A Feel for Color Exhibit by Sally Barker

I recently saw this exhibit at the Children's Museum of  Richmond.  Sally Barker recreated famous paintings as quilts full of texture for the visually impaired.  All of the quilts, roughly 20" (just an estimation!) were hung low because it was a children's museum after all.  I enjoyed the visual impact and then I went around again with my eyes closed so I could appreciate the tactile aspect.  Sally Barker not only used different fabrics, but she also used cardboard or something to make some areas recessed and others more prominent.  It was fun to actually be encouraged to touch the quilts because usually it is hands off!  Here are my favorites:

 A Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh

 Jane Avril by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

 The Fall of Icarus by Henri Matisse

 Woman Seated in a Chair by Pablo Picasso

 The Red Poppy by Georgia O'Keefe

The Scream by Edvard Munch

The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum

 Over the holidays, we visited Washington D.C. and the Smithsonian Natural History Museum on the mall.  We had just arrived (with 4 kids in tow) when I spotted beautiful colors in a room.  I went to look and my mouth fell open.  I started snapping pictures because I knew everyone really wanted to see dinosaur bones and the Hope Diamond.

 This is a coral reef made of crochet!  It is amazing.  I have dabbled in crochet, but, WOW!

 The colors are so vibrant.

 There are beaded ones and every type of yarn you can imagine!

 The main reef is huge too- taller than people looking at it. 

The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum will be on display until

April 24,2011.  It is worth a look and admission is free.

http://www.mnh.si.edu/exhibits/hreef/index.html

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/

Navajo Weavings-Part 3

This is the last installment from the Lancaster Quilt and Textile Museum http://www.quiltandtextilemuseum.com/ The imagery is not what I am used to seeing. Very unusual! The second one apparently was a pattern from a magazine.

Great shapes!

Navajo Weavings-Part 2

Navajo Weavings seen at the Lancaster Quilt and Textile Museum www.quiltandtextilemuseum.com I love the colors and the American flag and trains, motifs I didn't know they used in the late 1800's-early 1900's.

Navajo Weavings-Part 1

On a recent trip to Pennsylvania, we visited the Lancaster Quilt and Textile Museum http://www.quiltandtextilemuseum.com/

They had these beautiful weavings by Navajo weavers.

Amish Quilts-Part 6

This is the last installment in the Amish quilts exhibit at the Lancaster Quilt and Textile Museum www.quiltandtextilemuseum.com

This is an Amish take on a crazy quilt. It looks very different done all in solids.

This is a display of two quilts side by side. The one on the right is Amish and the one on the left is Mennonite. The close up shows the small patterned fabric.

Amish Quilts-Part 5

Views from the Lancaster Quilt and Textile Museum http://www.quiltandtextilemuseum.com/

This quilt has a woven coverlet hanging beside it.

Vibrant colors and tiny, even stitches!

Amish Quilts-Part 4

Seen at the Lancaster Quilt and Textile Museum. http://www.quiltandtextilemuseum.com/

This neutral quilt is not what I normally picture in my head as an Amish quilt, but it is still beautiful!

Lots of vivid colors!

Shocking pink!

Amish Quilts-Part 3

More from the Lancaster Quilt and Textile Museum in Pennsylvania. www.quiltandtextilemuseum.com

The museum is in a beautiful old bank building. Here is a view of the ceiling. The bank vault was decorated and made into a children's room with activities related to quilts. The Amish girl is a wall mural. I loved being able to look at the quilts while my kids played happily in the vault!

Amish Quilts-Part 2

Here are five more Amish quilts seen recently at the Lancaster Quilt and Textile Museum.

http://www.quiltandtextilemuseum.com/