TAHAWUS CENTER WINDOWS GALLERY
"Warmth and Beauty"
A Celebration of Five Adirondack Quilters
Tah-ha-wus
said to mean “Cloudsplitter“ Reach for the Sky -because there is no limit to
creativity and learning.
READ MORE About Quilts
WARMTH and BEAUTY
QUILTS are layered textile composed of a decorative top, a warm filler called batting or wadding, and a practical backing. Joining the three layers are quilting stitches, or sometimes regularly spaced yarn or string ties.
Quilting has long been used for clothing in China, the Middle East, North Africa, and the colder areas of Europe, but is now primarily associated with the construction of bedcovers and wall hangings.
NAMES OF CLASSIC QUILT STYLES
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Block Style - quilt blocks of the same size are arranged in a grid—is considered to be an iconically American quilt design
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Nine Patch – pioneer, simple, uses all scraps
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Log Cabin – well known, patchwork, symbolizing home, warmth, love and security. Center is red.
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Pinwheel – 19th C practical first, then beauty, serving as privacy, sofa, hanging, window coverings
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8-Pointed Star – most common motif, not easy, precision counts
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Crazy Quilt – one of the oldest patterns, scraps, recycled cloth, fitted together with a variety of stitches, a hodgepodge of color and story behind each scrap
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Rose of Sharon (aka the Whig Rose) – one of the oldest applique patterns, mentioned in the Bible, referring possibly a wild tulip that grows in Palestine. In 1800, a young girl would create a dozen quilt tops and one great quilt for a bed.
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Friendship Quilt – homesteaders quilts brought from the East, often given by a group as a going away present to pioneering homesteaders traveling west. Each quilter embroidered her name on her patch, providing comfort and company.
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God’s Eye – featuring the cross-shaped pattern, the quilt was sometimes used as burial shroud.
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Wild Goose Chase, Bear Paw, Dove in the Window, Hen and Chickens, Dogwood, and Sunflower.
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Corn and Beans – yellows and green reflecting our agricultural society, and dependence on our crops.
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Churn Dash – names for what women saw around them
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Schoolhouse - The Schoolhouse block was often a variation of a house or church pattern. Most featured a side view of the building and were either pieced or appliqued
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Drunkard’s Path – meandering diagonals resemble a staggering path
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Basket – naturalistic motifs of flowers, leaves, vines
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Anvil – telling the story of the work of men, also Saw-Tooth, Bowknot, Carpenter’s Wheel, Compass, and Monkey Wrench.
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Dresden Plate – appliques inspired in the 1920-30’s by the elaborate porcelain plates from Germany
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Grandmother’s Flower Garden, cheerful hexagonal design popular around 1925 and during the Depression
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Sunbonnet Sue – popular in the 1930’s, juvenile theme for the nursery, with themes taken from nursery rhymes and stories.
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Double Wedding Ring – early 1900, a shift into pastel colors, and a scalloped edge
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Lincoln Platform – President Lincoln created the homestead Act of 1862, offering 270 million acres of land for homesteading, and creating the Westward Movement.
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Nebraska Pinwheel – a favorite pattern suggesting the wheels of wagons, sawmills, gristmills, water pumps
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Nebraska State Block – 1907 a competition for quilters to design a block that represented Nebraska
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Liberty Star Block – patriotic quilt design, Women used and named such designs to express their political statements and social concerns. Also Jacob’s Ladder became Underground Railroad. Job’s Tears became Slave Chain.
https://www.nps.gov/home/planyourvisit/quilt-discovery-experience.htm