One area of research that has yielded fascinating results is of quilts with names inscribed on them.  In the case of Mercy Jane Bancroft, who made a Friendship Block quilt in the 1850s and ‘60s, diligent research by a UNL graduate student led to the discovery of the quiltmaker’s diaries. The diary entries focused primarily on details of Bancroft’s professional life as a traveling seamstress. Through these writings, we learn that she made clothing for many of the women named on the quilt.