Past Perfect: Froncie Quinn

Bias Pomegranate reproduction quilt

by Froncie Quinn

Froncie and her Sarah Johnson repro

June's Past Perfect pick is Froncie Quinn who publishes reproduction quilt patterns through her Hoopla Pattern Company. She began working with the Shelburne Museum in 1996 to pattern quilts in their collection.

Your copy of Enduring Grace, one of the Shelburne catalogs, may not have Froncie's name on the cover but she's the artist who drew the patterns for five of the quilts. She gets credit in later printings of the book.

Her patterns for Hoopla are meticulous. The Sarah Johnson Quilt included hand and machine piecing instructions plus quilting stencils.

 This is a time-consuming quilt to make but the pattern is so well done that a remarkable numbers of quilters were inspired to start a Sarah Johnson quilt...

Barb Perrin's Prize-winning Sarah Johnson quilt took ten years.

...And finish it.

Here's a description of the pattern for the Clarissa Moore Quilt from Old Sturbridge Village:

"includes interesting 19th-century diary excerpts on homemade fabric dye, and brief historical information regarding the Eight Point Star and early stenciling. The 14 painting stencils included have been authentically reproduced and maintain the integrity of the 19th-century originals. Hand and quick-piecing dimensions are given along with instructions for a " T" -shaped or more modern square quilt."

Froncie makes small interpretations of the original,

so she can show many in her trunk show.

In an interview with Kimberly Wulfert Froncie explained her modus operandi, saying she

"was passionate about providing instructions for the antique quilts that were as true to the original as possible. I was insistent about including the hand instructions along with the machine instructions as too many patterns ignore the hand piecer....I've also wanted to provide patterns that document the quilts and offer the quilter glimpses into the history and, sometimes, the 'story' of the quilt. I want to be your eyes to quilts you may never see in person."

Calico Garden 

Hoopla's most popular pattern is the Calico Garden,

drawn from Florence Peto's original in the Shelburne collection.

Calico Garden by Florence Peto, 1950

49" x 39"

The applique patterns for the Calico Garden are printed on freezer paper.

Genius!

I recently got to spend a day with Froncie, who now lives in New Hampshire, and took this

picture of a detail of her quilt.

One of her latest projects is Posey Packets®, patterns on freezer paper

for 3" blocks with the background fabric, packaged in a seed packet.

Perfect gifts for your stitch group.

Froncie's also designed several reproduction fabric collections. This one

is In Time of Toile.

And here's a great repro made by the quilter at Every Stitch from the

fabric and pattern.

The fabrics are out of print but Froncie's patterns are available:

https://www.hooplapatterns.com/shop-online.htm

1891 Redwork Quilt

Below a few more reproduction quilts made from Froncie's patterns:

From a Shelburne quilt

The Shelburne Museum is sending a traveling show to Omaha's Joslyn Museum

this fall. I certainly am looking forward to seeing some of their quilts. Hope this

one is there.

Judy Brenneman's Emily Munroe quilt. The original is

in the New England Quilt Museum.

Tom Miner's version.

Theresa Tiburzi's Peony, another prize winner from the Shelburne pattern.

Read the interview with Kimberly Wulfert here:

http://www.antiquequiltdating.com/Froncie_Quinn.html

Froncie & Judy Severson last month, totally engrossed in quilts.