Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Evans Quilt Collection at MESDA

Simple basket block in a purple zig-zag or fence rail set.
Beverley Evans Collection

Beverley & Jeff Evans showed some of their own collection of Shenandoah Valley quilts last
weekend at the Museum of Southern Decorative Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolian.


Merikay Waldvogel, Lorie Stubbs and Beverley Evans.
Look at the scale on that doll quilt.

The whole event, the MESDA spring seminar Stitching a Southern Identity: Defining Female Culture in the Early South, was entertaining and educational. We saw samplers, needlework pictures and period rooms but for some of us the quilts were the high point.

Beverley has quite a collection.
A few details

I learned the importance of the Pennsylvania German history of the Shenandoah
Valley with early migration down the Great Wagon Road. This quilt certainly
speaks of that relationship, but it isn't as early as it looks at first glance.


The dark paisley squares inside the bright chrome yellow are
that style of black ground novelty print that you see about 1900. 



Interesting variation on the lily block

A Shenandoah Valley sampler.
Maryland isn't too far away.

Cats peeking into the border corners



Matt Monk, Sheldon, Merikay and Barb Garrett. Matt gave a paper
on a Baltimore Album style sampler in Bev's collection.

Above, one of these bold coxcombs
bordered by an eagle in platform shoes.


I recognized this bird. See a post here:

The quilt on top is dated in the quilting

Surprisingly, it's 1842.

We'd have never guessed the date from the prints.

The Evanses sell a lot of quilts on their auction site.

Click on this link to see some of the quilts auctioned over the years.

https://www.jeffreysevans.com/auctions/results/eyJyZXN1bHRfcGFnZSI6ImF1Y3Rpb25zXC9yZXN1bHRzIiwia2V5d29yZHMiOiJxdWlsdCIsInNlYXJjaF9tb2RlIjoiYW55IiwibGltaXQiOiIxMCIsImNvbGxlY3Rpb24iOiIxIn0

11 comments:

  1. Wow! Great collection! That cat is so cute! I don't recall seeing that on a quilt before.

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  2. There was a version of the cat in all four corners!

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  3. Thank you Barbara for the sharing on your blog. Remember in 2020 our collection will be on view for AQSG opening night.

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  4. I'll write it down. Harrisonburg Virginia, Fall 2020. American Quilt Study Group Seminar.

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  5. Great learning from you Barbara!!!!

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  6. So interesting to see the variation on the lily block - I have a set of early red and green blocks with the identical design and fun to finally see more of these.

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  7. Love seeing these quilts. I think the variation of the Lily block is my favorite. Thank you for sharing.

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  8. Beautiful quilts, thank you for sharing your visit with the Evans'. That doll quilt is a wonder. Would love to see a photo of the full top. What great quilts.

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  9. "Cat peeking from the border" my favorite!
    Karmen

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