The Six Know-It-Alls

Our Story

Since 2020

When the World Paused,
We Pressed Record

It started in 2020 when quilt historian Barbara Brackman, craving company after months of COVID isolation, invited a few quilt-loving friends to virtual cocktail hour. What began as casual Monday night chats quickly turned into spirited weekly discussions—mainly about quilts (naturally).

Questions flew. Debates sparked. History unfolded. And when Julie Silber suggested others might enjoy eavesdropping, The Six Know-It-Alls were born—name fully tongue-in-cheek.

Between March 2021 and September 2023, The Six Know-It-Alls produced 27 rich, engaging episodes—each over an hour long—exploring quilt history, puzzling textile mysteries, and the stories behind the stitches. These virtual gatherings became a treasure trove of insights, humor, and spirited debate among some of the most respected quilt historians in the field.

Watch the Episodes. Join the Conversation.

All 27 episodes are available to watch on-demand on our Vimeo channel—a perfect resource for curious minds, lifelong learners, and quilt lovers alike.

Today, the conversation continues in our active Facebook group, where the Know-It-Alls share discoveries, spark discussion, and invite you to add your voice. Whether you’re a seasoned historian or just quilt-curious, you’re warmly welcome.

Who are the Know-It-Alls?

Alden O’Brien is the costume and textile curator at the DAR Museum in Washington, D.C., specializing in late 18th– and early 19th-century clothing and quilts. Her exhibitions include “Eye on Elegance: Early Quilts of Maryland and Virginia” and “A Piece of her Mind: Technology and Culture in American Quilts” (both available online through dar.org). She is the author of Historic Quilts of the DAR (2011), as well as the exhibition catalogs for Eye on Elegance (2014) and her most recent clothing exhibition, “Sewn in America” (2024).

Barbara Brackman is an independent scholar and author whose focus is quilts and women’s history. She has curated numerous quilt exhibitions, including Patchwork Souvenirs (1993) with Merikay Waldvogel, and written many books including the seminal Clues in the Calico (1989). She writes two blogs: Material Culture and Civil War Quilts. She was one of the researchers and writers for the Kansas Quilt Project and is a founding member of the American Quilt Study Group, through which she has published numerous essays in the organization’s journal Uncoverings. Her most recent book is the third edition of Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns (2020). She lives in Kansas, in between the rest of the Know-It-Alls.

Debby Cooney is a quilt historian and collector with a special interest in quilts made within a 200-mile radius of Washington, DC: Maryland, southern Pennsylvania, and northern Virginia. She participated in several county-specific quilt-documentation projects conducted in Pennsylvania, and is an editor of A Maryland Album, the book from that state’s documentation project. She is co-author (with Ronda McAllen) of the 2017 Uncoverings paper “Baltimore Album Quilts: New Research.”

Julie Silber is a well-known lecturer, author and curator with more than forty years’ experience collecting, selling, and studying antique quilts. She is the curator of the former Esprit Quilt Collection in San Francisco. Julie is the associate producer of the film Hearts and Hands, and co-author of the 1987 book of the same name. She was the curator of several major quilt exhibitions, including “American Quilts: A Handmade Legacy” at the Oakland Museum and “Amish: The Art of the Quilt” at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (de Young). Julie’s business, Julie Silber Quilts, offers quilt-related services including appraising, consulting and brokerage to individuals, institutions, and corporations.

Merikay Waldvogel is a quilt historian and author from Knoxville, Tennessee. Her quilt research spans a broad swath of quilt history, from 19th-century Southern quilts and patterns through 20th-century quilts and quiltmakers. Books for which she was author or co-author include: Quilts of Tennessee (1986), Soft Covers for Hard Times (1990), Patchwork Souvenirs of the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair (1993), and Southern Quilts: Surviving Relics of the Civil War (1998).

Lynne Zacek Bassett is an independent scholar specializing in historic costume and textiles, particularly of New England. Among her many projects are award-winning exhibitions and catalogues, including Homefront & Battlefield: Quilts & Context in the Civil War (co-authored with Madelyn Shaw, 2012). Ms. Bassett was also primary author and editor of Massachusetts Quilts: Our Common Wealth (2009). She was the editor of the American Quilt Study Group’s annual journal, Uncoverings, from 2012 to 2018.