Fabulous Quilting Fads

I can’t resist sharing this photo I took of our deck when I returned home after retreat last week:

Fortunately the roads were good for the ride home and Mike had our driveway cleared. I love snow and I think it’s beautiful, but not everyone agrees with me (especially my husband).

The snow was followed by frigid cold, but by yesterday it had warmed up and the sunshine was glorious. So Mike and I enjoyed a ride to the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts in Cedarburg to drop off the quilts I’d entered in next week’s Winter Quilt Show.

It’s sponsored by the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts and promises to be a lot of fun. For all the details click here!

I’ll be presenting my lecture, “Friendship Quilts ~ Then and Now” at 2:30 that day. There will be other lectures, quilts, vendors, and so much more. You won’t want to miss it!

After dropping off the quilts I was anxious to see the new exhibit that just opened at the museum ~ Fabulous Fads:

Being a vintage quilt collector myself I couldn’t wait to see the quilts from the collections of both the museum, and my dear friend Carol Butzke. And this exhibit did not disappoint!

I’d like to share a few of my favorites for those of you who live far from Wisconsin to enjoy, and in hopes that all of you who live locally will put a visit to the museum on your calendar.

The first quilt I laid eyes on was a delightful Sunbonnet Sue:

I acquired a Sue quilt quite a few years ago and I shared it’s story in my blog at that time.

Please click here to read that post.

From there I was enthralled with a group of crazy quilts. This one was particularly interesting:

I found the sashing and posts used to frame the crazy quilt blocks to be unusual and visually pleasing.

There was also a crazy quilt there that included Stevengraphs. Years ago I purchased a lovely crazy quilt and was told by Carol that an embroidered portion of my quilt was a Stevengraph.

I’d never heard of such a thing. I did some research and shared it in a post about them in 2016 (click here to read that post). The museum had an exhibit about them that same year. These are a few from the current show:

There were lovely Baltimore Album quilts:

and charm quilts (quilts that have only 1 piece of every fabric):

I don’t have a vintage charm quilt in my collection, but I have made a quilt with two pieces of each fabric that I call “Almost Charming” 🤣.

The fun part about this quilt is the way I’ve discovered for sorting scraps by value. Click here to read the post I did about that technique.

I saved what I think is the best for last ~ Friendship Quilts (or Signature quilts if you prefer). The museum exhibit had some wonderful examples and I learned a few things while enjoying them. This first one is made as an Oak Leaf and Reel pattern.

Signatures and inspirational verses were written in the spaces around the center of the reel.

Here’s a portion of the sign that accompanied the quilt:

I love this pattern and have even made an innovative version of it I call Oak Leaf and Swirl. It was made for the National Quilt Museum’s New Quilts From an Old Favorite contest.

My antique version is from the 1800s, and it’s not in very good condition, but I still love it:

Neither of my quilts contain signatures. The signatures in the museum piece were so interesting. I especially loved the spiritual verses.

Another wonderful friendship quilt in the gallery was made from a pattern called Rolling Pinwheel. I think it looks similar to the Mariners Compass pattern, and it too contained signatures.

The signage explained that signatures on some quilts were made by scriveners. I thought this information was fascinating:

The signatures on this album quilt were done by a scrivener also.

Thanks to Carol and the Museum for sharing these wonderful quilts with us.

At the beginning of the post I mentioned that I will be doing a free lecture at the Winter Quilt Show and I can’t resist sharing once again that it’s entitled “Friendship Quilts Then and Now”!

It contains many vintage and some more recent Signature quilts, along with their stories, and I do hope you’ll consider joining me.

The Wisconsin Quilt Museum and the Winter Quilt Show are such treasures, and we are so blessed to have them nearby.

Let me leave you with a detail of one more of the friendship quilts on display in Cedarburg. This quilt really made me smile.