Great Plains Studies, Center for

 

Date of this Version

Fall 2008

Citation

Great Plains Quarterly Volume 28, Number 4, Fall 2008, pp. 340-41.

Comments

Copyright 2008 by the Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Abstract

This beautiful book showcases thirty-four Texas quilts, selected by Marcia Kaylakie from the hundreds she saw in public and private collections during a decade of documenting quilts throughout the state of Texas. It is a visual delight that adds to the body of work on Texas quilts and quiltmakers. Marion Ann Montgomery's foreword helps set the book in context. Janice Whittington worked with Kaylakie to shape the interesting human stories behind the quilts. We learn that a simple Dutch Doll quilt became known as "The Sick Quilt," as a mother entertained her ill children with stories about each doll. We can delight that a quilt sharing of a 1930s signed friendship quilt in the small town of Ralls brought forth more than forty other quilts made by the same circle of friends.

Jim Lincoln's photographs of the quilts, both overall views and clear details, are outstanding. The striking Blue Lone Star quilt, featured on a ranch fence with Blue Mountain in the background, dramatically illustrates how the quilts in this book reflect the rich and varied landscape of the Great Plains and life in the small towns and rural areas of Texas. Wonderful black-and-white vintage photographs of people and places connected to the quilts also enhance the book.

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