Quilts & Textiles

I travelled this weekend to Mansfield, Ohio to attend a Quilt and Textile Study Day put on by the Midwest Fabric Study Group. It was to be a day spent studying textiles from the 1840-1860 time period, leading up to the Civil War. The event was organized by Sharon Pinka, who did a fabulous job setting everything up and making sure it all ran smoothly. Most of us arrived at the hotel on Friday night, and Sharon had arranged a get-together and show and tell in the breakfast room. People brought things from home or, in several cases, things they bought on the way. :) There were so many treasures, I hardly know where to begin. I guess I'll start with my favorite of the evening, this wonderful gold and red coverlet owned by Mary Jane Teeters-Eichaker. It was absolutely breathtaking to see it in person.

I love this motif of birds feeding their young.

Here's a detailed view of the border.

A corner detail. Notice the chinese pagoda under the fern.





Here is Xenia Cord, second from the left, talking about a red signature quilt she brought to share. I loved all the different fabrics in this, some I had not seen before.




One signature was mysteriously covered up with a muslin patch. This is the best part about these show and tells for me - everyone brainstorms about the WHY of things. WHO covered the name over, and WHY??




And another signature from the quilt. There was some speculation on whether Mexico was the country or a town.

Barb Garrett, pictured above to the left of Xenia Cord, brought a collection of doll quilts that she made and sells patterns for. These were really wonderful.

My favorite was this one made with Treasures of the York County Heritage Trust fabrics.

That's all for tonight, but I've taken over 500 pictures so far, so there's lots more to tell!!

Quilts From the Ghormley Collection

International Quilt Study Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2008.034.0010

Childhood Treasures: Doll Quilts from the Ghormley Collection is once again going to be on display at the International Quilt Study Center and Museum in Lincoln, NE. It will be on exhibit from 8/6/10 - 12/12/10. I missed this last time, and am definitely going to make the trip this fall.

International Quilt Study Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2008.034.0222

Mary Ghormley is a founding member of the Lincoln Quilters Guild, and for forty years she collected doll quilts from all over the United States. Her collection, which she donated to the Museum, consists of over 300 quilts dating from 1800 to 1950.

International Quilt Study Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2008.034.0043

Merikay Waldvogel wrote a book on the collection entitled Childhood Treasures: Quilts by and for Children, which documents some of the quilts, their history, and the story of how they were collected. If you are interested in doll quilts, or antique quilts in general, this is an exhibit you won't want to miss!