Mariner’s Compass Quilt, Monroe County, Wisconsin, c. 1876, 73 ½” x 83”, Johanna Quillinen Lane and her daughter Elizabeth Ann Lane. Current location unknown.
This quilt caught my attention immediately the first time I saw it. I was intrigued by the colours. I was intrigued by the pattern. I was intrigued by the centres of each compass. And, the varying number of points in the blocks, simply. makes. my. liberated. quilting. heart. sing!
Also … Attention!!! … cheddar in the lower right block!
Would you be brave enough to have all the variation in compass points as this quiltmaker has done?
If you know the current location of this quilt, please let me know.
The Holen Boys Tie Quilt, United States, c. 1935, 94” x 81”. Made by someone in Holen Family(?). Location, potentially Nebraska Prairie Museum of the Phelps County Historical Society/The Holen Family.
The centre of the quilt has embroidered on it “This is the Holen Boys Necktie Quilt”. Almost a hundred silk ties were used to make this energetic quilt that compels us to engage visually with its dynamic design.
The use of red in the design helps to define the shape of the ties in the first two rounds and draws the eye to the message in the centre, prompting us to ponder, as Roderick Kiracofe and Sandi Fox wrote, in Going West: Quilts and Community, “Who were the Holen boys? How did they have so many neckties, and why did they surrender them for this quilt?” The mix of other colours used in the remaining rounds, instead of red, to fill in the shape of the ties, adds a delightful complexity to the composition and forms a strong supporting base for the central part of the design.
This dynamic quilt was not easy to sew. Silk is slippery and flowing, even silk used for ties. The maker was not deterred when they made this quilt.
Don’t you wish you knew more about this quilt and why it was made? #labelyourquilts and #includeyourstory
This Pine Burr quilt was made by Lucy Marie Mingo. The eminent quilt historian Cuesta Benberry said in an interview in 2007, “The design is savored especially by Southern African Americans, but it is not solely an African-American design. It does date to the 19th century. At that time, it was made by both with and black Americans, but it seems to have become an African-American design of choice – especially Southern, rural black make that quilt to display their expertise.”
The elaborate piecing technique, is composed of small triangles that are folded and sewn to a backing in a circle to form a low relief of scales, resembling a pine cone. In Gee’s Bend: The Women and Their Quilts they write: “This pattern for which the Bend has become fairly well know, may be the least typical quilt there. … In 1997, the Alabama legislature named the “Pine Burr” the official state quilt.”
Lucy Mingo was indeed a talented quilter who displayed a great attention to detail. Lucy was known to say, “if you don’t do something right, ain’t worth doing it”. Her husband’s aunt, China Grove Myles taught her the pattern as China as the only one left in Gee’s Bend who could sew the Pine Burr. Depending on the size of the finished quilt, because so much fabric is used in the folded design of each piece, a finished quilt can weigh up to 25 lbs!
Lucy’s colour combinations deeply intrigue me. I could simply study it for hours!
For discussion clarity, lets establish that this quilt has a centre star medallion and three pieced rings which I reference working out from the centre, 1, 2 & 3.
The maker of this quilt was masterful in their use of colour and value. Four colours; white, red, pale yellow and a yellow chartreuse. Do you see how the pale yellow creates a soft transition to white around the centre star medallion and on the inside of the first ring and the outside of the third ring? Compare that to the transition from the yellow chartreuse to white of the first ring. Notice the differences between the centre star and the bordering stars, comparing where the pale yellow is placed and the impact of that on the design. That subtle but important shift between pale yellow and yellow chartreuse makes all the difference in this quilt. The maker of this quilt had a divine sense of value!
This is one of those quilts that has visual impact, a great punch, and yet at the same time is very calming to look at.
And those tulips …. Sigh!
What would your colour combination be if you were to reproduce this quilt for yourself?
Pinwheel Quilt, McMinn, Tennessee, United States, c. 1860, 74” x 93”, Maker Unknown. From the Quilt Index, Quilt Index Record: 22-18-11
Worn, loved and energetic, almost mesmerizing. The block may be called Pinwheel, but even though it is blue and white it makes me think of peppermint swirl … okay maybe it is the season making me think that!
I just had to include this one, even though the photo is not as clear as I would normally choose and even though you can clearly see the right edge of the quilt is torn and tattered. Was that wear from pulling the quilt up tight around their chin at night to keep out the cold? That worn part just makes me smile. I see it as a sign that this quilt was used and loved, and that is just as it should be.
I appreciate the circle in the centre of the pinwheel which cleverly helps avoid what would be a messy and bulky intersection in the middle if it wasn’t there. Sometimes design decisions are just about practicalities. Plus it is a place for the eye to resist amid all the swirling and whirling.
What I appreciate about the squares on point sashing is that it is the perfect foil to the whirling circles. This sashing design serves two purposes. It gives boundaries and holds in the energy of the whirling circles while giving the eye another space to rest in those white squares on point. At the same time, those same white squares on point have a visual permeability to the sashing as opposed to a stark, hard stop if the sashing had just been only strips of the dark blue fabric; allowing the visual dance to slow down but not stop as the eye moves from circle to circle.
What do you look at first in this very lively quilt? The sashing or the pinwheels?
A quiltmaker, fabric designer, teacher, and speaker, Mary Elizabeth is also co-author of two best-selling books, “Small Blocks, Stunning Quilts” and “Small Pieces, Spectacular Quilts“. She has been a featured guest on The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims. And her work has been shown at international quilt shows and featured in many international quilting publications.
Mary Elizabeth believes in “Quilting With Abandon”, stretching traditional boundaries and creating quilts with a subtle salute to the past. She is enthusiastic about our quilting heritage and the lessons to be learned from the antique quilts she studies and collects. Her recent work examines the interpretation of traditional quilt designs through “gestured appliquéd lines” and the quilting stitch.
