QUILTS & FABRIC: PAST & PRESENT


Thursday, March 24, 2011

Red & White Quilts



Here's a virtual show of red and white quilts for those of us who aren't going to New York City this week to see the American Folk Art Museum's Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts

UPDATE on March 29th. Watch this You-Tube video, an interview with curator Elizabeth Warren.




These are mostly copied from online auctions over the past five years or so.


You see red and white quilts dated from about 1840 through the 1920s

People loved that Turkey red plain cotton.
It didn't fade, it didn't bleed.



Well, once in a while you might be sold some fabric falsely advertised as Turkey red. The newer synthetic dyes often faded to peach or tan.


The earlier red and white quilts tend to be red prints

The majority are solids. This is a full-size four-block quilt.


I wonder if this one wasn't red, white and green at some point.


A not so deliberate mistake in the center.


And here's a great one from the cover of an old Coats & Clark pattern booklet.

The real show in New York is up from March 25-30
Here's what they say about it:
For six days in March, the American Folk Art Museum will dramatically transform the Park Avenue Armory’s historic 55,000-square-foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall with the installation of 650 red and white American quilts, all of which are on loan from the collection of Joanna S. Rose. It will be the largest exhibition of quilts ever held in the city. As an extraordinary gift to the public, entry to this unprecedented event is free.
Click here:
http://www.folkartmuseum.org/infinitevariety

13 comments:

  1. Thank you, Barbara! I absolutely adore red and white quilts - my Aunty Geraldine, who is half Chippewa, has the good fortune of owning a red & white quilt two of her aunts made while attending Indian school in the 1940s in North Dakota. It is beautiful and has an unusual center medallion. I don't have a picture of it yet, but will take one to share on my blog at http://www.rocknquilts.blogspot.com
    Thank you for the link to the Folk Art Museum, too.

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  2. Thank you so much for showing these. Because I live out West, I knew I couldn't attend. I love Red and White quilts and this is a great exhibit.

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  3. Truly inspiring. I actually get to go.. I am so excited!

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  4. I was a little concerned as you said these pics are for those who can not go to new york this week..... I don't have time this morning for 650 pictures BUT the pictures you posted have several patterns that are just a tad different then often seen.... as always - thanks for sharing....

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  5. Thanks, Barbara. Your "virtual show" is just a preview for me. I'm going on bus Monday. Looking fwd to it !

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  6. Wish I could go--thanks for sharing!

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  7. Thanks for the little appetizer for the weekend. I can't wait to see all those amazing quilts! I'm staying the weekend, and will see the Red & White show, the Masterworks show at the Folk Art Museum, the Superstars show at their Lincoln Square branch, and the Empire Quilt Guild's show at the Fashion Inst. of Tech.!!! Woohoo! I told my hubby I'd just meet him for dinner! Ha!

    And Victoria over at Bumblebeans blog said the other shows are totally worth going to, so yeah, try and pack it all in! OK! I will! Two days of nothing but quilts! Yum!

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  8. I volunteered at the Armory today and overheard a lot of comments. The one that best expressed the show was staggering. The installation is breathtaking. I felt like Alice in Wonderland.

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  9. A friend and I traveled from Richmond, VA by train on Saturday for the sole purpose of seeing the exhibit. It was breathtaking. From wherever you stood, from whichever way you looked, there was a new vision waiting to be absorbed.

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  10. Barbara I started a blog of all the places to see photos/articles/videos from the show

    http://patsloan.typepad.com/pat_sloan_red_and_white/

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  11. Oh boy, I got to go to this yesterday! It was surreal, a red and white wonderland. The display and presentation was nearly as wonderful as the quilts themselves. I hope this show goes on the road so more people can see it.

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  12. These red & white quilts are so beautiful. I have been thinking alot about 2 color quilts lately. Seems I have seen a lot of red & white, blue & white, and yellow & white quilts in my life. Are there any green & white quilts out there? Just wondering!

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  13. Dear Mrs Brackman.
    I certainly do wish that I could of attended the Red and White quilt show. What a grand display it must of been. What a priviledge for the people that attended.
    Would you consider having your Red and White collection displayed in Canada for the commemoration of the War of 1812? To see all those Red and Whites. What a gift that would be for the Commemorative Events.
    My community is creating two quilts to honour the Women of the War of 1812. Pioneer and First Nation. We will be using symbolization and colour to tell their untold story. We will then have each individual block painted in a 8'x 8' barn quilt block.
    The barn quilt blocks will then create a 60 mile trail of rural art. We hope that our First Nation neighbours will create a historic quilt to commemorate Techumseh, who was mortally wounded not 20 miles from my door.
    Well this is more than a comment and I appologize.
    If you would consider having your Red and Whites come to Canada...please drop me a line.
    Denise Corneil,Wardsville Ontario Canada.
    denise@creative-communities.ca

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