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.Important note a...

A superb source for Civil War re-enactors, this engaging history details the biographies of nine women along with guidelines to reproduce nine period quilts.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 nine women who lived during those turbulent times, matching each woman to a quilt that she might have made herself....

Treasure trove . . . of nineteenth- and twentieth-century applique patterns, newly updated, includes 2000 applique designs and five quilt projects.Find the perfect block either by subject (wreaths, leaves, etc.), by type of design, or by time period. Find the name and original publication for antique applique quilts. This classic compendium of applique blocks from quilt historian and best-selling author Barbara Brackman is back in print, and it's packed with essenti...

In 1928, the Kansas City Star newspaper printed its first quilt block pattern—they continued this tradition for 34 wonderful and influential years. Now for the first time, the best of the blocks from each year can be found in one place! Slow down and stitch 60+ vintage block patterns, culminating in an unforgettable sampler quilt to showcase each one. Meet the women who brought quilting to the newspaper, as profiled by best-selling author and quilt historian Barbara Brackman. - Explore the...

Witness Civil War history chronicled in quilt squares, discover more about the women behind them, and learn how to craft a quilt of your own.Journey through a historic time in American history with Barbara Brackman, bestselling author and quilt historian. Barbara's book features fifty quilt blocks that commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. Each block (most were first published in the 1930s) was selected for the symbolism its name lends to recounting s...

Discover the history of Civil War era quilting and learn how to create your own period-inspired quilt.Quilts and their makers are an integral part of the story about this incredible period of American history. Barbara Brackman offers a rarely discussed perspective from half of those who lived through it—the women of the North and the South.Included are complete instructions for nine projects, which are adapted from historical quilts and convey an authentic f...

Kansas Trivia is the who, what, when, where, and how book of the great state of Kansas. Filled with interesting questions and answers about well-known and not-so-well-known facts of this colorful and historic state, Kansas Trivia will provide hours of entertainment and education. Designed for use in a wide variety of settings - home, office, school, parties - it focuses on the history, culture, people, and places of the fascinating Sunflower State.

The fascinating story of a friendship, a lost tradition, and an incredible discovery, revealing how enslaved men and women made encoded quilts and then used them to navigate their escape on the Underground Railroad.In Hidden in Plain View, historian Jacqueline Tobin and scholar Raymond Dobard offer the first proof that certain quilt patterns, including a prominent one called the Charleston Code, were, in fact, essential tools for escape along the Underground Railroad. In 1...

If not for a stint in reform school, young Louis Armstrong might never have become a musician. It was a teacher at the Colored Waifs Home who gave him a cornet, promoted him to band leader, and saw talent in the tough kid from the even tougher New Orleans neighborhood called Storyville. But it was Louis Armstrong's own passion and genius that pushed jazz into new and exciting realms with his amazing, improvisational trumpet playing. His seventy-year life spanned a critical time in American...

No one knows where the term Underground Railroad came from--there were no trains or tracks, only "conductors" who helped escaping slaves to freedom. Including real stories about "passengers" on the "Railroad," this book chronicles slaves' close calls with bounty hunters, exhausting struggles on the road, and what they sacrificed for freedom. With 80 black-and-white illustrations throughout and a sixteen-page black-and-white photo insert, the Underground Railroad comes alive!

When Mississippi John Hurt (1892-1966) was "rediscovered" by blues revivalists in 1963, his musicianship and recordings transformed popular notions of prewar country blues. At seventy-one he moved to Washington, D.C., from Avalon, Mississippi, and became a live-wire connection to a powerful, authentic past. His intricate and lively style made him the most sought after musician among the many talents the revival brought to light.Mississippi John Hurt provides this legendary...

Though reviled for more than a century as Wall Street's greatest villain, Jay Gould was in fact its most original creative genius. Gould was the robber baron's robber baron, the most astute financial and business strategist of his time and also the most widely hated. In Dark Genius of Wall Street, acclaimed biographer Edward J. Renehan, Jr., combines lively anecdotes with the rich social tapestry of the Gilded Age to paint the portrait of the most talented financial buccaneer of h...