Winterthur Quilts in Milwaukee

One of the earliest examples of the reel pattern by the Schleifer family

Everybody's packing to go to England but don't forget the spectacular show of early quilts that will be opening at the Milwaukee Art Museum on May 22nd. American Quilts: Selections from the Winterthur Collection debuted at the Winterthur Museum in Delaware a few years ago and this will be the last stop in the exhibit's travels.

A hand printed fragment cut from a counterpane

About 1800

I recall it as one of the best quilt shows I ever saw, as it has so many examples of early textiles. I nearly jumped up and down with my friend Julie Powell, an authority on political textiles, when we saw a bed covered with the toile called The Apotheosis of Benjamin Franklin.

The Apotheosis of Benjamin Franklin toile, about 1790

Quilting in a Quaker strip quilt

There were quilts of hand printed American cottons including some by John Hewson, early silk Quaker quilts, great chintzes and signature quilts.

Cotton quilt by Quaker Rebecca Scattergood Savery

Early 19th-century

I don't think this venue in Milwaukee will have the complete show we saw at Winterthur but the press release says there will be over 40 quilts.

Wholecloth quilt of an 18th-century palampore

If you are interested in early quilts---before 1850--- and want to see some of the best surviving examples you must book a trip to Milwaukee before the show closes on September 6th.

Julie and Carmel examining a Hewson spread

Linda Eaton's comprehensive catalog, Quilts in a Material World,  is available from several online sources.

And while you are in Milwaukee try some frozen custard.

They are more famous for that locally than for their beer.