Anaheim is changing, but more about that in another post. This is about quilts. Old ‘modern’ quilts. A wonderful exhibit at Muzeo in Anaheim. American Quilts in the Modern Age, 1870-1940 was created by the International Quilt Study Center & Museum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Luckily my friend Becky heard about this and off we went. 
These quilts are from the early 20th century, but the colors – solids in bright colors, what today we call modern. Of course they predate the tiny calicos that many people grew up with. I must take a moment to thank Becky for showing me how to shoot photos indoors without a flash, I was doing it all wrong despite carefully reading the photography blogs. 
A close up.
This is a traditional log cabin using the pineapple block. Wonderful use of both ‘low volume’ and browns. 
What an incredible layout, from the 1880’s. Here the quilt maker created standard log cabin blocks but divided each into dark and light. The dark blue, browns and background are all prints, the pink is solid, but what a vibrant pink it is. Also, the layout! Creativity is what drives women to quilt, and here we have a woman who’s graphic sensibilities would put her right at home now. Of course we fool ourselves if we think that 100 or 200 years ago people weren’t as creative as we are today.
This is a crazy quilt with some very clear and definite stars.
It also is a clear indication that Fussy Cuts aren’t a new invention either. I saw the spider and his web elsewhere on the quilt, but it looks like the red portion of the web is another fabric that was put in place. It may have been another color way or simply the quilter was extremely detail oriented and created this on her own.
Of course I’m going to be drawn to hexagons and equatorial triangles. No doubt these were done with the English Paper piecing method. Notice how vibrant the colors are on the quilt on the right, that bright orange border was a sight to be seen.
Speaking of tiny detail. This quilt is made up of more than 14,000 tiny yo-yos. Each about the size of a dime, or even smaller.
If you look closely you can see the thread poking out of the centers of the yo-yos. 
And now to a quilt using the fabrics that would define quilting for many years to come. A Dresden plate made in the 1930’s-40 with the popular fabrics of the day. A couple things to note here. The fussy cut center. Also, the black outline in the center is what today modern quilters consider hand quilting. Not the case, the tiny fine almost invisible diamonds are the hand quilting, that thick black thread is a line of embroidery.
This show is small and wonderful. It is only up until Feb 15th, so I highly recommend a trip to Anaheim. Next post will give you other reasons to go down there.
Leah
Oh, that spider quilt! It’s wonderful!
That yo yo quilt is mind blowing! I wonder if one lady made that herself or if it was a group of ladies. Either way, that’s so much work!
If you go to Anaheim, go to Orange as well, another adorable quaint downtown and neither are very large. As to this quilt, they don’t know the name of the maker, but they think it’s about one upmanship, being able to make something that no one else would attempt to do. Also, because it’s so unique, she may have had an article about it in the local paper. People always like some fame.