Treasures in the Trunk: Quilts of the Oregon Trail

I bought this book several years ago after hearing the author speak in Gering, NE. I especially liked the pictures of the women who made the quilts included with thier stories. This is a great book for anyone who is interested in quilt history!

I enjoyed this book but by the time I closed the cover, it felt more like an introduction. It's a lovely volume but seems there were only a handful of quilts highlighted. This subject and the fine writing and beautiful pictures could easily have sustained twice as many pages, and I was hoping for a more exhaustive portrait. Still, a good book to own for the historical insight.

One of the most interesting books on quilts I ever read. The histories of the lives of the women described in the book shows, what, apart from their family chores they contributed to social and cultural live in those hard times. With nothing on hand they intended to enrich the lives of their dears and their owns and given the fact, that there was a lack of goods for surviving, they even cared for their quilts and brought them to Oregon. America can be proud for their wives and their contribution to its history. These words from a person who is not american and from a country where there is no tradition of quilting but who deeply admires this part of America.

Between 1840 & 1870 thousands of women arrived in the American Northwest Territory by way of the Oregon Trail. Stored away for months in trunks specially built to protect them from the hazards of weather & rivers, fire & dust, a host of heirloom quilts found new homes in the wilderness of a new frontier.Treasures in the Trunk is a splendid catalog of the inventiveness of these women, their eye for color & design & the stories of where they came from, were they going & what happened along the way.Each quilt is presented in detailed photography & discussion of how it was sewn, fabrics of the time, stitching & designs. "White on White"; "Red & Green Tulip"; "Poke Stalk", "Double Irish Chain"; "Rose of Sharon"; "Lily"; "Harlow Album Quilt"; "Star"; "Setting Sun"; "Oregon Rose"; "Wandering Foot" & "Oregon Trail" is just a handful of the featured quilts.Treasures in the Trunk is far, far more than a simple quilt sampler, it is a fascinating diary of an adventure that fired the imagination of people as far away as Russia, Italy & Scandanavia & generations of girls & boys, looking for the bright & wild edges beyond which lived strange & wonderful things. For anyone who loves quilting & history! Do check out my site for my full review & eInterview with this quilt historian & other books on quilting.

Stitched and handed down from generation to generation, quilts were once a staple of family life. Some were created to become artistic family heirlooms, lovingly stored in chests for future generations, but most were constructed to be used. Mary Bywater Cross has created an enchanting and beautifully illustrated book that relates the "memories, dreams, and accomplishments of the pioneer women who traveled the Oregon Trail." She tells of the trials and tribulations of these hardy pioneering families in fascinating detail, making the book as valuable for its use as an historic journal as for its wonderful album of pioneer quilts.