Monday, March 25, 2019

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.

15 comments:

  1. I really, really enjoyed the quilts...so glad you went and posted them. They sure are beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought about you as I was writing this, especially the way you love to quilt! I can't seem to get back to quilting for all the mending needing to be done.

      Delete
  2. Beautiful quilts! I can't imagine having the patience, but I sure appreciate those who did and do. My grandmothers and great aunts made some really special ones.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is magnificent sewing art! The busy women spent endless hours to produce this perfect
    sewing art. And all those conversations they had when they met! Are these art works on loan
    to the museum or were they given to the museum by the last owners? Anyway, money could not buy
    these precious artefacts.
    The last one (apple flowers ) is my favorite.
    Christel

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The information posted did not say if they were donated or on loan. I can't imagine a safer place for a quilt to be stored than at the museum. Thankfully people are willing to share their family treasures so a stranger like me can see them.

      My favorite was the sunburst made with the surveyor's tools. I stood and looked at it for a long time mesmerized by the skill required to create it.

      Delete
  4. My mother bought her featherweight when she was going to college in the 30s and I use it still. We have bought them for 3 other family members so far. Although they are all featherweights the older of them, like my mothers will handle heavier fabric and such better than the newer of these old machines. My mother used to make all our snow suits and her heavy coats with heavy linings with hers. Thanks for this special post about the beautiful quilts and all the information. :) Sarah

    ReplyDelete
  5. My mom bought hers when she first started to work right out of high school. She got a job at a big bank in downtown Nashville and needed to have nice clothes to wear. The machine was one of the first things she bought with her first paychecks. It was a workhorse.

    When I became a teenager, she gave me a newer singer portable sewing machine as a present and it had the amazing ZIGZAG stitch! Oh, the new things you could do with the zigzag.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Just beautiful! Those tiny stitches get me every time, too. I have a quilt from my husband's family that was on display at the SC State Museum some decades back. My sisters-in-law thought it was hideous so I took it home and very much love it.

    Things like you setting off the alarm happen to me, too. Last time we went to a bluegrass concert one of the performers said that someone in the audience was coon hunting. It was the flash on my phone when I took a picture. Needless to say I did not take any more pictures!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That sounds exactly like something I would do! Working my phone or anything technical is impossible for my brain. I have no idea how to turn my camera flash on or off. It decides when it wants to flash and I don't argue. Years ago I learned to laugh at myself and life has been much better.

      I appreciate the tiny stitches more than anything else on quilts. Machine work is fine for quilts that are going to be drug around, worn out, then tossed. Handwork is for the heirlooms, in my very opinionated opinion.

      Delete
  7. I can't begin to imagine stitching those quilts. Some beautifully fine detailed work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Many were made before the invention of the sewing machine and electric lights. Everything about them amazes me!

      Delete
  8. I love quilts! I took a non-credit course in university and was able to display my quilt in a show after. I've been quilting ever since although I wish I had access to a long-arm machine as I want to try some free-hand stitching. Such a soothing artistic endeavor.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn't know you are a quilter! I wish you would post some of your quilts on your blog. Use them under the dishes you make (which are always works of art) so I can get a glimpse.

      Delete
  9. I so enjoyed the quilt show! What a nice treat to go, via you, to a show I would never be able to access. I grew up with a grandma who quilted and a family that occasionally took me to quilt shows. I acquired a love and appreciation for it, but never really knew how hard it was until I tried it!

    I'm finally back from camping, and am getting life organized around here again. I was able to sew quite a bit on quilt blocks in the camper, but it's all in a pile in the back room now. Hopefully, I will get it organized and get back at it pretty soon, but the garden is calling my name:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree, quilting, if it is done correctly, is hard. When you visit quilting stores, there are books titled "Make a quilt in a weekend!" Nope. That does not impress me. It might as well say, "Paint a Rembrandt Masterpiece in a weekend!" Nope. Impossible.

      Take your time and enjoy making a family heirloom. When you are gone, others will enjoy it for years.

      Delete