his collection of 24 quilts features magnificent creations from quilters across the country. From "sea and sky" themes to autumn colors, Christmas patterns, and traditional designs, all come with complete color charts, patterns, and portraits of the desi
“Remarkable . . . It is a tribute to an art form that allowed women self-expression even when society did not. Above all, though, it is an affirmation of the strength and power of individual lives, and the way they cannot help fitting together.”—The New York Times Book Review An extraordinary and moving novel, How to Make an American Quilt is an exploration of women of yesterday and today, who join together in a uniquely female experience. As they gather year after year, their stories, their wisdom, their lives, form the pattern from which all of us draw warmth and comfort for ourselves. The inspiration for the major motion picture featuring Winona Ryder, Anne Bancroft, Ellen Burstyn, and Maya Angelou Praise for How to Make an American Quilt “Fascinating . . . highly original . . . These are beautiful individual stories, stitched into a profoundly moving whole. . . . A spectrum of women’s experience in the twentieth century.”—Los Angeles Times “Intensely thoughtful . . . In Grasse, a small town outside Bakersfield, the women meet weekly for a quilting circle, piercing together scraps of their husbands’ old workshirts, children’s ragged blankets, and kitchen curtains. . . . Like the richly colored, well-placed shreds that make up the substance of an American quilt, details serve to expand and illuminate these characters. . . . The book spans half a century and addresses not only [these women’s] histories but also their children’s, their lovers’, their country’s, and in the process, their gender’s.”—San Francisco Chronicle “A radiant work of art . . . It is about mothers and daughters; it is about the estrangement and intimacy between generations. . . . A compelling tale.”—The Seattle Times
This photographed book covers the historical panorama of quiltmaking in the United States, from the quintessential patterns to their cultural significance.--[Book jacket.].
Presents 150 quilts from the author's collection which were made during the second half of the twentieth century by anonymous quilters in the United States, along with a series of essays on quilt making as an art form.
Presents thirty-one projects for constructing "scrap" quilts--a style which utilizes as many as several hundred different fabrics--and offers sewing tips, quilting ideas, and timesaving cutting charts
"One of America's largest collections of quilts - containing almost 400 examples at the time of this publication and steadily growing - belongs to the Museum of American Folk Art in New York City. As it is a national, not a regional institution, the Museum does not restrict its collection by location, nor is it restricted by time period: The quilts have been made all over the country and range in date from the late-eighteenth to the late-twentieth century." "Until this publication, however, there has been no comprehensive guide to the Museum's quilts, almost all of which have been donated by collectors in the field. Highlights from the collection have been published and exhibited many times, but the purpose of this book is to provide an opportunity for quiltmakers, collectors, scholars, and others to explore the collection in depth. The comprehensive discussion of the quilts has been divided into eleven chapters that are illustrated with 141 color plates. This text is then followed by a catalog of the entire collection, which in turn contains forty-four black-and-white illustrations. Here, then, is a richly handsome and informative volume that will prove to be essential for all those fascinated by this category of American folk art."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Beautiful Quilts! Beautiful antique quilts and a workbook of patterns come together in this lavish photography book for quilters. The more than 30 featured quilts from the Wisconsin State Historical Society collection are displayed in period rooms at Old World Wisconsin, the Society's outdoor museum of German and Scandinavian farmhouses. Patterns and block layouts are provided for replicating each of the original quilts, and after seeing each of them in a true historical context, home sewers will be inspired to create their own versions.
Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich has remarked, “Much of the social history of early America has been lost to us precisely because women were expected to use needles rather than pens.” This book, part of the multivolume series of the International Quilt Study Center collections, recovers a swath of that lost history and shows us some of America’s treasured material culture as it was pieced and stitched into place. American Quilts in the Modern Age, 1870–1940 examines the period’s quilts from both an artistic and a historical perspective. From pieced block to Crazy style to Colonial Revival examples, as well as one-of-a-kind creations, the full array of style and design appears in this book covering seven decades of quiltmaking. The contributing authors provide critical information regarding the modern and anti-modern tensions that persisted throughout this era of America’s coming of age, from the Civil War to World War II. They also address the textile technology and cultural context of the times in which the quilts were created, with an eye to the role that industrialization and modernization played in the evolution of techniques, materials, and designs. With full-color photographs of over 587 quilts, American Quilts in the Modern Age, 1870-1940 offers a new visual and tactile understanding of American culture and society, bridging the transition from traditional folk culture to the age of mass production and consumption.
Since the 19th century, the women of Gee s Bend in southern Alabama have created stunning, vibrant quilts. Beautifully illustrated with 110 color illustrations, The Quilts of Gee s Bend includes a historical overview of the two hundred years of extraordinary quilt-making in this African-American community, its people, and their art-making tradition. This book is being.released in conjunction with a national exhibition tour including The Museum of Fine Art, Houston, and the Whitney Museum of American Art."