Between the Layers, A Quilt Show

Last week I visited the quilt exhibit at the newly built Tennessee State Museum in Nashville.  They have over 400 quilts in their collection and periodically display a selection.  It was too exciting: I had to go.

I am a quilt snob and proud of it.  At a previous quilt exhibit held at the older museum located in the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, I caused a bit of a ruckus.  While leaning in close to admire an antique handmade quilt (with the tiniest, most exquisite, perfect stitches ever), an alarm began shrieking and people could be heard scurrying behind me.  I wasn't worried because the museum was on the bottom floor and if there was a fire, it was an easy exit. If the museum had been on the 24th floor, with 24 flights to descend, my reaction would have been much different. I continued to quietly stand and gawk.  A deep masculine voice startled me from behind and I whirled around to face a firing squad of security guards - all glaring at me!

"Ma'am," said the towering guard. "Don't touch the quilts."

"But officer, I didn't touch anything!"  I hastily defended myself.  "I was only looking."

"We have security sensors surrounding each item and your breath triggered an alarm."

Realizing my guilt, I was horrified and feared jail time!  "Oh, sir! I will immediately stop breathing.  I promise!"

He laughed - then all the guards returned to their posts.  The emergency had been aborted.

At the new museum, I behaved better.

Lucy Virginia French Smith

Multi-talented Lucy French had her husband purchase the silk for this quilt on a business trip to New Orleans.  Later, when Civil War troops threatened her property, French allegedly pretended to be ill in bed, covering herself - and the family silver - with the quilt.

Barbara Lotspeich Broyles
During the Civil War, Barbara loaned some of her quilts to Confederate soldiers camping nearby. The quilts were returned but one was infected with typhus. Both she and her husband perished from the disease.

Nunnelee Family, 1855 - 1865

Marcus Nunnelee was a surveyor and his wife Lucy, probably used his instruments to draw this unique pattern before the Civil War.  Their daughters Sally, Mary, and Martha, did the quilting.

Diane Getty

When Tennessee First Lady Andrea Conte began renovating the Tennessee Governor's Residence in 2005, she asked artists to repurpose the old curtains and upholstery fabric.  Diane Getty created this wall hanging and it was used to decorate the modernized mansion.

Rebecah Foster
"October 5, 1808," embroidered on this quilt by Rebecah Foster, is the earliest known date on a Tennessee quilt. ...(T)he eagle of the United States coat of arms at the center, expressed patriotism at a time of strained relations with Great Britain which led to the War of 1812.

Nancy Isabel "Nannie" Hendricks, (1846 - 1930)

According to family tradition, she made this quilt for her hope chest at age 15.  In 1881, Nannie married John Gibbons.  The quilt was never used and has retained its bright colors.

Samantha Brazzoria Garland Pack, (1858 - 1902)

This quilt was made as a gift for her young sister-in-law Mary Ella Pack.

Judy Elwood (1940-)

Alice Richardson (1926-)

Joyce Tennery (1939-2002)

Tennessee Sampler, 1982

Elwood, Richardson, and Tennery featured these patterns in the book "Tennessee Quilting, Plus Patterns" and displayed it at the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville.  

Unidentified member of the Bacon Family, about 1850 - 1860

Harriet Meneese Falls, (1863 - 1945)

Annette Woods Byrd (1937-)

Jannie H. DeBerry (1907-1995)

Apple Blossoms

Singer Manufacturing Company "Featherweight" Portable Sewing Machine, 1954 -1959

A machine just like my Mom's, the same kind on which I learned to sew was at the museum behind a glass case! That's a creepy feeling - to see something I have used a hundred times, displayed in a museum. I felt old.

It was called a "Featherweight" because it was one of the first portable sewing machines ever built.  It was metal, designed to last and my cousin, who is a serious quilter, still uses it.  My Father always scoffed when Mom called it a "Featherweight."  Once it stopped working so Mom asked Dad to take it to Nashville for repairs.  Dad drove a Greyhound bus so he carried it with him on his route.  He hauled it a long distance from the bus station, up a steep hill to the shop.  It was a strenuous walk and the machine got heavier with each step.  When he returned days later, he discovered the only problem was that Mom had put the needle in backward.  He had to lug it all the way back home and never let her forget her mistake.

There were many more quilts in the fantastic exhibit.  I had a wonderful time and suppose any day you don't go to jail, is a good one.