Barbara Brackman, Quilt Scholar and Author
Quilts and women's history are central to all my projects. My special focus is dating antique quilts and an accurate history of quilts associated with the Civil War and the Underground Railroad. I view my webpage as a place to learn more about antique quilts, museum exhibits featuring them, and my projects. See my Exhibits & Events Page for a list of museum quilt shows.
I've retired from teaching and lecturing. I realized I had a lot of books to write that weren't getting done while I was traveling, but I do continue to teach with the online club. (See the E-Club below.) Right now I'm working on a reprint of my Encyclopedia of Applique for C&T Publishing. This book brings outrageous prices on the used book sites so if you can wait till summer 2009 for the reprint you can save a bundle that you can spend on fabric to make all those applique blocks.
I've also started a blog: Barbara Brackman's Material Culture. The blog focuses on fabric---past and present. It's a place to give you more information on things like the sources for my reproduction prints, ideas that may pan out some day, short essays on fabric history, and pictures of my dog Dorothy Barker. Check it out here: http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com.
Quilt of the Week
Whig Rose. Barbara Brackman, quilted by Pamela Mayfield, 2007
My cousin asked me to make a reproduction quilt for a friend who is an expert in Whig politics. My inspiration was a block that looked to be from the 1840s celebrating the candidacy of Henry Clay with an eagle and a raccoon, a Clay symbol. I added Whig Roses to the corners.
My
Reproduction Fabric
Coming in July:
The Morris Workshop from Moda
William Morris had great influence on late-19th century design. He and his circle of poets, architects and painters sought a pre-Renaissance or "Pre-Raphaelite" aesthetic inspired by a simpler past. Inspirations included Celtic manuscript illustration, Arabic architecture, medieval tapestries and at the very heart --- a reverence for nature. The Morris Workshop is my second collection of quilt fabrics based on his designs. The colors are shades of indigo, olives, reds, tans and browns, all echoing the natural dyes that Morris used.
See more about the fabric by clicking here:
The Morris Workshop
Moda Pre-Cut Improv
I've been working on drafting patterns for all the Moda pre-cuts, the Charm Packs and Turnovers. But one day I realized YOU DON'T NEED A PATTERN! Buy a few pre-cut packages, clear off your design wall and start moving things around. They've made the cutting decisions; you can work improvisationally. Click here to read more about
Pre-Cut Improv.
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Free Patterns
Click on the red and underlined links to download patterns.
Vestibule or
Morning Star is one of my favorite patterns to show off interesting prints.
See the page
Quilt History for more free quilt patterns for Civil War era reproductions and for Jane Austen era patterns for my Hartfield fabric.
I'll be posting more free patterns for The Morris Workshop. Click here for a table topper called
Game Board.
The "Stepping Stones" pattern we did for the first William Morris collection A Morris Garden is still posted on Moda's Free Patterns page. Click here:
A Morris Garden.
E-Clubs from C&T Publishing
This year's eClub is Clues in the Calico: America's Earliest Quilts. Over the years I've been updating my 1989 book Clues in the Calico. This digital club will feature revisions of the chapters on fabric, dyes and quilt style, focusing on the earliest quilts. You'll get monthly articles and patterns for a border-of-the-month medallion.The cost is $19.95 for 12 installments.
The star on the right is in the center of several border patterns in an 84" square medallion.
For a link to C&T Publishing click here:
Clues in the Calico.
You can still access last year's club Barbara Brackman's Underground Railroad, which featured a block of the month design focused on an accurate history of the Underground Railroad and the people and places who were part of it. Click here for more information: Underground Railroad Club.
Obama Fabric & Obama Quilts
Miniquilts by Barbara Brackman, 2008. Obama's Rising Star block by Deb Rowden, 2009.
Last spring I Photoshopped some Obama campaign fabric to keep my friends entertained. I had an 1876 Washington print and put the candidate's face in the alternate wreaths with the campaign date 2008. In the fall I altered an old campaign bandanna to make an Obama/Biden souvenir.
I've made several quilts from the small print and my friend Deb Rowden and I designed an Obama's Rising Star block for the Kansas City Star Books' webpage. Click here to see more about our block: www.pickledish.com.
You can't buy this fabric but you can print it yourself and make your own Obama quilt.
To celebrate the Inauguration I have put some downloadable PDF's here that you can print onto fabric with your digital inkjet color printer.
OBAMA Fabric
Obama Biden Bandana
You need 8 1/2 x 11" fabric sheets that are treated to make them light fast and wash resistant.
Check out this web page for Electric Quilt's treated sheets:
Electric Quilt.
For more about Obama Quilts check the interviews with quiltmakers on the webpage of the Alliance for American Quilts by clicking here: Save Our Stories.
Sue Walen has published a book featuring the quilts shown at the Inauguration celebration. Click here: President Obama: A Celebration in Art Quilts.
Barbara Brackman
3115 W 6th St. #C-237, Lawrence, KS, 66049