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Saturday, February 20, 2010

I'm famous!

Well, I have a quilt in a museum, at any rate.  Doesn't that count? 

A few months ago, I was asked by the program director of the museum where I docent if I would possibly consider making a quilt for the bed in the cabin.  They already had a quilt.  It is a 150-year-old antique log cabin quilt.  What she wanted was a quilt that she could use in her schoolkids programs.  One that the kids could touch and lie on while testing the rope springs and straw mattress.  I enjoy quilting, and I was tickled at the idea of a quilt of mine being in a museum.  So this is what I made for them:

The pattern is a variation of the traditional block called "Corn and Beans."  The quilt is 54" square.  The fabrics are all Civil War reproductions, because the original cabin was built just after the Civil War.  These colors and prints were a stretch for me.  My usual inclination is towards jewel tones and florals, but I am more satisfied with these colors and patterns than I thought I would. be.  The batting is cotton, and I washed it to make it nice and puckery and antiquey-looking (also, although there was no doubt in my mind that it would, to make sure it washed well because it will probably be washed fairly frequently).  This is a closeup:

You can't tell from the photo, but it is hand-quilted in a diagonal grid through the center of each square.  I have machine quilted a few quilts in my time; I hate the process of machine quilting, however, and I love the process of hand quilting, plus hand quilting is more authentic for this particular quilt.

And here are a couple of pictures of the quilt on the bed:

So now I am famous, because I have a quilt in a museum!

17 comments:

  1. Thank you! I'm rather pleased with it myself.

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  2. Gorgeous quilt. You do beautiful work. How long did it take you to finish it?

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  3. This is gorgeous, Meg, and I admire what you do. I sew all the time, but if anyone even suggests I do anything by hand, I turn pale and run the other way.

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  4. It's a beautiful quilt and so good of you to make it for the museum. I don't quilt, but am an admirer of quilts, and I know a lot of hours go into making one,especially a hand quilted one.
    Eunice "Eunie" Boeve

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  5. Thanks for all the nice things you've all said.

    Shawn, it took me about a week and a half to piece it, working on it a couple of hours a day, and about three months to quilt it, an hour or two at a stretch in the evenings.

    Liz, I feel the same way about hand-piecing, but I also crochet and do cross-stitch. Basically what it amounts to for me is that I don't sit still well. My ex used to complain that I listened to television, I didn't watch it [g].

    Eunie, being single with no children, I'm often at a loss as to what to do with all the quilts I've made. I've kept a fair number, given a fair number to charity, and made baby quilts for all my great-nieces and nephews (eight at last count), but I was glad to have somewhere else to give a quilt. And I am vastly amused at the whole concept of having a quilt in a museum. It just makes me grin.

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  6. Beautiful! You deserve to be proud of that!
    Heidi

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  7. What a beautiful quilt! I've done some smaller quilts (badly; even with a straight edge and sharp cutter I can't seem to cut a straight line, any more than I can draw one!)and worked with some good quilters, but none of them actually quilted -- they're all "piecers" who send the finished top off to be machine-quilted. So I am super-impressed that not only did you piece the top of this gorgeous quilt, but you hand-quilted the whole thing -- by yourself! Wouldn't it be great if we could still have quilting circles or bees, and get together with like-minded crafters to make these lovelies? My sister has several quilts made by my great-grandmother, and won't share or put them out (silly woman is keeping them folded, and not listening to her sisters about how they should be kept!), but yours is much more beautiful, even in the "Civil War" fabrics! (I love jewel tones too!) Congratulations on your famous museum work!
    Lori

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  8. It would be wonderful if we could still have quilting bees, Lori. I think they'd be great fun (and would get the quilt done a lot faster [g]). I do belong to a quilt guild, but it's more in the nature of having speakers and techniques demonstrated and a social gathering (all of which is wonderful, but not the same thing).

    People seem to be headed more and more to machine quilting, either done themselves or sent out. Machine quilters have become quite a cottage industry. I've never understood the appeal, but I've learned not to say so [wry g].

    Thank you so much for your kind comments. I really appreciate them.

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  9. Great quilt! But then, you knew that.

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  10. Well, it's still nice to hear it from others [g].

    Thanks.

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  11. I came here on a suggestion from the Bujold list, and I am glad I did. It is a beautiful quilt, and if you look carefully you can see the quilting stitching lines. It captures the feel of the period. Congratulations, and thanks for sharing it with us,

    Claire

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  12. Thank you for your kind comments, Claire. I appreciate them.

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  13. What an honor for you to have a quilt in a museum, Meg. This hand-quilted one you made specifically for a special bed is gorgeous!

    Alice

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  14. Thank you, Alice. I think it's quite an honor, too.

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