell added, “I’ve seen quite a few quilts quilted in the shell pattern, You start in one corner. My mother used to always do the fan. They are almost the same. The fan is just bigger than the shell.

  “You always quilt on the pattern side. You put the lining on first, then the cotton batting, and then you put your top on. That’s the only way I’ve seen it done. Generally, the lining is basted to the quilt with thread to hold it tight. The top is pulled and stretched all the way around.”

  The lining extends three to four inches beyond the quilt top on all four sides. The batting, usually made of cotton bats but sometimes of wool, is laid over the lining. The top is laid over the batting. The three parts are basted together. There are tiny nails protruding at short intervals all along the quilting frame, and the outer edges of the lining are pushed down onto these.

  PLATE 107 Diagram of shell or fan quilting technique:

  A person quilting using the shell design may choose any distance she wishes between the arcs of each shell. For the one we measured, there was a distance of one inch from the corner (A) where the quilting was started to the first arc. Then there was a distance of one-half inch to the next arc and a distance of one-half inch between the second and third arcs. The pattern repeated itself: one inch, one-half inch, one-half inch, one inch, for a distance of twelve inches or eighteen arcs.

  The second shell is begun by placing the twelve-inch length of string at point B on the diagram. The lines are drawn for it as they were for the first. This procedure is followed all the way across the quilt.

  For the second row of shells, the twelve-inch length of string is placed at point C. The same procedure is followed across the quilt. The third row of shells is done from this side of the quilt. Then quilter goes to point D, and works from the other side of the quilt. The reason for this is that usually no one can reach farther across the quilt than three rows of shells. Of course, when there are four or more people quilting at one time, the shells are usually all marked off and each quilter works on a shell most convenient to her.

  After the quilting is completed, the edges of the lining are folded over the top’s edges and a hemming stitch gives the quilt a final touch.

  PLATE 108 “Marna made all six of us girls a double Irish chain quilt. She reversed the colors, so they were all different. This quilt was made in the early 1930s,” Edith Cannon told us.

  The double Irish chain is made by cutting all ten-inch squares from one color. For this quilt, they are navy blue. The two-inch squares are from solid colors of red, blue, and white fabrics. The pattern for the quilt is developed from: (A) alternate ten-inch squares of blue with a white two-inch square sewn on each corner, and (B) two-inch squares sewn into ten-inch blocks. The small squares are put together as indicated in the diagram (Plate 109). R = red; B = navy blue; W = white.

  Mrs. Cannon showed us the back of the double Irish chain quilt and told us, “They had sheep and sheared them and washed the wool. Mama carded her own wool. She laid the lining out, then placed the wool bats on it. She put the quilt top over them and began quilting. The back of this quilt is made of feed sacks dyed navy with Rit dye.” (Plate 110)

  PLATE 109

  PLATE 110

  PLATE 111 This quilt was made about 1920 and is now owned by Mrs. Isaac Lovell. The fabrics vary from heavy menswear to velvet and other delicate dress fabrics. There are one or more different flower patterns in varied stitches on each square and the squares are connected with assorted embroidery stitches. Close-up views of the quilt are shown in Plates 112, 113, and 114.

  PLATE 112

  PLATE 113

  PLATE 114

  PLATE 115 This friendship quilt belonged to Mrs. Nan Powell, a lifetime resident of Rabun County, Georgia. It was made about 1898 and, judging from the names embroidered on it, was made by the young people in the Wolf Fork and Germany communities as a wedding gift for Mrs. Powell’s father, Dock L. Justus, and his bride, Lula Mosley, who were married January 4, 1899.

  It has been a long-standing custom here for young people to make, as wedding gifts, friendship quilts. They may be in a standard quilt pattern (as this one is, but the name is unknown) or may be a “crazy quilt.” Each person will make a square for the quilt and embroider her name and perhaps the date on it. Then all the women friends, and sometimes men, will meet together and quilt the top and present it to the bridal couple.

  A close-up of one section of the worn quilt (Plate 116). There is a flower embroidered on one corner, “Friendship and Remembrance” on another corner, “Laura Dickerson, Wolf Fork, Ga.” on another corner, and “Quilt Piece for Mr. D. L. Justus” in the upper right corner.

  Another square in the same quilt shows someone’s initials (Plate 117).

  PLATE 116

  PLATE 117

  PLATE 118 This quilt was made by Aunt Arie of scraps from fine dress materials, mostly silk. The pieces were assembled into large squares basted together with tiny stitches. Then decorative embroidery stitches in red, light blue, dark blue, yellow, orange, light purple, dark purple, green, aqua, and pink embroidery thread cover the basting. This quilt is tacked to its lining (made of bleached flour sacks with some of the lettering still visible) by embroidery thread of the colors used in the embroidery stitches plus black. She sometimes combined two colors in the tacking knot. There is no filling or batting in this quilt, so I have called it a “summer quilt,” or perhaps it was used as bedspread because of the pretty and delicate fabrics of which it is made.

  Aunt Arie was born in 1885 and spent her young adult life caring for her ailing mother, so we have assumed that she made many of her quilts from 1905 to 1923. She married in 1923 and probably did not have as much time to do quilt work as before. By the time she was introduced to Foxfire in 1970, she had a paralyzed arm and could no longer do the fine hand work that is demonstrated in her quilts. (Plates 119 and 120 show close-up sections of the summer quilt.)

  PLATE 119

  PLATE 120

  PLATE 121 This quilt was made of scraps that were probably from Aunt Arie’s cotton dresses, and shirts and pants worn by her husband. The materials are printed and solid cottons, worsted wool, and cotton flannels. They appear to have been basted together with tiny hand stitching and then stitched with decorative embroidery stitches of black, white, and red. Note that several pieces have flower designs embroidered on them.

  Since there is a filling in this quill, I have called it a “winter quilt,” or perhaps it was used as an everyday utility cover since it is made of hardier fabrics than the “summer quilt” made of lightweight, less durable materials. (Plate 122 shows the arrowhead stitch (A) and the feathered chain stitch (B). Plate 123 shows the herringbone stitch (A) and the multiple feather stitch (B). Plate 124 shows the chevron stitch.)

  PLATE 122

  PLATE 123

  PLATE 124

  PLATE 125 Kim English, left, and Karen Lovell are holding the “winter quilt,” which is backed with a batting of wool or cotton and lined with a plaid cotton material. It is not quilted but tacked with black embroidery thread.

  PLATE 126 Edith Cannon’s “churn dash” quilt. “My mother helped me make this one when I was ten years old. We called it the churn dash, but now this pattern is sometimes called the monkey wrench.” Plate 127 shows the pattern for the churn dash or monkey wrench. This is the same pattern being quilted in Plate 98.

  PLATE 127

  PLATE 128 Kim English, left, and Shane Holcomb holding Mrs. Clyde English’s quilt, “grandmother’s fan.” Mrs. English told us, “This is an old pattern. Everybody’s made them through the years. You can make the ‘Dresden plate’ pattern by putting four of the fans together.”

  PLATE 129 Diagram for the grandmother’s fan quilt: (A)-Quarter circles arc cut of contrasting fabric, (B)-Six pieces of varying printed fabrics for ribs of fan, (C)-Ten-inch squares of a solid fabric onto which the fans are stitched.

  Directions: B pieces are first stitched together to form the ribs of the
fan. A is then placed over the narrow ends of the B’s as illustrated in the diagram. Turn the raw edge of the circular side under as it covers the ribs’ ends. The fan is then stitched onto C, turning under the raw edges of the wide end of the B’s. The squares are then stitched together as shown in Plate 128.

  PLATE 130 A “Dresden plate” quilt made by Mrs. Cannon. Plate 131 shows the principal pattern pieces. Cut seventeen to eighteen A’s for each plate. Sew them together in a circle. Cover the center hole with a circle (B), turning under the edges of the circle as you stitch it onto the “plate.” The completed plate is then placed on a fourteen-inch square of a solid-colored fabric. The squares are then attached to one another with strips of a contrasting fabric.

  PLATE 131

  PLATE 132 “Joseph’s coat of many colors” is a quilt made by Mrs. Harriet Echols and very few other people in our community. She is the only one we could find who still had the pattern pieces for it. She remembers this pattern being made when she was quite young. This particular quilt was made many years ago but the colors are still brilliant.

  There are only two pattern pieces in this quilt. Plate 133 shows the shape and dimensions. The A pieces are made of various colorful prints and the B pieces of one solid color, in this case white. Mrs. Echols warned that if they are not cut precisely and joined carefully, the quilt may pucker.

  PLATE 133

  PLATE 134 The “grandmother’s flower garden” is a popular quilt. The hexagon-shaped pattern is the only piece in the entire quilt, and may vary in size from quilt to quilt. (See Plates 135 and 136.) We have seen tiny pieces carefully stitched with a myriad of colors truly representing a well-tended flower garden in spring, and other quilts with the hexagons as large as one and one-half to two inches on each of the six sides. You can create the effect you want the quilt to give by carefully choosing and placing the fabric colors.

  PLATE 135

  PLATE 136

  PLATE 137 The “drunkard’s path” quilt. A close-up view of this quilt shows how pieces must be arranged for the effect (Plate 138). Only two types of fabric are used, but equal numbers of each pattern piece must be cut from the solid fabric and from the coordinating print. The two pattern pieces (Plate 139) may be arranged in several ways to give the drunkard’s path as shown here, the “snail’s trail,” and “falling timbers.”

  PLATE 138

  PLAIE 139

  PLATE 140 The “bear paw” is a quilt pattern that several ladies have talked about being made here since quite early in the 1900s. Mrs. Edith Cannon showed us one her mother had made before 1930. The one pictured here was made by Mrs. Ruth Holcomb. Plate 141 shows the three principal parts of the square for the bear paw quilt. Plate 142 shows a whole square in the quilt. “L” and “D” indicate light or dark fabric. The squares are joined by strips of a matching or contrasting fabric.

  PLATE 141

  PLATE 142

  PLATE 143 The “spiderweb” quilt is an intricate design we came across in several places. Varying the design of the patterned pieces in the “webs” produced different effects. Also, at first glance one may see “stars” instead of webs. Note that the stars are quilted to enhance their shapes (Plate 144).

  Plate 145 shows the pattern pieces for the spiderweb quilt and plate 146 shows how the pieces are assembled.

  PLATE 144

  PLATE 145

  PLATE 146

  PLATE 147 The log cabin pattern is an easy one to follow, and leaves itself open to many various designs, just by the choice of fabric colors and prints. Plates 147, 148, and 149 are only three of a multitude of effects. To get the effect shown in plate 147, place dark fabrics on two adjoining sides of each square and light colors opposite. Then join the large squares, matching light to light and dark to dark.

  PLATE 148

  PLATE 149

  PLATE 150 This diagram shows the procedure for putting the squares together.

  Many people traditionally use red as the center of each square to represent fire and then add the strips around it “like logs stacked around the fire.”

  After deciding on fabrics to be used, you may make long, two-inch-wide strips and then cut them into lengths according to the pattern. Add the strips clockwise in the order designated in the diagram. The center block “1” is two inches square; “2” is also two inches square; “3” is two inches wide and four inches long; “4” is also two by four inches; “5” is six inches long; “6” is six inches long; “7” and “8” are eight inches long; “9” and “10” are ten inches long; etc.

  PLATE 151 “Dutch doll” quilts are always favorite gifts for new babies in our area. There are several variations, including “little overall Jims,” a mixture of the Dutch dolls and the “overall Jims,” and, for teen-aged girls, the “umbrella ladies” (Plate 155). Mrs. Esco Pitts makes all three for her daughters and grandchildren.

  Plate 151 shows a Dutch doll quilt made by Mrs. Edith Cannon for her granddaughter, Cindi Nix. The Tiger Homemakers helped Mrs. Cannon quilt this one for Cindi, now a Foxfire student. Plate 152 shows the pattern for the Dutch doll. The dolls are usually twelve to fourteen inches high. Plates 153 and 154 show the overall Jims made by Mrs. Pitts for her grandsons. These quilts have been made for new babies in this region “as far back as anyone can remember.”

  PLATE 152

  PLATE 153

  PLATE 154

  PLATE 155 This plate shows an umbrella ladies quilt made by Mrs. Pitts. As a child, she had one made by her mother, so she assured us that all these patterns have been known around here for a long time.

  NOLA CAMPBELL

  CATAWBA INDIAN POTTER

  Since the publication of Foxfire 8 with its emphasis on folk pottery, we have been able to locate and document yet another potter—one whose technique is completely different from any we have met previously.

  The story starts with Teresa and Adam Wilburn, both students in Foxfire classes. Their grandmother, Nola Campbell, who lives in Rock Hill, South Carolina, makes traditional pottery following the style of the Catawba Indians.

  Adam and Teresa were finally able to get an initial interview on a weekend visit to their grandparents in September 1983. They brought back a tape full of interesting information, and a complete set of photographs on the firing process of the pots Mrs. Campbell makes. However we still needed more photos of her actually forming the pots, and we also needed some more taped instructions of how to make them. We realized she was a gold mine of new material for us, and we wanted to go back for more.

  Soon after the tape was transcribed and the photographs printed, the Wilburn family moved to Rock Hill themselves. A second interview couldn’t be conducted until summer when more students could go over and spend a day or two.

  Cheryl Wall and I, two students working full-time for Foxfire during summer vacation, scheduled a visit with Mrs. Campbell soon after the summer program got under way. From the directions given us by Mrs. Campbell, we easily located Neely’s Store, an old-fashioned general store with an antique Coca-Cola sign and old gas pumps outside. Someone at the store directed us to go “just down the road a piece” and we were soon driving up to her house.

  The one-story white house sits a short distance from the road and was easily visible as we approached. Mrs. Campbell later explained that this was land that she and her husband own, but that it was adjacent to the land owned by the Catawba Indian Reservation where Mrs. Campbell, half Catawba Indian, was born and reared.

  She had been sitting in the living room working on a pot and watching television when we came to the door, so she switched off the television with no sign of reluctance. After we were seated, she returned to scraping the newly made piece of pottery with sure, deft strokes as we explained what we needed on this interview. We brought the tape recorder, camera, and other equipment into the living room and started in on our questions.

  PLATE 156 Nola Campbell

  PLATE 157 The Campbell home in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

  Mrs. Campbell’s ho
use is a cheerful, homey place. There are photographs of her and her husband and their family, as well as the usual pictures of scenery, hanging on the white painted walls of the living room. There is a big, comfortable overstuffed chair in one corner, and along one wall is an antique sofa on which we sat.

  Mrs. Campbell, even though she has a solemn, strong expression about her, with her coal-black hair tinged gray at the forehead, and her high, characteristically Indian cheekbones, is a happy person who flashed occasional smiles throughout the interview. While she was talking about her Indian father, she commented on her features, saying that her skin color was more like her white mother’s. “I’d rather be darker than what I am.” We prodded her for more information about the Catawbas, and she told us about her first husband being chief for a period of time and related both funny and sad stories of her youth and young adulthood.

  The method of making pottery used by Mrs. Campbell, handed down to her from the other Catawba women, does not utilize a potter’s wheel; instead, the pieces are made from coils of clay and shaped without spinning. This technique is perhaps the oldest in the history of pottery. The clay is rolled into long coils and these are stacked on top of one another for the desired shape. The coils are then clinched together and rubbed to produce a smooth surface. After they are air-dried, Mrs. Campbell starts the firing process by heating them in her cookstove. Then she places them in a hole in the yard and builds a fire over them. Her pottery is not glazed, as she cannot get the fire she uses up to the 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit or more necessary to melt most glazes. Although foods were cooked in this type of pot by Indians in ancient times, she makes her pots for decorative purposes.