Women's Rights Quilt

I was just browsing through the Met Museum quilt collection and happened upon this quilt.  Boy, did I get excited!

Photo: Hearts and Hands: Women, Quilts, and American Society, 1987.

Just to toot my own horn a tiny bit:  When I first started teaching quilting in the early 1980s with little 6-week beginner classes, one of my students brought in an old quilt that was in her family.  I didn't know then nearly what I know now about quilt history, but I knew enough to be utterly amazed and urged the owner to treat it like the incredible piece that it is.  It did get exhibited and then published a couple of times (including in one of my all-time favorite books, Hearts and Hands: Women, Quilts, and American Society by Elaine Hedges, Pat Ferrero and Julie Silber, Quilter's Digest Press, 1987).  And now, oh boy oh boy, I see it's become part of the collection at the Met!!!  I feel like the beaming godmother!

The quilt was made in Illinois c. 1875.  It has both botanic appliqué designs and unique and detailed pictorial blocks showing the social history of the time.  There are some pictures that refer to the Civil War and some to the question of women's rights that sprouted during the war years.  Along with the quilt, the family had a piece of paper with captions and sometimes comical commentary for the pictorial blocks.  Such an incredible treasure!

You can read more and take a closer look at the Met collection entry.  The quilt is also described on the Quaker Quilts page in an article titled "Quaker Causes and the Women's Rights Quilt."

Enjoy!

Stitching Our Stories

Stitching Our Stories is an exhibit currently running in Santa Fe through October 20.   It's at the Santa Fe Arts Commission’s Community Gallery, 201 W. Marcy Street.  The use of needlework to express  family and social history is one of my favorite topics.  I'd go for sure if I was anywhere close!

The subtitle is:  Connecting Immigrant and Local Communities Through Story Cloths and Conversations.

The programs and exhibit were created by Art and Remembrance, an organization founded around the needlework panels made by Holocaust survivor Esther Nisenthal Krinitz.  The panels illustrate her memories of her early life in Europe and her escape from the Holocaust as a young girl.

Art and Remembrance has created a program called HeART and Story which guides recent immigrants to create their own story cloths about their journeys.  Their work is also on display. 

You can see the lovely Esther Krinitz panels in a book, Memories of Survival, and a video Through the Eye of the Needle (which you can also purchase).

My Magical Magic Vine Quilt Is Done!!

So here's the story of a UFO (UnFinished Object) that on Sunday June 12, 2016, officially became a Finished Object......after about 8 decades!

I bought the 1930s top at an antique store in the 1980s.  It was quite a find!  The applique artistry is amazing, it came packaged with more of the same green fabric that was intended for the back, and green is my favorite color.  I decided to do a bang-up job of quilting to honor the wonderful work of the anonymous woman who started the quilt.  Since the 80s, it has been the quilt I take with me when I demonstrate hand quilting and talk about antique quits. 

So I've worked on it just a few hours at a time, just a few times a year.  In the meantime, I've raised two kids and done tons of other quilting and sewing.  A couple of years ago, I decided it was time to actually put some focused hours into it, quite honestly, so the poor thing wouldn't end up for sale again as a UFO....

Mending a Large Rip in a 19th Century Tulip Quilt

Sometimes, a quilt with a very sad story comes to me to be repaired.  The sad story here is that this gorgeous c. 1860 tulip quilt was torn during a move.

It had been mounted on the wall with a velcro strip.  It looks like the movers just pulled straight down, and the quilt gave way just under the velcro.  Also, the area marked with a safety pin in the photo suffered many small tears.

La Grange Community Quilt

This quilt was made in 1979 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of La Grange, IL, a western suburb of Chicago.  

It hung in the La Grange library for quite a while, and then was in storage during and for a while after the library's move to a new building.  The library is now ready to hang the quilt again, and they contacted me to help spruce it up.

A Room of Her Own

"A Room of Her Own"

2015

32"x32"

I just completed this wall quilt!  It was commissioned by a wonderfully thoughtful husband in honor of his wife's milestone birthday.

It is inspired by a quilt I made 1999, called "Memories of Spring" (21"x19").

He liked the airy, dreamy, and old-fashioned homey look of the quilt.  He asked for a larger piece with personalized references to the things his wife loves and to their family.  The idea grew from there, with both of us making additions to the contents of her "room".  Here's the initial sketch.

Magic Vine - Quilting Progress

I've spent a few weeks with relaxing sewing while watching fun things on Netflix, a very nice "spring break."

One project that's benefited is the vintage Magic Vine quilt top that I am finishing.  I started the quilting 25+ years ago!  I've only worked on it now and then, when I go someplace to demonstrate hand quilting.  After its most recent excursion last November, I decided to push forward and finally finish it.

A Quilt Brought Back to Life

I've been drawn to red, green, and white appliqué quilts forever.  Here's one that was recently brought back to life by my friend Ann Fahl.  Here's how the quilt looked when Ann first started thinking about fixing it up.

Ann makes wonderful art quilts and has written several books, plus creating a pattern line and a DVD.  You can read more about her at her website and blog.  Lately, she has been very busy researching her family history and sharing new discoveries with family members.  This actually is a perfect segue to telling you about her red, green, and white quilt.

This is a family heirloom quilt, though there is not much specific known about its story.  The quilt has lived for many decades at the family home in Marion, Indiana.  Ann posits that the quilt may have been a payment from a tenant to her great-grandfather during the Depression when cash was short. It was probably made in the 1880s or so.

Eye On Elegance exhibit

"Eye on Elegance: Early Quilts of Maryland and Virginia" is the title of the current exhibit at the DAR Museum in Washington DC.  The museum has long been known for its spectacular quilt collection, and here it is on view.  Simply amazing quilts!  Every one is good enough to be on a book cover!

There is an online tour of the exhibit, a great-looking catalog, and several short videos on quilt styles on YouTube.  This is quilt history at its best.  Great research and superior, beyond superior, quilts to see.

The online tour would serve well as a really good introduction to the wonderful world of exquisite needlework and "mistresspiece" quilts for newcomers to the quilt world.  And it is a joy to watch over and over for those of us who have been looking at antique quilts for years.

The exhibit runs through September 5, 2015.  Sadly, I don't have a trip to DC on the calendar this year, but this exhibit makes me want to change my plans!

Egyptian Appliqué Art

Welcome to Egypt!

Having just visited Turkey during the ancient Roman era in my previous post, let's continue the tour with a stop in Egypt for a little needlework history.

A friend brought over a gracefully appliquéd pillow case that had been purchased for her in Egypt. It's about 33" square, for a floor cushion.  She asked me to put a sleeve on it so she can hang it on her wall

First Prize Quilt

This surely is a "collector's dream" quilt.

It pretty certainly dates to the 1930s.  The peach and soft green were both new and popular colors at the time. I think the cream background is fairly close to the original color, i.e. not a yellowing of a truer white.

Happy Summer Sailboats

Isn't this just the happiest quilt!  This is part of what makes repairing quilts so much fun - I get to have quilts like this come and visit for a while.

The combination of block designs and colors make this quilt a delightful rendition of being out on the water on a sunshiny day. (And yes, it does look like it was cut down at some point in its life.)

And isn't this interesting - an appliquéd Mariner's Compass.  Has anyone else seen one before?  I love that it's multicolored.  But these days I'm finding myself drawn to any design that uses the full spectrum, so that's not too surprising.

Cheery Cherry Wreath

This quilt was made near Millmont, PA.  It was purchased in the early 1990s on the farm of an Amish quilter who was selling both her own quilts and those made by other quilters in the area.

The quilt block is called cherry wreath.  I like the clean, clear look of the quilt, due to the great balance of color, and the expanses of white.  And as every quilter knows, stitching all those circles is a challenge and requires an experienced hand at appliqué.

Little Cabin in the Woods

I have just completed working on a set of twin-size quilts made in 1934.  I restitched several places where the appliqués were coming loose, and rebound both quilts.

I haven't been able to find any info on the pattern, so if anyone knows anything about it, please let me know.  All I know is that I like it a lot!

Here are a few fun things about the construction of the quilts.