In Clues in the Calico Barbara Brackman unveils a much-needed system for dating America's heirloom quilts. She tells how, by collecting and observing quilts and finally analyzing her computer file on close to 900 date-inscribed specimens, she arrived at the system. And through this telling she also imparts a colorful, stunningly illustrated history of quiltmaking along with a good bit of entertaining social history and the newest findings in textile research.

The system unveiled here for dating heirloom quilts is based upon five characteristics -- fabric, style, color, technique, and pattern. In recounting the method's evolution, which involved the examination of 900 date-inscribed specimens, Brackman imparts a colorful history of quilt making.

When the Spirit of Horse speaks to a ten-year-old girl through her dreams and calico patches magically appear as if from nowhere, the residents of Saddlecrest, Nevada have a genuine mystery on their hands. It's the story of how a girl ripped apart by divorce helps the wild mustangs torn from the range. Together they face uncertainties brought on by the decisions of others. Carrie's mom decides to uproot her from their familiar Jersey Shore home and move to the dusty deserts of Nevada. The move is as prickly to Carrie as the cactus beside her new home. But something mysterious greets her when she closes her eyes each night--like a winding path, her dreams guide her to the horses of the Calico Mountains. Are her developing psychic abilities bringing visits from horse spirits or is her troubled mind playing tricks on her? Her new friend Milla has nightmares of her own--she's the daughter of a government official known as "The Horse Killer." How can a few children make a difference to the plight of the foals snatched from their homes without warning? Like the tiny patches of cloth that adorn a calico quilt the clues draw them all together. Follow the Calico Horses as they lead us down the trail of adversity to the peaceful pastures found by helping one another.

From poodle skirts of the 1950s to baby doll dresses of the 1990s, the fabrics of our everyday lives are featured in this handy reference guide to the materials of the last half century. A companion to Dating Fabrics: A Color Guide 1800-1960, this source is ideal for those studying fashion and clothing trends from the late twentieth century, as well as collectors of recent quilts. Today's quilts may have elements of more than one decade because many quilters collect a great deal of fabric, and may draw from one group of fabric over a long period of time. The recent proliferation of reproduction fabrics has caused concern for the ability to differentiate the old from the new in reproduction quilts and repairs. An informative section on these fabrics from the 1980-2000 era provides a blueprint for building confident conclusions as to the fabric's origins. For ease in identification, prints are shown actual size and specific fabric lines and styles are grouped and sorted by date, then color. Dating divisions coincide with turning points in history which influenced attitudes and styles, and are highlighted by a brief history of each era.

Barbara Brackman's classic quilter's resource, the "Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns," is fully modernized, updated with over 160 new blocks, and presented in full color for the first time in this third edition! All of the 4,000+ pieced quilt block patterns found in this book are illustrated with both a line drawing and sample color suggestions to ensure that you will never run out of inspiration! Quilters, quilt historians, and textile enthusiasts will love the detailed information on pattern names and publication sources included with each block pattern.The book is easy to use in a multitude of ways: look up block designs by name to find a perfectly themed pattern, search by layout and construction information to find the name of the pattern in a historic quilt, or just browse the pages until your next quilting project catches your eye! Combine the book with "BlockBase" software (sold separately) to easily design and print custom templates, rotary charts, or foundation patterns for any of the blocks in the book.As a one-stop-shop for quilt pattern identification and ideas for your next quilting project, this fabulous book should be in every quilter's library!

North and South, black and white - the story of the War Between the States is embedded in the soul of every American. In her second book on quilts and the Civil War, Barbara Brackman introduces 9 women who lived during those turbulent times, matching each woman to a quilt that she might have made herself. 9 projects adapted from period quilts, with patterns and instructions. Excellent reference book for Civil War re-enactors; offers creative activities related to each woman’s story. Fascinating information about 9 real-life American women and their experiences during the Civil War, from abolitionist speaker Lucy Stone to freed slave Susie Taylor King to Confederate spy Belle Edmondson. Make a reproduction quilt and forge a personal link to the women of the Civil War!

By thoroughly examining all of these aspects, Amish Quilts is an essential resource for anyone interested in the history of these beautiful works.--Roderick Kiracofe, author of The American Quilt: A History of Cloth and Comfort, 1750-1950 "Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies"

Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich has remarked, “Much of the social history of early America has been lost to us precisely because women were expected to use needles rather than pens.” This book, part of the multivolume series of the International Quilt Study Center collections, recovers a swath of that lost history and shows us some of America’s treasured material culture as it was pieced and stitched into place. American Quilts in the Modern Age, 1870–1940 examines the period’s quilts from both an artistic and a historical perspective. From pieced block to Crazy style to Colonial Revival examples, as well as one-of-a-kind creations, the full array of style and design appears in this book covering seven decades of quiltmaking. The contributing authors provide critical information regarding the modern and anti-modern tensions that persisted throughout this era of America’s coming of age, from the Civil War to World War II. They also address the textile technology and cultural context of the times in which the quilts were created, with an eye to the role that industrialization and modernization played in the evolution of techniques, materials, and designs. With full-color photographs of over 587 quilts, American Quilts in the Modern Age, 1870-1940 offers a new visual and tactile understanding of American culture and society, bridging the transition from traditional folk culture to the age of mass production and consumption.

Masterpiece quilts and Master quilters--both are honored in The Quilters Hall of Fame. The book profiles more than forty of the quilting world's most influential people--from early twentieth-century quilt designer Ruby McKim to quilt curator Jonathan Holstein to contemporary art quilter Nancy Crow. Lavishly illustrated with one hundred glorious color photographs of their quilts, plus historical photographs, ads, and pattern booklets, The Quilters Hall of Fame is essential for every quilter's bookshelf.

Archaeologists on a dig work very much like detectives at a crime scene. Every chipped rock, charred seed, or fossilized bone could be a clue to how people lived in the past. In this information-packed Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science book, Kate Duke explains what scientists are looking for, how they find it, and what their finds reveal.