Barbara Brackman's MATERIAL CULTURE: May 2015

Friday, May 29, 2015

Morris Patchwork: Simple shapes and not so simple

Bordered Diamonds by Gert at Real Men Stitch

A very nice use of the Best of Morris prints.

It's a Kaffe Fassett & Liza Lucy pattern,

perfect for showing off a collection of fabrics.

Watch how Gert's progressing at his blog:

https://realmenstitch.wordpress.com/2015/05/02/voortgang-william-morris-en-schaapjesquilt/

The pattern's in Simple Shapes, Spectacular Quilts

Hexies in Morris prints....

Just William by Theresa Hills

http://holdingmummyshand.blogspot.com/2010/08/festival-of-quilts-round-up.html

Rectangles or strips...

The Morris Apprentice Cobblestone Quilt Kit from

Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe & Mercantile.

They mixed Morris and batiks. The kit's probably sold

out but the combination is worth noting.

http://www.hollyhillquiltshoppe.com/

Simple shape, complex cutting.

Avalon Bloom does the cutting for you. See their Kaleidoscope kits here:

http://avalonbloom.com/homepage.html

Morris Magic, pattern by Michele Hill from William Morris in Applique

Michele Hill's applique design is is being kitted up in Best of Morris fabric at the New Zealand quilt shop Cottage Flair.

http://cottageflair.co.nz/

Below some other projects I found online

using my various Morris reproduction prints.

Bill's Baskets by Nancy Near Philadelphia

Flying Geese Scrap by Pat Baldwin

I see William in the plain strips.

From First Light Designs by Dawn White

http://firstlightdesigns.com/?p=5115

William Morris Jelly Roll

from Jenny Carter Goodge's Pinterest page

https://www.pinterest.com/cartergoodge/quilts/

Pillow from SJSStudio on Etsy

A Voysey print purse on Etsy from FeltMoon

Here's a dress in another Voysey print from

Morris Modernized, CFA Voysey

And a Morris print version.

Dresses from Rhiannon Alexander at Vintage Style Me
http://vintagestyle.me/collections/the-forest-collection-1

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Union Blues on Parade

I saw this utilitarian four-patch comforter in an online auction a few months ago.

It probably dates to about 1910

when this blue palette of shirting stripes was popular.

The patchwork was simple---yet complex----

One of the things I really like about quilts.

You almost dismiss a quilt like this because it's so plain, but the shading of the blues and the intriguing pattern make you look a little longer. It's always fun to figure out how the unknown quilter got the effect.

I figured out her pattern. It's a strip quilt alternating

pieced strips with narrower, dark unpieced strips.

I found it in my Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns as a strip quilt #484.

The reference there was to a 1970s newspaper column in the Baldwin Telegraphics

where it was called Garden Path.

Here's the same pattern from about 1900, but shaded

differently.

It's not quite as effective as the first example, due to

the shading. Maybe the alternating unpieced strips are too wide.

Another top from the same period

Here's a different way to shade it.

The quilt is from the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.

And a mid-century modern version.

I like the orderliness of the blue one at the top---like soldiers on parade, as in this sketch of Union troops in New York.

Perfect for the prints in my Union Blues collection.

The range of shades is similar to the vintage quilt.

Wait a minute: The first diagram I posted was wrong. This one updated on

May 27 is correct. I can't believe I made a mathematical error!!! Thanks to Patricia for

noticing.

Here I've drawn the design out in EQ7 to use 5" cut squares for the four-patches (Square B): the Charm Pack pre-cuts.

Click on the pattern above, save the image to a Word for JPG file and print it out.

The four-patches (Piece B) finish to 9" square and are set with pieced triangles.Piece A is cut 7-5/8" square and then sliced to make 4 triangles.

These go between the four-patches.

Make four patches till you're tired of them. Set them with the pieced triangles like this.

Set them into strips.

Be sure the light squares are going

up and down.

Send me pictures.

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Laurel Leaves or Photinia?

"Laurel Leaf" from Stella Rubin's shop

Green leaves with the top three red.

A few weeks ago I did a post about the Laurel Leaf applique block (#5.55 in my Encyclopedia of Applique.) I had not noticed the consistent shading in the 19th-century examples.

Laurel Leaf?

Laurel Leaf

Lady and Laurel Plant by Wencelas Hollar

Virginia Vis pointed out that Laurel plants

do not have red leaves or red flowers.

From a Baltimore Album Quilt dated 1848

Whereas the quilt block universally called Laurel Leaf

almost universally has green leaves and triple red flowers.

Blocks on point

From the Delaware Quilt Project

Virginia, who has done extensive work in identifying the patterns in Baltimore Album Quilts, sent me her " two cents worth:"

"I don't think the red are intended to be flowers. It's a plant that where new/immature leaves are red and then turn green."

Detail of a quilt found in the New Jersey project.

From the Quilt Index

So, Virginia, what is it if not a Bay Laurel?

"My best candidate is the Photinia. Its a southern bush used for hedges. I think its inclusion in the BAQs is another example of regionalism, like including the local monuments."

Photinia fraseri.

The common name is Red Tip Photinia

or Chinese Photinia.

"It's a plant where new/immature leaves are red and then turn green."

Leaves are alternate in both laurels and Photinias.

They aren't paired or opposite as in the quilt block.

But that seems a quibble.

You may have some Photinia in your yard. It's a very showy spring bush. As best I can figure out Photinia is a native of China and Japan and was imported to Europe and America in the early 19th century, where it probably graced the gardens of many an amateur botanist.

Quilt signed Margaret Boone

in the collection of the New England Quilt Mueum

I don't think Virginia is going to get everyone to start calling the block Photinia. It doesn't have a catchy common name either. "Red tip" probably won't work its way into our quilt block vocabulary.