Book Reviews

Since 1982 Laurel has shared her research findings through a wide range of both scholarly and popular publications. Her work is frequently cited by others, and she has extended the influence of her knowledge and experience by serving as editor and mentor for the work of other researchers. Some of the following book reviews were published in journals, others appeared online.

This I Accomplish: Harriet Powers’ Bible Quilt and Other Pieces, by Kyra E. Hicks. Arlington, VA: Black Threads Press, 2009. JFR Reviews, posted January 2010.

Crafted Lives: Stories and Studies of African American Quilters, by Patricia A. Turner (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2009), reviewed in Journal of American Folklore, forthcoming.

Quilting: The Fabric of Everyday Life, by Marybeth C. Stalp (New York: Berg, 2007), reviewed in Western Folklore, forthcoming.

Quilts in Material World: Selections from the Winterthur Collection, by Linda Eaton (New York: Abrams, 2007), reviewed in Winterthur Portfolio 42, no. 1 (Spring 2008): 99-102.

The Saturated World: Aesthetic Meaning, Intimate Objects, Women’s Lives, 1890-1940, by Beverly Gordon (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2006), reviewed in Western Folklore 67, no. 2&3 (Spring & Summer 2008), 310-12.

Threading the Generations: A Mississippi Family’s Quilt Legacy, by Mary Elizabeth Johnson and Carol Vickers (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2005), reviewed in Western Folklore 67, no.1 (Winter 2008): 121-23.

Memory’s Daughters: The Material Culture of Remembrance in Eighteenth-Century America, by Susan M. Stabile (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2004), reviewed in Journal of American Folklore, forthcoming.

A Flowering of Quilts, ed. Patricia Cox Crews (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2001), reviewed in Arkansas Review 33, no.2 (August 2002): 172-74.

Mississippi Quilts, by Mary Elizabeth Johnson (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2001), reviewed in Arkansas Review 33, no.2 (August 2002): 172-74.

The Planter’s Prospect: Privilege and Slavery in Plantation Paintings, by John Michael Vlach. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002), reviewed in Western Folklore 61, no.1 (Spring, 2002), 112.

Stitched From the Soul: Slave Quilts from the Antebellum South, by Gladys-Marie Fry. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002, reviewed in Western Folklore 61, no.1 (Spring, 2002), 112.

Quilting Lessons: Notes from the Scrap Bag of a Writer and Quilter, by Janet Berlo (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2001), reviewed in Great Plains Quarterly 22, no. 3 (Summer 2002): 227-28.

Unraveling the Stories: Quilts as a Reflection of Our Lives, video by Luanne Bole-Becker and Bob Becker (Cleveland: BB Sound & Light, 1997), reviewed in the Journal of American Folklore 114 (2001): 489-90.

A Piece of My Soul: Quilts by Black Arkansans, by Cuesta Benberry (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2000), reviewed in Arkansas Review 32, no. 3 (December 2001): 248-49.

A Communion of the Spirits: African-American Quilters, Preservers, and Their Stories, by Roland L. Freeman (Nashville: Rutledge Hill Press, 1996), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 62 (Winter 1998): 9.

Quilts of Provence: The Art and Craft of French Quiltmaking, by Kathryn Berenson (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1996), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 59 (Spring 1997): 20.

Uncoverings 1996: Volume 17 of the Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, ed. Virginia Gunn (San Francisco: American Quilt Study Group, 1996), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 58 (Winter 1997): 15, 25.

Quilt Treasures of Great Britain: The Heritage Search of the Quilters’ Guild, by Janet Rae, et al. (Nashville: Rutledge Hill Press, 1996), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 57 (Fall 1996): 15.

The Natural History of the Traditional Quilt, by John Forrest and Deborah Blincoe (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1996), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 56 (Summer 1996): 13.

Connecting Stitches: Quilts in Illinois Life, ed. Jan Wass (Springfield: Illinois State Museum,1994), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 55 (Spring 1996): 19.

A Maryland Album: Quiltmaking Traditions, 1634-1934, by Gloria Seaman Allen and Nancy Gibson Tuckhorn (Nashville: Rutledge Hill Press, 1995), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 54 (Winter 1996): 18.

Gatherings: America’s Quilt Heritage, by Kathlyn Sullivan (Paducah: American Quilter’s Society, 1995), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 52 (Summer 1995): 18-19.

Quilt Culture: Tracing the Pattern, ed. Cheryl Torsney and Judy Elsley (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1994), reviewed in Appalachian Journal 22, no. 2 (Winter 1995): 205-8.

Quilt Culture: Tracing the Pattern, ed. Cheryl Torsney and Judy Elsley (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1994), reviewed in Mid-America Folklore 23, no. 2 (Fall 1995): 104-8.

Quilt Culture: Tracing the Pattern, ed. Cheryl Torsney and Judy Elsley (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1994), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 49 (Fall 1994): 16-17.

Quilt Restoration: a Practical Guide, by Camille Dalphond Cognac (McLean VA: EPM Publications, 1994), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 53 (Fall 1995): 12, 20.

Time-Span Quilts: New Quilts from Old Tops, by Becky Herdle (Paducah: American Quilter’s Society, 1994), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 53 (Fall 1995): 12, 20.

Kansas Quilts and Quilters, Barbara Brackman, et al. (Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1993), reviewed in Great Plains Research 4, no. 2 (1994): 362-64.

Making and Metaphor: A Discussion in Contemporary Craft, ed. Gloria A. Hickey (Hull, Quebec: Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Institute for Contemporary Canadian Craft, 1994), reviewed in Ethnologies 21, no. 2 (1999): 217-19.

Local Color: A Sense of Place in Folk Art, by William Ferris (New York: Anchor Doubleday, 1992), reviewed in Mid-America Folklore 22, no. 2 (Fall 1994) 103-4.

Always There: The African-American Presence in American Quilts, by Cuesta Benberry (Louisville: The Kentucky Quilt Project, Inc., 1992), reviewed in Journal of American Folklore 106, no. 421 (Summer 1993): 355-56.

Wrapped in Glory: Figurative Quilts & Bedcovers, 1700-1900, by Sandi Fox (Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1990), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 37 (May 1991): 18.

Ho for California: Pioneer Women and Their Quilts, by Jean Ray Laury and the California Heritage Quilt Project (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1990), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 37 (May 1991): 18.

Soft Covers for Hard Times: Quiltmaking and the Great Depression, by Merikay Waldvogel (Nashville: Rutledge Hill Press, 1990), reviewed in Southern Folklore 50, no. 1 (1993): 90-92.

Soft Covers for Hard Times: Quiltmaking and the Great Depression, by Merikay Waldvogel (Nashville: Rutledge Hill Press, 1990), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 35 (November 1990): 16.

Quilts: Their Story and How to Make Them, by Marie D. Webster, new edition by Rosalind Webster Perry (Santa Barbara: Practical Patchwork, 1990), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 35 (November 1990): 16.

Legacy: The Story of Talula Gilbert Bottoms and Her Quilts, by Nancilu Burdick (Nashville: Rutledge Hill Press, 1988), reviewed in Georgia Historical Quarterly 74, no. 1 (Spring 1990): 187-89.

Legacy: The Story of Talula Gilbert Bottoms and Her Quilts, by Nancilu Burdick (Nashville: Rutledge Hill Press, 1988), reviewed in Southern Folklore 47, no. 2 (1990): 184-85.

Clues in the Calico: A Guide to Identifying and Dating Antique Quilts, by Barbara Brackman (McLean, VA: EPM Publications, 1989), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 33 (May 1990): 20.

Legacy: The Story of Talula Gilbert Bottoms and Her Quilts, by Nancilu Burdick (Nashville: Rutledge Hill Press, 1988), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 29 (May 1989): 27.

North Carolina Quilts, ed. Ruth Haislip Roberson (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1988), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 30 (August 1989): 19.

North Carolina Quilts, ed. Ruth Haislip Roberson (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1988), reviewed in Appalachian Journal 16, no. 3 (Spring 1989): 267-69.

Who’d A Thought It: Improvisation in African-American Quiltmaking, by Eli Leon (San Francisco: San Francisco Craft and Art Museum, 1987), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 27 (November 1988), 8.

Quilt Collections: A Directory for the United States and Canada, by Lisa Turner Oshins (Washington: Acropolis Books, 1987), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 26 (August 1988), 17.

Quilt Collections: A Directory for the United States and Canada, by Lisa Turner Oshins (Washington: Acropolis Books, 1987), reviewed in Folklore Forum 23, no. 1 & 2 (1998): 132-34.

Hearts and Hands : The Influence of Women and Quilts on American Society (film and book), by Elaine Hedges, Pat Ferrero, and Julie Silber (San Francisco: Quilt Digest Press, 1987), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 25 (May 1988): 14-15.

Lone Stars: A Legacy of Texas Quilts, 1836-1936, by Karoline Patterson Bresenhan and Nancy O’Bryant Puentes (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1986), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 24 (February 1988): 10.

Texas Quilts—Texas Treasures, by the Texas Heritage Quilt Society Paducah: American Quilter’s Society, 1986), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 24 (February 1988): 10.

The Quilts of Tennessee: Images of Domestic Life Prior to 1930, by Bets Ramsey and Merikay Waldvogel (Nashville: Rutledge Hill Press, 1996), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 24 (February 1988): 10.

Stitches in Time: A Legacy of Ozark Quilts (Rogers, AR: Rogers Historical Museum, 1987), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 24 (February 1988): 10.

The Freedom Quilting Bee, by Nancy Callahan (Tuscaloosa, University of Alabama Press, 1987), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 26 (August 1988): 17.

Michigan Quilts: 150 Years of a Textile Tradition, ed. Marsha MacDowell and Ruth D. Fitzgerald (East Lansing: Michigan State University Museum, 1987), reviewed in The Professional Quilter 26 (August 1988): 17.