My "Honest Patch" on a 19th & 20th century quilt & the "Massachusetts Quilts" Book

Have any of you who own antique quilts notice your once perfect quilt suddenly has cracking in the brown fabrics? We all have, as pre-1900 dark brown dyed fabric is prone to becoming brittle due to tannin and iron mordants in the dyes. (They used to use iron pots for dyes that needed iron to help the fabric retain the dye, a 2-fer)

Over time the fabric dries out and splits, or it get's wet and splits, or the sun shines on it too long and it splits, or you pack it away and it splits. I think you are get the picture.

Dark brown 19th century cotton fabrics are similar to silks used in crazy quilts, the silk will deteriorate and you can not stop it once it starts.  You can help prevent it from starting

maybe, or better put, increase the number of years before the deterioration begins. Oh, wait, you're telling me that you want to have it out? Oh, well, then you can postpone the deterioration by a number of months. My gosh, I am so negative here- I'm smiling. I hope you are.

That said, here is a repair I did this past week in a most interesting looking quilt that I bought in Arizona years ago when antique store shopping with the two wild and crazy lovely ladies, Audrey and Dee, who own and operate the quilt retreat camps with national teachers Quilting in the Pines and Quilting in the Desert. We all had a good laugh when we saw this quilt.

It is a pink and brown scrap (fabulous 1870-80s fabrics, all new or unused) album block quilt in nearly perfect condition, with wool batting, and tied with pink and green yarn to a  1930-40s back fabric! Each yarn tie, and there are many, is made with both colors of yarn, sort of tufted and it is held down and brought through the thick wool bat with a thick sewing thread.

The thick dense batting saved this quilt from splitting much more than it could have with a thinner bat or fewer ties. I have stored it with as little folding as possible, in a closet, on top of other quilts, with no weight on it. Still, deterioration has set in on two blocks.

  I fixed the most serious and obvious loss of fabric, after taking off the damaged fabric completely, arggg, at some point, and I can't recall why. I know better now to leave

the old fabric underneath and applique on top of it. I used an old piece of fabric, c. 1900, that matched the best with the rest of the quilt. I think it turned out well.

In the words of Nancy Kirk, I made an "honest patch." this means I'm not trying to fool anybody, so my stitches show, but it blends well. It was not easy working on a quilt this thick and naturally, my stitches did not go all the way  through. I appliqué the patch on top of the seams and into the batting when there were no seams. It is made with 1 rectangle and 2 squares and I used brown DMC thread.

Soon I will be done and show you my "honest patch" on the acid green fabric in the pre-Civil War quilt TOP. Where is that batting when you need it? :)

You are invited to join our book discussion and interview with Lynne Bassett, the quilt historian who edited the newest state quilt project book,  Massachusetts Quilts: Our Common Wealth, in a group tel-event on March 16th, Monday evening, 5 PM Pacific time. Lynne will answer your questions about particular quilts and other questions that arise as you read this fantastic book. Read more about it on Women On Quilts.

Small Blocks, Stunning Quilts

The new bookwritten by Mary Elizabeth Kinch and Biz Storms (That Patchwork Place)

In one sentence, this pattern book is a reproduction fabric-lover’s dream.The quilts made by the authors make it clear they are bonafide scrap loving quilt makers who put as many different reproduction prints into one quilt as humanly possible.

Mary and Biz define small blocks as under 5” square and stopping short of being miniatures. Any collector knows their raison d’être for the choices they make in purchasing an antique quilt. For Mary and Biz it’s the quilts made exclusively with small blocks that knocks the wind out of their chest in a gasp of glee when seen from across a room or vendor booth. their enthusiasm is palatable through the book and you can’t help but appreciate them for this. The book came from this passion and their hands.

In the first section are pages of 19th century quilts made with small blocks of rosettes, stars, flying geese, half square medallion quilts and others, which the authors studied for inspiration. There are scrumptious pictures of fussy cut hexagons in repro fabrics that match any antique ones I’ve seen. They make me want to get out my hand sewing and try a few. They use clear template plastic and a sandpaper board to mark then cut these little pieces just so.

One of the antique quilts pictured in this section is an outstanding chintz medallion coverlet made c. 1841 in Australia, the “Rajah Quilt.” Female British prisoners on board the convict ship by the same name as this quilt made it. It is a beautiful medallion quilt with 12 borders of various widths with myriad blocks or appliqués. they counted 2,815 pieces of fabric. Biz and Mary are fabri-holics to their core.

With fabric and color leading their every choice in making small block quilt, less attention was paid to the era of the reproduction fabrics they chose. The book is does not mention fabric dating or reproduction quilt making. It doesn't tell the reader how to make their quilt look like a certain era, but their quilts have a traditional and older feel.

Mary and Biz like to machine sew, they find the repetition calming and meditative, so making little blocks with simple shapes gives them lots of quiet time!

They work in an organized manner of chain piecing mixed with liberated techniques of taking the next fabric in a stack without deliberation. The color decision and fabric choices are made at the start then the project proceeds from there without too much attention to what color ends up where. They dedicated the book to their mentor and friend Gwen Marston who inspired them to get out of the rut of worrying about each piece in a quilt. Yet, they remind us that measuring and precision in the sewn seam allowance, is extra important when making small blocks, and they prefer to slow down the sewing and enjoy the process and feel of the fabric. I like this too.

I wonder if there is a Universal move toward smaller going on as our world economy shifts... as I was typing this from my longhand, a Burger King ad for their new smaller tiny burgers came on TV. All the girls gathered around them cooing. Do we coo over small block quilts...really, do we?

***Not to be missed! Do we coo over wonderful old dresses too? Yes!! Check out this just published online article that features a pre-Civil War dress in Nancy Kirk's collection, The Story in a Dress written by Suzanne  Arney. It is also published in the March/April issue of PieceWorks magazine. Click on the link for a full color article PDF.***

Piece,

Kim

Antiquequiltdating.com is Exposed Across the Pond and a Border!

What a surprising year 2009 is turning out to be- wow! I am so grateful. My website, officially titled New Pathways Into Quilt History ,is in its 8th year having begun in the spring of 2001. I owe so much to Judy Breneman, of Womenfolk America's Quilt History websites for helping bring me into the cyberspace world. In 2001, she posted her new website on the QHL and invited anyone who was interested in starting a website on the same server she was using, WebSeed, to let her know. WebSeed required weekly updates and other things as they were making advertising dollars off of our websites. It didn't succeed for them  but Judy and I continued on a regular hosted network system. We were on our own now.  Judy and my husband helped me operate and grow my website, as well as a second one for selling my Antique Quilt Dating Guides...by Style. I am grateful for their belief in my ideas and their support and troubleshooting through the years.

It was exciting when guest authors wrote fabulous articles specifically for my website's audience. Requests for fabric and book reviews have been a welcomed adventure.  I have a stack of books on my desk now that are awaiting to be shared with you. Because of all the input from quilters and writers from around the globe, the website developed its own diverse expression. I am not taking credit, instead I am thrilled that the outreach of many has come to the attention of publishers in England, Ireland , France, Canada and Australia, as well as US magazines and publications online and in print. Here is what has occurred this year.

In the January issue of Britain's Patchwork & Quilting magazine,  Yvonne Jenkins editor of Wandering the Web, featured my website "An excellent website for any quilter interested in the history of quilt making" is her opening sentence. And her closing sentence is just as lovely. Quilters Spirit is described, so all of you are in the magazine too, in Spirit!  Thank you Yvonne for this generous review and a wonderful surprise!

It was my Irish friend, Roselind Shaw, who told me this article was published in the magazine she reads faithfully.

 

 

Some of you may recognize Roselind's name because she has two articles about Irish Quilts on my website. It is this quilt article of Roselind's that caught the attention of the editor of the newest quilt magazine Irish Quilting, Sherry Nugent. Other quilters featured in Irish Quilting's Vol. 1, Issue 2 magazine are Mark Lipinski, Pat Sloan, Kimberly Einmo and Terry McNeill. This is a gorgeous magazine, with the quality of paper and photos as that of Quilt Mania magazine. This issue has 99 pages of patterns, travel, articles and quilts quilts quilts, mostly contemporary, but obviously not all. Rosalind and I were thrilled to receive the request to be in this magazine. I have seen the first two issues and it is not only for Irish quilter's. Quilters anywhere would love this magazine and where else can one find out about what the Irish are up to in the quilt world! They are busy and innovative. There is a  Quilter's Guild of Ireland, an Irish Patchwork Society, and of course, the Quilter's Guild of the British Isles. For more information and to subscribe to this magazine contact info@irishquilting.ie and subs@irishquilting.ie It will be available in the US. Turns out Sherry's mom lives in the same town where  my quilt guild meets. Small World!

Canadian web designer and quilter, Michele  Foster, founder of the Quilting Gallery invited me to be in her month long series about quilt bloggers.  This month, on the 18th, I was the featured blogger. I was among many wonderful quilters, so check them all out when you take a peek at mine. I decided not to write the typical normal this is how I got started kind of thing. I hope you enjoy the views I share in this piece which has a few photos too. The art quilt I made, title Reverberations, needs to be quilted. I can't figure out the best pattern to use and would love input from those of you much better at quilt patterns for contemporary quilts than I am.

If you are interested in quilt history study groups, I have posted a detailed summary of our discussion about them earlier this week on Women On Quilts, check it out here. IF nothing else, there is a long list of suggested topics provided by the Illinois/Iowa Quilt Study Group. They meet at the Kalona Quilt & Textile Museum in Kalona, Iowa twice a year and their meetings and efforts help raise funds to keep the museum running and caring for their collections. The Group also  produces the magazine "Pieces of Time" which their study group meeting's photos and focus contribute to and the members do most of the writing in it. What an incredible accomplishment!

May your year be filled with wonderful surprises and people as well. I certainly value your readership and sharing. Piece on!

Kim Wulfert

What? is on a Wall? & Catching Up on Loose Ends

Where has the time gone? Every day is so busy and often it's spent out of town being a teacher or a student. In January I was a student at The Freedom Formula Experience a four day seminar that was, as promised by Christine Kloser the hostess and main speaker, a  profound experience.  The tag line of her book by the same name as the seminar is "how to put soul in your business and money in your  bank." She taught us her way of doing business that is practical and spiritually based. I will blog  more about the event and speakers on my Women On Quilts blog  which "seams together business and spirit for women in the creative arts." (my tag line :)) The entire time we were there, our focus was on  finding our purpose in life or if we knew it, how could we best express it and make our living doing it, giving us the best of both worlds.

When I returned home, with a notebook of my journaled ideas that took me to places I would not have imagined prior to going, there was an email from Patti Williams. We do not know each other, but she is a lurker on QHL, the Quilt History List, for those of us who adore antique quilts. She tells me about a museum's exhibit in Washington state that she has helped with and attaches this picture. The wall is at the entrance of the quilt exhibit and it reads "Quilts can open our eyes and our hearts to share who sewed before us. It is a wonderful way to learn history." Kimberly Wulfert, PhD

Do you think anything could be cooler to me? Me who shares quotes as often as possible and who buys the books of themed quotes and reads them!  On Women On Quilts I place a new one in the margin each month. A great quote is a marvel to read and hold in your mind, to take in and manifest. This is an honor I will cherish forever and I thank the Northwest Museum of Art and Culture from the bottom of my heart for thinking my quote was worthy of being on their wall. The exhibit will run through May and I hope to make it up there. I want to place my face under the quote for another picture for posterity. In the meantime, take a look at their terrific collection of quilts displayed online.

CATCHING UP ON LOOSE ENDS
Thank you to all of you who wrote me by email or posted a comment with your heartfelt sentiments about the passing of my dear friend and friend of quilter's everywhere, Giles Wright. Your sharing meant allot to me.

Remember the Case of the Mouse Who Ate My Quilt and the Hunt for Green 1840s Fabric? Alls well that ends well, but we hit a snag in the middle of the hunt. When a real swatch that matched was not to be found, reader Kathie Holland graciously sent me her remaining yardage of matching acid green from Judy Rothermel's Lancaster 3 collection. But, it never arrived, anywhere. I searched for more, found none and then went to Road to California last month, and when I got to their booth, Schoolhouse Quilt Shoppe, on Sat., the cupboard was bare! I mean seriously- their booth was nearly empty! Bob knew what I was talking about and said he thought he had some at the shop and to contact him there, so I did. He was able to scrounge 1/2 yard and now, finally,  it is in my hands and soon will be in Kathie's too. lesson learned, never give up on the hunt for fabric. :)

Is the match perfect, not quite. The pattern is exactly the same so you wouldn't realize the difference unless you held them side by side (and it will look fine enough in the quilt top, certainly better than the mouse holes). The difference is the background color is darker on the old fabric than the reproduction. Here's a picture. You probably think, what is she talking about, they  match! I think it will work just fine even though they are not the same color. The original fabric has more contrast between the two greens that form the background.

Katie Pasquini Masupost has written another new book that is fabulous and easy enough for beginning art quilters and the more advanced that need some nudging to expand their techniques will love it too. The text Katie writes is focused on her own thinking processes of analysis and alternatives as she plans a quilt from finding the initial concept to the various ways you can turn your idea or photo into a one-dimensional design. She includes her methods known as ghost layers, fractured landscape and the painterly painterly approach.  Check out more details in my book review of "Design Explorations for the Creative Quilter: easy to follow directions for creative art quilts."

A quilter who is also an expert in traveling for business, Carol Margolis, will be my guest on Monday evening, Feb. 23, on a fr.ee tele-interview where we will ask her all kinds of questions to  make traveling easier for quilters, authors, vendors, teachers and women in business. Carol is  the Founder of SmartWomenTravelers.com

This coming Monday evening, on WOQ,  I will  bring you Part 2 of the quilt history study group discussion with Beth Davis and Karen Parrett. Join us from the comfort of your home and share your group's experiences, struggles and highlights, or ask questions. All input is important and welcome.

Have a great weekend everyone. May you be warm, dry and cozy. Piece, Kim

Giles R. Wright, my Dear Friend & Mentor, In Memoriam

With deeply felt sadness my post today is to let quilters know  my dear friend and Black History scholar Giles R. Wright, Jr.* passed away Thursday, Feb. 6 at a hospital in his home state of New Jersey. He leaves behind his wife and son. Giles had a serious stroke in May 2008 and then other complications came into play, changing his life forever. He was never able to return to the work he loved to do on behalf of African American history at the New Jersey Historical Commission.

Giles was one of the most gracious men I have known, in person and in other communications. Socially he was so warm and funny, as well as intelligent and charming. I had a wonderful time with him in Philadelphia.  Email and occasional phone calls were our main form of communication, being that we live on different coasts. He was very serious about getting the facts out about New Jersey's Black history and the history of all African Americans. His integrity brought forth mindfulness for logic and truth in everything he read about slavery and of the oppression of African Americans.

Giles became one of the leading voices among professional historians in states along the Underground railroad and was often invited to speak and to write on the subject. He did not seek the limelight. He spoke professionally but was discriminating about interviews with the media and did not agree to many requests, yet he was often quoted by the media. "He had become a very influential person in the history of blacks, especially because of his book, "The History of African Americans in New Jersey," Mappen said. "Giles had very firm standards of proof. . . He was a very careful researcher, very careful in his writings. He wanted to make sure it was accurate." (Black News Tribune, Feb. 5, 2009)

He is best known to the quilting community for his work in dispelling the misinformation about quilts being used as signals for fleeing slaves along the Underground Railroad. Over the years, he and I discussed and the effects of misinformation and  greed on society's view of slavery. He was pained by the misinformation that abounded at times, and jubilant when a mind was changed to tell historical truth. His awareness of the "quilt code" came after he read the book that put the myth out as fact, Hidden in Plain View, by Tobin and Dobard. ""Some black quilters have accused me of denying our heritage. I'm trying to protect it," Mr. Wright told The Star-Ledger in an interview three years ago, just before his once-controversial conclusions became embraced by most historians." (Black News Tribune, Feb.5, 2009)

"Relying on the oral history of one family, without corroboration from other sources. is what offends historians like Giles Wright, an Underground Railroad expert who works for the New Jersey Historical Commission. 'The Underground Railroad is so rife with distortions and misinformation, and this is just one more instance when someone comes across folklore and assumes it's true,' he says." (Time, April 3, 2007)

Giles and I would read a book about the Underground Railroad or slave's narratives and then discuss it. He taught me so much, and helped me see and feel the ownership of one human over another that was so horrific I never wanted to go there, but with Giles to talk to and to lead the way, I felt those feelings and allowed the evilness of slavery to come into my consciousness and stay there. Giles changed me by making me feel the injustice of any situation where one human takes ownership over another, changes their name, rapes them, or separates them from their children and family members, to benefit themselves. In one email he told me that he and other Blacks did not have the same respect for our founding Fathers as I did because they were slave owners.

We also enjoyed talk about politics.  Early on, before others spoke much about it, Giles was thrilled with the possibilities he saw for the US if Barack Obama were to be taken as a serious candidate. Because of my utmost respect for Giles and his astute intellect and perception, I paid more attention to Barack. Giles was one of the first people I told when I changed my backing from Hilary to Barack. He told me was surprised, and not.  Giles came to know that Barack would prevail and become our next president long before the rest of us did. He saw the leadership and  light in Barack and he was of the belief that this would help to change our world to be a more honest, peaceful and loving place. Giles signed all of his emails to me with Peace.

Giles' friendship and respect for me was such a gift. He respected many people and told me about them, always giving credit where credit was due and telling me who was especially important to pay attention to and believe.  He was not competitive or mean spirited toward others, he was proud of his colleagues' accomplishments and their contributions to historical research and current events. He supported them and left the others alone. He stood up for truth as a historian for New Jersey , but he was a truth-seeker. I miss talking with him so much, and now I know for sure that we will not talk through the computer again, but we will talk through spirit.

*Black News Tribune  includes a *photo* of Giles, "Giles R. Wright Jr.,renowned scholar of African American History, dies at 73"

New Jersey News has published a tribute to Giles that goes beyond the usual obit, the title says it all  "A Scholar Who Settled Only for the Truth."

This would have been the busiest month of the year for Giles, for it is Black History Month. Additionally, in 1981, he co-founded the Marion Thompson Wright lecture series for scholars and humanists from across the nation. This annual event has become one of the most prestigious forums of it's kind for public scholarship and civic discourse. 

Giles R. Wright is now an important part of that history. May he rest in peace.

In gratitude and love,

Kim Wulfert

Should you want to send a condolence card to his wife, I will be the middleman. Send to my name  at  226 W. Ojai Ave. Suite. 101, #107, Ojai, CA  93023

To read the interview  Giles and I did together, discussing the people and  known facts about the Underground Railroad

and the critique of Hidden in Plain View that Giles wrote and presented when he became aware of misrepresentations it contained and put forth as if factual

for more information about the Underground Railroad and quilts see http://www.antiquequiltdating.com/UGRR_index.html

A Sign of the Times

It seems to me that nearly every week I hear about a quilt or fabric shop closing. Not just here, but all over the country. Yet, I also keep hearing that fabric purchases for clothing are on the rise. More and more women and girls are making their own clothes. In fact, I received a phone call today from a woman asking where her 19 year old granddaughter could get sewing lessons, as she wanted to start her own business.

photo of my quilt, ca. 1900-1920 scrappy

The other common theme being discussed in quilting blogs, articles, and among quilters, is the Great Depression. No, not the one we are in, but the first one. With the GD comes history and the people's stories. Reading them I forget that we are in one ourselves. Nothing like the distraction being, well, the same thing as the problem you want to be distracted from!

So it wasn't a surprise when I came across two wonderful women's articles today on these topics. If you enjoy reading history of women's lives, read these and see if you feel yummy or ? If you don't like history, skip them because you won't feel yummy or distracted at all.

Great Depression Survivor:I worked for Shoes, by Kimberly Palmer "Everyone knows about patchwork quilts which we used for bed covers. The tops of our quilts were made of scrap material left from my mother’s sewing projects. The patterns varied with the colors and sizes of the pieces. Patterns were obtained from relatives and neighbors-often copied from quilts or magazines. The tops were quilted by hand to muslin linings through cotton batting.

My mother made our night clothes from flannel for the winter, but we generally slept in old dresses or slips in warmer weather. We usually had about two or three dresses each for everyday and one for Sunday. I remember one time, I had gotten all my everyday dresses dirty and my mother allowed me to wear my Sunday to school on Monday which was wash day... As I was crossing the creek, I fell in and got my dress wet and muddy and I had to go back home. I missed school that day because I had nothing presentable to wear to school." http://tinyurl.com/89gwmp U.S. News and World Report, Jan. 7, 2009

Life Before Shopping by Patricia McLaughlin "It's only in retrospect — now that it's over — that you begin to notice how odd it was that shopping, a task that played such a minor role in the lives of most Americans before World War II, should over the last half-century have so thoroughly captivated, saturated and finally remade American society, culture, values, habits and folkways in its own image....

I can't remember which sociologist pointed out that a big part of the modernizing of American households universally ballyhooed as progress in the late 1940s and 1950s — the washers and dryers and vacuum cleaners and ready-made clothes and store-bought cake mixes and canned goods and cellophane-wrapped cakes and cookies and loaves of airy sliced bread — boiled down to the de-skilling of housework. ...

Women whose mothers had been highly skilled producers of cakes and jams and quilts and clothing instead developed skills as competitive shoppers.

In retrospect, it seems like a bad bargain. Notice how much of the work women were "rescued" from in the 1950s — quilting, baking, knitting, cooking from scratch, growing vegetables — has found its way back into their lives relabeled as recreation." Read on to find out why she thinks. http://tinyurl.com/7h4xwk STLToday.com

McLaughlin's entire article is a yummy read. She supports her thesis well. I just couldn't get the Maytag repair man, sitting on his chair, out of my mind :)

I have a dozen or more "Olde Time Needlework Patterns and Designs" magazines for sale. Not necessarily those shown above. Email me for info and list of dates.

Historians Quilt Challenge for 2009

Have you heard about the quilt challenge that honors the women in the Quilters Hall of Fame? The challenge is a fundraiser for their Marion museum/home, which is another great reason to enter this challenge, but the topic is what drew me in "They made Their Mark." There are so many wonderful women to chose from! Photographs and a brief biography of each honoree are here. 

This challenge certainly does not leave out art or contemporary quilters; Yvonne Porcella, Nancy Crow, Jinny Beyer, Karey Bresenhan, Michael James, Jean Ray Laury, and Donna Wilder are among the inductees.

To participate, select one of the Honorees of The Quilters Hall of Fame who has influenced you in some special way and interpret this influence in a new work. The quilts will hang in Marion, Indiana, July 16 thru July 19, 2009.

The one quilt that best exemplifies the theme of this Challenge will receive the $500 Founder's Purchase Award and will become a part of the permanent TQHF education collection. This ­a very rare opportunity for someone other than an Honoree to get a quilt in the collection.

Marie Webster's granddaughter, Rosalind Webster Perry, authored two books with patterns about Marie's quilts ,and she reprinted Marie's 1915 book "Quilts and the Women Who Made Them", which was the first book published about quilts. Photos of her and and quilts from her collection and that time period are here. Rosalind and I are in the same quilt guild here in CA, as is the woman who made the patterns for the books, quilt teacher Marti Frolli. Our Guild, Coastal Quilters,  supports TQHF and Rosalind presented a brief but informative power point about it's history to us at the Christmas 2008 meeting.

The two patterns books in which Rosalind wrote about the history of Marie Webster and her Practical Patchwork company are Webster's Garden of Quilts (with a forward by Cuesta Benberry) and A Joy Forever: Marie Webster's Quilt Patterns.

Conditions of Entry in brief: must be made by the person entering the challenge; must be no larger than 160" total of all four sides; shall consist of three layers of textiles stitched together; photo and narrative must accompany the entry; Intent to Enter Form and fee is to be received by June 1, 2009.

Visit their website at www.quiltershalloffame.net to download the PDF file that contains the complete form. To receive the 2009 Challenge Entry Form by mail or the 2009 Celebration Registration form, write to TQHF, P.O. Box 681, Marion, IN, 46952, or CALL 765-664-9333  or E-MAIL them at quiltershalloffame@sbcglobal.net.

The minute I heard about this challenge 2 quilt ideas with their corresponding woman jumped into my mind. I drew each one long hand and made notes. I added to them since then and now know which one I will make. If I get to two, cool, but one would be an accomplishment for me. It's just hard to find time to sew. You can enter two quilts for their $25 entrance fee.

So, will you join me in this entering this challenge? If you get your quilt finished, send a photo to me in July and I will post them on my blog or website for an online show of my reader's quilts, after the opening of the exhibit in Marion.

Hazel Carter founded TQHF in 1979. Read more about her and this adventure in our interview. Did you know that Merikay Waldvogal is the inductee this year? I am thrilled. She is very deserving.

My Last Quilt Comments for 2008- isn't life a curious thing!

Happy New Year Everyone!! May 2009 be your best year yet!

Here are a few last interesting quilt things from 2008 I want to share with you.

First is an article in about some Mennonite and
Amish appliqué quilts for sale in Lancaster county, PA but not being made there. What struck me as I read it was the fact that appliqué quilts have never been a hallmark of traditional Lancaster, PA quilts. But that was not their point to make. I first heard about Amish quilts being made outside of the US in the 1990s. This article runs down one main source of needleworked applique.

Next is an article about women scientists, mostly specializing in neuroanatomy, who are also fiber artists. See how they have combined their passions. There is an online Museum dedicated to exhibiting the results of this combo. Maybe you have a quilt to offer them?

Lastly, have you taken Martha Stewart's textile quiz? Check it out. I got all but 1 right. How did you do?

Oh what the heck- here are some completely unrelated, but significant recommendations from me to you as you begin 2009- I'm talkn' serious girl stuff here :)

1. SEE on the big screen "The Curious Life of Benjamin Buttons." It is probably the best movie that has been made in my lifetime. The message is what I am referring to; the acting, screenplay and visuals are superb too.

2.If you like Seal's music, and are a baby boomer like me, you will love his newest album of the blues and Motown songs from the 20th century, SealSoul.

3. If you get tiny fat deposits under your eyes, use Sudden Change Night Repair Eye Cream and they will quickly go away. They form from putting creams under your eye area.

4. If you have a daughter or granddaughter who is aged 10 to 14, get her the book "The Tale of Alice's Quilt" by Jennifer Blomgren. It is so delightful! It is about an 11 year old girl learning her family history while also learning to quilt. She decides to make family heirloom butterfly blocks into a quilt. The 92 page book includes the pattern and instructions. There is a watercolor picture at the start of each chapter, making this a wonderful gift book too.

5. Join me in the new year for inspirational telephone talks with quilters and women in quilt related careers and businesses at Women On Quilts where women seam together business and spirit in the creative arts. This could be a new way to learn and grow for all of us. The first call in 2009 is Jan. 8 with author, publisher and book coach, Lynne Klippel. Are you self-sabotaging that book you want to write? Sign up to recieve notices for the next tel-event or interview on http://womenonquilts.blogspot.com

Piece to you and those you quilt with,
Kim


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Think Like an Artist with Pamela Allen

         Pamela Allen's infectious enthusiasm for spontaneous quilt making had me sketching before the end of this rich two-hour DVD. I seldom sketch, but the dozens of quilts she showed inspired me! The irony of that response is that Pam would not recommend sketching at all. No. Scissors are her drawing tool.                                  

She just dives right into cutting three values of fabric into  pieces big enough to cover the backing and batting she pre-prepares by spray basting them. Her quilting and embellishing hold the layers of her pictorial wall-hanging fiber art together.

Pamela thinks in pictures; I would bet on it. She loves putting symbolism in her quilting stitches and her appliquéd pictures. She draws from her childhood up to her current life for inspiration. Her fabrics are of every fiber and type, including stretch knits. Mostly she buys clothing at thrift stores to gather her stash. She loves to touch her pictures. She appliqués the pieces by hand, using floss and big stitches on the scissor-cut edge and other stitches for decoration and portraying the symbolism she wants you to see. Stitching is an element she uses extensively, with or without embellishments - texture abounds in her art. (**bag of embellishments)

Pamela's quilt style stimulates conversation and invites the viewer to look longer and discover her many elements . About half of the DVD is like a gallery visit, where we are viewing her quilts while she explains her source of inspiration for the theme she had in mind. Good close-up views are included.  In the other half, we watch and listen as she goes about spontaneously making a wall hanging. It appeared her choices were not preplanned or scripted in any way. Clearly she loves making art by auditioning both fabrics and shapes. She urges the viewer to work fast to make decisions rather than go back and forth trying to decide.  It was her goal to teach us "to think like an artist." The word detached came to my mind. Don't get hung up on your favorite fabric or shape, go with what you find first that works, then stick with it.

The naturalness of her working style makes this DVD stand out from the others I have seen and enjoyed too. It is a less structured lesson and I felt Pamela came across in a very personal manner.  She even includes the bloopers as a menu option, which adds humor and appreciation for how nervous she was, but didn't show it. She makes you smile because of her passionate pursuit for the craft and it's possibilities. She describes her approach to making fabric postcards by showing before and after visuals of postcards being made.

If you prefer rules and details and specifics from a teaching DVD, then this one definitely won't appeal to you. Pamela is totally free-wheeling - 'the anything goes if it looks good to you' approach. She takes quilting seriously and enters shows and challenges, but she likes to do it her way.

I didn't realize I already knew Pamela's work until she showed a house moving-themed quilt that I took pictures of at Pacific International Quilt Festival a couple years ago. I loved how she had tiny kitchen utensils attached to the kitchen wall of the house. She titled it "It Always Rains on Moving Day" in  2005, 35"X40". Pamela says " I moved a great deal as a child and hated it. It didn't matter what the weather was really like, it always seemed to be raining.  Each room of the house has embellishments and quilting describing their function. Cutlery and utensils for the kitchen and even a quilted bath tub and toilet!"  Pamela makes any kind of knick-knack sew-able by using various tools to make holes it, which she demonstrates in the video.

Pamela's DVD is available here. There is a also a short video sampling  out-takes from the DVD.

Great job Pamela.  The quilt photos are also from Pamela, and used with her permission. Thanks for sharing your self, art and approach to art quilting.

 

Here is the entire quilt that encapsulates the area seen in the detail photo above on the right. It is titled "WANNA BITE?" 2008,45"x42". Pamela says "I think Eve has always gotten short shrift. After all, she introduced adventure and knowledge to the human race! Hardly forbidden fruit in my opinion"

**"Think Like an Artist" bags of embellishments for your quilts are available from www.willowwoodfibrearts.com.  The bag includes  some of your signature embellishments including plastic eggs, safety pins, dice, game pieces, keys, spools, thimbles, bobbins and much more.

Artist's Statements at Quilt Visions exhibit- some thoughts & links to past quilts

This year I was especially interested in discovering why or by what the artist was inspired.  I much prefer it when I can see what the artist is saying she or he is making visible in the piece.

Their statements for the most part were meaningful, and added to my understanding of the purpose of the quilt for the artist (from their perspective). What the artist wrote about in their statement that she/he wanted to say or project, was visible in their wall art.

It was interesting to see how the artist made the leap from a mental cognition to the fiber visual.

There is no right or wrong of course, but sometimes I just don't get the connection. 

It seemed to me in this exhibit that their statements fit the quilt, even when one or the other was quite abstract.  So what changed I wondered, me or the artist's statements?

Here you can view http://www.quiltvisions.org/visionsarchives.html  quilts from past Visions exhibits.  2004 and 2006 show all of them.

This http://www.quiltvisions.org/v2006/v2006.html was one of my favorites in 2006, Cosmic Bicycles. Also "Primitive Door Series #30, Haunted House" was realistic looking and another favorite. Click on See All Quilts slideshow to view it.

I just came across an interesting article from an Australian magazine about a woman economist who found a connection to weaving, quilts, darning and photography. the article doesn't have pictures unfortunately, so it's a bit hard to visualize what she is referring to at times. But it fits with this post in my mind. See http://tinyurl.com/46kotc

Maybe some of my Australian friends and subscribers could post a comment on this with a link to visuals? it would be most appreciated.

I hope your Holidays are filled with love for you this season.

Piece,

Kim

Quilt Visions 2008 exhibit- Contemporary Expressions

You are so lucky!! No photography is allowed at this art quilt exhibit in Oceanside CA, but they have wonderful brochures with pictures!  I liked many of the quilts in the exhibit, but the two that took my vote (only in my mind, it's a juried exhibit) were on the brochure- yeah!

  This all fabric quilt was made by Diane Goulston Robinson, titled Facade. It was like looking through a window when I first came upon it hanging alone on a short wall. It is an incredibly accurate depiction of a building reflected in a glass building across the street.  Can you believe Diane used upholstery fabrics among many other types of fabrics?

 

My other favorite is in aqua and tan shades of layered  illusions on shear fabrics, AND upholstery fabrics, rough cut to blend in ways you hardly noticed but made perfect ground and wings. A beautiful quilt that felt delicate and powerful at the same time.

 

 

This is Red Temple by Miriam Nathan-Roberts. Looks like a wooden ceiling or furniture. All fabric. Amazing.

 

 

The top quilt photo(right) is only a small section of a raw edge 8 or 10 foot long wall hanging. I am guessing on the length, but it is very wide and less tall. BIG. Close up you see layers and layers of myriad of fabrics; stand back and a scene of friends sitting around and one playing music forms. Exquisite.

 

The second photo is also smaller than the wall art, but shows what it mostly looks like. It keeps your attention for quite awhile, as it is interesting to look at. Symmetry is no where to be found, yet you think you can find it. I also liked the colors.

 

Quilt Visions 2008 will hang at the Oceanside Museum of Art (just north of San Diego) until March 1, 2009. It is without question worth your time. There is a book if you can't make it. The quilt exhibit is every other year. For directions and hours, www.oma-online.org.

Piece,

Kim

Peggy Martin's Paper Piecing

Technorati Tags: Peggy Martin,Paper Piecing Quilts,Quilt DVD

I met Peggy quite by chance at the Long Beach International Quilt Festival this summer. She and I both attended Yvonne Porcella's lecture. We ooed 'n awed at the same things so striking up a conversation was easy. It was then that she told me her name and I told her I had just ordered her DVD about her method for quick paper piecing. Never had I put the two words together in one sentence before! Truly her method is quick and now I can make the mariner's compass and other stars that have eluded me over the years of admiring them in antique quilts.

Peggy made the purse she's carrying in the picture.it exemplifies her color choices, saturated warm colors and black and white. her compass stars will look different than mine, well most of them :0)

Peggy Martin's years of quilt teaching experience make's her technique DVD excellent. Rightly named "Peggy Martin Teaches You Quick-Strip Paper Piecing." Peggy's attention to detail is the frosting on the paper pieced quilt you can make in no time compared to non-strip pieced methods. Much less time is spent ironing, cutting, sewing and she wants you to make multiple copies from your printer. The DVD provides two patterns to download and she has a copyright free stamp on the patterns in her two books; "Quick-Strip Paper Piecing" and "Paper Piece the Quick-Strip Way."

Let's face it, most paper piecing patterns are full of angles that make guessing impossible, so trial and error or checking and rechecking or ripping out and starting over are a part of the process. This turned me off in the past. Peggy's patterns are clearly marked and using her strip-piecing method together with them eliminates the guess work and eliminates steps making it a faster process. Some checking is required, but no more than on regular piecing as the 1/4 inch seam allowance still applies.

In the DVD Peggy makes two patterns, one totally made from angles for beginners and the other a compass star. She shows a variety of quilts one can make from the featured pattern blocks. Of course there are more variations.

She covers preparing the fabric, tools to use, ironing tips, sewing with excellent close-up photography and a clear narrative following her thinking as she progresses. It doesn't sound like a script is being read, she's into it and we are the benefactors. This DVD makes the process sensible and doable.

Peggy covers every question you would ask and repeats the answers when the situation arises during the instructions. I didn't have a question left when the DVD was over. After that I was pleasantly surprised to see there was more. Peggy talks about her beginnings as a teacher, shows us her studio and her quilts. this DVD is #14 in C&T's "At Home With the Experts" series.

As I always say- Piece!

Kim

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The Charm Quilt Returns

Michele Foster who runs the Quilt Gallery, an online quilter's blog directory and more, is holding a charm quilt contest this month. Michele lives in Ottawa Canada. She, along with her quilting freinds and family, want to make charm quilts for the charity Victoria's Quilt Canada using fabric squares from all over the world. Let's help her!

She requests 6 5" charm squares (meaning they are 6 different 100% cotton fabrics) be sent to in a regular mailing envelope. Your name will be entered into a drawing for receiving a set of 36 charm blocks back!

Click on her icon for shipping info and more details. If the icon above isn't showing click here for the webpage
This is another historical quilt style coming back to us in the 21st century. Hurry as this ends Dec. 31.

I'm going to cut my charms now. Thanks Michele- this is a great idea. It's easy and fast for us at a busy time of year.

Piece,
Kim

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Abundance of Quilts for the Eyes on this Thanksgiving

The Internet honestly I never would have thought I would say this, but it is a blessing. I am about to share with you links to incredible quilt articles, full of love, care, photos and inspiration and mindful thoughts for you to ponder and enjoy over the Thanksgiving break. (I know some of you are saying A break- what's that?)  I could say that too, but I won't. I am going to take a break, consciously setting my work and demands aside for a couple of days. If it feels really good, maybe three days!

I am headed to San Diego to view three quilt exhibits. The main event however is a phenom of avant garde art quilts at Visions. Visions is a juried exhibit. Something like 564 quilted works of art were entered and 41 were chosen. The museum in Oceanside, CA, is tiny, and this limits the number that can be shown. It's a lovely setting and shows the quilts off well. And let's face it, getting your quilt accepted is even more of a coo with odds like that.

Riding on Thermals
by Rose Hughes
Exhibited at PIQF 2008

To learn more about becoming a quilt artist, meet Rose Hughes, maker of this velvet and silk quilt, December 3, on Women On Quilts You can see more of her quilts on this page too. 

So - Take your time, pour a glass of whatever you love to sip, put on some soothing music, light a scented candle, and begin to embrace the variety below.  I recently discovered a musical group or orchestra really called State of Grace which I love to listen to as I work. Few words, mostly heavenly music. Very inspiring. It's published by Windham.  Don't confuse it with their State of Grace 2, it's not as soothing IMHO.  While I'm sharing, have you discovered the exquisite scented candle made by W&M Co.? Wow, scented meets it's match. I bought mine at Home Goods in the Silicon Valley, but it's a chain of stores.

http://www.selvedge.org/default.aspx  1924 video about the  wool manufacturing process step by step in Australia

http://www.pintangle.com/journal/2008/11/21/another-2-diamond-blocks-done.html  crazy quilt embroidery stitching
and http://www.pintangle.com/journal/2008/11/23/how-to-transfer-embroidery-patterns-to-fabric.html  hot to transfer embroidery patterns to fabric

http://lucyquilting.blogspot.com/   "Quilting with the Past"about making reproduction quilts mostly

http://www.gwenmagee.com/portfolio.html  Gwendolyn Magee, Art quilter, some are statements on slavery, intense & speak volumes

http://www.needlenthread.com/2008/11/art-of-embroiderer-museum-exhibit.html  antique embroidery on clothing at Kent Museum

http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/category/interviews  scroll down and down through the posts to see the photos mostly, but they grab you to also read text. Warning- no quilts, yet.

http://greenquilts.blogspot.com/2008/11/new-use-forpaintstix-rubbing-plates.html

Marshall county dump quilts  http://pennysanford.typepad.com/penny_sanford_porcelains_/2008/04/finally-the-sto.html

Judy's frugal link http://www.womenfolk.com/frugal_quilting/
quilt_business.htm 

Selvage jacket Calendar Pages
http://calenderpages.blogspot.com/  and http://calenderpages.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html and http://calenderpages.blogspot.com/2008/11/jacket-finished.html

http://charmsofdays.com/ Lots of feedsack photos intermingled

http://www.sacredthreadsquilts.com./default.htm be sure to click on the Gallery tab to see previous winning quilts

End with http://farmgirlfollies.wordpress.com/2008/11/12/be-generous-of-spirit/

http://needlework.craftgossip.com and
Oh Well, La La http://denisefelton.blogspot.com/ 

http://lynnewsnyder.blogspot.com/2008/11/lunch-at-quiltlers.html  the Provo quilter  country charm

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/389492_caps26.html  inspiring story about teen girl helping homeless, quilts mentioned just once

http://www.uwhealth.org/gored/goredforwomenandquilting/13919  go red

http://scrapsandthreadtales.blogspot.com/  scroll down for location pictures on this woman's travel

I have enjoyed our journey together this year. Thank you for being with me on it. Each of you are a gift to me. Together we hold the thread that forms the circle of quilters spirits around the world.

Piece to you and those you quilt with,

Kim

The Alliance for American Quilts & Stories

My interview with Amy Milne including the many projects she directs within the Alliance of American Quilts was inspiring, thought-provoking, and truthfully, it felt like a gift was handed to me.

As a result I want you to hand the gift to you too. Amy has agreed that we make this interview available to all of you, VIP or not, right here by webcast. Start here.

Posted by Kimberly Wulfert
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String Quilts Match Economic Times & 2 new books

On my way to my quilt guild Thursday evening I drove through Montecito and saw the begining of the fires there. The sky was so black, the ocean on one side and the hills on the other, with two big orange flames that could be seen from afar. During the meeting we were told the electricty had gone out for some of the homes in the fire area. If things weren't bad enough for those in dangerous areas, some people were unable to get their cars out of their garage or their private gate. Can you imagine, seeing the flames, receiving the 911 call to leave immediately, and then be stuck isnside your property with a car loaded with gas! I don't know how this is so, but no one was killed in the fires there.

I left guild early thinking the freeway may be closed and fortunately it was not. Since then our local news has been about nothing but fires; east and south of us, they continue to rage. So much beauty is lost when the fires come. Arnold, our govenor, said today that there is no longer a fire season in California. Now fires are all year long. That's true. He said it was due to the climate changes connected to global warming.

In one mobile home park over 500 homes were desicrated. Many many families are homeless today since the fires began on Thursday evening. And we Americans, me included, are focusing on the economy, unemployment and stock market thinking that things couldn't get much worse. Let's take a moment and count our many blessings.

This week I put a new article on my website String Quilts Match the Economic Times, Past and Present. The quilts shown are from my collection. I think there is a surprise in it. Let me know if you found the surprise. It's a connection for lack of a better term. No, it's not candy or fabric- sorry! It may bring a smile to your face though, and that's worth getting. :)

Diane Shink, my friend and quilt history buddy has co-authored a quilt book with Karen Neary, Canadian Heritage Quilting — Quick Creative Designs, a 128-page book that delves into 16 vintage Canadian quilts, many with a strong Maritime connection... Ms. Shink researched and wrote the historical details for each quilt featured in the book. Ms. Neary created the modern patterns. click here for a Canadian news article about the book

The book has just been published in Canada and I am thrilled for Diane. She told me last week that it's on Amazon. Diane lives in Montreal, collects antique quilts with a star pattern, any star, and she collects Aprons. She teaches, writes, is an appraiser and a member of AQSG.

Are you looking to make some fast but wonderful quilts or wallhangings for Christmas gifts? Are you aware of the technique that uses no bias, no set-in Y seams and no diamond shapes, yet results in a Star of Bethlehem, or Lone Star pattern?

Big One-Star Quilts by Magic is written by Nancy Johnson-Sebro. It is her second book using this technique for big stars with 14 new star patterns, I recommend in my review that you use an all-over tight print or marble or hand dyed looking fabric for the rectangles and squares that form the Star's diamonds. This will trick the eye, leaving the horizontal or vertical seams in the Texas dust. No one will be the wiser.

It looks to me like a weekend would take it from start to finish. Nancy goes green by providing 14 patterns for the back that use the scraps from the front.

Piece,
Kim

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