Escaping slaves were dressed in the most distinguishable of garments and
obviously their clothing would get worn
and tattered and it would give them away
well this bow tie quilt is also tattered
and worn it’s just the same as the
clothing but at least we can tell
there’s cotton batting inside and the
background Fabrics are just so
interesting there’s light gray small
prints throughout it’s just a great
scrap quilt made mostly of two and 34
Cent squares but there are a few
rectangles mixed in there too well if
The Runaways stressed up they wouldn’t
Stand Out Among the city folks the free
blacks would often meet them and give
them fresh clothing and then once
clothes were exchanged changed the
fugitive slaves could accompany free
blacks back to their homes in Disguise
it was easier to hide slaves with people
of their own color and then when it was
time runaways could walk through town in
their new clothes to the ships awaiting
them unnoticed now you can make a bow
tie block this is what a bow tie block
looks like just one little piece like
this you can make a 4in square by
starting out with square squ is 1 in
larger than the desired St size right
here with this four for the 4in square
you start out with two 5 in squares in
background and dark and you just place
the pieces right sides together draw a
diagonal line right down through the
middle so a quarter inch seam on both
sides and then when you cut it apart you
cut it into force on both diagonals so
this is what the little pieces look like
you have four of these one of these and
let’s open up another one like that put
them together and you have a bow tie
block now through history this block has
been called Big Dipper and the Yankee
puzzle now you just take that bow tie
block and let’s just turn it on its side
an hourglass is created well arranged in
this fashion this pattern represents
protection to African secret society
members and for the Masons The Hourglass
is a symbol of time well manage and
that’s a virtue we all wish we had huh
well we can do more things with this
block this is what it looks like when
you have the bow tie and The Hourglass
together we can actually just go ahead
and create a pin wheel block looks like
this now a pin wheel block is a block to
determine which way the wind is blowing
that’s a good story so to make this one
you just start out with two background
squares one medium square right here
against the background and then another
dark square right sides together and you
just draw the diagonal line sew and cut
as before but this time you put the
medium right in the center to create
that pin wheel and then all of the darks
are on the outside edge of the pin wheel
now this is great because this is a pin
wheel quilt that’s made of reproduction
and antique Fabrics it’s just wonderful
now this block is also called broken
dishes look at this now broken dishes
arranged on a grave site remains to to
this day a Superstition among Southern
African amans very interesting in
pattern now I’m sure one of the most
important tasks facing any escaping
slave would be freeing themselves
physically you know now you too can
crack the code once they go to the
crossroads they built a log
cabin sholy told them to dress up in
cotton and satin bow ties
story fugitives were to take their
Direction their timing and their
behavior from migrating geese so the
flying geese quilt is the eighth quilt
in the secret code now Ozella said the
flying geese pointed out the direction
for the slaves to move well they were to
head north and she also said geese would
have to stop at water ways along their
journey to rest and to eat and the
fugitives should do the same well geese
fly north in the spring and the summer
so it was also a good time for slaves to
escape well like most quilts their their
patterns are known by several different
names this particular layout is called
the wild goose chase with the Gees
flying away from the center square and
then the quilt is finished off with with
a Sawtooth border made from P squares
now the original owner certainly enjoyed
this quote judging from the wear around
the outside edges now it probably got
stuck in the mattress Springs but you
know at least the person was lucky
enough to have a mattress and not some
hay or a wooden pallet to sleep on now
this block is called Dutchman’s puzzle
with points in four directions now point
two are pointing up two are pointing
West two are pointing South to are
pointing East well you know a clever
quilter would be able to specify a
direction to follow just by the use of
fabric you could put a group of
triangles set aside from the rest just
by the color and the fabric selection
and then so a flying geese block
positioned just right in a sampler quilt
could act as a compass well it’s
suspected that safe houses could direct
runaways by the way they hung the quilt
and when I look at this flying geese
quilt I know I should head that away
well originally the flying geese blocks
were made with two different sizes of
squares this one is a 3 and 1/2 inch and
then the second size square is a 4 and
1/2 inch they’re both cut on one
diagonal and then you take the pieces
like this with the 4 and2 half on the
bottom the 3 and 1/2 in pieces go on
each side like that and then they’re
sewn together but the thing is is that
this piece this part right here is on
the bias well it totally amazes me how
they were able to put these quilts
together with the bias well I guess that
just says a lot of quilting hides a lot
of sins well in my method for the flying
geese you also start out with two
different sizes of squares right here we
have the two the top one is 7 and2 the
bottom one is 9 in you take and you
Center the smaller one right on the
larger one once it’s centered then you
draw a diagonal line down through the
center and you sew a quarter inch seam
on both sides and just cut it in half
and so when you open it up you have a
piece that looks like this rather
strange looking then you take these two
pie pieces and place them back right
sides together but this time you line up
the the seam so it’s parallel along here
matching light to dark light to dark
draw another diagonal line sew on both
sides with that quarter inch seam and
then when you open it up doesn’t really
look like flying geese but if you cut it
in half then you’ve got two here on this
side two on the other side and we
actually use a ruler to just go ahead
and square it up so that it’s perfect in
the end there is no bias on the outside
edges well now that we’re pointed in the
right direction let’s continue on our
stay the drunker path quilt is the ninth
pattern of the secret code now Slavs
were to move in a staggering fashion so
as to elude any following slave hunters
and they should even double back
occasionally on their tracks just to
confuse slave catchers who are pursuing
them well the actual drunkard’s path
itself does make you dizzy this is a
very traditional one made with just two
colors the red and white and the little
block itself is just two and A2 in
square and then this quilt is finished
off with a simple border and it’s might
right here in the corners it’s just
wonderful but the technique is as
straightforward as they come there are
just two pattern pieces in the quilt now
this one is just a little square it has
a corner chunk bit right out of it and
then it has a quarter circle now this
quarter circle is actually larger than
the missing chunk so you can’t use this
part right in here now you need to have
four dark and four background of each of
the patterns and then then you just
place the quarter Circle let me see if I
can get this lined up like this you take
it place it right here in the corner and
you back stitch and I have one that I
already did right here it’s back
stitched in the corner and then you just
stretch the devil out of it as you sew
15:18
it together now this quilt is made up of
two blocks one that looks like a
snowball with the quarter circles in the
corners and then the second block block
is this one and it has a pin wheel
center well the two blocks are
alternated to give this finished quilt
oh it’s just great now this pattern
serves its purpose well as a staggering
path but as history progressed in our
country superstitions followed the
drunkard’s path well a young girl was
not allowed to sleep under one for fear
she may marry a man fond of drink and a
young boy could not sleep leap under one
for fear he may become one well let’s
just stagger on to our last quilt in the
code the North Star Quilt is the 10th
pattern in the code the North Star was
The Guiding Light for the slaves to lead
them to Canada and freedom now the Big
Dipper always points to the North Star
in the handle of the Little Dipper well
perhaps no song is more connected to the
Underground Railroad than Follow The
Drinking Gourd well this is a beautiful
Northstar quilt the little red star is
the North Star and then it’s intertwined
with larger Navy stars now actually it’s
made with flying geese patches it looks
like Star points but the geese are made
with squares well following Stars meant
to follow certain constellations and the
North Star was all also important to
navigation all the boat owners who took
the slaves from Cleveland or Detroit to
Canada followed that star now another
symbolic star is the Star of Bethlehem
leading the wise man to Jesus now this
one is very striking in Reds the double
pinks and the polka dots the pieces are
diamonds and if you look at this spot
you may identify it as blood oh and what
a Superstition now this Blood was a sign
of bad luck so throwing a quilt over the
roof would bring good luck so when the
quilts were finished they just threw it
over the head of the house that brought
good luck well this scrap quilt is also
made of diamonds they’re strip piece
diamonds in indigos and shirting and
then the stars are set together with
butterscotch with poison green oh and
some red oh I just love all of these
colors together well the North Star is
the last quilt in the secret code passed
through the Williams family history now
see if you can identify the last three
blocks the flying Gees stay on the
drunkard’s path and follow the
Stars oh don’t you want to
de Harriet Tubman was one of the most
well-known conductors on the Underground
Railroad leading over 300 passengers to
Safety in the north when she first
1849 she gave away a quilt to learn more
about the Underground Railroad now
here’s a photo of Harriet Tubman it was
taken when she was about 30 years old
well she loved to sing and she
frequently communicated through song and
one spiritual she enjoyed was this train
is is Bound for Glory with Glory
referring to freedom and then Swing Low
Sweet Chariot was Harriet Tubman’s
favorite song now this Chariot
symbolizes a means of transportation or
a wagon or the Underground Railroad now
this pattern was originally known as
Jacob’s Ladder for the biblical Jacob
and his ladder that ascended into heaven
but it was changed to Underground
Railroad now this is an antique block
piece by hand it’s just great now it’s a
basic nine patch it’s made with four
triangle piece squares they’re right
here in the middle and then there’s five
four patches three right through the
center and then two on the corners now
it’s easy to make all you have to do is
sew two inch squares together background
and a dark and then you cut it into 10
2in sections take those sections sew
them into five four patches it’s going
to look like this and then for the P
squares you need to have two background
squares 4in squares uh place right sides
together to 4 inch dark squares draw a
diagonal line sew on both sides cut them
in half and then all you have to do to
put them together is Square them up to
the same size as the four petch easy
well this Underground Railroad quilt was
made recently by friend Pat Wetzel out
of reproduction Fabrics it’s just
beautiful now Harriet Tubman saw herself
as a liberator who was inspired by
stories from the Old Testament and she
eventually became known as Moses who was
to lead her people to Freedom well she
took seriously the biblical verse let my
people go you know about the same time a
young woman in Warsaw Illinois was also
inspired by stories from the Bible and
this is her quilt now she embroidered
Bible stories with red thread and a
technique called red work oh and I just
love the blocks now over here in on this
block is Baby Moses being rescued from
the bull rushes and then we have the
at the well it’s good one and lot who is
turning back Lot’s wife who’s turning
back to see the burning City and then
she’s just turning into stone that’s the
way the story goes and then down here we
have Jacob’s Ladder ascending right into
heaven well this unknown quilt maker
stitched these pictures as her husband
went off to fight in the Civil War and
unfortunately he never returned he was
killed on a battlefield on only 15 mil
from their home so in remembrance of him
she decided to finish the quilt and it’s
just beautiful now spirituals
accompanied Harriet and the fugitives
from the time of their departure until
until their arrival in Canada well
Tubman recalled how excited she and her
fugitives became while crossing a New
York Railroad suspension bridge in the
railroad car in the midst of strangers
they broke into song and this is their
song it’s such a good one it goes I’m on
the way to Canada that cold and dreary
land the sad effects of slavery I can’t
no longer stand I’ve served my master
all my days without a dime reward and
now I’m forced to run away to flee the
Lash aboard farewell old Master don’t
think hard of me I’m traveling on to
Canada where all the slaves are free
it’s a great song well upon reaching
Canada the tumbling blocks or tumbling
boxes quilt is symbolic The Runaways
have reached their final destination
it’s time to unpack boxes and settle
into Life as a free person well
obviously they would have needed to
travel light with just a close on their
back and maybe a Quil to shelter and
keep them warm but they certainly
couldn’t carry a trunk with them now
Oella Williams said the tumbling boxes
quilt is just a mental message now the
pattern is also known as baby boxes and
each box is easy to do it’s made with
three diamonds right here is the Box
itself and these were all stitched by
hand and this is how you do it you take
two of the diamonds I have the dark and
the medium you place them right sides
together and I put little dots a quar
inch in from each end and then just
stitched along there and then when you
open them up this is what you have like
this now the third one is set in and
that’s the light one so I just place the
light one right sides together put those
little dots a quar of an inch in
stitched right along there now when you
open that up you literally take this
piece pull it over to the other diamond
and Stitch along there actually it’s not
too hard to do now you can also make
tumbling blocks with the diamond Log
Cabin blocks you just start in the seter
with a diamond and you assembly line sew
strips around the outside edges now
these strips are cut on the 60°
angle well what a time for celebration
it was time for the fugitives to unpack
their boxes for indeed the gospel train
had carried them safely to Freedom
Patterns included: