Alabama Quilts

The coauthors start with the first known Alabama quilt, brought into the state (long before statehood) from New England, and end in 1950, when quilting fell out of fashion because it reminded folks of ‘making do’ during the Depression. In between, they highlight creations from different communities, including a colorful Chariot Wheel of red and blue checks against a green cotton background contributed by a Native American, and an example of the Pig Pen design popular with African American quilters, in which ‘rows of horizontal and vertical bars’ surround a central block ‘of four or six patches in alternating light and dark values.’ They also illuminate historical context, as with Civil War–era gunboat quilts (made during a fundraising drive to build the Confederate fleet) and WWII-era feed-sack quilts (an adaptation to wartime rationing). History and craft buffs will be enthralled with this superb overview. Publishers Weekly (starred review)

The details the authors include, and the sources they use, led me to believe that researching the quilts’ histories was an exciting puzzle for Huff and King. Each quilt’s carefully researched descriptive essay could easily be a case study of how to research a community around a quilt, where to find the information, and possibilities for more sources using the quilt documentation process. The 160 quilts pictured are beautiful to see and appropriate to the storytelling. Denise Dutton Benshoof, Journal of American Folklore

Alabama Quilts makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the history of American quilt making. The histories of the quilts and their makers are set solidly within the context of Alabama’s history, and many of the quilts described are noteworthy in terms of style, construction, and history. Readers will prize this book for its remarkable personal stories and color photos of quilts. Katherine J. Adams, author of Comfort and Glory: Two Centuries of American Quilts from the Briscoe Center