Kansas City Star Quilts at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah KY

In September, my husband wanted to see the Grand Canyon – a very long drive from Maryland. So of course, Paducah, Kentucky’s National Quilt Museum HAD to be a stopover!

We saw fabulous quilts from the permanent collection and several special exhibits. Edie McGinnis’s collection of Kansas City Star Quilts was something I was excited to see. (The exhibit is open until December 4, 2018.) 

I plan to post more photos from the museum, but here are a few of my favorites from the Kansas City Star collection. I chose those with hand quilting; I am always interested in the quilting stitch designs and how quilters interpret "Quilt as Desired." (Click on photos for closer detail.)







The Aircraft Quilt (1929) Symbolic of the times in airline history.








English Flower Garden (1930) Spring is the time to make gardens and garden quilts.

Pineapple Cactus (1932) Eveline Foland wrote: “This very elaborate pattern is not for the novice in quilt making, but the experienced quilter will revel in its intricacy.” This quiltmaker even added feather wreaths and a special prairie point edging.

Love in a Tangle (1950) You can’t go wrong with red and white.

Edie is a former associate editor of “Kansas City Star Quilts,” and the author of many quilt books and articles. Through her career she has researched the Kansas City Star patterns that were printed in the newspapers, and much of their history. She has collected a number of the newspaper’s original 1928–1961 patterns, and quilts made from them, which she shared for this exhibit. (Thanks, Edie!)

Edie’s collection is on exhibit at the National Quilt Museum until December 4, 2018.

Keep Stitching!
Barbara M. Burnham
www.barbaramburnham.com

(c)2018 Barbara M. Burnham. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any kind is expressly prohibited without prior written authorization.

The Baltimore Friendship Quilt - Woman's Day

In October 1965, Woman's Day magazine published a 4-page article about the "Baltimore Friendship Quilt" which tells about the history of the quilt. 

The quilt had recently been discovered and donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. You can see the full quilt and closeups at the Met's website here: Baltimore Presentation Quilt.

There is a nearly identical quilt in the collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art, which is often called "The Sliver Quilt,” perhaps made by the same quiltmaker. You can see that quilt here: Baltimore Bride's Presentation Quilt.

A pattern was made from the quilt, and at the back of the magazine was a form you could send to order the pattern set from Woman's Day for $1.00.

The pattern was produced half-size, and intended to be enlarged 200%.

This is my original pattern, exactly as it was printed. My pattern is quite old and yellowing, even splitting at the folds, poor thing. 

Back then, you had to draw out squares to enlarge the pattern. (Photocopiers were not readily available in 1965.) So, to make the full size quilt, you had to enlarge the patterns 200% by drawing squares and then drawing the pattern on the larger squares. 

Then the 8x8-inch block designs become 16x16, the 4 large baskets become 16x32, and the center design becomes 32" square. For the larger designs, I photocopied the 8x16-inch blocks and the 32-inch center onto more than one page (obviously) that I had to tape together.

Over the years, several individuals have offered the pattern (photocopied) for sale. In 2005, the Folsom Quilt Guild produced a raffle quilt made from this pattern, and sold the full size pattern for $50. I don't think they offer it any more, but I wondered about copyright, so several years ago, I contacted the magazine regarding copyright for the pattern, and the person I spoke with told me that "copyright is not a problem."

It amazes me to see how much technology has changed, yet these beautiful applique quilts continue to retain their charm and beauty.

Keep stitching!

Barbara M. Burnham

www.barbaramburnham.com

(c) 2018 Barbara M. Burnham. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any kind is expressly prohibited without prior written authorization.

Hand Quilting vs. Machine Quilting

Hand Quilting vs. Machine Quilting? This is not a competition! And this post is not a debate about which is better. They are just different -- very different. Each project will vary depending on fabrics and batting, density of stitching, methods and skills of the quilter. But the same designs can certainly be be used for hand quilting or machine quilting. Here is one comparison using the same designs, each done quite differently.

This is a section of the antique 1848 applique quilt that inspired my reproduction quilt and my book, Baltimore Garden Quilt.* On this antique quilt, the various floral quilted designs between the applique motifs are emphasized by very close, straight diagonal lines of background quilting. There was no trapunto or stuffing of the quilted designs on this quilt, and no quilting "around" the applique pieces as we often do today. The batting is cotton.

This is the same area on my reproduction quilt made in 2008. After scanning the drawings that I traced from the antique quilt, Marty Vint beautifully quilted all the floral designs, and closely around each applique motif, with her Gammill longarm. We could have added dense background quilting, but we agreed this was enough. Oh, and there was also that book deadline! The batting is "Matilda's Wool" (no longer available). The quilting thread is a shade or two darker than the background fabric to add emphasis.

How will you decide to quilt?

Hand Quilting - photo courtesy Carla Therrien

Machine Quilting - photo courtesy Marty Vint

In a future post, I plan to show how to adapt these floral quilting designs to other quilts for hand quilting.

*All of the original 1848 quilting designs are included on the patterns provided (on CD) in the book. A full size pattern set (on paper) is also available separately. Avoid outrageous prices on amazon from third-party sellers! Buy directly from my website for $15.00 +3.99 shipping.

Keep Stitching!

Barbara M. Burnham

www.barbaramburnham.com

(c) 2017 Barbara M. Burnham. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any kind is expressly prohibited without prior written authorization.

May I Interrupt Your Quilting Design?

Deborah Y. sent a question to AppliqueAddicts, a Yahoo group: “I feel like I'm stuck in a handquilting rut. Any suggestions other than cross hatching and echo quilting to complement applique?”

There’s nothing wrong with quilting a classic background grid or echo quilting. It’s relatively easy to mark and so relaxing to stitch; almost meditative. Your mind can ponder the world as your needle and thread gradually bring the surface of your quilt to life.

 I shared a photo with the group of an antique (1848) quilt from my collection for inspiration. This quilt has floral quilting designs in the open spaces among the applique. (The applique and quilting designs were traced from that antique quilt for patterns and published in my book, Baltimore Garden Quilt.*)

Here is how the designs look on the antique quilt. Dense background quilting helps to emphasize the floral quilting designs; in this case very close straight lines, almost stippling. But that doesn’t mean that stippling is required, or even necessary, to make use of the floral designs.

Here is how the designs look when they fill an open space on my reproduction of that quilt. My friend, Marty Vint (Dogwood Quilting), skillfully quilted around the applique first. Then she used my tracings of the antique quilting designs and quilted those designs to fill the open spaces; thus background “fill” was not needed.
And here is the back of my reproduction quilt. Plenty of lovely quilting here! (Judges have awarded this quilt with several ribbons at national quilt shows.)

My friend, Carla is hand quilting her Baltimore Garden. She shares her progress on Facebook, and has kindly given me permission to re-share her photo here. Carla is quilting a background grid, and sprinkling just a few of the original motifs in the open areas between the applique.


On another antique 1850s applique quilt (shown below),  various feather motifs interrupt double rodded quilting lines. Antique quilts are my favorite inspiration!
















Copy bits of your applique designs and echo them in your quilting. Add a single stemmed rose, a bird, a heart or heart-in-hand, or any motif special to you. I like to add a double heart. Tracing a child’s hand is another fun idea. Wind some leafy vines around your applique or between your blocks to simulate sashing.

Quilt your initials or your whole name into the quilt, and of course, a date within the quilting. Finally, be sure to plan a label for the back of the quilt, and document your quilt for those who will care for your quilt in years to come.

*From the CD included with the book Baltimore Garden Quilt, print selected patterns as needed. A complete full-size paper pattern set is also available as a separate package at my website www.barbaramburnham.com .)

Keep Stitching!
Barbara M. Burnham

(c) 2015 Barbara M. Burnham. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any kind is expressly prohibited without prior written authorization.

The Red and Green Poos Collection - Book Review

My friends and I all LOVE antique quilts, and I especially enjoy the 18th century red and green applique. Miss Polly brought an extra copy for me from her trip to Houston (probably so I would not drool on her copy). Thank you Miss Polly, my friend!

And now this book is available on amazon for sale. So I thought I would share the news with all my friends. Here are a few sneak peeks, and a quick synopsis of the book below.

Gathered for a European exhibit in 2008 from a private collection, thirty-one antique red and green appliqué quilts are shown in glorious color with full page photos. The quilts in this exhibit were made in the United States in the mid-1800s or earlier, and chosen for their beauty of design, color, and quality of workmanship. The skill and incredible time commitment required to stitch these quilts indicate that they were made to be loved by future generations, not for everyday use.

Some are classic, and some are unique. Some are quirky – who would expect to find a goldfish bowl, complete with fish, on a Baltimore Album quilt? Some have obvious “mistakes.” All of them are fabulous!

The collector writes about the regional differences of styles and designs, and technical background of the fabrics and techniques used on these quilts. Text and descriptions of each quilt are written in French and repeated in English. The author, Kay Triplett, also offers -- from her own wonderful quilt collection --  photos and instructions for five appliqué quilts and a separate pattern foldout.

Now stop drooling on my blog -- go buy it and Enjoy!

The Red and Green Quilts from the Poos Collection, by Kay Triplett