Twelve Quilts of Christmas 2020 – #9
c. 1820 – 1840, 93” x 75”, Maker Unknown.
From the collection of the International Quilt Museum, Jonathan Holstein and Gail van der Hoof Collection, Object number 2003.003.0210.
Another favourite from my list.
My eyes are first drawn to the quilting in this one. They worked out the quilting design very successfully, enlarging the quilting motif to fill the centre area of interest of the quilt, and then squishing and morphing the geometric designs so that they resolve neatly at the edges. It’s another great example of “more than one way into a castle,” but I think the quilt police might need some smelling salts.
The colours are only slightly muted with age. The use of the mustard gold colour in the wide outer border seems to intensify the brilliance of the blue. The red is the “shocker” here and is definitely a needed element that makes the quilt visually successful. Again, it is the lesson of “take it away and the quilt would miss it.” The same stands true for the pale yellows, the very pale beige and the green. They just all work together so beautifully.
There are sweet examples of piecing within some of the “solid” blocks, to get the block to finish the right size to fit into the quilt. The use of the tiniest bit of print in first and second borders, and just a titch in the third border is a fascinating detail.
There is an interplay between borders that is worthy of noting. The sharing of the browns in the third and fourth borders is unifying element. Notice the two-sided asymmetry of the fourth border? If we have tended to think of medallion quilts as being square and symmetrical, we definitely being proven wrong.
The fifth border at the bottom which shares colour elements with fourth border and with the final gold outer border achieves two goals. It first tricks the eye into reading that the bottom final border is the same width as the upper border and lends the appearance that the pieced composition is centred vertically. It also anchors the border to the lower outer border, while at the same time unifying it to the central pieced composition, creating this tension of balance in the overall composition of the quilt. Sophisticated application of some wonderful ideas.
It goes without saying that the visual appeal of this is intensified by the handpiecing and the lack of everything being squared up.
Sigh! Just sigh!
What are your thoughts?
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“The quilt police might need some smelling salts”….LOL
Your observations have given me reason to pause and rethink this seemingly simple quilt!, I missed noticing so much!
LOL! I love it! … quilt police … smelling salts … YES!
Aren’t these old quilts wonderful? So much to learn from them!
It’s that 4th and 5th borders that do it for me! I’m in love with asymmetry in quilts! And the blending of the colors on the 5th border with the final gold border….well….that’s just magic! I love this!
I could just keep looking at this quilt for hours. I love this one too!
Makes me think that adding more colors to a quilt could turn something routine into something more visually interesting. It sure makes you wonder what the quiltmaker was thinking as he/she put this together. Maybe there was more feeling than thinking!