Thursday, April 8, 2010

Disappointed but pushing ahead

I was excited to visit the DAR museum in DC and see the Mary Mannakee quilt up close only to find the exhibit hall closed for installation of a quilt show for April... I was so disappointed. I have enlarged jpgs but cannot see how it was quilted. I'm almost done with the last side of the border and ready to sandwich. Any suggestions? Where can I look?

Here are the only quilts I found on display in DC:

Fredrick Douglass' home


Museum of American History




I'm making headway with my Strips 'n Curves. About 1/3 is cut, planned and some sewn. This is my makeshift planning wall. The flannel backed tablecloth hangs curved over my bookshelves with velcro.
Its definitely better than having no design surface.

11 comments:

Abby and Stephanie said...

Gorgeous quilting on that applique quilt. Looking forward to seeing how you quilt your circles.

Funoldhag said...

OMG, Janice - the strips and curves quilt is wonderful. Your work is exquisite! And you get so much done. I just love your projects. Carol

imquilternity said...

Wow..I sure love your Strips N Curves quilt! Those colors are just wonderful!! Finish it quickly, please, so you can show it to us!

Victoria Findlay Wolfe said...

I think i saw one quilt in DC... Wish I had seen more! but we enjoyed the y couple days we had anyway...
;-)looks like you got around to see a few! your quilt in progress is looking fantastic!!

Karen said...

What a disappointment to find the exhibition closed. Maybe you will get to make a 2nd visit later on.

pratima said...

Beautiful quilts... your quilt is stunning, Janet. Orange makes it glow. I'll look forward to the finish :)

Janet said...

Oh that's so disappointing, all the MM's I've seen made are grid quilted. I enjoyed seeing the photos you did manage to get. The strip quilt looks amazing.

Crispy said...

Oh how disappointing!! I have no suggestions for pictures of the Manakee.

The Strips and Curves quilt is Fabulous!!

Wow the quilting in the applique quilt is stunning!!

Crispy

Alden O'Brien said...

Hi, I'm the curator of textiles (including quilts) at the DAR Museum. So sorry you were disappointed. We have 8 quilt racks in the gallery, and display quilts during our regular exhibit schedule--but we do need a month after each exhibit to take one down and install the next, at which point we rotate a new set of quilts into the racks. Mary Manakee would not have been on display either in the previous or the upcoming exhibit. With over 300quilts, and considering their fragility, we don't display the favorites or most famous quilts all the time. Usually the quilts selected relate in some way to the topic of the exhibit in the gallery. Next time you come be sure to check our exhibit schedule ahead of time (March and Sept are our usual but not universal changeover months, but it's not strictly 1st thru end of month) and also ask to see the quilts in our period rooms.
Alden O'Brien
Curator of Costume and Textiles
DAR Museum

Alden O'Brien said...

PS, anyone can see our quilt collection online at www.quiltindex.com ; search for DAR Museum on the Contributing Institution drop-down menu, and search by date, pattern, time period, etc.
Alden O'Brien

YankeeQuilter said...

If I remember correctly the quilting was not the most exciting part of the MM quilt. If memory serves me she went through some "hard times" and was even cut up and used as window toppers/treatments at one point!

I have a quilt from the same time period and it mixes crosshatching with some fun feathers going up the seams in the white part. The applique is quilted around and then the open space filled with crosshatching. Hope that helps! ps...Baltimore museums which are just up the road from DC also have great quilt collections and are worth checking out to see if they have any displays on if you are in the area.