Quilts and Quiltmakers, Covering
Connecticut
by Patricia L. Cummings
A Show and Book Review
At "A Quilter's Gathering" Show in Nashua, New
Hampshire in November, 2002,
one of the participating vendors was selling the recent book which documents
the quilt of Connecticut. This volume is thicker than most state project
books, and it highlights many extremely wonderful and unique quilts
discovered during Connecticut's documentation days. This lovely book proved
to be an incentive to visit an exhibit with the same title as the book at
the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, which ended January 12, 2002.
The postcard advertisement above was mailed out by the New England Quilt Museum to announce the show. The quilt shown is "Young Man's Fancy," circa 1830.
The quilts in the exhibit were a visual feast
for the eye and featured many different styles and examples of quiltmaking
of the nineteenth century. Upon climbing the stairs to
the gallery area on the second floor of the museum, one was greeted by an appliqué quilt, finely executed in
the manner of Quaker quilts from the southeastern Pennsylvania and Delaware
areas. This Album Quilt had been given to Zachariah and Hannah Marsh Ferris
on their wedding anniversary in 1852. The bare branched tree, finely
wrought, in the center of the quilt, is a tribute to Mr. Ferris, and the
description of the quilt stated that the forty one branches represent all of the
members of his extended
family.
The block for his wife, features an anchor and the word, "Hope."
Reverse appliqué designs are seen in many of the blocks as well as in the
border tulips. There were only two pieced blocks in the quilt which seemed
to be a little out of place in light of the other motifs. The tiny size of
the many of the designs, the inked words, the excellent distribution of
colors (red, green, brown, yellow and blue), and the excellent appliqué
work, would make this quilt a show stopper in any era.
Just around the corner from that was a very
interesting quilt of the scrap bag variety which resembles a cobblestone pavement with mortar between
the many shapes of varying print fabrics. The borders consisted of nine patch
units set on point all the way around. The pieces were appliquéd down,
leaving bleached muslin background channels showing through in a manner
which one might call reverse stained glass appliqué. The name of that quilt
is "Stone Wall," and was made by Florence Briggs Haviland in 1866. Its unusual construction
may have been a precursor to a quilt called "Boston Pavement" made in Boston
in 1895, that was also on exhibit that day.
Some of the displayed quilts were of the everyday variety
and others were simply fabulous "best" quilts. A Tumbling Blocks quilt with
all those old yummy chocolate colors and other typical colors from the
nineteenth
century, caught my eye. In this scrap quilt, it was nice to see that so many
prints had been available to the quiltmaker.
There were two Log Cabin quilts hung side by
side, one of which was a Courthouse Steps and the other a traditional Barn
Raising pattern. There were several Friendship quilts in the exhibit.
On one, each name had been written, embroidered in red floss, and enclosed
by embroidered outline-stitched rectangles.
A silk and satin quilt in the shape of Connecticut was laying flat
across a table. Made in 1886, we assumed that it was probably too fragile
to hang vertically. A very gorgeous quilt that was also displayed flat was
made of silk pieces by a quilter who worked in a silk factory and thus had
access to silk fabrics. She had embroidered original designs of flowers and
birds on the crazy quilt that she had highly embellished resulting in a most
impressive quilt.
Interspersed with the museum's permanent collection in one small
room were other Connecticut quilts. A striking double sided green and white
appliquéd quilt hanging from a stand in the middle of the room was
intriguing. Each side had a different set of appliqué motifs, and the
quilter had achieved fine quilting by crosshatching right through all of the
designs in the central part. She added the clamshell quilting pattern on
the borders.
One of my favorites was a quilt called Star and Baskets, circa
1865-1890. The pieces of some of the baskets were so teeny! I loved the
way that Time had unevenly stained the muslin to a light brown in places,
giving the background a shadowy effect that could never be equally replicated by
tea-dyeing or any
other modern method. The center was a huge star and the workmanship over the
entire quilt was exquisite. Especially compelling were the many narrow
borders and the elongated sawtooth edging, seemingly by hundreds of
elongated, sharp pointed units, around the perimeter of the quilt.
All of the quilts were fun to see. One of them was called the
"Hired Man's Quilt" made by Annie McIravey Emmons,
circa 1930, which was composed of wool including sleeves from jackets. If only
quilts could talk, what a tale we might hear from that one!
As usual, the trip to the New England Quilt Museum was superb and
well worth the trip! The staff, mostly volunteers, are always especially
friendly and helpful. After seeing the exhibit, we enjoyed shopping in the
gift shop which is just too tempting. There is much to choose from their
wide selection of books, magazine, Japanese fabrics, 1930s fat quarters,
framed artwork of quilts, postcards, jewelry, wall hangings, note cards, and
quilted clothing!
The gals in Connecticut are to be commended on their
exceptional work in documenting the lives of the state's early quiltmakers
and presenting their findings so eloquently. For those who love antique
quilts, Quilts and Quiltmakers: Covering Connecticut will be a
must-have addition to any personal collection of state documentation
research books. The book is wonderful but to be able to see these
marvelous treasures in person was a treat!
©Copyright 2002. Patricia Cummings, Quilter's Muse Publications, Concord, NH. e-mail: pat@quiltersmuse.com
|