Something Old Something New

No, it's not a wedding, but I got to satisfy my love of art quilts and antique quilts this week.  On Monday I attended another session of a quilt study group I have joined, hosted by the Packwood House Museum in Lewisburg, PA, about an hour and a half from where I live.  The Packwood House has acquired a growing collection of old quilts, many from the nineteenth century and most probably from Pennsylvania.  At the study sessions several old quilts are brought out, spread on a prepared table and we talk about the pattern, color, stitching, binding, batting (if we can see any), possible age, and anything else that seems appropriate.

This week we began with a peek at a dazzling pieced silk quilt from possibly the 1840s--too fragile now to even take out of its box.  Then we got a good look at a crazy quilt from around the 1890s and this was a beauty.  The range of fabrics kept us busy for a long time.  My favorite was an ombre that shaded from almost white through a pink to a darker red but also moved from flat weave to a fuzzy weave that looked almost like fake fur.  Didn't know there was fabric like that at that time.   There were tiny paintings on pieces, embroidered silhouettes and animals, initials to wonder about.  And of course, the traditional spider for good luck.  This quilter was taking no chances because, as one of our leaders warned us, the quilt was "crawling with spiders."

Then on to a patriotic quilt of appliqued tan eagles around a red medallion center--not a very striking quilt until one of the leaders reminded us that the tan was probably green, which, because of the fugitive nature of the dye had lost its blue component and turned tan over time, and this was actually a traditional red and green quilt.  And so the afternoon went.

In the morning I had gotten to feed the other part of my artistic soul.  The museum was featuring an exhibit (click on Artists Series) of art quilts from two local art quilters, Paula Swett and Cathy Stechschulte, as well as part of a small travelling exhibit from Studio Art Quilt Associates, and I arrived early to spend some time with these quilts before the meeting.  Paula Swett plays with line, color, and quilting stitch to create glowing masterpieces.  I particularly like the piece she made from a vinyl tablecloth that had for years protected her table as she painted.  She cut it into strips, wove them together and then sewed them into a totally abstract piece complete with pearl cotton quilting that demands your attention.   Cathy creates layers on cloth with dyes and silk screens and thermofax that look three dimensional from a distance.

I have no photographs to show for my day in Lewisburg since photos were not allowed.  I could have taken a  photo of the outside of the museum, but I didn't think of that (probably just got a D- in blogging school for that oversight).  But the whole point of that day, of my driving for three hours, is that virtual reality has its limits.  Looking at a picture of a very old quilt is just not in the same category as standing over it, touching (albeit with white gloves) this fabric that a quilter worked on 150 years ago, or spending time looking for the place where she joined the cording that she used instead of binding.  And a photograph can never replace being in the presence of fabric art where you can see how moving closer or further back changes what you see in the piece or how the light changes the texture of the piece as you change your position.

All of this is not a startling new discovery on my part.  In fact, it's probably been said so much it's become a  cliche, but it doesn't hurt to reexamine the cliche, particularly in a world where people are equating online access to information with knowledge and, even worse, with wisdom.  Sometimes you just have to be there--and spend some time there.

And if you are still spending time reading this, thanks for the company.

In the Company of Quilters

This week two friends and I wended our way up the hills of Ithaca to Cornell's Herbert F. Johnson Museum, which was hosting an exhibit of quilts from the collection of Etsuko Terasaki, who began buying quilts in 1975.  Sadly, the origins of most of these quilts is unknown, and even when the maker signed the quilt, nothing appears to be known about her life or even where the quilt was made.  While a few bore specific dates in the 1800s, most were labelled late 19th or early 20th century.  These were not abstract, out-of-the-box art quilts, but traditional, historical works made primarily to be used, and I found much to contemplate.  

Usually when I go to big quilt shows I take off on my own, since I may want to linger at a quilt that someone else may not be interested in--or vice versa.  But this was a small show---probably twenty bed quilts--and we stayed together, commenting on different aspects of the quilts and sharing our general impressions.   Why, we wondered, did one quilter take care to keep her seams matched and points sharp but did not cut the striped fabric for the sashing so that it matched up?  The cheddar orange, that favorite color of some 18th c. quilters, blared out at us in one quilt, fighting with the pink and teal of the some of the other fabrics, but just gave a zing to another eight-pointed star quilt.  We spent time picking out spider webs and tennis rackets and peacocks and flowers and unusual fabrics from the multiplicity of images and techniques on a beautiful crazy quilt, and we all admired a tumbling blocks quilt, where the randomness of the perspective and colors of the small blocks gave it a lively energy.  And I only set off an alarm once! 

Many of the topics of our discussions I might have noticed on my own, but some I would have missed. Much has been written about the experiences of quilters quilting together, but quilters looking at quilts together, something not possible before the age of quilt exhibits, can be an equally specialized form of experience--and a great way to spend a hot summer morning.

Top it off with a quick trip to a well stocked quilt shop, Quilters Corner, and an incomparable lunch at Moosewood and you have a great way to spend a day.

  

No photos of quilts possible but the exhibit is at the museum until August 1. 

And if you are still with me, thanks for the virtual company!