American Quilts- Selections from the Winterthur Collection

Yesterday I visited the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond,VA http://www.vmfa.museum/  to see the special exhibit- American Quilts- Selections from the Winterthur Collection.  It was beautiful!  There are 36 quilts on display from the 1700's to 1850.  No pictures allowed, so these are from the brochure and the newspaper.

This star is actually part of a quilt.  See the last picture. 

Some quilts were from small scraps while others were made from (individually) an old dress, an embroidered wedding gown, brown wool breeches!  Actually, the brown wool quilt was very different looking with long strips of wool embroidery and then solid strips of chocolate brown wool from the breeches.  Very eye-catching and contemporary looking.    

This article appeared in the Richmond Times Dispatch in October.  Left: Small (30"x30"?)Hand applique, tiny people and animals are at the base of the tree. We would call this fussy cut now.  Center: A bed-sized applique Album Quilt.  Right: Bed- sized applique counterpane. 

There are examples of whole cloth (same fabric all over, but not necessarily one piece of fabric), trapunto, counterpane (applique but not quilted), stenciled/ painted, mosaic hexagons with paper backing, political, etc. 

The applique was stitched either with invisible stitches or the tiniest buttonhole stitch.  Some quilts had a handkerchief as the center square.

During this time period, quilt patterns mirrored floor and ceiling designs.  Sometimes they would quilt a dressing table cover and the bed curtains, pillow covers all to match the bed quilt.

A very inspiring show, I was amazed at the tiny precise stitches!

This show continues until Jan.2,2011

http://www.vmfa.museum/

http://www.winterthur.org/