Red & White Quilts

Here's a virtual show of red and white quilts for those of us who aren't going to New York City this week to see the American Folk Art Museum's Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts

UPDATE on March 29th. Watch this You-Tube video, an interview with curator Elizabeth Warren.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBtoDVYnJQc&feature=related

These are mostly copied from online auctions over the past five years or so.

You see red and white quilts dated from about 1840 through the 1920s

People loved that Turkey red plain cotton.

It didn't fade, it didn't bleed.

Well, once in a while you might be sold some fabric falsely advertised as Turkey red. The newer synthetic dyes often faded to peach or tan.

The earlier red and white quilts tend to be red prints

The majority are solids. This is a full-size four-block quilt.

I wonder if this one wasn't red, white and green at some point.

A not so deliberate mistake in the center.

And here's a great one from the cover of an old Coats & Clark pattern booklet.

The real show in New York is up from March 25-30
Here's what they say about it:

For six days in March, the American Folk Art Museum will dramatically transform the Park Avenue Armory’s historic 55,000-square-foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall with the installation of 650 red and white American quilts, all of which are on loan from the collection of Joanna S. Rose. It will be the largest exhibition of quilts ever held in the city. As an extraordinary gift to the public, entry to this unprecedented event is free.

Click here:
http://www.folkartmuseum.org/infinitevariety

2011 Quilt Calendars

Cyril Nelson 1927-2005

It's the time of the year to lament the passing of Cyril Nelson and his great Quilt Engagement Calendar series.

Every year for 20 or more years quiltlovers would scour the bookstores for next year's desk calendar (there was no internet I will remind you.)

Nelson edited the calendars for Dutton, finding absolutely terrific quilts from all the New York dealers.

He bought a few himself as he was a great collector of antiques and folk art.

Collection of the American Folk Art Museum,

gift of Cyril Irwin Nelson in loving memory of his grandparents

 John Williams and Sophie Anna Macy, 1984.33.1

This pieced calimanco (glazed wool sateen) quilt from about 1800 is from his collection. He donated over a hundred pieces of folk art, including many textiles, to the American Museum of Folk Art in New York City. The Museum has declared this the Year of the Quilt and two shows featuring some of his donation are up in Manhattan now. It's always a treat to see the quilts that were featured in the Quilt Engagement Calendar up on the wall. It's like seeing a celebrity in person.
See more by clicking here: http://www.folkartmuseum.org/masterworkquilts
 
We pored over the calendars, which seemed to be a catalog of the best quilts ever made with some of the best photos available at the time. The old calendars are very collectible right now, so keep an eye out for them at garage sales, etc. You can also find the book that Nelson and Carter Houck wrote featuring selected quilts from over the years.
 

But the problem at hand is:

Without Cyril Nelson where can we find 2011 calendars with antique quilts?

Here are a few suggestions:

For an engagement calendar with weekly photos you'll want the Victoria and Albert Museum's Diary 2011 (Americans would call it a desk calendar)

The photos are from the 2010 exhibition at the V and A. Although it's a British publication, you can easily find it through American distributors. Here's some of their description.

The diary illustrates a selection of quilts from the exhibition and also includes some previously unseen images including reverse sides plus sewing equipment such as needles, étuis and other ephemera....

For wall calendars you have two options. Lang has annually published a calendar featuring the collection at Colonial Williamsburg. This year's edition has a good selection of antique quilts.

The American Folk Art Museum's collection of Amish quilts (some undoubtedly donated by Cyril Nelson) is featured in a calendar from Pomegranate publishing.

If you are looking for a calendar with contemporary quilts you'll find many by doing an internet search for the words Quilt Calendar 2011. But those with antique quilts are a little harder to find.

To read Cy Nelson's obituary in the New York Times, click here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/22/arts/design/22nelson.html