Early 19th Century Tree of Life Quilt from a Welsh Family

Tree of Life Quilt in the collection of Jen Jones, Wales, UK

 

 

The palampore fabric was painted in India and later  made into a quilt. It comes from the Court Estate, Llanllawer in the Gwaun Valley, Pembrokeshire. It was wadded and quilted in 1810.

 

 

 

It is an exceptionally large quilt, 322cmx 225cm,  filled with lambswool. This cotton fabric was made and painted on the Coromandel Coast prior to 1800.

 

 

 

 

  Photo of the Court Estate

It was sold to Jen Jones by Liz White, daughter of Mrs Mary Lettice Mortimer Ehlers (nee Thomas) of Bristol.
Mrs. Mary Lettice Mortimer Ehlers had wanted the quilt to remain in Wales after her death. It has come to the right home.

A wide variety of wonderful Welsh stitching patterns were quilted on the palampore once it arrived in the UK, including hearts which indicate it was possibly worked for a family marriage.

The four daughters of the Thomas family were married over a period of ten years and as it has never been used, it is difficult to say for whom it was intended.

photo of Anne Thomas and her family (left)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo of Anne Mortimer Thomas (right)

In 1851 it was sent to The Great Exhibition in London. It was last exhibited in London in the 1990's, prior to being on exhibit in Wales at the Jen Jones Welsh Quilt Centre in 2010. Here you can view the exhibit. Watch for the palampore on a far wall!

 

 

Technorati Tags: Jen Jones Quilt Centre,Welsh quilts,19th century quilts,antique quilts,quilt exhibit

The Jen Jones Welsh Quilts Centre graciously sent me the following info and pictures to share on my blog. I do apologize for the delay in getting them posted. This quilt unfortunately is not on display at this time, but other quilts are in their summer exhibit, "Oh that Summer would Last Forever," showing from now to October in Wales. A stunning exhibition catalogue is available for purchase.

Jen Jones sells quilts, shawls, paisleys, blankets, books and more at her shop and on line,  check it out!

Pictures from the Red & White Quilts Extravaganza Exhibit

Wow-  the exhibit  is as amazing as the promotional material said it would be! With many thanks to my girlfriend Tracy Jamar, we have pictures from her visit. Laura G. sent some links to other slide shows and newspaper articles. Thank you Laura.

Congratulations to the AFAM, Thinc, the exhibition company and Mrs. Rose , the collector of the 651 different ed and white quilts, for a one-of-a-kind quilt experience.

From Laura G.-
I saw the show today. You can see each of the quilts up close.
It was an incredible, phenomenal, stupendous show. Something tells me we are going to see many red and white quilts in the near future. Better buy your red broadcloth before it's all gone!!!

Martha Stewart's blog = http://www.themarthablog.com/2011/03/infinite-variety-three-centuries-of-red-and-white-quilts.html

Alex Anderson's website = http://www.thequiltshow.com/ - on the main screen, look for the tab that says "Red and Whilte Quilts" it will send you to a slide show.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-110701-1.htm

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/american-folk-art-museum-presents/id427267140?mt=8 - this is a lind to the apple website, where, if you have a mobile device (e.g. iphone, ipad, or android phone), you can download the app.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/finally-mrs-rose-and-the-public-can-see-all-her-rugs/?hpw NYTimes article shows the staff of Thinc setting up the exhibit plus a few photos of whole quilts

Red and White Quilts for Sale

SEEING RED - NYC ABLAZE WITH COLOR AT THE ARMORY & AT FISHER HERITAGE
Quilt Photos and post courtesy of Laura Fisher

Fired up by the forthcoming exhibition from the American Folk Art Museum of one collector’s red and white quilts called INFINITE VARIETY, in further celebration of the color red and of quilt art, NYC American antiques dealer Laura Fisher offers a diverse collection of red and white quilts at her gallery throughout the Spring.

The color red in quilts is expressive, historic, even biblical in content. Among red and white quilts there are iterations of the two colors that can give clues to age. Earlier 19th century examples feature printed red fabrics with white, and some later 19th century quilts feature printed reds with printed white shirting cottons, as well as solid red.

Interest in antique red and white quilts runs the gamut from the bold graphic clarity of the solid red and white examples to the softer appearance of printed reds that many designers select when the small scaled prints work with fabrics based on historic printed cottons.


At the 67th Street (Park Avenue) Armory from March 25 -30 will be 650 (yup, amazing!) quilts in solid red and white literally hanging from the rafters like nothing ever seen before! Up for only a week, and FREE to the public, lovers of graphic design and of quilts are coming to town to see it and the other ongoing quilt shows at the AFAM.

The collector concentrates on solid red with solid white. Fisher is regarded in the design trade as the queen of two-color antique quilts, offering every shade with white.

Also available are antique textiles including coverlets and ticking in the same palette.






Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, from 11:00 – 4:00 or by appointment.




Red and white used alone was a mostly 19th century phenomenon, later supplanted by the solid pastels and the pastel printed cottons of the 1930s Depression era. For Fisher, when red appears in a 1930s quilt of colorful feedsack prints, it immediately catches the eye (see her current column in The Quilt Life Magazine called Feedsacks in Motion.

You can reach Laura Fisher at:
FISHER HERITAGE
305 East 61st Street,5th floor
New York, NY 10065
212/838-2596
http://www.laurafisherquilts.com/
fisherheritage@yahoo.com





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Love is in the air...

Hi everyone!
Do you know that without a doubt, when you comment it makes my day!  It's so much fun to hear your thoughts (and know you are getting something out of my ramblings) that it keeps me going. So let's enjoy each other in this way when the topic is one you are moved to share your thoughts on; it's your unique perspective or experience we want to hear (I know, it's read, but I'm an audio learner more than visual after all these years of being a shrink).

 You can post anonymously or not, but comment and share. I get comments on old posts all the time, which then bring that topic up to date or add to the knowledge being sought. No comment is out of date!
Spam and off topic comments are deleted so you won't be stuck having to read them either. If the comments section is not automatically  showing up at the end of each post when you land on any page than  simply click the "comments" box and voila!

Do you feel  fear or resistance when you want to actually begin a new project? I know I do.  I feel it as I continue to work on an ongoing and important project too. It's easier to begin  if I'm in a classroom setting. I think that's because I can tell myself that this project doesn't really matter...it's just for practice. When I tell myself this in my studio it works too... if I believe it. 

Last month I delivered two public installation pieces that I had begun in the spring of 2010. They could have been completed in a few months but nagging fear of not being good enough to make what my mind's eye could see plagued me to the point of procrastination. I could sew, collage, write  and make other things no problem,  but these two quilts, flailed in the background looming very large on my conscience without touching ground. They were received with such joy and love, it was all worth it, but I would like to proceed in the future minus the fear and resulting guilt.

For those of you who might relate to what I'm talking about, there is a wonderful article on overcoming what might be stopping you. It's written by Lisa Sonora Beam. She's a San Francisco based  mixed media artist, workshop leader, and author on doing business as a predominantly right brained creative type or entrepreneur.

 "Why doing something new is scary - and how to begin" is the article. Take 2 minutes to read it then share your fear stories and tips on how you deal with it in the comment box below.

Are you wondering why I titled this post "Love is in the air...?" Most of you probably know there is a royal wedding coming up the end of April. I am excited about it. I can remember watching Princess Di getting married and feeling thrilled and envious of her, then. What a dress! What an entourage.. what a life. Needlesstosay it became a sobering situation as time went on. Both parties were forced into the wrong marriage. So very sad and a tragic outcome prevailed for her and her sons.

I want to support William at this time. Focusing my loving light filled energy on the couple and all involved  in giving the wedding  is how I will support them. It's the only way that I can. My imagination can do this and meditation. Would you like to support them too? Here's my suggestion. Leave a comment below describing the most beautiful wedding dress you can imagine and see Kate wearing it as she walks down the isle. Tell us about your vision in detail, the fabric, lines, shoes, jewelery, whatever it is that makes your heart fill with light and love as you think of her and the couple getting married.

If you subscribe to my feed or email,  post your comment by clicking here  . Then click on "comment" at the end of the post to make comment box appear if it's not already.

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Ever dream about careers in quilt history, then wonder what are they?

Have you ever wondered what people do who call themselves "Quilt Historians".  Have you ever dreamt about making a career in  the ever widening fields of quilt history, costumes, or quilts? I wondered  how  women went about becoming quilt historians when this field didn't even exist until the last quarter of the 20th century? Who were their mentors and role models?

I invite you to look into the lives of said women (and one man so far, another on the way,) on my Getting to Know Today's Quilt Historian pages.  Many new women have been added this month, while others have updated their interview and more are working on theirs now. There is great joy for me to bring their history to my readers. Please let others know about this and share the joy!

What motivated me to interview women who have helped  make the field what it has become today was my curiosity about what motivated them to get involved as they did.  Who were their mentors, what peaked their interest, what was their favorite job or research project and  what do they still want to do. What I learned is that their imagination and dreams grew as they did. With each step they took a leap of faith driven by a love of quilts, fabrics, or history which kept them going. At the end of each profile is a comprehensive bibliography of their publications, lectures, exhibits, and so forth. Use it also as a  reference guide should you need it for your research.

Today we follow their tracks to a certain extent. These women and men can be your mentors, Read their interview online.  One thing led to another and their dreams became larger and wider, and so can yours. My interviews show creativity in action as well as educate us about the broad field of quilt history.

While you're on the page, take a look at the second photograph. I took a picture of the entrance to the International Garden of Peace. It is the Peace Portal at Meditation Mount in Ojai California. Then I played around with the digital photograph to make it look like a stream is running through an Asian doorway on a hot day. In reality, there is no water, it's a path through a garden under a  blue sky on a typical day.  It's fun to play this way.

I hope your new year is wonderful so far. I  started my mixed media collage class again. This semester we are focusing on line and we'll learn to use gesso in various ways. I am surrounded by accomplished artists in this class and learn so much from them as well as the teacher. We make collages in class and share them for her critique at the end. Mostly we make abstract collage with papers, fabric sometimes, and other flat embellishment. We use a great deal of clothing pattern paper. The  printing on the tissue paper are examples of line to be  used in creating action, interest and leading the eye along.
Tell us about what  creative adventures you are up to this new year?

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It's the Year of the Quilt! Are You Planning your 2011 Vacation?

 HAPPY NEW YEAR to each and every one of you! Thank you for being here, for commenting, for bringing your Quilter's Spirit to my little nook of the planet. I wish you many blessings and prosperity and joy-fulled friendships and experiences in 2011.

2011 brings an extravaganza of quilts into the fold from the American Folk Art Museum collection and a private collection, which will will be on display at various locations in the city throughout the year.

Infinite Variety, Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts will cap the American Folk Art Museum's "Year of the Quilt."  It is the largest exhibit with over 650 red and white American quilts displayed at one time! They are hung four and five high, as if floating in space, in a circular fashion at the Park Avenue Armory from March 25-30, 2011.  Entrance to the this special show is free. What a gift for those who can attend.

This will be the largest quilt exhibit ever seen in the city. All of the quilts are on loan from one New York City private collection. Fifty quilts will be chosen by and donated  to AFAM's collection after the exhibition. Wow!  What a memory to have. I've seen pictures of the installation and it's not something you can describe, you've got to see it to believe it. A café, gift and book store are also in the armory which is located at 643 Park Avenue between 66th and 67th Streets.

Read much more about the Infinite Variety exhibit and three more major quilt exhibits from the museum's collection being offered this year including the curator's thoughts and historic perspective.

Please post your comments by clicking here http://www.quiltersspirit.blogspot.com/ if you  subscribe to my feed or  email. Just click on "comment" at the end of the post and a comment box will appear.

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