Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Hite Amish Quilt Collection Exhibit


The Henry and Angela Hite Amish Quilt Collection is on display currently at The Art Center in Grand Junction until January 23rd.  My daughter and I went today and I highly recommend going, if you haven't already!  Tuesdays are free, otherwise it's a $3 admission, and well worth it!

They gave me permission to take some photos, so I will share some, but nothing beats seeing them in person :)


Most of the quilts in the first room were made in the early 1900's and the hand quilting on these quilts is exquisite.  They are in great shape too, for as old as they are.

Information on the exhibit stated that the typical queen size bed quilt has between 40,000 and 50,000 stitches.


The exhibit information stated that Amish quilts were strictly utilitarian until about 1970 when Americans noted their beauty and they started to become valuable to collectors.
Producing quilts for the purpose of art collecting was a matter of controversy in the Amish communities, as art making opposes their doctrine of simplicity.  "Eventually the economic pragmatism of selling the quilts won out" and the Amish began producing the quilts for both purposes, "whether to place a quilt on the bed or the wall is the business of the owner."


This Center Diamond quilt was made in Pennsylvania around 1910 out of twill and serge fabrics.










Some of the quilting designs remind me of typical Sashiko designs, such as this one below and in the first photo, above.


This one was made of wool around 1945.


As I said, the quilting is amazing.  You need to go get up close and personal with these quilts!  The information said that once the technique of hand quilting was mastered, it didn't take any longer to quilt the decorative designs than straight lines, so this was considered acceptable even though it's "decorative".




Jacob's Ladder around 1950 - made of cotton.



Sawtooth Diamond made around 1930 in Pennsylvania, out of wool.


Double Irish Chain on Point made in Ohio out of cotton, around 1920.


  Lone Star - made in Ohio around 1925, out of cotton.




Bars made in Pennsylvania around 1930 from wool crepe.








Log Cabin Straight Furrow made in Kansas around 1880 from velveteen, wool, twills and silk blends.


In the next room were more current quilts (aside from the one above and another one near it), mostly made in the 1980's.  I found the workmanship on these newer quilts not quite as nice as the older ones.  I don't know if it is because they started "mass producing" them to sell to collectors and tourists or what....  But the fabrics didn't seem as nice and the piecing and quilting were just not quite as good as the older quilts - in my humble opinion :)



In the following pictures, you will see what I mean.  I also noticed the bindings - no mitered corners!  I went back and looked at the old quilts though and their corners are not mitered either, but they still looked a little neater.  This binding below is from one of the newer quilts.




Here is a binding on one of the older quilts - you can see it's stitched down nicer, not left open like the one above.


This was one of my daughter's favorites, made around 1935 of wool and rayon crepe, in Pennsylvania.


All in all a great exhibit with some fascinating history.  Go see it if you can!

There is a pottery exhibit there as well with some amazing pottery pieces.  I will share some photos of a couple of those tomorrow.  They are for sale too - if you're looking for some cool pottery :)


Have a Happy New Year's Eve!!


Tuesday, December 30, 2014

One More Thing!


I decided I needed to post a picture of them too - not just their quilt!  Such a wonderful couple - love you both!











That puzzle is a bit hard - it took me 35 minutes to complete it.  Let me know if you beat my time.  Phyllis probably will :)

Happy Anniversary Megan and Landon!

preview100 pieceWedding Quilt
Megan and Landon were married three years ago today!  Happy Anniversary to them :)  In honor of their anniversary my son helped me create this puzzle of the wedding quilt I made them.  Click on the link above to go to the puzzle.  Enjoy!

The Work of Others

My friend Michelle is making these adorable card table play houses for her grandkids.  This is the first one she finished and it turned out SOOOO cute.  I bought the pattern for this in Denver last year and plan to make one someday...  We have the card table!
Michelle is working on number two, which will be dinosaur themed.  (This one is bugs and went to a family with all boys :)  I will ask her for a picture of the dinosaur house when she gets that done.  She said the grandkids went crazy over this one.

My daughter Megan made this cute little owl baby hat.  She said she has patterns for kids and adult sizes too.  This turned out super cute. Crocheting just baffles me but I'm glad there are people who can do it and make these cute things!

I actually made a POTC block yesterday.  I really like them!  I haven't pressed it yet but when I do I will share a picture.

Have a happy day :)

Monday, December 29, 2014

Bird Visitors

My son brought his birds home for the holiday so we have had lots of pleasant chirping going on out in the sunroom.

That is Steve Holt on the left and Buster on the right.  It has been fun having them here for a visit!  Not sure I would want the "mess" full time though :)








Our little visitors have enjoyed our bird visitors too.  They are quite tame and friendly.


Especially Steve :)




Hope you're having a great day!

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Quilty Gifts


Look at this cute little bag my daughter Michelle gave me for Christmas!  I love it!  It will be perfect for carrying around small items to classes.

My friend Michelle gave me the instructions and a little kit to make an amazing Sue Spargo needle case like hers.  (I hope mine turns out as well as hers!)  I will show a picture of it when I get it done :)  She also gave me this thread zapper thing that I am going to have to try!


My friend Pam made me this  adorable little mug rug, which will come in handy since I seem to be addicted to hot chocolate lately :)


And last but not least, my hubby gave me some quilt magazines and a gift certificate to Hi Fashion which I am sure I will put to great use!

I'm ready to get back to the sewing room!

Saturday, December 27, 2014

One Down One to Go


I finished ONE of my two TQS block of the month tops, so this one is ready for quilting!  The second one is almost done as well.  This is half size so it will be a nice wall hanging.  I'm not sure yet what I will do with them .... But I do like them!  I'm not sure how I will quilt them either - there are a lot of seams!

Notice there are three trees on the left and two on the right.  It's supposed to be the other way around.  So the second quilt will have the trees the right way.  It was an "intentional mistake".  NOT....

Friday, December 26, 2014

New York City


My daughter went on a business trip to New York City before Christmas and got to experience Big Christmas decorations in the Big City!  Talk about super sized!


And ice skating in Central Park - just like we see in the movies.


I think her favorite part of the trip though was visiting the American Girl doll store which she said is three stories tall!  Sounds fun!








I got this Humans of New York book for Christmas, which is a collection of New York photos by street photographer Brandon Stanton.  It has wonderful photographs and captions - a fascinating book - I love it!

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Monthly Minis


I can share the last two monthly minis that I made for my daughters now.  I couldn't share them earlier because I wrapped them up for Christmas - but they are done and that completed a year of fun, cute little projects.  This next year I will work on some type of monthly "mini" for my daughter-in-law.


These snowmen were one of my favorites of the year.  I used most of the fabrics that came in the kit this month because I liked them.  I just changed the scarf on the little snowman.  My kids laughed and said they are "tall, skinny snowmen" which fits my kids because they're tall and skinny too :)



The picture above and this one on the left are two different mini quilts.  Can you spot the difference?  (This is like those pictures they sometimes have in magazines that look identical but when you look closer you can see the "ten things that are different"  In this picture there are at least three differences.  Can you find them??

I made a bonus quilt for each daughter too because the July quilt was beach balls, which were cute, but I wanted something 4th of July too.  This one is a little skinnier and a little shorter than the others but it will be a fun patriotic decoration.  There is at least one subtle difference in this quilt on the right and the one below too.  See how good your eyes are :)


I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas Day!!

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Merry Christmas!!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas! I hope you all have a wonderful day with family and friends!