who is Anna Tuels? even the museum doesn't really know. but her quilt was made by her mother in 1785. marking items with names or initials was important as "legally, married women had no right to own property". this quilt was quite worn but made from fabrics only a well-to-do family could have obtained. named "Hourglass".
made in 1794 using fabrics from "her wedding dress, family dresses, and dresses of famous women". of course we all know that this pattern came from England. but it may be the oldest American one on record. named "Hexagon Mosaic".
made in 1842 and received a silver medal. initially women were reluctant to show their homemade items at agricultural shows. named "Star of Bethlehem".
made 1885-90 by two sisters. plenty of inexpensive American printed cotton made "charm" quilts and fussy cutting popular. named "Broken Star".
made 1860-70 from beautiful silks that her sister brought back from New York City. she traced a tin template on paper which she removed before assembling. named "Tumbling Blocks".
quiltmaker in family is undecided. date is inaccurate. but "synthetic dyes" were not used until 1856. this led to the "jewel-toned" shades which make this quilt exciting. named "Sunburst".
ooooh. a sad bit about the crazy quilt i showed you
here. designed using 1,047 pieces it took 4 years but was to remember all of her 3 children which died very young. the other crazy quilt which was too dark to photo was made in 1888 by a dressmaker using silk scraps and gave to her son as a wedding present. although he divorced he donated to the museum just prior to his death in 1924.
museums are so clean. i think i left some dust or threads in there before i left. mostly my own words came from information provided in a Labels and Gallery Guide i purchased from the museum. i will post pics of full size quilts later. but if you have any questions i will try to answer. i assumed that this was a traveling exhibit but was pleasantly surprised that most were made in or very close to Hartford and are part of the museum collection.
made in 1794 using fabrics from "her wedding dress, family dresses, and dresses of famous women". of course we all know that this pattern came from England. but it may be the oldest American one on record. named "Hexagon Mosaic".
made in 1842 and received a silver medal. initially women were reluctant to show their homemade items at agricultural shows. named "Star of Bethlehem".
made 1885-90 by two sisters. plenty of inexpensive American printed cotton made "charm" quilts and fussy cutting popular. named "Broken Star".
made 1860-70 from beautiful silks that her sister brought back from New York City. she traced a tin template on paper which she removed before assembling. named "Tumbling Blocks".
quiltmaker in family is undecided. date is inaccurate. but "synthetic dyes" were not used until 1856. this led to the "jewel-toned" shades which make this quilt exciting. named "Sunburst".
ooooh. a sad bit about the crazy quilt i showed you here. designed using 1,047 pieces it took 4 years but was to remember all of her 3 children which died very young. the other crazy quilt which was too dark to photo was made in 1888 by a dressmaker using silk scraps and gave to her son as a wedding present. although he divorced he donated to the museum just prior to his death in 1924.
museums are so clean. i think i left some dust or threads in there before i left. mostly my own words came from information provided in a Labels and Gallery Guide i purchased from the museum. i will post pics of full size quilts later. but if you have any questions i will try to answer. i assumed that this was a traveling exhibit but was pleasantly surprised that most were made in or very close to Hartford and are part of the museum collection.
4 comments:
What a wonderful place. I love the details that have managed to stay with the quilts.
I think it is not before time that quilts are treated with the same reverance as paintings, so knowing their history of construction is important. I think quilting was overlooked for too long just because it was females doing the making.
Thank you so much Karen for sharing these quilts.
Thank you for sharing beautiful pictures of these fantastic quilts! Looking at them, I start to wonder about their story, and the story of the women who made them. Very intrigueing...
How marvelous to have that to pop in to to have a look. I really like that sense of continuity that quilting brings me. It binds quiltmakers together: past, present and future...
I could have spent hours gazing at those in person.. thinking about them.
Wonder where the exhibit is going next??
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