Today I feature the

QUEEN OF QUILTING,

Barbara Brackman.

I looked up barbara on wikipedia and they didn’t officially call her the queen but I do. She was also inducted into the Quilter’s Hall of Fame in 2001.

I asked the team at Martingale if I could invite Barbara Brackman to write preface of my book. Both said yes and I am giddy with delight. I have known and admired Barbara for many years, often calling her up and asking some random questions about topics or people in quilting. Within 5 minutes after we hung up I would have an email back with so much information on the the topic along with pictures.

Once when I was at a retreat with Barbara, I asked her how did she know all that stuff. Her answer was simple, “I am just basically curious.”  At this same retreat we talked about this new thing called blogs.  Barbara wrote for the Kansas City Star and columns for quilting magazines. We joked about what would she have to write about.

Here is an expert from an interview done by Linzee McCray a few short years later. “I love blogging because I enjoy writing and blogs are such a direct way of getting out information—no editor, no time delay, free, very visual,” she says. In addition to “Barbara Brackman’s Material Culture about quilt fabric history, she writes 1812 War and Piecing and the Civil War Quilts blog. “Having three, each dealing with a single subject, is a way to keep things organized, at least in my mind,” she says. “I have always wanted to be a newspaper reporter and now I have my own virtual newspapers.”

Barbara now has a few more blogs including a jazz music group that includes several of her friends.

Grandmother’s Choice: Votes for Women

Austen Family Album- Older blog but still has lots of good info.  

and The Encyclopedia of Quilt Patterns– a blog that is a must read.

You can find history, pictures and block of the months on all of her blogs, each are truly an encyclopedia of knowledge. You can also purchase Barbara’s Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns which is available via download here.

While at Quiltcon 2018, I ran into Barbara. We talked about someday living in cottages on the beach next to each other. We had lots of good laughs.

Barbara writes about the history of scraps quilts quilts in Oh Scrap. The fact that she shared bits of her knowledge completely made the book.

So no matter if you beg, snip or buy your scraps, remember that you are following a great American tradition. – Barbara Brackman

March 16th- Pat Sloan

March 17th- Corey Yoder

TODAY’S STOP

March 18th- Barbara Brackman

March 19th-Alison Dale of Fabric Expressions

March 20th- Melissa Corry

March 21st- Carrie Nelson of Moda Fabrics

March 22nd- Sherri McConnell – A Quilting Life

March 23rd-Kimberly at The Fat Quarter Shop

March 24th – Teresa Silva- Quilting is my Bliss

March 25th- Jane Davidson – QuiltJane

March 26th- Martingale Publishing

Enjoy,

-modalissa