QUILT COLLECTIONS AND EXHIBITIONS
In spite of their wide distribution and vast quantity, the number of
quilts readily accessible to those who are interested in them is
exceedingly small. This is particularly true of those quilts which
possess artistic merit and historic interest, and a considerable
amount of inquiry is sometimes necessary in order to bring forth even
a single quilt of more than ordinary beauty. It is unfortunate for
this most useful and pleasant art that its masterpieces are so shy and
loath to display their charms, for it is mainly from the rivalry
induced by constant display that all arts secure their best stimulus.
However, some very remarkable achievements in quilting have been
brought to light from time to time, to the great benefit of this best
of household arts.
There is in existence to-day no complete collection of quilts readily
available to the public at large. No museum in this country or abroad
has a collection worthy of the name, the nearest approach to it being
in the great South Kensington Museum in London. While many
institutions possess one or more specimens, these have been preserved
more often on account of some historic association than because of
exceptional beauty or artistic merit. It is only in the rare instance
of a family collection, resulting from the slow accumulation by more
than one generation of quilt enthusiasts, that a quilt collection at
all worth while can be found. In such a case the owner is generally so
reticent concerning his treasures that the community as a whole is
never given the opportunity to profit by them.
In families where accumulations have reached the dignity in numbers
that will justify being called collections, the quilts belonging to
different branches of the family have been passed along from one
generation to another, until they have become the property of one
person. Among collections of this sort are found many rare and
beautiful quilts, as only the best and choicest of all that were made
have been preserved. There are also occasional large collections of
quilts that are the work of one industrious maker who has spent the
greater portion of her life piecing and quilting. The Kentucky
mountain woman who had "eighty-three, all different, and all her own
makin'," is a typical example of this class.
[Illustration: THE "WIND-BLOWN TULIP" DESIGN
Seems to bring a breath of springtime both in form and
colour. Even the border flowers seem to be waving and
nodding in the breeze]
The vastness of their numbers and the great extent of their everyday
use serve to check the collecting of quilts. As a whole, quilts are
extremely heterogeneous and democratic; they are made so generally
over the whole country that no distinct types have been developed, and
they are possessed so universally that there is little social prestige
to be gained by owning an uncommonly large number. Consequently even
the most ardent quilt lovers are usually satisfied when they possess
enough for their own domestic needs, with perhaps a few extra for
display in the guest chambers.
Much of the social pleasure of the pioneer women was due to their
widespread interest in quilts. Aside from the quilting bees, which
were notable affairs, collecting quilt patterns was to many women a
source of both interest and enjoyment. Even the most ambitious woman
could not hope to make a quilt like every design which she admired,
so, to appease the desire for the numerous ones she was unable to
make, their patterns were collected. These collections of quilt
patterns--often quite extensive, frequently included single blocks of
both pieced and patched designs. There was always a neighbourly and
friendly interest taken in such collections, as popular designs were
exchanged and copied many times. Choice remnants of prints and
calicoes were also shared with the neighbours. Occasionally from
trunks or boxes, long hidden in dusty attics, some of these old blocks
come to light, yellowed with age and frayed at the edges, to remind us
of the simple pleasures of our grandmothers.
At the present time there is a marked revival of interest in quilts
and their making. The evidences of this revival are the increasing
demand for competent quilters, the desire for new quilt patterns, and
the growing popularity of quilt exhibitions. Concerning exhibits of
quilts, there is apparent--at least in the northern part of the United
States--a noticeable increase in popular appreciation of those held at
county and state fairs. This is a particularly fortunate circumstance
for the development of the art, because the county fair, "our one
steadfast institution in a world of change," is so intimately
connected with the lives and is so dear to the hearts of our people.
[Illustration: QUILTS ON A LINE]
[Illustration: GRAPES AND VINES]
In addition to the pleasures and social diversions which that annual
rural festival--the county fair--affords, it is an educational force
that is not sufficiently appreciated by those who live beyond the
reach of its spell. At best, country life contains long stretches of
monotony, and any interest with which it can be relieved is a most
welcome addition to the lives of the women in rural communities. At
the fair women are touched to new thoughts on common themes. They come
to meet each other and talk over the latest kinks in jelly making, the
progress of their children, and similar details of their family
affairs. They come to get standards of living and to gather ideas of
home decoration and entertainment for the long evenings when
intercourse, even with the neighbours, becomes infrequent.
There is not the least doubt concerning the beneficial influence of
the local annual fair on the life of the adjacent neighbourhood. At
such a fair the presence of a varied and well-arranged display of
needlework, which has been produced by the womenfolk, is of the
greatest assistance in making the community one in which it is worth
while to live. Not only does it serve as a stimulus to those who look
forward to the fair and put into their art the very best of their
ability in order that they may surpass their competitor next door, but
it also serves as an inspiration to those who are denied the faculty
of creating original designs, yet nevertheless take keen pleasure in
the production of beautiful needlework. It is to this latter class
that an exhibition of quilts is of real value, because it provides
them with new patterns that can be applied to the quilts which must be
made. With fresh ideas for their inspiration, work which would
otherwise be tedious becomes a real pleasure.
For the women of the farm the exhibit of domestic arts and products
occupies the preëminent place at the county fair. In this exhibit the
display of patchwork is sure to arouse the liveliest enthusiasm. A
visitor at a fair in a western state very neatly describes this
appreciation shown to quilts: "We used to hear a great deal about the
sad and lonely fate of the western farmer's wife, but there was little
evidence of loneliness in the appearance of these women who surrounded
the quilts and fancywork in the Domestic Arts Building."
In connection with the display of needlework at rural fairs, it is
interesting to note how ancient is this custom. In the "Social History
of Ancient Ireland" is the following description of an Irish fair held
during the fourth century--long before the advent of St. Patrick and
Christianity: "The people of Leinster every three years during the
first week of August held the 'Fair of Carman.' Great ceremony and
formality attended this event, the King of Leinster and his court
officiating. Music formed a prominent part of the amusement. One day
was set apart for recitation of poems and romantic tales, another for
horse and chariot racing. In another part of the Fair people indulged
in uproarious fun, crowded around showmen, jugglers, clowns with
painted faces or hideously grotesqued masks. Prizes publicly presented
by King or dignitary were given to winners of various contests.
Needlework was represented by 'the slope of the embroidering women,'
where women actually did their work in the presence of spectators."
A very important factor in the recent revival of interest in quilts
has been the springing up of impromptu exhibits as "benefits" for
worthy causes, the raising of funds for which is a matter of popular
interest. Does a church need a new roof, a hospital some more
furnishings, or a college a new building? And have all the usual
methods of raising money become hackneyed and uninspiring to those
interested in furthering the project? To those confronted with such a
money-raising problem the quilt exhibition offers a most welcome
solution. For not only does such an exhibition offer a new form of
entertainment, but it also has sources of interesting material from
which to draw that are far richer than commonly supposed.
Not so very long ago "The Country Contributor" undertook the task of
giving a quilt show, and her description of it is distinctly worth
while:
"My ideas were a bit vague. I had a mental picture of some beautiful
quilts I knew of hung against a wall somewhere for people to come and
look at and wonder over. So we announced the quilt show and then went
on our way rejoicing. A good-natured school board allowed us to have
the auditorium at the high school building for the display and the
quilt agitation began.
[Illustration: AS GOLDEN BUTTERFLIES AND PANSIES
Are so often playmates of little ones in the garden, and
beloved by them, they were chosen for the motifs of this
child's quilt]
"A day or two before the show, which was to be on a Saturday, it began
to dawn upon me that I might be buried under an avalanche of quilts.
The old ones were terribly large. They were made to cover a fat
feather bed or two and to hang down to hide the trundle bed
underneath, and, though the interlining of cotton was very thin and
even, still the weight of a quilt made by one's grandmother is
considerable.
"We betook ourselves to the school building at an early hour on
Saturday morning and the fun began. We were to receive entries until
one o'clock, when the exhibition was to begin.
"In looking back now at this little event, I wonder we could have been
so benighted as to imagine we could do it in a day! After about an
hour, during which the quilts came in by the dozen, I sent in a
general alarm to friends and kindred for help. We engaged a carpenter,
strung up wires and ropes, and by some magic of desperation we got
those quilts on display, 118 of them, by one o'clock.
"One lovely feature of this quilt show was the reverence with which
men brought to us the quilts their mothers made. Plain farmers, busy
workers, retired business men, came to us, their faces softened to
tenderness, handed us, with mingled pride and devotion, their big
bundle containing a contribution to the display, saying in softened
accents, 'My mother made it.' And each and every quilt brought thus
was worthy of a price on its real merit--not for its hallowed
association alone.
"Time and space would fail if I should try to tell about the quilts
that came in at our call for an exhibition. There were so many prize
quilts (fully two thirds of the quilts entered deserved prizes) that
it is difficult to say what finally decided the blue ribbon. However,
the quilt which finally carried it away was fairly typical of those of
the early part of the nineteenth century. A rose pattern was applied
in coloured calicoes on each alternate block. The geometrical
calculation, the miraculous neatness of this work, can scarcely be
exaggerated. But this is not the wonder of the thing. The real wonder
is the quilting. This consisted in copying the design, petal for
petal, leaf for leaf, in needlework upon every alternate block of
white muslin. How these workers accomplished the raised designs on
plain white muslin is the mystery. How raised flowers, leaves, plumes,
baskets, bunches of fruit, even animal and bird shapes, could be shown
in bas-relief on these quilt blocks without hopelessly 'puckering'
the material, none of us can imagine."
No other inspiration that can equal our fairs has been offered to the
quilters of our day. Public recognition of good work and the premiums
which accompany this recognition augment the desire to excel in the
art of quilt making. The keen competition engendered results in the
most exact and painstaking work possible being put upon quilts that
are entered for the "blue ribbon." The materials, designs, and colours
chosen for these quilts are given the most careful consideration, and
the stitchery is as nearly perfect as it is possible to make it.
Some of the finest old quilts that have been preserved are repeatedly
exhibited at county and state fairs, and have more than held their own
with those made in recent years. One shown at an exhibition of quilts
and coverlets, held in a city in southern Indiana in 1914, had been
awarded the first premium at thirty-seven different fairs. This
renowned and venerable quilt had been made more than seventy-five
years before. Its design is the familiar one known as the "Rose of
Sharon"; both the needlework on the design and the quilting are
exquisite, the stitches being all but invisible.
A striking instance of the influence of fairs upon quilt making is
shown in the number of beautiful quilts that have been made expressly
for display in exhibitions at state fairs in the Middle West. One such
collection, worthy of special notice, consists of seven quilts: three
of elaborate designs in patchwork and four made up of infinitesimal
pieces. Every stitch, both on the handsome tops and in the perfect
quilting, was wrought with careful patience by an old-time quilt
maker. The aggregate amount of stitching upon these seven quilts seems
enough to constitute the work of a lifetime. The material in these
quilts, except one which is of silk, is fine white muslin and the
reliable coloured calicoes of fifty years ago.
This extraordinary and beautiful collection is now being carefully
preserved by an appreciative daughter, who tells how it was possible
for her mother to accomplish this great task of needlework. The maker
was the wife of a busy and prosperous farmer of northern Indiana. As
on all farms in that region during the pioneer days, the home was the
centre of manufacture of those various articles necessary to the
welfare and comfort of the family. This indulgent farmer, realizing
that his wife's quilt making was work of a higher plane than routine
housekeeping, employed two stout daughters of a less fortunate
neighbour to relieve her of the heavier household duties. Such work
that required her direct supervision, as jelly making and fruit
canning, was done in the evenings. This allowed the ambitious little
woman ample time to pursue her art during the bright clear hours of
daylight.
Belonging to the collections of individuals are many old quilts which
possess more than ordinary interest, not so much on account of their
beauty or unusual patterns, but because of their connection with some
notable personage or historic event. The number of quilts which are
never used, but which are most carefully treasured by their owners on
account of some sentimental or historic association, is far greater
than generally supposed. While most of the old quilts so jealously
hidden in closet and linen chest have no extraordinary beauty, yet
from time to time there comes into notice one which possesses--in
addition to its interesting connection with the past--an exquisite
and mellow beauty which only tasteful design enhanced by age can give.
Quite often beautiful quilts are found in old trunks and bureaus,
which have gathered dust for untold years in attics and storerooms.
Opportunities to ransack old garrets are greatly appreciated by
collectors, as the uncertainty of what may be found gives zest to
their search. It was of such old treasure trove that the hangings were
found to make what Harriet Beecher Stowe in her novel, "The Minister's
Wooing," calls "the garret boudoir." This was a cozy little enclosure
made by hanging up old quilts, blankets, and coverlets so as to close
off one corner of the garret. Her description of an old quilt used in
this connection is especially interesting. It "was a bed quilt pieced
in tiny blocks, none of them bigger than a sixpence, containing, as
Mrs. Katy said, pieces of the gowns of all her grandmothers, aunts,
cousins, and female relatives for years back; and mated to it was one
of the blankets which had served Mrs. Scudder's uncle in his bivouac
at Valley Forge."
[Illustration: THE "SNOWFLAKE" QUILT DESIGN
Brings to one's imagination the sharp-pointed,
glistening snowflakes against a background of blue sky.
The quilting in fine stitches simulates the applied
pattern, and the border suggests drifts of snow as one
sees them after a winter's storm]
To view the real impromptu exhibitions of quilts--for which, by the
way, no admission fee is charged--one should drive along any
country road on a bright sunny day in early spring. It is at this time
that the household bedding is given its annual airing, and
consequently long lines hung with quilts are frequent and interesting
sights. During this periodical airing there becomes apparent a
seemingly close alliance between patchwork and nature, as upon the
soft green background of new leaves the beauty of the quilts is thrown
into greater prominence. All the colours of the rainbow can be seen in
the many varieties of design, for there is not a line that does not
bear a startling "Lone Star of Texas," "Rising Sun," or some equally
attractive pattern. Gentle breezes stir the quilts so that their
designs and colours gain in beauty as they slowly wave to and fro.
When the apple, cherry, and peach trees put on their new spring
dresses of delicate blossoms and stand in graceful groups in the
background, then the picture becomes even more charming.
This periodical airing spreads from neighbour to neighbour, and as one
sunny day follows another all the clothes lines become weighted with
burdens of brightest hues. Of course, there is no rivalry between
owners, or no unworthy desire to show off, yet, have you ever seen a
line full of quilts hung wrong side out? It has been suggested that at
an exhibition is the logical place to see quilts bloom. Yet, while it
is a rare chance to see quilts of all kinds and in all states of
preservation, yet it is much like massing our wild Sweet Williams,
Spring Beauties, and Violets in a crowded greenhouse. They bravely do
their best, but you can fairly see them gasping for the fresh, free
air of their woodland homes. A quilt hung on a clothes line in the
dooryard and idly flapping in the wind receives twice the appreciation
given one which is sedately folded across a wire with many others in a
crowded, jealous row.