Q.S.O.S. Spotlight
We’re back this Sunday with a short excerpt from a fantastic Q.S.O.S. interview from our archives with quiltmaker Adrienne Yorinks. Adrienne was interviewed in New York City in 2002 and her interview covers everything from to animal rights, abstract expressionism, kids and quilts, and gender. In these excerpts, Adrienne shares a bit about her then-latest work, and how men and women alike have reacted to her quilts: This is called “Tartan Number 3: A Midsummer’s Daydream.” And I’m doing a series of tartans. I’ve found it a fascinating format to use because it allows me to focus on different ways I work and has a built in way of “grounding” the piece. What I mean by this is if you look at the definition of Tartan in the dictionary, basically it is a woolen cloth with a woven pattern of straight lines of different colors and widths crossing at right angles. So it makes a perfect structure to do the kind of piece I want to work on at that time. I’ve been called an abstract expressionist by a few people viewing my work, and I am most moved myself by the abstract expressionist. My favorite artists are Mark Rothko and Robert Rauschenberg; Rothko for his incredible ability to capture mood in color and Rauschenberg for his sense of collage. I have always loved collage. My inspirations when I work are color, fabric, and subject matter. This piece really is about color. And I love summer. So, I just had to do a piece that was exciting, in reds and oranges. It’s to me a very happy piece. I will use cotton, a lot of vintage fabric, and anything else that strikes me. There’s a lot of silks and mixed blends that I’ve used together in this piece… My work has always been liked by men and women and I have been thrilled. It’s taken seriously. It’s not just looked over. So, I reach both genders which I’m excited about. I’ve reached all age groups and economic groups and I’m really excited about that. I think it’s unfortunate that there is a gender issue still in this country. But, I think there are so many issues in this country. I think women’s work–which sewing always was–even though there are some incredible art quilts even from the 1800’s. It is just not considered true art. I’m not answering this really great. I just want to be seen as an artist and then you can go into that I’m a woman and that I’m Jewish, that I’m brought up in New York. That’s okay, but I would like to be considered an artist first. To go back–the wonderful experience at Citigroup Center was I was seen by everyone that works at Citigroup Center and I had incredible comments, like they didn’t want the Pineapple quilt which was in this exhibit to leave the building. They really wanted color, they loved it. And also I had from my illustration work for Stand for Children, I had the elevator man come up and kiss my hand and say, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you for your work. You have made us so happy the last couple weeks.’ And I was touched by that more than most of the other comments that I touched somebody as an artist, and it didn’t matter. He might not have kissed my hand if I was a guy, but he really loved my work and I think that is important. You can read more quilt stories on the Quilters’ S.O.S.- Save Our Stories page on the Quilt Alliance site. Posted by Emma Parker Project Manager, Quilters’ S.O.S.- Save Our Stories…
read moreMemorial Day Quilts
Today is Memorial Day in the United States, a day to honor the men and women who lost their lives while serving in the armed forces. Throughout their history, quilts have been used to remember, comfort, and honor servicemen and women and their loved ones. From quiltmaking projects that gift quilts to grieving families, to quilts that capture the history of military sacrifices, today we’re sharing a few stories of quilts as memorials to those who served. Dianne Higley shared her experience making quilts to comfort families who lost loved ones in Iraq: I did a quilt for the Home of the Brave project too that the DAR did or is doing… I think it was maybe last year or the year before they did that project, the Home of the Brave. They asked each of the chapters to donate quilt squares or quilts and they would go to the families of the young men and women killed in Iraq, as a memory quilt. They used what is called an Album pattern where they had a little white square in the middle where the people could sign their names and the ladies in our chapter put their names in those little squares before we sent it in. Back during the Civil War where this pattern came from, they would have the family members sign their names and then they would send the quilt off to war with their soldier and a lot of these soldiers carried those quilts all the way through the war, but not many of them survived. When a soldier was killed, he would be buried in his quilt. Quilts have come a long way. Back then they were made out of scrap fabric what was left out of clothing that could no longer be worn, but now we go to the store and we buy fabrics and make them. Carole Lyles Shaw created a quilt to honor African-American servicemen and women. This quilt is part of a series of quilts and other mixed media art work that I am creating to honor the memories of ordinary men and women who served in the American Armed Forces, particularly in the early part of the 20th Century and most of the work features images and documents and so forth from 1960 or earlier… I happen to have been born in 1948 so in my lifetime literally we moved from a legally segregated army to a desegregated army although for many years there was still lots and lots of discrimination and limitations of roles that African American men and women could play. I downloaded the first page of Truman’s executive order and I superimposed over that these words, ‘They fought and died for American freedom before they had their own’ and those words, those are my words and to me it just captures once again the honorable service that African Americans have given since the Revolutionary War obviously, even though at the time of the Revolutionary War we were still enslaved legally. Following the Civil War we were legally free but not full citizens. That took many, many more years to happen, and now we have an African American supported by Americans of all colors and walks of life… Making quilts can also help heal the grieving. Sandra Branjord shared a quilt that she made 10 years after the death of her son, who had served in the US military. [youtube…
read moreThank you, Clara Barton!
On this day in 1881, the American National Red Cross was founded in Washington, D.C. Founders Clara Barton and Adolphus Solomons started the organization to provide humanitarian aid to victims of war and natural disasters in affiliation with the International Red Cross, for whom Barton had worked during the Franco-Prussian War. Quiltmaker Ann Holmes from Asheville, North Carolina, made “Thank You Clara Barton” as her entry to the Quilt Alliance’s “Home Is Where the Quilt Is” contest in 2012. Ann’s artist’s statement: “It is amazing all that she accomplished for our country. Establishing a public school; “Angel of the Battlefield” during the Civil War; spent four years to identify over 22,000 missing soldiers; established the American Red Cross and served as president for 23 years; at 83, president of National First Aid Association. She certainly patched many lives together! Her work was not considered women’s work and never had the right to vote. Clara died in 1912.” View this quilt on The Quilt Index to find out (just click on the image above). Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view or click the “See full record” link to see a larger image and all the data entered about this quilt. Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
read moreBrowsing the Flower Pots.
Flower-themed patterns are this week’s Cruise & Use activity on The Quilt Index. I returned to the Browse by Pattern Page where I chose Flower Pot. This browsing category contains 81 records. The Browse by Pattern page includes more than 200 of the most common patterns and their variations taken mostly from Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns, first edition. Then I narrowed down my search by selecting six Flower Pot quilts to compare. Next, I clicked on the View Record link under each record’s image to view the Basic record view for each quilt. Click on the images below to find out more about each quilt. Tip: you can easily generate a citation for any image documented in The Quilt Index by clicking on the How to Cite This Record link at the bottom of each record’s basic or full display page. You can then copy and paste the citation, as I’ve done with images below. Take your own Browse by Pattern adventure on The Quilt Index today! Click on each image to view these quilts on The Quilt Index to read more about their history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view or click the “See full record” link to see a larger image and all the data entered about each quilt. Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
read moreApril Showers Bring May Flower Baskets
This week’s Cruise & Use activity on The Quilt Index features flower-themed patterns. To start my cruising adventure, I went to the Browse by Pattern Page where I chose Flower Basket. Initially my browse returned this happy grid view of 325 records: Then I narrowed down my search by selecting six quilts to compare. Next, I clicked on the View Record link under each record’s image to view the Basic record view for each quilt. Click on the images below to find out more about each quilt. Tip: you can easily generate a citation for any image documented in The Quilt Index by clicking on the How to Cite This Record link at the bottom of each record’s basic or full display page. You can then copy and paste the citation, as I’ve done with images below. Take your own Browse by Pattern adventure on The Quilt Index today! Click on each image to view these quilts on The Quilt Index to read more about their history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view or click the “See full record” link to see a larger image and all the data entered about each quilt. Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
read more1933 Sears Quilt Contest Entries Documented in The Quilt Index
While doing a Cruise & Use tour of the browsing categories in The Quilt Index this week, I came across one of my favorite quilt collections documented in the Index–the Waldvogel Archival Collection. This is one of the first private collections contributed to The Quilt Index and currently includes 86 records of quilts and quilt-related ephemera. From the collection description page: Merikay Waldvogel has collected and researched quilts since the mid 1970s. Although she has also written about older quilts, her primary interests are in the 20th century: the 1933 Sears Quilt Contest, Depression Era Quilts, as well as quilt designers, authors and companies that propelled the 20th century quilt styles. Waldvogel became an outspoken advocate for saving quilt ephemera such as quilt catalogs, newspaper columns, batting wrappers, advertisements, contest fliers, etc. when she wrote Soft Covers for Hard Times: Quiltmaking and the Great Depression and Patchwork Souvenirs of the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. The ephemera served as reliable primary sources to authenticate the quilts she was researching. I found 8 stunning quilts from the Waldvogel Archival Collection, all entries for the Sears Quilt Contest at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, to share with you today. You can find these quilts and more Challenge or Contest Entry quilts by browsing the Index by Purpose/Function. Tip: you can easily generate a citation for any image documented in The Quilt Index by clicking on the How to Cite This Record link at the bottom of each record’s basic or full display page. Just click this link and copy and paste the citation, as I’ve done with images below. To start your browsing journey, visit the home page of The Quilt Index, www.QuiltIndex.org, locate the Browse menu at the top and click on Main. You’ll find six different options for browsing: Click on each image to view these quilts on The Quilt Index to read more about their history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view or click the “See full record” link to see a larger image and all the data entered about each quilt. Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
read moreContest Quilts Documented in The Quilt Index
I’d like to continue our Cruise & Use tour of the browsing categories in The Quilt Index this week. To start your browsing journey, visit the home page of The Quilt Index, www.QuiltIndex.org, locate the Browse menu at the top and click on Main. You’ll find six different options for browsing: This week we’re going to Browse by Purpose/Functon and today’s topic is Challenge or Contest Entry. Here are two of my favs from this category, both entries for the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago, Illinois. Tell us your top picks here on the blog or via the Quilt Index Facebook page. Tip: you can easily generate a citation for any image documented in The Quilt Index by clicking on the How to Cite This Record link at the bottom of each record’s basic or full display page. Just click this link and copy and paste the citation, as I’ve done with images below. Click on each image to view these quilts on The Quilt Index to read more about their history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view or click the “See full record” link to see a larger image and all the data entered about each quilt. Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
read moreBrowse the Quilt Index: Doll Quilts/Toys
Whether you are new to the Quilt Index or a passionate power user, this week I’d like to introduce you to a few of the browsing categories set up by Quilt Index staffers. To start your browsing journey, visit the home page of The Quilt Index, www.QuiltIndex.org, locate the Browse menu at the top and click on Main. You’ll find six different options for browsing: This week we’re going to Browse by Purpose/Functon and today’s topic is Doll Quilt/Toy. Here are five of my favs from this category. Tell us your top picks here on the blog or via the Quilt Index Facebook page. Tip: you can easily generate a citation for any image documented in The Quilt Index by clicking on the How to Cite This Record link at the bottom of each record’s basic or full display page. Just click this link and copy and paste the citation, as I’ve done with images below. Click on each image to view these quilts on The Quilt Index to read more about their history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view or click the “See full record” link to see a larger image and all the data entered about each quilt. Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
read moreBrowse the Quilt Index: Quilts made for Gifts or Presentations
Whether you are new to the Quilt Index or a passionate power user, this week I’d like to introduce you to a few of the browsing categories set up by Quilt Index staffers. To start your browsing journey, visit the home page of The Quilt Index, www.QuiltIndex.org, locate the Browse menu at the top and click on Main. You’ll find six different options for browsing: This week we’re going to Browse by Purpose/Functon and today’s topic is Gift or Presentation. Here are three of my favs from this category. Tell us your top picks here on the blog or via the Quilt Index Facebook page. Tip: you can easily generate a citation for any image documented in The Quilt Index by clicking on the How to Cite This Record link at the bottom of each record’s basic or full display page. Just click this link and copy and paste the citation, as I’ve done with images below. Click on each image to view these quilts on The Quilt Index to read more about their history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view or click the “See full record” link to see a larger image and all the data entered about each quilt. Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
read moreBrowse the Quilt Index: Art or Personal Expression
Whether you are new to the Quilt Index or a passionate power user, this week I’d like to introduce you to a few of the browsing categories set up by Quilt Index staffers. To start your browsing journey, visit the home page of The Quilt Index, www.QuiltIndex.org, locate the Browse menu at the top and click on Main. You’ll find six different options for browsing: This week we’re going to Browse by Purpose/Functon and today’s topic is Art or personal expression. Here are my top five favs from this category. Tell us your top picks here on the blog or via the Quilt Index Facebook page. Tip: you can easily generate a citation for any image documented in The Quilt Index by clicking on the How to Cite This Record link at the bottom of each record’s basic or full display page. Just click this link and copy and paste the citation, as I’ve done with images below. Click on each image to view these quilts on The Quilt Index to read more about their history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view or click the “See full record” link to see a larger image and all the data entered about each quilt. Posted by Amy E. Milne Executive Director, Quilt Alliance…
read moreQ.S.O.S. Spotlight
Usually we focus our Q.S.O.S. Spotlight posts on interviews from the Q.S.O.S. archive (hence the name!). But we’ve just posted a fresh batch of our Go Tell It at the Quilt Show! interviews (short 3 minute video interviews with one person talking about one quilt) and wanted to share a few with you! First, an interview with Australian quilt and fabric designer Lynette Anderson. I love this interview for the unexpected childhood backstory of the name of the center panel in her quilt:
Next, a pair of interviews about a stunning red and white quilt exhibited at the International Quilt Festival’s Ruby Jubilee exhibit. The quilt was made as a tribute to Joanna Rose, from whose collection more than 600 red and white quilts were shown in the 2011 Infinite Variety show in New York City. Hear Andrea Murray and Deborah Semel Bingham tell the story of this amazing collaborative quilt: And finally, an interview with a young but accomplished quilter, Karlee Porter. Did you catch how many Swarovski crystals Karlee added by hand to this quilt?! These interviews (and 180+ more) are available to view on the Quilt Alliance’s YouTube channel. At only three minutes long, they’re a quick way to hear the stories of quilters and quilt lovers from every corner of the quilt world. What’s your favorite Go Tell It video you’ve seen so far? Let us know in the… read moreFree Class from Craftsy featuring Quilt Treasure Jinny Beyer!
The Quilt Alliance is thrilled to have Craftsy as a Platinum sponsor for Quilters Take Manhattan 2015. Don’t miss this free online video class, 2015 Block of the Month, featuring Jinny Beyer. The Quilt Alliance, along with our partners at Michigan State University,* is proud to have documented Jinny for the Quilt Treasures project. Watch a mini-documentary about Jinny, see a photo gallery, a biography and much more on the Quilt Alliance website here. *Quilt Treasures is a join project of the Quilt Alliance, Michigan State University Museum and MATRIX: Center for Digital Humanities & Social Sciences at MSU. Bring a gorgeous quilt to life one block at a time with my free online video class 2015 Craftsy Block of the Month, created in partnership with RJR Fabrics. Join me, quilter and designer Jinny Beyer, and learn an array of my signature techniques as we sew a stunning, Craftsy-exclusive quilt. Once you enroll, you’ll enjoy a new lesson on the first of every month. Watch it at your own pace, and discover everything you need to know to put together 13 beautiful blocks and finish this captivating quilt! As we sew, you’ll have the option of hand or machine piecing a variety of basket and flower blocks. I encourage everyone to try out hand piecing at least once – it’s one of my favorite techniques, and enables you to create perfectly precise points and sew set-in seams with ease. I’ll also demonstrate how to use templates and specialty rulers, and reveal how to fussy cut border stripe fabric for magical effects inside pieced blocks. Border stripes aren’t just for borders anymore! I selected the fabric for this quilt from several of my best-selling collections, and I know you’ll adore the luminous hues, captivating prints and gorgeous border stripes. To make an exact replica of the quilt I’ll be working on throughout class, purchase the exclusive 2015 Block of the Month Quilt Kit on Craftsy! We’ll begin class with my secrets for using color in quilts, and then dive right into our January block: the May Basket. Learn how to use templates and a few simple tricks to easily cut the necessary pieces, and find out how to join a string of triangles and maintain their precise points – without cutting your thread. In the next lesson, assemble the lovely Basket of Fruit block as you discover how to mark and join black and brightly colored half-square triangles. Then, learn how to sew set-in seams both by hand and by machine for the beautiful Ash Basket block. The Cherry Basket is up next, and we’ll use the golden ratio principle and bias strip curved appliqué to assemble this block. To create the crisp points in our Pine Needle basket block, we’ll dive into a lesson on foundation piecing. Next, learn how to use partial seams to make complex-looking blocks a cinch as we sew the White Oak and Birch Basket blocks. Appliqué has undeniable visual appeal, and I’ll show you how to use Apliquick tools to create polished appliqués faster than ever for our Beech Basket block. Paper piece the Basket Full of Lilies block, then learn how to apply log cabin construction techniques to complete the Dahlia and Daffodil blocks. Before you know it we’ll be sewing our final blocks! Work with five and then eight foundations at a time to create the eye-catching Harlequin and Foxglove blocks, and find out how to frame each for easy paper foundation removal. Put the finishing touches on this exquisite quilt with a few of my favorite methods for sashing and cornerstones. Use perfectly proportioned border prints to harmonize your quilt, and finish with a crisp miter for clean, professional corners. Sign up today for 2015 Craftsy Block of the Month, and join me in sewing a quilt that’s sure to become the prized jewel of your collection! I sewed my first quilt in 1972, and the rest is history! I spend my time designing fabric, writing, teaching and quilting, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve authored 12 books, been inducted into The Quilters Hall of Fame, and have had my Ray of Light quilt named one of the “100 Best American Quilts of the 20th Century” by Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine. I love sharing my passion with fellow quilters, and teach classes around the world – and now, right here on Craftsy! Build your skills and a breathtaking quilt, one fun block at a time! Enroll in the free online video class 2015 Craftsy Block of the Month…
read more