By Jeff Kenney Citizen editor
Culver’s Wesley United Methodist Church’s Susanna Quilters brought history to life Sept. 4 before an appreciative audience of Culver Kiwanians. The longtime quilting group presented a program based on Eleanor Burns’ book, “Underground Railroad Sampler,” which details the use of quilts in the 19th century Underground Railroad movement, which sought to aid runaway slaves in gaining freedom in the north. Specifically, said Susanna Quilter Judy Patton, quilts hung out to air on porches or clotheslines of safe houses – which hid escaping slaves – employed patterns that acted as signals to slaves, unbeknownst to the average resident of the day. Patton said her interest was fascinated by the quilts being “hidden in plain view.”

Like a quilt itself, pieces of the story were shared by members of the circle in succession, each displaying a different sample pattern to illustrate their portion of the history. The quilt block patterns, based on actual Underground Railroad blocks, were made by members of the circle.
As many as 100,000 people escaped slavery between the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, said Mary Baker, who displayed the “monkey wrench” quilt pattern, which she said indicated it was time for potentially escaping slaves to collect tools needed on their journey north to freedom.
Ruth Chandler showed the “wagon wheel” quilt block, which she said indicated the need to pack for the journey. Another block she displayed was the “carpenter’s wheel,” which reminded slaves the master carpenter in their lives was Jesus. The well-known spiritual, “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” which Patton sang for the group, encouraging the audience to sing along, contained a hidden message as well, about the chariot coming to carry slaves “home” to freedom.
The “bear’s paw” block, explained quilter Marlene Shoddy, was next in helping slaves to prepare, and reminded them to follow actual animal paws while on their journey, to find the best paths to food and water. Shoddy also displayed the basket block, a symbol of the laundry basket that could easily hide provisions slaves might gather for their journey.
Mary Hoskins said the “crossroads” quilt pattern guided slaves to one of a handful of crossroads paths – the main being Cleveland – they would reach once through the Appalachian mountains. A “log cabin” block indicated safe houses by the colors in its center. Hoskins added.
The “shoo fly” pattern represented an actual person who would help escaping slaves hide in churches, caves, or graveyards, said Connie Overmyer. She also discussed the “bow tie” pattern, a directive for runaway slaves to dress in a more formal manner in order to blend in with freed slaves in northern cities. Free blacks, she said, would often meet runaways in a safe place and give them quality clothing to replace the often tattered rags escaping slaves wore by that point in their journey.
Migrating geese flying north in the spring were indicated by the “flying geese” quilt block pattern, according to Kay Tusing, who also showed the audience the “birds in the air” block which could actually indicate what direction to travel by using lighter blocks to create an arrow shape in the quilt.
Next the “drunkard’s path” pattern, explained Sharon Hartz, reminded slaves to run in a staggering, not a straight, pattern, even doubling back from time to time in order to confuse trackers. The tenth and final pattern, said Hartz, was the sailboat, which represented the importance of free black sailors, who could be invaluable in transporting runaways by water.
Patton said Underground Railroad quilters usually sewed an entire quilt of the same pattern. She discussed the song, “Follow the Drinking Gourd,” a reference to the Big Dipper constellation, whose north star was important to runaways’ navigation.
The Susanna Quilters also displayed an entire quilt they made as part of their Underground Railroad project, noting all the fabrics used are reproductions of Civil War fabrics.
The Susanna Circle – part of the Wesley United Methodist Women’s group – was named after the wife of John Wesley, though she was probably too busy caring for her 17 children to quilt much. “We wanted to honor her (with the group’s name),” said Patton. The group spends around 2,500 hours per year quilting together, and has made quilts for the Heminger victims’ assistance house and other charity projects. Susanna also has a baby quilt ministry which creates an original quilt for every baby born in the church. The group is well known for its bi-annual quilt show, held in conjunction with Culver’s Lakefest each July.
She said the group will shortly take its tenth annual quilt retreat for members, who have journeyed together to Brown County State Park, the Geneva Center, and Paducah, Kentucky in the past.
There are 21 quilters in the circle, with 15 active members who meet weekly from 9 a.m. to noon to sew. “We share a passion for quilting,” said Patton, “and have become like sisters. We go on outings and do a lot of fun things.”