I have an item of housekeeping before I write about this week’s Honoree. A shout out to Dale Drake, who edits my rough drafts so you don’t have to be subjected to word salad, half-cut pastes and poor grammar.  I try very hard to grammatically follow the rules, but she always finds something that can corrected or improved. (Let’s see if she catches that last one.) Dale is the Chair of the Collections Committee at The Quilter’s Hall of Fame, a crafter (who do you know who still tats? or makes her own kaleidoscopes?), and a scholar who has researched her own quilting heritage (Louisiana cotonnade quilts from her Acadian ancestors).  And she still finds time to help me out every week.  Thanks, Dale!

OK, on to Rose Kretsinger, whom I thought would be a quickie because I was feeling lazy this week.  But I found lots of good stuff, as you’ll see, and went off on a few fun tangents.

Rose Kretsinger put Emporia, Kansas on the 1930’s quilting map. Coming from a Kansas family of crafters (grandmother made quilts, mother painted china, grandfather was a potter), Rose received formal training at the Art Institute of Chicago under Alphonse Mucha and others, graduating in 1908.  She worked for several years designing fabric and buying for Marshal Field’s department store and designing jewelry. When her marriage took her back to Kansas, she applied her knowledge and aesthetic to quilting.

That aesthetic was greatly influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement.  Following William Morris’ directive, “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful,” she made quilts that embodied both ideals. It gave her joy, and throughout her career she sought joy in beauty.  You can read a bio of Rose Kretsinger at the Hall of Fame link below, or if you have time (and who isn’t looking for a diversion these days?) you can listen to a fleshed out story of her life given by scholar Jonathan Gregory of the International Quilt Study Center.

Let’s start with Rose’s masterpiece, Paradise Garden. It was chosen as one of the 100 Best Quilts of the Twentieth Century. You may be familiar with it as the classy peek-a-boo cover of the Hall of Fame book of Honorees.

Here’s a full view:

Spectacular, isn’t it?  But like so many quilts, this one stands on the shoulders of other quilters in a way that lets us explore Rose Kretsinger and her sense of beauty. It’s not a completely pretty story: Rose took second place in the 1942 National Needlework Contest sponsored by Woman’s Day magazine to a quilt by Pine Eisfeller. In a moment of sour grapes, Rose noted that it was a “poor design,” and went on to create her own version of a garden quilt. Here’s Eisfeller’s quilt:

So, what’s wrong with this design?  Let’s give it it’s due: it was an adaptation of a classic, taken from an early authority on quilt history—here’s a screenshot from the book.

Not only did Eisfeller’s quilt take first place in 1942, a quilt from that design won Viewer’s Choice in another national contest held by National Quilting Association in June 1977.  And to top things off, Eisfeller’s garden quilt was also named as one of the 100 Best Quilts of the Twentieth Century. Not too shabby for a “poor design”.

Eisfeller changed the Bowen quilt to her liking.  She says, “The original Garden quilt had more open space …but I wanted mine to be more flowery.” And it certainly is. But maybe that reduction of open space was what Kretsinger didn’t approve of. Certainly, Paradise Garden returns to the well-defined rings of white space. And I admire the relief from the curvilinear that is provided by the angular swag drape.  Eisfeller’s colors are sweet; Kretsinger’s are bold and rich—I think that’s just a matter of taste, not design.

Apparently, these garden medallions were the pinnacle of mid-30’s craftsmanship (kits abounded, and double wedding rings were easy by comparison). Here’s another Kansas version:

And they remain popular into the 21^st Century.

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What would Rose Kretsinger have to say about these designs? Would she complain that the green leaves are clunky, or object to the jumble of shapes (heart, squares)? Would she like Suiter’s limited palette? Here’s another of Kretsinger’s floral quilt designs for comparison.

Plenty of white space—check.  Complementary colors—check. Several values of each color – check. Framed circle—check.  Graceful curves—check. Good ratio between central image and border image—check.  Good design!  I’m beginning to feel like I’m channeling Rose Krestinger’s aesthetic.  So now I feel confident enough to critique one of her quilts.  Here’s her Indiana Wreath on the left and the frontispiece from Marie Webster’s book, embroidered with “E.J. Hart, July 1858,” on the right.  I like everything about Rose’s quilt better except her flattening of the points made by the grapes.  But, until I can applique like that, maybe I shouldn’t be criticizing.

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One last view of a garden quilt.  This one is taken from a book co-authored by another Hall of Fame Honoree, Barbara Brackman.  I’ll leave it to you to decide whether the corner  and border treatment  is something Kretsinger would have liked (hint: it’s origins are in Emporia); get the book for further reading.

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I’ll close by sharing the tangents I found. First, Hall of Fame’s own Deb Divine is from Salina, Kansas and has studied Rose Kretsinger and the Emporia crowd extensively.  She has given many living history presentations of Rose’s work to historical societies in the state.  Here she is talking about Rose’s 1926 quilt in the Antique Rose or Democratic Rose pattern. There’s a link below to Deb’s full presentation.

Way to go, Deb!  I love finding people I know when I’m searching for info about the Honorees.

The other tangent was discovering that Rose Kretsinger not only made quilts, she did some unusual garment sewing. Use the link to the Spencer Museum to see all of Rose’s quilts plus a bonus of three very creative items of clothing. I’m sure she had fun making them.

Which brings me full circle to close out this discussion of Rose Kretsinger and her search for joy through beauty.

Your quilting friend,

Anna

• Hall of Fame bio https://quiltershalloffame.net/rose-kretsinger/
• Jonathan Gregory’s presentation https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=219373075977880
• Collection of quilts and other items https://spencerartapps.ku.edu/collection-search#/artist/18103
• Deb Divine as Rose http://claycenterpiotiquequiltersguild.blogspot.com/2014/08/special-visit-from-rose-kretsinger.html

I wondered when I’d get a chance to say “It’s not rocket science” here.  And then I came across Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi.  This Honoree has a PhD. in aerospace engineering! But as intriguing as that might be, it’s not what she’s known for among quilters.

Dr. Mazloomi is an author who has written a dozen books on quilt related topics. Her book, Spirits of the Cloth (Random House), was given the “Best Non-Fiction Book of the Year” award by the American Library Association. She is also a curator and has presented numerous exhibitions of African-American quilts, beginning in 1998, “Spirits of the Cloth” at the American Craft Museum, New York City, New York and most recently in 2019 with “We Who Believe in Freedom” at the National Freedom Center Museum, Cincinnati, OH.  As the founder and general factotum of the Women of Color Quilters Network, she has helped preserve and promote the cultural significance of quilt-making in the African-American community.

You can read more about Dr. Mazloomi in the several links below—and you should because she has an impressive list of accomplishments.  But she has been called a fiber griot (a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, or musician), and I want to take a look at her quilts and the stories she tells with them. 

Dr. Mazloomi sees herself as a storyteller as well as a craftsperson; yes, the process may be exciting and wondrous, but what’s behind it is more significant. From an Oral history interview with Carolyn Mazloomi, 2002, September, 17-30, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution:

The ability to create a piece of work that’s graphically complex from a simple piece of cloth is fascinating. The ability to combine various pieces of cloth, various colors and textures of cloth, to create a graphic piece to me is mind-boggling…. It’s always about the story and the finished product. And I think as with all artists, all quilt-makers, as long as you’re living, as long as you can think, you will always have stories. If you lived 100 lives, you can’t get all these stories out…We will always have stories and you want to get them out, and that’s the satisfaction of quilt-making.

One of the big stories Dr. Mazloomi tells is family. In her view, this is a central cultural theme for African-American quilters.  In talking about their quilts, she says,

They were made for family. They were made for friends. And for us, friends are family. In the past it was about taking those bits of cloth, and still now in the South, taking old clothes and making them into a quilt to give to the grandkids or to one’s children. Again, you go back into that oral history about who we are and sharing who we are, and you know, sharing that with our families and friends. But that was the – that’s the backbone of African American quilt-making. Even to this day, the majority of the quilt-makers make the work for their family. And they love to show references of the family, or people in the family, on the quilts. That just binds the family, bonds them closer together, you know…. “I am quilting. This is my legacy for my children. This is what I leave for my children. I leave a bit of myself in these quilts for my children. I leave this for my family. This is who I am. This is who we are.”

Here is one of her own quilts—not for, but about, family. It’s made in a striking black and white woodcut style that she favors (when she’s not going wild with color). You can see more quilts in this series on her website linked below.

Another major theme is politics, because, as she says about herself and quilters of her generation,

Events in our lives that have happened to us socially and politically are reflected in our work, okay. We came up in that ‘60s and ‘70s generation; you know, we were the children of the civil rights movement. Of course, it’s going to be in our work, because we can’t forget that. You don’t live through that and leave it behind. People say we should leave it behind, but I’m bringing that baggage with me, because it’s just something I can’t forget. It’s something that I shouldn’t forget.  

Here is a quilt she made to honor the Selma March; it’s dedicated to the late John Lewis.

On another note, (pardon the pun), Dr.Malzoomi tells the story of jazz.  As a child she was close to and supported by an aunt who owned a juke joint.  In true griot fashion, Dr. Mazloomi sings the praises of this beloved woman through her portraits of Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, the jazz scene, and this quilt.

So many stories to tell! And what happens to these stories once the quilts are made? Dr. Malzoomi said in an interview for NEA Arts Magazine 2014,

When the quilters are in sync with the social and political and the cultural currents in their community, they render that in their artwork. So, the quilts are community property. It’s one of the ways that we as artists use this tool, these quilts, to foster knowledge. And it’s about engaging other people in our culture as well.

But they’re creating these community documents and actually they’re cultural documents. They’re pieces of history that tell the story of our culture, what’s happening here in the United States. They’re serious, serious cultural documents and I’m just in awe.

When you can look at something and it has the power to touch you and inform, then you’ve done your job as an artist. And I often tell the quilt makers sometimes you can make a quilt that’s so powerful in story and it touches so many people. Then you have lost that quilt, because the quilt does not spiritually belong to you anymore. It belongs to the public. It belongs to the people that see it because it becomes a part of their spirit, and it’s touched them in such a way that is so profound it becomes unforgettable.

I don’t make quilts like this—it’s not in my cultural tradition or my personal inclination, but I’m glad that Dr. Mazloomi and the other artists she has encouraged to keep up this work are out there touching our spirits. I imagine she has “lost” a lot of quilts over the years.

Your quilting friend,

Anna

All quotes, unless otherwise noted, are from Oral history interview with Carolyn Mazloomi, 2002 September 17-30. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Further reading and viewing:

Carolyn’s Website: https://carolynlmazloomi.com

On The Quilters Hall of Fame website: https://quiltershalloffame.net/carolyn-mazloomi/

Oral history interview https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-carolyn-mazloomi-11504#transcript 

Dr. Mazloomi will be the Keynote Speaker at Virtual AQSG 2020 Saturday, October 3, 2020. “Surviving Blackness in America:
Quilts as Political Statement” https://americanquiltstudygroup.org/

 

In addition to writing this blog, I am also a member of the Quilters Hall of Fame Collections Committee.  At our annual meeting a few weeks ago, something came up that started me thinking about quilt collecting.

 The Collections Committee reviews potential donations and recommends to the Board which items to add to our Permanent or Education Collections. We try to preserve items that will give meaning to the legacy of our Honorees. We have practically no budget for acquisitions, so we rely heavily on donations. One of the items offered this year was from Honoree Donna Wilder’s collection; it had been selected by another Honoree, Georgia Bonesteel, as one of The Twentieth Century’s Best Quilts, Judges Choice.  So, we had a dilemma: accept it for the Wilder collection or for the Bonesteel collection. In the end, we decided that the selection by Bonesteel, along with her explanation of why she thought the quilt was significant, said more about her than we knew about Wilder from her “mere” ownership. Tough choice! And I’ve been ruminating about it ever since, which brings me to write about collecting and Mary Barton.

One very nice thing about the COVID-19 closures is that, since we can’t see collections in person, many museums and individuals have been sharing their quilts online. And that has given me a little glimpse into some things I didn’t know about my friends and acquaintances; what they collect often says something about them. Most of us know that Ken Burns has a quilt collection, and we understand that it reflects his love of history. Some of us may know people who have family quilts and their collections reflect personal memories. Recently several friends have been participating in the Facebook “Post a quilt for 10 days” challenge, and I can almost always tell whose collection is up by the style they choose. Clearly, our collections say a lot about who we are.

I have a number of vintage and antique quilt tops, most of which I acquired from eBay.  It was back in those heady days of dial-up internet connections when the challenge of a putting in a last-minute bid was as exciting as the item itself.  I tried to obtain a fair representation of block patterns, and when I had most of the common ones, I moved on to looking for interesting variations of the old favorites.  Here are some of the star tops I got when I thought I might take my show on the road to give lectures at quilt guilds. (That third one, the Lone Star, is made from ribbons from 1930s Livestock Show.)

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But did that make me a collector or just a diversified shopper?  When I compare myself with Mary Barton, I know I’ll never be a serious collector (and that’s okay). But hat’s off to Mary, and I’ll tell you why.

Have you heard the old saying, “When you have three of something, you have a collection”?  Mary had a collection of quilts; she had three times three, times three times three, and more. Between 1987 and 2001, Mary Barton of Ames, Iowa, donated more than 1,500 items, including over 100 quilts, to the State Historical Society of Iowa. Barton also donated quilts from her collection to the Living History Farms, Simpson College, and the Farm House Museum at Iowa State University. Most, if not all of these quilts are related to the State of Iowa: either made there, collected there, or owned by someone who locates there. Mary didn’t want the Iowa quilts leaving home, and her purchases were driven by her affection for her home state. You can see some of the quilts Mary collected at the links below.

Mary didn’t just collect quilts, and her collection shows her to have been a serious researcher.  She was a pioneer in fabric dating and determining the age of a quilt by the fabrics it contained. Her collections also included 30 shoe-boxes of annotated fabric samples and 15 notebooks of quilt blocks and fabric swatches.  She also assembled a fashion collection; there’s a link below if you really want to take a side trip.  But maybe it’s not so much of a side trip since Mary used her fashion records in quilt dating. Here’s a photo of her doing a comparison of the fabric in an old quilt, a dress and a costume illustration.  

Mary’s research career began when, as a member of the Faculty Woman’s Club, she became involved in 1968 with a group called the Heritage Division. Mary did her own study and gave the group a program on quilts and quilt history that included a play, Aunt Mary’s Quilting Party, actually performed around a quilt frame. From there, she went on to design and make her Heritage Quilt which depicts the settling of pioneer America, and specifically of central Iowa. The 100 x 102 inch quilt was completed in 1976 and won first place at the Iowa State Fair that year. The quilt also received honorable mention at the National Bicentennial Quilt Contest held in Warren, Michigan in 1976 and was later selected as one of America’s 100 Best Quilts of the 20th Century. I love the pioneer women walking West with their little quilt blocks!

This wasn’t the only quilt Mary made. She loved the old patterns and made an indigo Storm at Sea, a blue Churn Dash with red sashing, a Tree Everlasting with chrome on indigo fabric, and a sampler of Hawaiian applique designs. The Quilters Hall of Fame has the patterns for “Hawaii Remembered” along with a hand-written note from Mary explaining how she and her husband loved the flowers they saw when they visited that State. There’s a link below, and it includes shots of all the pattern pieces as well as photos of the Hawaiian quilt and the others mentioned.

Mary was always generous with her research results. In 1983, she created an early “Study Center” at the Heirloom to Heirloom Quilters Conference held in Ames, Iowa to share her collections. In the “paper” room were rows of three ring binders containing quilt-related periodicals from the 1920s and earlier, patterns, research material and personal notes. In the “textile room,” Mary shared dozens of antique quilts and tops along with her shoe-boxes of fabric swatches. Here are a few photos of the scene:

Another thing makes Mary Barton beloved among quilt historians: she collected old blocks and mounted them on panels for study purposes. She used them to show pattern and fabric choices, and how use affects fabrics. Mary explained, “One reason for the panels — I started with one and organized more as the collection grew — for the researcher they would be more meaningful than just a pile of blocks. Also, if they were mounted they would not be used for small projects and lost for historical reference.”

Here are just a few of the 111 panels in her collection.

I wish I could see this one in person. I have a feeling that some of the colors might be more purple than they look online. Oh heck; I wish I could see all of these panels, including the next one which looks almost good enough to be a banner or wall quilt.

(If you want to know what the blocks are, they’re listed below.)

So, after having read about Mary Barton and her collections, what do you think of your own collection? What does it say about you? If you are a collector or want to become one, I hope you give some thought to what and why you are collecting, and what you will do with your treasures. I think that’s the lesson from Mary Barton: she collected to preserve Iowa heritage and to learn about quilt history, not just to add to her acquisitions, so that’s what made her more than just a shopper like me. And of course, that’s what makes her a Hall of Fame Honoree.

Your quilting friend,

Anna

1. Quilts held by Living History Farms. https://livinghistoryfarms.pastperfectonline.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search_criteria=barton&searchButton=Search&only_images=only
2. To see Mary’s Collection on the Quilt Index, go to http://www.quiltindex.org/index.php. Then click these tabs: Browse. Collection. Mary Barton
3. Mary Barton Fashion Illustration Collection https://digitalcollections.lib.iastate.edu/fashion-plates. The collection (1776-2008) contains plates of general fashion dating back to the 18th century and continuing through the 20th century. Additional categories within the files include accessories, baby and beach fashions, bridal fashions and portraits, children’s and communion clothing, footwear, inaugural gowns, maid uniforms, masquerade costumes, men’s fashion, millinery, mourning dresses, negligees and undergarments. There are also magazine issues relating to fashion as well as magazine articles discussing fashion of the Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, and Modern periods.
4. Hawaii Remembered and others https://quiltershalloffame.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/51F86959-33E2-45F6-A002-383291449415
5. 21 blocks. Described in rows, upper left to lower right. Row 1: #1 North Dakota, the Windmill, Windmill Star, the Wandering Flower, Quilt Star, Crazy Star Quilt, Amethyst (Brackman 3873). #2 Cake Stand/Basket (Brackman 707). #3 See #1 (Brackman 3873) Row 2: #1 Square and Points (Brackman 2138 c) #2 Broken Dishes, Jack in the Pulpit, Double Square (Brackman 2472) #3 Square and Points (Brackman 2138 c) Row 3: #1 Balkan Puzzle (Brackman 1211) #2 Variation – Nine Patch in center (Brackman 2121) Row 4: #1 Ocean Waves, Tents of Armageddon, Thousands of Triangles (Brackman 3150) #2 Monkey Wrench, Snail’s Trail, Indiana Puzzle (Alternate coloring to make square in a square) (Brackman 2399) Row 5: #1 Nine Patch, Sheepfold, Irish Chain (Brackman 2020) #2 Checkerboard Design, Nine Patch (Brackman 1601 a) Row 6: #1 Checkerboard Design, Nine Patch (Brackman 1601 a) #2 Square Within a Square (Brackman 1102 b). Colored to appear like Brackman 2020. Row 7: #1 Double Hour Glass (Brackman 1701) #2 Double Hour Glass (Brackman 1701) Row 8: #1 Nine-Patch, Checkerboard Design (Brackman 1601 a) #2 Nine-Patch, Checkerboard Design (Brackman 1601 a) #3 Nine-Patch, Checkerboard Design (Brackman 1601 a)

Did you enjoy the 2020 Virtual Celebration? I sure did!  While nothing takes the place of seeing quilts “in the cloth” and getting together in person with quilting friends, it was still a fun experience.  Maybe you bought something in the vendor mall or bid on an auction item—thanks for your support of The Quilters Hall of Fame. I’ve put some links to quilters featured during the Virtual Celebration 2020 below.

Usually I write about persons who have been inducted as Honorees of the Hall of Fame, but today I’m going to tell you about one person who’s behind it all.  We wouldn’t have The Quilters Hall of Fame or Celebration without her, but since she’s not an Honoree, you may not know her.

Hazel Carter is the Founder of the Quilters Hall of Fame; she began honoring inductees at the 1979 Continental Quilting Congress (which she had also founded).  When asked in an interview what aspect of her research or contribution to textile studies satisfied her the most, she replied, “I saw The Quilters Hall of Fame officially opened to the public in July 2004. Our book on Honorees (was) published at the same time.”  Here’s a photo of the 2011 printing of the book:

This is a beautiful coffee-table book and a font of information about the Museum and Honorees, and it’s still available for purchase on the Hall of Fame website (link below).  Hazel has every right to be proud.

Hazel Carter is still an Honorary Board member of TQHF, and will always be closely connected with the Museum (we hope), but she’s got her own story to tell too.

Back in 1972, Hazel ran across and article about the renowned 1708 Levens Hall bed furnishings, and she began her serious study of quilt history.  She went to England to view the ensemble in person and in 1985 wrote her own article about them in Lady’s Circle Patchwork Quilts. Here’s a photo of what started it all for Hazel; you can see why she was interested—think about those fabrics being available when the US was still colonial!

Hazel went on to write numerous articles, for the popular quilting magazines of her day, for her professional appraisal colleagues, and for the American Quilt Study Group.  Here’s a partial list of her publications:

• “Apple Pie Ridge Star Quilts.” Blanket Statements, Summer 2010.
• “Unique and Diverse Strippy Quilts in the United States.” Blanket Statements, Spring 2007.
• Introduction in “Quilts of Virginia 1607-1899.” Virginia Consortium of Quilters PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2006.
• “New Revelations about The Garden Quilt.” Blanket Statements, Winter 2004
• “Three Centuries of Quilts Observed Over Two Decades of Appraising”. Blanket Statements, American Quilt Study Group Newsletter, Winter, 2002.
• “Three Centuries of Quilts Observed Over Two Decades” and “Timeline of Early Textile History up to 1700”. Personal Property Journal, American Society of Appraisers, Winter 2000.
• “What is the Value of My Quilt,” Baltimore Appliqué Society Newsletter; May 1998.
• “Retreat”, Traditional Quilter, July 1998
• “The Evolution of Organized Quilting”. Blanket Statements, American Quilt Study Group Newsletter, Fall 1997.
• “American Quilts – 1750 to 1950” Personal Property Journal, American Society of Appraisers, Fall 1996.
• “Quilt Appraisals:  A Pleasure and a Privilege”. Virginia Quilt Museum Newsletter, Winter 1995.
• “What is the Correct Price for a Quilt?” (with Bunnie Jordan), Patchwork Quilts magazine, October 1994
• “Quilters Unlimited”, Patchwork Quilt Tsushin (Japan), August 1990.
• “American Patchwork Pillowcases and Shams”, Quilting Today, October/November 1990, p.52
• Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine:
  • “The Smithsonian Collection,” August 1988, pg 12: July/August 1977, p. 12 and June 1977, p. 12.
  • “4th International CQC Tour Goes Downunder,” April 1987, p. 6.
  • “U.S. Postage Stamp Promotion,” July/August 1978, p. 17.
  • “Woodlawn Quilts,” March 1978, p 17.
  • “Wall Quilt to Ceret, France,” October 1977.
  • “The Meeting Place- Introduction of Jinny Beyer,” September 1977, p. 11.
  • “Teacher Tac Tics,” January, 1977, p. 11.
  • “The Meeting Place- Introduction of Hazel Carter,” September 1976, p. 20.
• Virginia Quilts, 1987, publication resulting from Virginia quilt search.
• “Quilt Touring in England:  Oldest English-Made Patchwork”, Lady’s Circle Patchwork Quilts November 1985, p. 62
• “The Conference Speaker”, The Professional Quilter, September 1984, p. 6
• Bee Quilting resource book published by the Smithsonian Institution, 1997. Resource book accompanied exhibit “Quintessential Quilts,” SITES program.
• Start Quilting, 1977 and 1975.  “How-to” manuals, self published.
• “Bicentennial Quilt Presentation”, Nimble Needles Treasures, 1975, p 33.

And that list doesn’t include the numerous articles she’s written for the Quilters Hall of Fame Newsletter. Or the many exhibits she has curated at the Marion IN Public Library in conjunction with Hall of Fame Celebrations.

Her interest in quilt history also inspired Hazel to organize one of the earliest series of international quilt tours, with tours to England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales in 1981 and 1985 and to New Zealand, Australia, and Hawaii in 1986. These days, we think nothing of retreats, quilting cruises, shopping trips to London for quilts, but it was all new back then, and Hazel was in the forefront of organizing the fun.

Hazel is a quilter herself. She was born in Iowa and she credits her mother, Grace McDowell, and her grandmother, Elsie McVey, with starting her off in quilting as a child. Here’s one of her quilts which is featured in the Hall of Fame book.

In addition to being a quilt history devotee, Hazel has been an appraiser of quilted textiles. Since you need to be able to determine the age of a quilt to know its value, she and her quilting buddy, Bunnie Jordan, organized the Fabric Dating Club, an informal research and study group that has been meeting in Virginia since 1995. And, as if three groups weren’t enough for any one woman to start up, Hazel also began Quilters Unlimited which now has 11 chapters of active quilters in the northern Virginia area. Phew! What a remarkable woman!

You would think that the Hall of Fame would have many Carter artifacts in its Collection, but I couldn’t find much.  And the reason for that may be because Hazel seems to be giving things away.  I don’t think a year goes by when there isn’t some Hazel Carter donation made for the Celebration auction.  And some years, she buys items from other Honorees and gifts them back to Collections; we’ve gotten Sally Garoutte silk screen prints and Mary Schafer quilt blocks from the Joyce Gross collection that way.  Thanks, Hazel.  These and your other contributions to The Quilters Hall of Fame have been many.

Next week, I’ll get back to my rotation of Honorees, but I hope that whenever you think about The Quilters Hall of Fame, you remember and cherish Hazel Carter.

Your quilting friend,

Anna

https://quiltershalloffame.net/1876-centennial-quilt-project/

Mimi Dietrich

Eleanor Burns

Marie Webster

Hall of Fame book https://shop.quiltershalloffame.net/products/the-quilters-hall-of-fame-42-masters-who-have-shaped-our-art

I’ve been writing every week about Honorees of The Quilters Hall of Fame, but this time I’m going to switch up and write about people who haven’t been inducted—yet.

My inspiration, if you can call it that, was my sewing experience earlier today.  Did your mother ever say, “Don’t sew on Sunday or the Devil will make you pick out your stitches with your nose”?  Well, that’s what happened to me; seventeen seams in, all but four taken out.  But thank goodness for my seam ripper!  Or as I like to call it, the Mulligan Stick. (If you or your husband golf, you’ll recognize a Mulligan as an opportunity for a do-over.  My husband turns on a wood lathe, and he can’t correct his mistakes like I can, so I try to keep a cheerful attitude about un-sewing.) 

We all joke about seam rippers and the stitch removal process.  We use terms like frog stitching/ ribbit; reverse sewing, etc. I recently ordered some tools online that were called stitch fixers: same thing, but with a more positive spin. So, who invented the seam ripper, and why isn’t he in The Hall of Fame?

Here’s the answer to the first question, from Tenrandomfacts.com:

Seam rippers where probably invented sometime in the late 1800s, and one of the earliest patents for a similar tool was a thimble that had the addition of a small knife that was patented in the United States by W Miller in 1883, that was used to rip threads in a similar way; while a later patent exists for a tool designed for the sole purpose of ripping seams, in 1898 by John Fisher from Canada.

Fisher’s device was a piece of twisted metal with a small blade held between two pincer-like ends. The drawing with the patent doesn’t show up well here (a better view is in the link below the photo), but you can recognize this as an ancestor of what we use today.  The design evolved from the single slicer between tiny jaws into a curved blade by the 1950s, with a little knobby protector appearing later. We’ve come a long way and today we even have electric ripper scissors, but that’s too modern for me.

As an aside, I learned that I have been using my ripper incorrectly—or at least not as originally designed. Fisher prescribes the method of slashing along the seam line, but I insert the blade into every third to fifth stich on one side, and then pull up the uncut thread on the other side.  At the risk of starting something akin to the toilet paper role debate, I’ll ask, “Which way do you rip?”

I couldn’t sew without John Fisher’s invention, and there are many other tools that have changed quilting in a dramatic way. How about the rotary cutter and mat? Or all those specialty rulers we know and love?  And, of course, the invention with the biggest impact on our craft/art—the sewing machine.  I’m sure you’ve got some favorites too.  Why aren’t these inventors in the Quilters Hall of Fame?

And for that matter, why isn’t Jenny Doan of Missouri Star in?  Or someone from the Modern Quilt Guild? Or that fabric designer who always comes up with a new line for you to fall in love with?

Well, the number one reason someone doesn’t get in to the Hall of Fame is that they haven’t been nominated. Yes, everyone agrees that Elias Howe and Isaac Singer made invaluable contributions to the world of quilting, but unless someone puts those names forward, they won’t be honored.  There is no group at the Hall of Fame whose job it is to cast their collective mind around the quilting world and see who is worthy. Instead, the Selection Committee relies on you—actual quilters, quilt enthusiasts, scholars and historians — to present a name for consideration. It’s a way to ensure that the Committee doesn’t play favorites or skew the decision to their own ideas, but it doesn’t work unless you give them something to work with.

The process is quite simple; you can find the nomination form and instructions on the Hall of Fame website (link below). But essentially, all you have to do is “Tell how he/she has made outstanding contributions to the world of quilting.”, and provide some back up info.  The website doesn’t tell you, but there are two categories of inductees, one for contemporary nominees, and the other for persons who lived/quilted 50 years ago or are deceased (Heritage Honorees).  

One caution: nominations close on August 30^th for selection/ announcement at following Celebration. So, you either need to get organized quickly for a 2020 submission/ 2021 decision/ 2022 induction, or take your time knowing, that the earliest your nominee would be honored would be 2023. Either way, it’s worth doing.

I submitted a nomination last year, proposing a woman from my hometown, Chicago, who had begun her quilting career around the time of the 1933 World’s Fair.  The process was enjoyable and gave me the opportunity to get acquainted with my quilter’s descendants, learn more about quilting and the Century of Progress, and practice using the Quilt Index. If you go this route, you’ll soon become an expert in your area.  If you propose a current quilter, you can rely on your own experiences (maybe your nominee gave a lecture or workshop at your guild), you’ll find it easy to gather data from the internet, and you may even make a connection with your nominee. Please consider making a nomination.

Next week, I’ll be back to writing about actual Honorees. Don’t ask yourself why that person was chosen.  Ask why you haven’t made your choice known. (Channeling JFK here—sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

You’ve been very attentive to all this narrative, and I know that Fourth of July is coming up, so here are some photos of my Patient Piecers Bee group and our patriotic projects. The first two are a round robin started with some unusual (read: ugly; Americana prints don’t often have that coppery green) fabric, and the second is Quilts of Valor.  Have a good Fourth!

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Your quilting friend,
Anna

Suggested Links:

http://tenrandomfacts.com/seam-ripper/

https://quiltershalloffame.net/honoree-nomination/

I’m writing on Father’s Day and realized that we often talk about our mothers and grandmothers in relation to quilting, but rarely are fathers mentioned.  So, I thought it would be fitting to focus on a “father” whose baby has been a joy to all of us quilters: Robert James.  The baby is the International Quilt Museum at Lincoln, Nebraska. Of course, there’s no father without a mother, so Ardis is included too.

You can read about Robert and Ardis’ life at the link below— including a spy connection! Who knew? We can just be glad that their collection took a turn to textiles.  And what a collection it was. When they helped establish the IQM (then called the International Quilt Study Center), they gave a total of one thousand— that’s right, 1,000– quilts.  And you thought you had too many.

The collection was originally housed at the University of Nebraska Home Economics building, but the Jameses and others were instrumental in moving it to a separate facility, the building affectionately known as “Quilt House”. I’ve been there a couple of times for American Quilt Study Group Seminars, but I never noticed that the lobby is designed in the shape of a needle. I guess I was too busy drooling at eye candy in the store, anticipating the quilts on display upstairs and looking forward to the “backstage” tour of the storage rooms. This is a quilter’s bucket list must!

I definitely can’t tell you about all of the James’s quilts at the Museum. There are scores of Amish quilts, medallions and mosaics, crazy quilts and wholecloths, geometric patterns, albums and floral designs, modern quilts and kit quilts from Marie Webster. If you have time to see them all, there’s a link below through IQM and a link to the collection on the Quilt Index. There are 54 pages on the IQM site, so you could do one a week and still not be done in a year. But, in the meantime I can give you a representative peek.

There are currently seven Amish quilts from the James Collection on view through the IQM website (link below). Here’s one from Wayne County, Ohio that just glows.

In addition to the original quilt donation, the Jameses continue to fund, through their Acquisition Foundation, the purchase of other quilts including these two modern ones.  They were part of the exhibit Perspectives: Art, Craft, Design & the Studio Quilt which can be viewed at the link below.

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Ardis was especially supportive of art quilters; her interest dated to the mid-70s when most of the country was busy with the Bicentennial (what a visionary she was!)  When she passed in 2012, 26 quilters donated studio quilts to IQM in her honor.  Here’s the one by another Quilter’s Hall of Fame Honoree, Michael James. The full collection of these gifts is linked below.

Robert James’s overseas work is probably the spark for the international aspect of the collection. Here are some examples, ranging between modern and traditional.

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There are also five quilts from China, including the 1992 Reproduction of Bride’s Album [E.J. Baile (1850-51)] and Reproduction of Harriet Powers Bible Quilt. It may seem odd that the Jameses chose to collect these mass-produced copies rather than textiles in traditional Chinese style, but they are historically significant as representative of the “knock off” market trend.

Starting with these modest examples in the James Collection, the International Quilt Museum is now truly international, with textiles from 50 countries and numerous cultural groups. You can find Russian, Ralli or Native American quilts, quilts representing the Black experience, Hawaiian quilts (which aren’t international to us, but definitely cultural), and of course European antiques. It’s exciting and comforting to know that textiles are made and treasured the world over.

There’s lots more to be found on the IQM site, but I’ll let you poke around on your own.  For now, let’s just say Happy Father’s Day to Robert James, and thank him and Ardis for all they’ve done to make Quilt House a home for quilters.

Your quilting friend,

Anna

Biographical info https://quiltershalloffame.net/ardis-robert-james/

James Collection  IQM https://www.internationalquiltmuseum.org/collections/search?title=&field_quilt_primary_pattern_tid=All&field_quiltmaker_value=&field_quilt_geo_origin_country_tid=All&field_quilt_geo_origin_state_reg_tid=All&field_quilt_predominant_techniqu_tid=All&field_quilt_object__value=&field_quilt_collection_tid=3212&field_quilt_date_range=&field_cultural_group_tid=All

James Collection Quilt Index http://www.quiltindex.org/search_results.php?keywords=Ardis+and+Robert+James&search=go

Amish quilts https://www.internationalquiltmuseum.org/exhibition/variations-theme-virtual-pop

Perspectives exhibit https://www.internationalquiltmuseum.org/exhibition/perspectives-art-craft-design-studio-quilt

Ardis Tribute https://www.internationalquiltmuseum.org/exhibition/tribute-ardis-james

I had planned to write about Mary Barton who had a birthday last week, but I spent time weeding my  garden, and that put me in mind of Marie’s Garden at the Hall of Fame.  Let me show you a little of what’s blooming here, and then we’ll head to Marion.

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When you park in the back lot at the Museum, you wander through what was Marie Webster’s original back yard. Take a pictorial stroll up to the house like this group of visitors did.

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Did you notice the brick walk? There’s something special about it: the bricks are impressed with names, quotes, and dedications.

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If you or your guild would like to have a brick engraved with their name, the cost is only $100 and the form is on our website: https://quiltershalloffame.net/brick-order-form/ (Also, if you have already purchased a brick, they are now all online in a searchable database: https://quiltershalloffame.net/bricks-in-the-garden/ )

We know Marie was a gardener. It’s said that her first quilt, American Beauty Rose, was inspired by her garden. She later submitted that design for a contest in the Ladies Home Journal magazine and caught the attention of the editor. The editor then requested three more designs from Webster, and she supplied “Iris”, “Snowflake” and “Windblown Tulip”; all were featured in the magazine on Jan. 1, 1911, turning Webster into a “national celebrity.” Here’s a photo of the article, followed by “Iris in Baskets” and “Windblown Tulip”.

Back to the garden.

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For all the beauty, I’m pretty sure this is not what the yard looked like in Marie’s time. Her style would probably have been simpler and somewhat old-fashioned, leaning more towards bedding plants and perhaps a border. The garden is now maintained by volunteers… thanks to every one of them! And while it is still a lot of work, many hands make the work lighter. But there is still one element of the original: hollyhocks. The seeds from which these plants were grown were found in the basement of the house when The Quilters Hall of Fame took ownership of the house. Are they left over from Marie Webster days?! In the fall we will sells seeds from these plants.

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Now let’s take a look at how the garden inspired the famous Webster designs. What’s a garden without at least one rose bush? (Up until last year, I had 40, but it was just too much work, so I cut back to six.)  After that first “American Beauty Rose,”  Marie patterned “Magpie Rose,” “Cherokee Rose,” “Wreath of Roses,” “Cluster of Roses,” and “Wayside Roses.” Here are two of those quilts.

Daisies are another old-time favorite. An early daisy pattern is recalled today in clumps of daisies from Marie’s Garden.

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And here’s a shot of the current dogwood tree along with an original pattern for one dogwood quilt, followed by a Webster dogwood quilt in a different setting. If you would like to see the complete Dogwood pattern, and two others (fascinating to imagine using those old templates), there are links at the end.

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I imagine any old-fashioned garden would have poppies, and that flower inspired one of Webster’s most iconic quilts.  Here it is in the yellow colorway; it’s also popular in pink and stunning in red.

Marie didn’t just have a quilt design business; she actually made quilts.  Here are some which might have come from her own flowers. Morning Glory, followed by two versions of Morning Glory Wreath. This graceful design first appeared in the Ladies’ Home Journal in August 1912, along with five other baby quilts she designed. Marie made this larger version of the pattern for her granddaughter, Katherine Marie, about 1940. From the collection of Katherine Webster Dwight.ned.

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Here are two more Webster-made quilts based on popular flowers, nasturtiums (I’ve grown them; they’re edible) and pansies (an early-spring pop of color).

Of course, there are other popular designs growing in the Webster flower bed: more tulips, sunflowers, baskets of blossoms.

Marie Webster’s designs have a timeless appeal in and of themselves, but her style is not in vogue today—maybe more white than we want, maybe too ordered.  But her flowers still work in present day contexts. A friend of the Hall of Fame collaborated with one of Marie’s granddaughters on this book which adapts the designs to pillows, small quilts and other contemporary uses.

I saw one of the designs at the Museum a few years ago, and it’s a great sampler of Marie’s flowers. The addition of the ticking fabric gives it a fresh, modern look.

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And in Fall, 2017, there was a juried exhibit called Dialogues: Contemporary Responses to Marie Webster’s Quilts with contemporary quilts by Midwestern members of the Studio Art Quilt Associates juxtaposed with Marie’s designs. Here are some photos from that exhibit to show you how the two styles both capture the essence of the flowers.

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I hope you’ve enjoyed this walk through Marie’s Garden of quilts. When you’re able, try to visit in person. It even looks good in the winter.

Your quilting friend,

Anna

Suggested links:

“American Beauty” pattern https://quiltershalloffame.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/42E3C360-77E5-45E7-ACEE-559504503319

Complete “Dogwood” pattern https://quiltershalloffame.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/52FC825B-AA24-4391-BC00-995383132853

“Pink Dogwood” kit https://quiltershalloffame.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/2D593DFC-0BB6-46D6-9F70-172460710460

Honorees Mary Barton and Bets Ramsey share a birthday today, June 9th. I thought to write about them together, but there’s too much to say about each of them. I’ll start with Bets, and get to Mary next week.

Before I start though, I want to thank all the gals in my guild (shout out to you, Faithful Circle) who helped with suggestions on how to improve this blog.  For one thing, I was told that the links I include would be better at the end, so the reader isn’t skipping away from the Hall of Fame site; I’ll try that this time.  Also, administratively we are going to add more “tags” to make it easier for someone browsing the internet to find us.  If you have other ideas to help us increase visibility or to provide better information, please leave a comment. Now, on to Bets Ramsey, who turns 90 today and is the 2005 inductee.

You can read a full biography of Bets on the Honoree page of the Hall of Fame website (link below) or get a visual recap of her life in the video (another link below). But I want to focus on one big part of her life: her writing. Bets is best known for her authorship of books on quilts in the South.  She was born in Tennessee, and lives there today, so she was writing about what she knows. Here are three in the Hall of Fame Collection.

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The first of these books, Quilts of Tennessee, derived from a four-year project documenting, with Hall of Fame Honoree, Merikay Waldvogel, almost 1500 quilts in their home state.  If you search the Quilt Index (link below), you’ll discover over 250 Tennessee quilts that they documented.  And, just because no blog of mine is complete without a Quilt Index citation, here’s one of the earliest they found; look at that quilting!

Much of this documentation was spun off into six scholarly articles published in the American Quilt Study Group research journal, Uncoverings. The first of these, “Design Invention in Country Quilts of Tennessee and Georgia”, attributes a characteristic of country quilts observed by Ramsey: compromise brought on by necessity. She gives as examples the use of cut outs (broderie perse), string piecing and natural dyes. There’s a certain effort at organization, and her premise couldn’t be fully developed in an eight-page essay, but what really comes across, is the soft spot Bets had in her heart for the cherished family quilts she was learning about, and her respect for the quiltmaker-artisans she interviewed.

Again, writing about what she knew, in “Recollections of Childhood Recorded in a Tennessee Quilt”, Ramsey detailed a project spearheaded in her capacity as crafts specialist with the Senior Neighbors of Chattanooga, Inc. Her thought was, “Every quilt is a piece of history.  It is a record of the fabric of a given period. Its pattern and design reflect the style of the time. The quilt is an essay about the maker’s ability, training, taste, and feelings.” But for this project, she wanted a quilt which would visually record history.  Jumping off from the tradition of Baltimore Albums and other quilts which depicted items of symbolic significance or the maker’s contemporaneous surroundings, she invited a group of mostly blacks who had grown up in rural areas to make a quilt depicting a story from their youth. The article with charm and a tremendous feeling for the quiltmakers describes many of the stories that came out during the making of the quilt.  Why isn’t this quilt on the Quilt Index?

Next came “Roses Real and Imaginary: Nineteenth-Century Botanical Quilts of the Mid-South”, a comparative study of the influence of rural and agrarian life on chosen quilt patterns, interspersed with diary entries mentioning the quilts being made. And then “The Land of Cotton: Quiltmaking by African-American Women in Three Southern States”, based on oral interviews with rural quiltmakers who had moved to the city. In both cases, Bets was writing about what she knew, or rather, what she went out and gleaned.

Bets also knows about art.  Her grade school and high school years were spent in Oak Park, Illinois (famous as the home of Frank Lloyd Wright) and she decided early on to be an artist. In that vein, her fifth AQSG publications for Uncoverings  was “Art and Quilts: 1950-1970”. I don’t think of those years as being a flourishing time for quilts of any style, let alone art quilts, but Bets was writing about what she knew, from her personal acquaintances, her experience with mounting the Holstein/ Van der Hoof exhibit when it travelled to Tennessee, and decades of craft work. Her remaining article, given as a special presentation at AQSG was a recognition of fiber artist Mariska Karasz.

Bets doesn’t just write about quilts, she actually makes them, and takes this artistic endeavor seriously. She even has a Linkedin profile describing herself as a fiber artist, but I’m not savvy enough to get there.  Although my focus was intended to be about her writing, it wouldn’t be fair to leave you without a quick view of some of her work.

Artists, unlike the rest of us, often work in series to try out their ideas, and Bets is no exception. Whether she planned it deliberately or not, she has produced a number of items from other people’s scraps.

First is “Wild Goose Chase” with pieced strips made by Elizabeth Richardson and given to Peto. (As an aside, I’m sharing 30’s Christmas fabric with friends as a challenge. Do you ever do that?) And then, a little quilt made of a chunk of fabric from one of Marie Webster’s dresses. At the bottom is “Peto’s Centennial Challenge”, made from Hall of Fame Honoree Florence Peto’s scraps from her challenge to Bertha Stenge (another Honoree) and Elizabeth Richardson.  The Quilters Hall of Fame boasts a dozen more of these scrap quilts, and there’s a link below. Sometimes, if we’re especially lucky, Bets will contribute a piece for the annual fund-raiser live auction; keep your fingers crossed and eyes peeled.

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And now for something completely different, “Valley of Forgotten Dreams”. (Well, not completely; it does use scraps of kimonos.)

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And, “Fog Days on Cranberry Island” will round us out where Bets’ artistic career got started in 1967 when she and her family summered off the coast of Maine, and she participated in local arts and crafts fairs. 

If you want to see more of her quilts and hear Bets talk about them, there’s a great video link below.

Phew, I didn’t even tell you about her lectures and quilt columns!  Maybe another time. But for now, let’s just all wish Bets a Happy Birthday.

Your quilting friend,

Anna

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Links mentioned above;  if you can’t Control+Click, then cut and paste the reference into your browser.

Hall of Fame Honoree site https://quiltershalloffame.net/bets-ramsey/

Gov. Award video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GihxVuJxYeA

Documentation of Tennessee Quilts (all listed as Tennessee State Library and Archives) http://www.quiltindex.org/search_results.php?keywords=Bets+RAmsey&search=go

Art and Quilts  http://www.quiltindex.org/journals/article.php?Akid=2-B-C7

Design Invention in Country Quilts of Tennessee and Georgia http://www.quiltindex.org/journals/article.php?Akid=2-B-FF

Recollections of Childhood Recorded in a Tennessee Quilt http://www.quiltindex.org/journals/article.php?Akid=2-B-12F

Roses Real and Imaginary: Nineteenth-Century Botanical Quilts of the Mid-South

http://www.quiltindex.org/journals/article.php?Akid=2-B-11A

The Land of Cotton: Quiltmaking by African-American Women in Three Southern States http://www.quiltindex.org/journals/article.php?Akid=2-B-98

A Tribute to Mariska Karasz (1898-1960)

http://www.quiltindex.org/journals/article.php?Akid=2-B-AB

Ramsey’s Peto/ Richardson fabric collection quilts  https://quiltershalloffame.pastperfectonline.com/webobject?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search_criteria=Bets+Ramsey&searchButton=Search

More quilts video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT93EchD7b8

How’s this for a tee shirt or Facebook meme?

Everything I needed to know about color, I learned from Jinny Beyer.

It’s not quite accurate; I’ve known the color wheel most of my life, and as a dyer, I’ve read lots about color. But if there is one person in modern quilt history who is inextricably associated with color, it’s Hall of Fame Honoree Jinny Beyer.

Her quilting story began in India (read a full account here: https://quiltershalloffame.net/jinny-beyer/ ) where things were different from quilting in the States. At a time when dusty rose, dusty blue and seafoam green were the standard, Jinny worked in vibrant colors. Here’s her first quilt, made with Indian fabrics.  It wasn’t going to fit in with the country look of the 1970s, but she worked with what she had—and achieved spectacular results.

If you read her Hall of Fame bio, you know that Jinny came home to the US and received lots of encouragement from Hall of Fame founder, Hazel Carter. (I love the inter-connectedness of the quilt world.  And I especially love the theme of women helping women.) With Hazel and her guild cheering her on, Beyer jumped into competition. Here’s a photo of Jinny’s “Ray of Light” which won the Good Housekeeping and U.S. Historical Society contest, “The Great American Quilt”.

If you are up for a  dip in the pool of hippie/ self-sufficiency culture (and some context for Jinny’s work), check out the full article at https://www.motherearthnews.com/nature-and-environment/jinny-beyer-master-quilter-zmaz81ndzraw   Among other things, they describe Jinny’s paper folding technique for adjusting pattern size.  There are better photos of the quilt on the internet, but I couldn’t resist the throwback.  And if you want to see more quilts that Jinny has made, view the gallery on her website: https://jinnybeyer.com/quilt-gallery/ .

But let’s get back to the notion of color.  This is a quilt that is currently for sale as a kit or pattern on the Jinny Beyer website. 

Would you look at that? It’s brown and purple, and it works! What is this sorcery? It’s not dark magic, it’s Jinny’s color theory in operation. Using the method described in her book, Color Confidence for Quilters, you can put any colors together, as long as you make the proper transitions. And how do you do that? Well, to truly understand the process, you should read the book, but I can give you a very simplified visual using an object in the Hall of Fame Collection, a “Jinny Beyer Palette Poster”. (Warning label: I’m really leaving out a lot.  The book is worth your time.)

The poster shows 100 fabric swatches in the original fabric line that Jinny designed—all tone-on-tones or blenders. Start with a brown in the upper right, and go counter-clockwise around to the purples in the upper left.  You’ll notice that this took you through some reds and oranges.  And now go back to the quilt image, and you’ll find the same color range there. 

This was heady stuff when it first came out (and still useful today).  So much so that Wikipedia says, “Encyclopedia Britannica and RJR Fabrics credited her for being one of the first designers to form a fabric collection suited to the needs of quilters.” Of course, you can apply the Beyer method with other fabric, but it’s just too yummy to look at the palette pre-cuts she offers.

And now, here’s my quilt that I also called Marrakesh. 

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You’ll notice that I did not blend successfully (the green doesn’t fit—it’s in the inner border fabric, but I should have gone clockwise on the poster, from the reds through some yellows and golds to get to it) and I need to learn to miter.  But I thought I was pretty creative when I ran out of outside border fabric and compensated with a stepped-in frame—kinda like a rug you would get at the market in Marrakesh.

So that’s my segue into another thing that Jinny Beyer has contributed to the quilting world: border fabrics. Talk about bang for your buck!  Border fabrics do the work so you don’t have to. If you want an easy traditional quilt, you can alternate strips of the border fabric with columns of a simple block. All the design impact, and half of the piecing.  It’s been on my “To Do” list; note the date in the selvedge.

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Or, if you’re doing a round robin with friends, or otherwise going for the center medallion-style, border fabrics are your friends. (Timely for the AQSG 2021 Quilt Study which is “Framed Center/Medallion Quilts: History of a Style”.)  Dare I say it?  Border fabrics can really cut corners.

Or, if you’re truly ambitious, you can use border fabric as a design element, as in this quilt from one of Jinny’s many books.

Or, sometimes, the border fabric inspires the colors of the field as in this original design using blocks from Jinny’s book ‘The Quilter’s Album of Blocks and Borders’.

Here’s the Casablanca border from the Marrakesh quilt. (You’ll notice it’s really red, not brown.  But it reads as brown in the photo above, so I took some poetic license to make my brown/purple point.)  Next to it is a different print showing Jinny’s design genius. Many border prints on the market just repeat a single design, leaving you to figure out what part you want to lose in the cutting.  But these all have a built-in seam allowance and two sizes, proportioned to the Golden Mean ratio to give you flexibility.

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Although her designs are suitable for reflective piecing (think four patch posey or one block wonders), Jinny seems to use border fabric mostly as a frame for her quilts. I enjoyed reading about Jinny’s design decision-making on her blog at https://jinnybeyer.com/category/blog/borders .  You can she how she works with color and decides which border best complements a quilt—a real step by step journey through the creative process..  There’s also lots of information about working with border fabrics here   https://jinnybeyer.com/tips-and-lessons/working-with-border-print-fabrics/ .

There’s also lots of free stuff on the general site, including a pattern for table runners. Notice how the designs are perfectly matched, and compare mine using a non-Beyer border print.

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I think I need to get the pattern and go shopping for some more Jinny Beyer fabric; this is going to be a costly blog, but all of Jinny color and opulence has made it worth it. Stay tuned to see if I actually sew something.

Your quilting friend,

Anna

It’s a rainy day here and I wouldn’t be outside even without the stay-at-home order.  So it’s a good day for a “visit” with Jean Wells.

Honoree Jean Wells Keenan has a birthday coming up on Saturday (May 23^rd). Wish her a happy day on her Facebook page. You may know her as the founder of the Sisters Quilt Show in Oregon—more about that later—or as the author of nearly 30 quilt books.  If you don’t know her and want a quick bio, read here: https://quiltershalloffame.net/jean-wells/.

Early in my quilting journey, I discovered two of her early books. I was fascinated by her use of color and her interpretation of nature. She could turn a simple quilt into mixed berry delight or a field of flowers. These three books, with photos by her daughter, Valori, transported me out of my quilting room and into a beautiful outside world.

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Since you’re probably stuck inside, you may enjoy a little of the flavor of those books on Jean’s blog: https://stitchinpostinsisters.typepad.com/stitchin_post_in_sisters/jean-wells/  Or, here are two garden quilts made for one of the books.

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Here’s one of my first quilts, made after the Salad quilt in Through the Garden Gate.  I was just starting with the idea of color, and was proud of myself for “planting” eggplant, corn and carrots in my straight furrows. Clearly, I didn’t capture Jean’s sensibilities, but at least I moved away from my usual early two- and three-color palette.

I called it “Mary, Mary, How Does Your Garden Grow?”, and gave it to my sister-in-law who is a Master Gardener.

But, enough about me. 

Many of the quilts in her books are made by others, but Jean is also a prolific quilter herself.  Here’s one where she got the color right and introduced the interesting technique of portrait applique, as explained on the Quilt Index:

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“Applique Techniques-The quiltmaker used her originated technique called the “Portrait Method” where a smaller version of the larger quilt is constructed and backed (using a pillowcase edge finish) and then applied to the surface of the large quilt at specific locations. In this quilt, the “portraits” are applied with an invisible applique stitch through the backing fabric only, onto the large quilt, all around the portrait perimeter. This effect causes the quilt design to look as if it is floating above the surface of the quilt. This gives depth and dimension through light, shadow, and texture. “ Wells Keenan, Jean. Hidden Stone. c.2010. From Oregon Quilt Project, Oregon Quilt Project. Published in The Quilt Index, http://www.quiltindex.org/fulldisplay.php?kid=6A-FD-146. Accessed: 05/17/2020

I can’t imagine making the large version of this, let alone several minis to add on.  But obviously, I’m not Jean Wells, nor was meant to be. Take the time to see more of Jean’s work at https://jeanwellsquilts.com/gallery.html

As you could see from her gallery, Jean currently seems to gravitate to “art” quilts, and here are several of her more recent books.

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But she also wrote books for more traditional quilters, especially in her “Patchwork Quilts Made Easy “ series.  Here’s a quilt she designed for her book “Buttonhole Stitch-Applique”.

Wells Keenan, Jean. Pine Meadow. c.1995. From Oregon Quilt Project, Oregon Quilt Project. Published in The Quilt Index, http://www.quiltindex.org/fulldisplay.php?kid=6A-FD-152. Accessed: 05/17/2020

The mountains in that quilt give me a segue to the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show founded by Wells in 1975.  A few years ago it was reported that the show had grown to an average annual attendance of 12,500 with an estimated economic impact in the Sisters area of $1.7 million per year.  For 45 years the event has blanketed the entire town with up to 1,400 quilts.  It’s on my bucket list and you can see why from these photos:

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Like so many things, the actual show is cancelled this year, but will be held as a virtual event.

Over the years, Jean has taught hundreds, maybe thousands (not even including that first class of 9^th grade boys). One of her techniques is taking a traditional block and getting her students to spark it up.  Another is to use pure color (that’s where I went wrong) You can get a glimpse into Jean’s teaching technique by reading about one of her classes here http://karenquilt.blogspot.com/2012/06/jean-wells-keenan-comes-to-lopez.html.   and here http://karenquilt.blogspot.com/2012/06/jean-wells-keenen-visits-lopez-ii.html.  I want to sign up.

The Quilters Hall of Fame Collection has this article that starts with the New York Beauty block.

I’d be happy to be able to achieve either of those settings, but look what others have been inspired by Jean to create.

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“I was inspired by Cynthia Mumford’s quilt “Cats in the Garden”. She made her quilt in 2007. In her Q.S.O.S. interview in 2011 she said she was inspired by Jean Wells’ quilt, “Paradise in the Garden” which was featured in the book “Garden Inspired Quilts” by Jean Wells and Valori Wells in 2002. I would love to know who inspired Jean Wells to make her quilt. “ Hoffman, JoAnn. Inspire. June 1, 2014. From Quilt Alliance, Inspired By. Published in The Quilt Index, http://www.quiltindex.org/fulldisplay.php?kid=1-6-30C. Accessed: 05/17/2020

I think I know who inspired Jean Wells: it’s always Mother Nature.

Your Quilting friend,

Anna