Quilts in New England - Jane Stickle quilt, and Boston MQG

I have always wanted to see the Jane Stickle quilt, and finally had the chance in September.  It is displayed at the Bennington Museum in Bennington Vermont.  

The whole museum is very interesting and homey and the highlight of course was the Jane Stickle quilt: 

I mean, wow! 

It was displayed in near darkness, really. 

When I asked about the quilt, a museum employee said "it's just beyond the old car - you can't miss it" - 

Question:  Have you made a Jane Stickle quilt ("Nearly insane Jane?") or been tempted to make one?  Ironically I was tempted to start one *until* the day I saw the original in person.  lol. 

 Other sweet quilty treasures to be found - 

Later in the month, just before we headed back to North Carolina, David and I stopped in to the Boston Modern Quilt Guild show.  It was really fantastic, and thought provoking. 

"Childless Cat Lady" by Joyce Husseini 

"Sisters, Persist!" by Fran Sharp: 

"Bury Guns" by Julia Weinstein: 

"Full Circle Goodbye" by Meredith Sibley: 

There were so many more.  Not all advocacy quilts, but most were so packed with meaning.  Reviewing these photos now, post-election, I feel a heaviness of heart. 

I have one or two more "catch up" posts to write.  Thank you for reading, fellow quilters;). 

xo

Cynthia 

Quilts at the North Carolina Museum of Art

The other day David and I went to the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh for the first time.  It is not too far from our townhouse.   There is a special exhibition going called Layered Legacies: Quilts from the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts at Old Salem - on until July 21.  

"Quilts materialize the bonds of home, family, and community as they are passed down from generation to generation. Yet they are also records of our shared history, interwoven with broader social, cultural, and economic legacies that make up the complex fabric of the United States."

Complex, for sure.  The quilts were made during Slavery and Reconstruction years, and the exhibition acknowledges and highlights how the quilts would likely have been produced by "unacknowledged hands" - and absolutely so, when we consider the cotton batting and fabric.  

We do not assume that Eleanor made this quilt herself. Note the "household of"  - 

An 1845 crib quilt from the household of Mary Videau Marion Yeadon, in Charleston, South Carolina: 

There was a white work quilt made by two sisters in antebellum (pre Civil War) Tennessee.  One sister married a slave holder, while the other sister married an abolitionist minister.  

From the museum website: 

Layered Legacies invites audiences to consider the multilayered stories stitched into quilts made in the American South between the late eighteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries. Featured are more than 30 bed coverings and related objects from the collection of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts and Old Salem collections. Foregrounding the masterful artistry of women, these bed coverings are expressions of love, objects of exquisite craftsmanship, and material documents containing hidden stories of long-forgotten women, both white and Black, wealthy and enslaved, whose hands created and cared for these important textiles.

It is well worth seeing if you are in the area!  It has given me a lot to think about. 

xo

Cynthia 

Quilts at the American Folk Art Museum in NYC

On our way driving up to Maine a couple weeks ago, we stopped off in NYC and packed in a lot of activity in two half days.  

We walked through Washington Square Park where Kaela and Joe got engaged ten years ago!  I have almost no sense of smell but apparently the smell of pot was thick in the air - I had no clue, lol.  So we kept walking and got pizza;).  

The New York City skyline is ever changing - 

At one point David and I dashed to the American Folk Art Museum to see a marvelous exhibit of quilts from their collection entitled "What that Quilt Knows about Me".  

Here are a few - 

1.  A charming 1981 appliqué quilt by Pearlie Posey of Mississippi made in her old age, with help from her daughter: 

I love her quote "... if the Lord take me and I leave you, I say you'll have some covers." 

2.  Strip Quilt by Idabell Bester, Alabama: 

3.  Bird of Paradise quilt top, artist unknown, New York  - displayed under glass - 

So charming, so much to examine! 

Her stitches are invisible! 

Her templates were on display too - 

Meanwhile, yesterday I bought a new laptop (instead of paying for a costly repair).  Yay!  It's a 13 inch MacBook Air and I love it already. 

It is blazing hot here in North Carolina.  After years of window units in New England, I am so grateful for our central A/C here.   It is so quiet, and I like staying indoors when it's hot outside.  However,  I also love a little morning painting time with Charlotte in our screened in patio, so sweet - 

Thank you for reading.  I'm woefully behind in answering comments, but please know I appreciate each one! 

xo

Cynthia