Red and White Quilts and a New Book

A few years ago in New York, there was an exhibit of over 650 red and white quilts that are the lifelong collection of Joanna S. Rose.  It was held at the American Folk Art Museum, and evidently it was a sight to see!

I was not able to go, but many people and publications reviewed it, so there was (and still is) plenty of opportunity to see the quilts in all their glory.

from several reviews -- the bird's eye view.

The inspiration for the name of the exhibition was a line from Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra":  Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety...

I love red and white quilts, well red anything and lots of red and white things in general.  It would have been awesome to be able to view even a portion of the collection.  But recently I was browsing and discovered that a book on the collection is available.

I am so there...

I ordered the paperback version and it came last week.  It was on the kitchen table when I got home from family sewing night... and I stayed up for a couple of hours just turning over the pages, trying not to drool on the book.

http://shop.folkartmuseum.org/collections/books-media/products/infinite-variety-paperback#content

It's organized by type of pattern, from the simple to the sublime.  The one on the cover is called Vortex Quilt, done somewhere in the US about 1890-1910 according to the museum's web site.

The book is large, a coffee table volume for sure.  That makes the photos big enough to enjoy, although they're not proportionally depicted.  You have to read the caption of each to find the size, because they're shown mostly 4 to a page.  But this is a book I will treasure.

You can click on the link above and get your own copy, or click on the button for the Exhibition there and drool over your computer.

Two color quilts are such classics.  There's something I love about them.  But red and while is definitely my favorite combination.

Check out the exhibit, and the book.

Sew on...