Come Cruise With Us!

ALL ABOARD!

You Are Invited!

We're going on a wonderful, fun, and informative trip!

A Textile-Related CRUISE/TOUR

to the Mediterranean...

Join me on one of Deb Roberts'

highly acclaimed World-of-Quilts Journeys in June, 2012!

Not only will we sail, and stop in some of the most beautiful places on Earth,

we textile lovers will have a rare chance to learn and share

... on-board... and off!

Deb will do her terrific talk on the Indian Chintz trade,

enriching and deepening our experience of being in that part of the world!

I will do a few talks on board, with Power Point illustrations

as well as a few REAL quilts ~ some rare beauties!

I’ll also be offering several informal “workshops” on topics relating to the trip:

We’ll talk about early quilts in America ~ and their oft-ignored European roots.

We can all share what we know about this, or just listen in…

This is going to be GREAT ... Won't You Join Us?

CLICK HERE to Sign Up NOW

If you sign up before January 31, 2012, you will get a

FREE Balcony Upgrade and Other Discounts!

Detail: Crazy Quilt, circa 1885

Detail: Baltimore Album Quilt, circa 1850

Detail: Baltimore Album Quilt, Circa 1845

ANCHORS AWEIGH!

MORE ... Making It Her "OWN" ...

MORE  ...
"Slight" Variations

My last post was

 about women who found various ways to
make traditional quilts "their own..."

Again, in this post, I am not talking about
outrageously personal and unique quilts, like the one below ~
a REALLY rare 20th century pictorial "Pine Burr" quilt

(click on photo for more on this quilt)

We will get to more of those "Super Mavericks" in later blogs ~ Promise!

In this post let's look at the more subtle ways some quilt makers

personalized their quilts, distinguishing otherwise conventional designs

 into more memorable ones.

Slight variations or unexpected choices in

• Color 
• Scale (extra large or extra small) 
• Sets or borders 
• Quilting
•  Placement

can make a big impact on the final look.

Check out the following quilts with unusual sets or borders:

"Flower Basket" 
Circa 1880, Michigan

(click on photos for more on this quilt)

"Peppers" applique with vining Grapes borders
 Circa 1870

(click on images for more on this quilt)

"Oak Leaf and Reel"
Circa 1880
Geese in Flight borders and "Distelfink" intersections


We'll keep exploring this way of looking at
cool variations of traditional quilt designs....  Stay Tuned!

Making It Her "OWN" ...

"Slight" Variations

I have been thinking about women who made traditional quilts "their own"

~ and how the various ways they did that...

I am not talking about completely unique
or outrageously "maverick" quilts here, like this one:

No, I am thinking about the more subtle ways 

in which a woman distinguished her otherwise traditional quilt.

It might be a small detail like adding a second handle to a traditional Flower Basket.
 

Or the addition of an unexpected element to a traditional pattern
as in this simple Double Irish Chain
with the unexpected circle and half-circles borders

We'll add more examples of these charming "slight variations" soon.
Stay tuned!

The "CIRCUS" ... and Other Crazy Quilts

Say "Antique CRAZY QUILT" to most folks,
and they envision the very "fancy" type made at the end of 19th Century.
You know the ones...

~ Victorian Kaleidoscopes ~
made with lush and sparkling silks, velvets, taffetas, and brocades.

Colorful, shattered, abstract compositions of elegant cloth and ribbon,
embellished, surrounded, and sometimes almost smothered
by fancy hand embroidery and other wonderfully inventive surface decorations.

******************************************************************************

But not all Crazy Quilts were of this so-called "High Style."

Crazy quilts do not have to have surface embellishment, or any particular colors,
or be finished with any special edgings.

Crazy quilts do not have not be made of silks and velvets;
many women made theirs out of wools or cottons.

Here is one of our favorite examples of a COTTON Crazy Quilt;
it was made around 1890.

We have had it in our personal collection since the 1970s.

Now it is for sale...

We call this our "CIRCUS CRAZY" ~ for obvious reasons:
Five prominent center blocks have images related to the Big Top!


Circuses traveled the country in the last part of the 19th century,
and captured the attention of the American people,
so of course we see them represented in quilts.

The free-wheeling, playful woman who created this wonder organized her quilt

with a strong, colorful center in each of her 49 blocks.

The center of each block is a large piece of "cretonne," a heavy cotton

fabric commonly used for upholstery or drapes, and printed with scenes and figures.

Not all of the images in the centers are Circus-related, but those do dominate.

All of the "pictures" have wonderful stories to tell.

Have fun reading !

To see more photos of the "Circus Crazy Quilt," click here,

or you can go to: TQC Quilts for Sale to see all the quilts we have for sale.

Jean Ray Laury

I am RE-PUBLISHING this post from December of 2009 

in honor of 

Jean Ray Laury 

one of my favorite people in the world.

Jean died last Wednesday, March 2, 2011.

We are all the better for Jean having been here.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I HEART Jean Ray Laury...

Jean and I have known each other for a long, long time. Way further back than the top photo here, taken about 15 years ago, on one of my visits to Jean and Frank's home.

 

     Circa 1994  
outside of Jean Ray's home in Clovis, CA

My sweatshirt (in Hebrew) translates to "Mendocino" (my home town)

 

At the annual meeting of AQSG Oct. 2009, San Jose, CA.
Jean was the Keynote Speaker
(What a wonderful treat to get in a little visit...)

The late, legendary textile dealer, Cora Ginsburg, once said this to some folks who were complaining about how they looked in a photograph,
"Enjoy it, my Dears. Fifteen years from now, you will look back at this shot think you looked FABULOUS!"

Tempus, she definitely fugits...

To learn more about Jean Ray, and her work, please visit:
http://www.jeanraylaury.com/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jean's obituary:

http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/03/03/2295579/fresno-artistauthor-dies-at-82.html

Red & Green Quilts ... 'Tis the Season!

* We're Celebrating *

With some Red and Green BEAUTIES!

For your viewing pleasure, we offer here
~ A Small Gallery ~
A Few of the Antique Quilts We're Offering This Year.

www.The Quilt Complex.com
(click here to get to our website)

Starting with the Oldest...

**************************************************************************
An Early "Fleur de Lys" Applique

FLEUR DE LYS - circa 1840

Detail - FLEUR DE LYS

Here the "Green" is actually a Teal, and some might put it into the "blue" category.

We have included it anyway, because it fits the Holiday Mood!

**************************************************************************

A Spectacular Early "Rose" Quilt Top

ROSE OF SHARON - Quilt Top, circa 1860

Detail - ROSE OF SHARON

Close-up Detail - ROSE OF SHARON

We always wonder, of course, why some women did not complete their quilts.

So many things could explain it ... a broken engagement, illness or death, or something less dramatic. Maybe she loved applique but wasn't so keen on quilting, and her favorite quilter moved away?

**************************************************************************

"You Don't See Quilts Like This Every Day..."

WREATH OF GRAPES - circa 1870

Detail, WREATH OF GRAPES

A most unusual and personal quilt, a celebration of the Grape!

A marvelous "Wreath of Grapes" ~ not to be confused with "Grapes of Wreath" !

*************************************************************************

A Bit Less Formal ...

"CHRISTMAS STAR"- circa 1880

Detail - "CHRISTMAS STAR"

Detail - "CHRISTMAS STAR"

Red, Green, and White quilts appear about 1840 in America.

They were quite the vogue mid-century (1840s - 1860s), but they continued to be favored throughout the 19th century.

This one, which we call "Christmas Star," dates to about the 1880's. The applique design is simpler than in some of the early quilts, but this qt maker did not hold back on her elaborate hand quilting!

************************************************************************

A Folk-y Example of a Classic Applique Quilt Design

WHIG ROSE -circa 1890

Detail -WHIG ROSE

We found this circa 1890 quilt in Pennsylvania, where it was likely made by a woman of German ancestry.

The exuberant color and densely placed color typifies what is often called the "Dutchy" aesthetic.

(Pennsylvania Germans were commonly known as the "Dutch," a word confused with the German word for "German" ~ "Deutsch.")

********************************************************************************************

~ HAPPY HOLIDAYS ~

from Our Family to Yours !

so much for "dutch" !

We very recently acquired

a

*Treasure Trove*

of marvelous Antique Pennsylvania Quilts

... and thought it was a great time to look at the tricky term

"PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH"

The first half of the term is clear and straightforward ~

these quilts were indeed made in Pennsylvania,

before and up to the turn of the 20th century...

 

However, Word Two of the phrase,
"DUTCH,"
is a bit misleading ...

"DUTCH" is acutally a corruption of the German word "Deutsche," which means, of all things: "German."

So the term translates, more accurately to

"PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN"

The phrase refers to a distinctive decorative style used by descendants of the German and Swiss immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries.

In Pennsylvania German quilts, we see their highly decorative design heritage expressed in exuberant color, densely covered surfaces, and liberal use of printed fabrics -- both on the fronts and the backs of quilts. 

Often the separately applied bindings are yet another colorful print.

Borders tend to be plentiful and imaginative.
 
These "Dutchy" Quilts,as they are often called.
 exude energy and whimsy.
 
But, make no mistake ...
 
Technically speaking, these beauties are
Pennsylvania German.
 
 
To see descriptions and more photo details of these quilts:
http://shop.thequiltcomplex.com/2008/06/tqc-quilts.php
 

  

Merry's 96th Birthday!

Happy 96th Birthday, Mom!




A couple of months ago, I took my Mom, Merry Silber, out antique-ing!

We came upon a velvet Crazy Quilt with a big circle near the center. Embroidered in that circle? "1914" ~ the year of my Mom's birth!

Mom has been collecting quilts for about 45 years ~ and she loves it. So my gift to her could not have made her happier.

Her actual day of birth was July 10, 1914...

I hope you enjoy the quilt, too!

Thanks for tuning in...

rare and wonderful "string quilts"

Please enjoy
Three Great Antique Quilts
made of "strips."




Strips of fabric, of random widths,
were sewn onto squares of cotton.
Then four of these squares were sewn together,
creating the illusion of "X"'s
in this "String Quilt," made circa 1900.






This fabulous circa 1890 "Kaleidoscope Star,"
as the former owner called it,
combines Strip Piecing (in the Four Point Stars)
and Crazy Quilt (random shaped pieces)






Check out this wild, unique interpretation of 1880s Log Cabin!
Note the Log Cabin blocks set within Strip Diamonds,
and the Strip Piecing in the centers of each Cabin.