"everyday" quilt with substandard construction into a beautiful heir- loom that all the family members will cherish.Our limited examination of a quilting bee provides a sample of the communicative aspects of the quilt in the overlapping semiotic sub- systems in which the quilt functions -- as a practical household ob- ject, as an object or means of social interaction and family reaffirmation and continuation, as an art object, and as a vehicle to express cultural beliefs and worldview. We have also seen that a particular folk art object cannot be understood and appreciated fully without examining these overlapping functions and how they relate to other aspects of the culture, such as the communication system. The family's conversations in the quilting session indicate that in this specific folk art object the aesthetic function is dominated by socio- cultural functions, thus influencing the message of the quilt. As a symbolic form the patchwork quilt easily lent itself to carrying messages reaffirming the meaningfulness of family ties and the trans- mission of family values to new generations. Analysis of the quilting bee as a speech event allows us to interpret those messages in order to understand what the quilt says about itself, its makers, and their relationships.
NOTES
I.
This void promises to be filled with several dissertations on the subject of quiltmaking, including Maude Wahlman's work on Afro-American quiltmakers ( Yale University), Lorre Weidlich's work on Revivalist quiltmakers, Joyce Ice's work on Lytton Springs, Texas, quilters, and my own work on northern Louisiana quiltmakers ( University of Texas). Ice and Shulimson ( 1979) offer the first published contextual study of quiltmakers.
II.
This approach was adapted from Joel and Dina Sherzer's ethnographic se- miotic studies of Cuna molas ( Sherzer and Sherzer 1976a, 1976b).
III.
It is apparently quite common for women to make and store pieced tops for quilting later, as evidenced by numbers of quilt tops for sale in antique shops.
IV.
The terms of address, "Mamaw" for grandmother and "Aunt ------ " are the terms used by all members of the group; sisters address one another as "Aunt ------," and their mother as "Mamaw," the same terms their children use. I chose to use these terms in presenting actual conversation from the quilting session to give the original flavor of the event. Letters rather than actual names have been used to preserve the anonymity of the participants.
V.
It may be that quilts function as a symbol of family involvement in various rites of passage because quilts have often been made as gifts to mark occasions such as births, weddings, children leaving home, and even deaths.
-64-
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Publication Information: Book Title: Women's Folklore, Women's Culture. Contributors: Rosan A. Jordan - editor, Susan J. Kalčik - editor. Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press. Place of Publication: Philadelphia. Publication Year: 1985. Page Number: 64.
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