One Patch, Indiana, c. 1921, 75.5″ x 64″, Maker Unknown. From the Collection of the American Museum of Folk Art, A Gift from David Pottinger. Accession number 1980.37.54.

This quilt has such a beautiful radiance.  It is hard to take your eyes off of it.

What at first looks like a scrappy quilt actually has quite a bit of intention behind it.  It almost mirrors from side to side, save the black and red patches.  Vertically, there is a repetition of sorts.  It is this search for predictability that draws the viewer in, engaging them in a exploration of what matches and what doesn’t.  There is a tremendous amount of thought that was put into the composition of this quilt.  

The quilting is subtle and well planned.  Simple grid quilting alternates with a circle design in the alternating blocks.  The border is defined by uncomplicated triple diagonal lines of quilting.

But it is the colours that grip me.  Those magenta patches.   Those puce green patches.   Those orangey-red patches.  They are juicy in their intensity.  Saturated.  Vibrant.  Gutsy.  Bold.  Unexpected. All tempered by the pumpkin-rust colour and blacks acting as neutrals to tame all the other colours in the quilt.  

Again we see the subtle variations in colours to create cohesiveness.  This time in the borders; golden pumpkin on two opposing sides and the puce green on the other opposing sides.  Both of these colours acting as neutrals and a calming influence to the other colours, but read fundamentally as the same colour until closer examination.

Gazing at it intently and contentedly, it is easy to not immediately notice the black inner border.  Have you noticed how many of the Amish quilts include a narrow inner border in their quilts.  If feels so artistic, but as we have learned it also serves such an important design function.

Do you think this quilt would be as successful if that narrow inner black border was not there?  Why?