I’ve mentioned the inclusion of woven blankets. This one is from the Rio Grande region. Beautiful. I’d suggest not reading the label, since although it credits European with both bringing the sheep and the weaving techniques, it makes sure to let us know these were Hispanics – so its’ all good. no whites involved. Boy do I miss the days when we celebrated the work of ones hands, not the color of their skin.
Another incredible woven coverlet, did I mention that in the early days of settlement in America it was itinerant men who went around weaving the blankets. Well in the case of Harry Tyler, his workshop was in his home. by the mid 19th c. no more traveling. there is enough business in a 50 mile radius to work from home. Oh, and the incredible designs – these are thanks to Jacquard cards – the precursor to computer punch cards, one needs to attach a tall frame to the loom, so the cards can flow easily. No mention what race Tyler was, or the fact that Jacquard cards were developed in Europe. When the insignificant race isn’t mentioned – you know, ‘insert white’. Btw, 30 years ago I visited a weaving workshop in LA that used Jacquard cards – I’m sure it’s closed by now. It really was fascinating to see looms clacking away while the cards moved and an intricate pattern emerged.
Same wonderful colors, blue and white – here we have a quilt again. The Henry Clay quilt, the man responsible for the Missouri compromise – the one that allowed new states to either be free states or slave states. Which is all the label discusses rather than the incredible workmanship here. I have made a feathered star. Its’ not easy, not easy at all. The center is an Ohio Star block, but the feathers trainers around the edge. That is remarkable. I’m thinking the maker did exactly what I did – used the paper piecing method. One that is used often with hexagons. Only way I can explain how accurate these triangles are. Oh, and the color, amazing color. Both the deep blue and the white.
I’ve never been a big fan of crazy quilts. This was a style popular in the late 19th-early 20th c. It involved a lot of very expensive scraps – like velvets and silks. If you look at the lower left hand corner you will basically see what a whole crazy quilt would have looked like. Aside from those fabrics, there was a lot of interesting embroidery stitches and sometimes beads as well. In this case, our quilter, Celestine Bacheller worked as a seamstress and rose to prominence in a Taylor shop in Boston – she she had a lot of great scraps at her disposal. The middle block in the top row was the family house before the Civil War. The rest are scenes from pre-war life.
Here we have a lady who wants her name and title of the quilt to be front and center. Good for her. The center is a crazy quilt, I wonder if she thought she’d be making a whole crazy quilt, got bored and used that as her center. There is a lot detail in the houses. And then, she makes all these small blocks for the border. Love it! Notice the bottom border, this is what we call Tumbling blocks. I’ll have to share the jacket I made out of that pattern.
So now, let me share one of the wall quilts, made by a modern artist. He used the traditional log cabin block, from a quilt he deconstructed and reassembled into Tumbling blocks, but in a three dimensional manner. Very creative. What isn’t creative is that the label reinforces the myth that quilt patterns were used along the Underground Railroad. This myth has been dispelled for years, but since it’s a nice story – no need to correct the narrative. Heck, we see this happening daily, if the narrative works – truth is irrelevant.
A Gees’ Bend quilt. There are three of them in the exhibit – because poor black women in Alabama makes quilting more authentic. I happen to like this one, a Courthouse step -log cabin block. Made large as one block. I like the Gees’ Bend ladies, they are real entrepreneurs – once they were ‘discovered’ they started a workshop that runs till today making odd ball quilts for wealthy white people to buy to show how tolerant they are. Funny story, I probably told before – at Quiltcon Years ago, a number of the Gees Bend women came, to teach to lecture. Friends who took the class were upset, because they didn’t teach anything – they just said follow your own muse. Then during the lecture, they sang a lot of gospel music – because God gave them this platform to preach the gospel and they do it is song. Yup, all the openminded, pre woke women around me lost their shit – how dare these women sing Jesus songs?!?!? Never occurred to those idiots that without Jesus – there would be nothing for these women. They credit him with the discovery and the continuing success of their venture.
Thank Goodness they included an Amish quilt in the exhibit. This would be Old Order Amish – the strictest of the Amish sects. They do no use prints in either clothes or quilts, but the women do wear bright dresses, in these colors. The way this exhibit justifies the Amish is that they were persecuted in Europe – so despite the fact that today, Amish living in their own way are extremely successful and avoid government at all costs – their past history allows them inclusion here. Years ago I saw the collection at the Esprit headquarters in San Fransisco – WOW! I’m pretty sure that collection has been broken up and sold, who knows, maybe this quilt came from there.
One of the things I love about this is that it is very well planned out and meticulously made. Not everything haphazard is good design – which to be honest is the only reason people like Gees Bend so much.
Turns out that being a minority quilt maker doesn’t mean you can’t make complex quilt patterns. I’ve made a double wedding ring quilt – not easy and I had a die cutter to cut the segments of the rings. Love the choice of colors, love that the maker made 4 segments each and then decided to not put them all in one block. She must have made the first upper right hand corner and felt it was too boring – so she mixed the rest up. Ah the joys and creativity of quilting!
A quilt made by Edith for the world of Progress fair in Chicago 1033, for which she won not only a ribbon but also monetary prize. He engineer husband helped her draft the pattern, it is quite complex. It is mostly pieced, which isn’t easy. Once again, I feel like the sun in the middle was appliquéd to cover the joints of all those pieces. Once appliquéd, she probably cut out that center, it would have been very bulky. Machine quilted – getting those radiating circles takes a lot of work.
A gorgeous quilt with a horrible message. So, I’m skipping the label entirely. Just enjoy the beauty of the piecing, quilting and beading.
That is that, I’ve seen the show twice, I might see it again. The works are amazing, the didactics are awful – which is why I hardly go to museums anymore. But if there is a quilt exhibit, I’ll put up with the garbage didactics and just go see the quilts themselves -their beauty will survive way beyond whatever the curator wrote.
Leah