Signatures and Such

The quilt history books tell us that often the signatures on a friendship quilt were all penned by one individual.  Someone with the best handwriting was given the job, and she or he wrote each name on the appropriate block.

There is no way to be sure if Rachel signed her own name.  But I found another item which Rachel did sign.

This is the front page of the thesis that Rachel submitted for her medical degree in 1867.  I found it online in the archives of the Drexel University College of Medicine. Do you think the same person wrote both items?

Speaking of signatures, I'm going to the Southern Cross Quilters Retreat in Bendigo in July (HOORAY) and I need to make sixty signature blocks.  I will have to sign my name and location sixty times.  My handwriting is quite ... unremarkable.  I would appreciate some advice on how to make a nice, neat signature.

How do you sign your quilt blocks?

Godey's Autograph Bedquilt - April 1864

AUTOGRAPH BEDQUILT

The autograph bedquilt is made by obtaining the signatures of friends or relatives written upon pieces of white material.  These pieces may be square, octagon, round, diamond, or heart shaped, or indeed cut into any form to suit the taste of the maker.  After they are cut they should be strained tightly over a card, to make a smooth, even surface for the writing, which should be done in indelible ink.  Muslin, linen, or silk can be used, the silk being the handsomest, while the linen makes the best surface for the signature.  The cards may be sent by mail to friends at a distance.

After the names are written, the white pieces can be either sewed down upon, or set into, squares of colored material, and these squares, sewed together, form the quilt.

In quilting, select such a pattern as will leave the name free from the quilting stitches.

Smaller pieces of white silk (with the autographs written in miniature), alternated with colored silk, and made into a pincushion or sofa cushion make a very pretty album of affection.