Even more quilts… (Shelburne Museum II)

But wait, there’s more…

A simple block, in two colors (and a classic turkey-red and white combination at that) but you get such interesting patterns and secondary patterns.

Alice Emerson, 1934, Burlington VT

This was a trend at somepoint, competing to get as many tiny tiny patchwork squares into a quilt as you can. The one next to this had 23,ooo pieces (1/2 inch by 1/2 inch), this one was prettier though with those 1930’s fabrics.

My fingers hurt just imagining making one of these quilts – especially before rotary cutters and strip piecing.

And if meticulous piecing isn’t enough… elaborately embellished crazy quilts.

But the thing is, amazing as those are, that’s not reallyme. (This is me, by the way)

Self portrait in quilts

So, I’m going to end with this quilt: it’s got a great star pattern, and looks like it got a lot of love (and way more use than the purely decorative embellished crazy quilts)…

…despite it’s many cut off points.

Perfect Points

Happy quilting, folks!

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Shelburne Museum aka more quilts!

It was a quilt-filled weekend in Vermont. I (and apparently alot of other, tote-bag carrying, fabric-buying, quilt-ooo!-ing women) headed to the Shelburne Museum after the quilt festival.

"Quilts from the permanent collection"

(Fabulous museum by the way… 30 or 40 buildings stuffed with a mish-mash of fine art, craft, folk-art, historic furnishings and whatever else the founder had an eye for collecting with a few gardens in between and a cafe with food that was actually worth the price)

But, all that aside, I started at the quilt exhibit. Most of the quilts are in these huge hinged display cases that turn like the pages of a giant book

Best book ever...

Scrappy stars - quilter unknown, 1890-1900

Someone was going to use up every last scrap in her basket. In my head, this one is titled “Waste not, want not”

Whig Rose - Annette Coolidge Marshall - 1858/9 - Marysville, Ohio

And the other end of the quilting spectrum, look at that hand quilting. The whole quilt has the cross hatching, plus (I think) 4 of those wreaths and a feather border.

To be continued…

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