Notes from the Studio Quilt Study group meeting held at Judy Grow's new home in Flemington NJ on Tuesday, November 15, 2005.

Notes taken by Norma McAfee, annotated by Judy Grow

Everyone arrived at our new location without any problems!

Before flapping our quilts we spoke of quilt happenings in the larger world.

Barbara Garrett mentioned a quilt and textile show that is being held at the Cape May County Historical Society through the end of December. She went to the show and recommends it to all; although the quilts are folded and not hung flat out they can be seen and appreciated, it is still worth the trip.

Karen Dever reported that she attended the AQSQ seminar in Lakewood Colorado, as did Barb Garrett and Sue Reich. Karen attended the WW II study center presented by Sue and said it was wonderful. She especially enjoyed all the paper presentations, studies and talks.

Barbara Garrett reminded us that Judy Roche's quilts, which were the special display at the Vermont Quilt Festival this past summer will be on display at the Brandywine Museum starting late January 2006.

For the Joy of It: Appliquéd Quilts from the Judy Roche Collection January 21 through March 19, 2006 In a world of quilt competitions where precision and technical skills are paramount, the creativity and passion of quilt makers are often underappreciated. For this exhibition, guest curators Deborah E. Kraak and Lynne Z. Bassett have selected 23 appliquéd quilts from celebrated expert Judy Roche's extensive collection that clearly demonstrate excellence in design and the joy that quilt makers derive from their craft.

* Judy Grow reported that she had recently read "The Belles of New England" by Wm. Moran and recommended it as a study of the history of the textile mills as seen from the working girls' perspective.

* She also shared her book purchased on the internet "Andrinople, Le Rouge Magnifique," a new French book documenting the history of Turkey red with glorious photographs in full color. Not yet translated into English and difficult to find.

* She showed an antique wood block about 12" square, stamped "Mc Laughlan, Paisley" (Scotland), the design realized in a soft metal in a paisley stripe repeat print, used to stamp printed fabric.

Listed below are some of the quilts we shared for study.

*1930's; pieced pillow case with 6 broken dishes blocks on a pink ground.

*1875-1900 ; scrap quilt "double T" blocks on point, containing madder prints, with a striped double pink sashing

*1875-1900; A top of mourning prints and striped shirtings (mostly), in a flying geese variation block, blocks set without sashing. One indigo block among the mourning prints really stood out.

*1875-1900; Log Cabin top made up of unusually wide strips, set in a barn raising pattern, with pink and yellow strips as the outermost in each block.

*1900-1925; unfinished 16 large blocks Red Work quilt top with different designs done in pearl cotton in a perfect tiny chain stitch, but a mess of carries and long threads on the back side.

* Trudy passed around a book, "Anna Williams, Her Quilts and Their Influences" by Katherine Watts with Elizabeth Walker.

* Trudy showed us an Anna Williams quilt top she had purchased that she was quilting herself. We had a long discussion about the characteristics in common, if any, of African American quilts, and what has made them a hot commodity in today's marketplace.

Judy K.

* c.1970 ; a quilt top of red and white 2" squares, some polyester, arranged in a star pattern reminiscent of our beloved Bowmansville PA. star quilts, and purchased on e-bay.

* 1875; scrappy Evening/Ohio star quilt top; 4" star blocks set with alternate plain blocks, centennial, faded purples, madders and dark colors typical of NY State

* 1875-1900; large Turkey red appliqué paper cut blocks alternated with red roosters with stars and crowns, appliquéd on white, the red abraded to almost a pink color.

* 2 New table mats or mini quilts that Judy K. is making from old blocks.  (above)

* 10 blocks, c. 1860 red and green flowers on white with perfectly circular red rouched flowers. (above)

Sue

* C 1940 quilt of embroidered music with the title, words, and first notes of over 25 typically patriotic American songs all in patriotic flag colors.

* Whole cloth quilt of brown and pink and white cheater cloth, with a horseshoe and butterfly in one printed block, puss in a corner in another, arranged alternately in a stripy set, with printed picot lace at the "seam" joins.

* 1875-1900 tied block sampler quilt ; assorted pieced blocks, some earlier, typically New England in color and feeling.

* Judy G.; Sampler quilt of the same period from Lebanon Pa, shown together with Sue's to see the real difference in color ethos.

* a quilt in a block called "Connecticut" c. 1860, pieced blocks, predominantly two colors, typical green with black and yellow prints, and for the light, a white with green and pink flowers in brown seaweed reserves and a white with red flowers. The blocks are large and form secondary patterns around the quilt. It is quilted in parallel lines

* Brown and pink and white cheater cloth, in a strip set block pattern, with a printed horseshoe and butterfly in one block, another in a puss-in-the-corner variation. Interesting fake picot lace at the pseudo block intersections.

* a sampler quilt of blocks 1875-1900, tied , not quilted, assorted pieced blocks, some earlier. Typically New England in colors and set.

* Judy G brought out her Pa. block sampler of approximately the same period to see how startling the difference was in color and fabric usage between the two areas of the country.

Ellie

*1875-1900 quilt top of red cut work on white. 9 blocks.

*1875-1900 Log cabin in barn raising set, faded, damaged, with repairs appliquéd on top of original quilt and very visible.

*1860 Old Maids Ramble predominantly double pink fabrics for the center squares, and many older prints including Prussian blues for the half square triangles.

Dana

*1920-30's top of scrappy Schoolhouse blocks with some older fabrics, unfortunately damaged by a burning cigarette ash which fell on it while it was folded.

* 1860; 8 pointed stars, with octagonal appliquéd centers set with orange sashing, in a streak of lightning layout. Turkey red prints for the stars on printed backgrounds. Although the block pattern is like many NJ signature quilts we have seen, this one was not intended as a signature quilt.

Joan

* 1875-1900 Pink flying geese on yellow with turkey red strip set, geese flying both up and down. Colorful back strippie set of cheddar and red, typical of Berks Co. PA.

* 1870; 4-block , cradle quilt; yellow, rust and brown Rolling Stone blocks with pink sashing and rusty red border.

* 1920 unfinished child's dress, (size 1 or 2) black with embroidery (no photo)

Norma

* 1890's; Log cabin quilt top with design of 4 blocks sewn together darks to the center, with narrow sashing to separate the groups of 4. Some older fabrics. Typical yellow and green fabrics used in the sawtooth outer border.

* 1875-1900 ; Very scrappy predominantly brown prints with shirtings, very small square-in-a-square blocks, with older, larger pieced blocks sewn on 4 sides to make borders.

Karen

* 1875-1900 ; Crib quilt . Court House Steps blocks with small squares set 7 x 9 having narrow strips and 4 borders.

* 1875-1900; The prize winner of the day -- if we gave a prize for anything! Heavily quilted quilt with blocks in a 5x5 patch layout, (sort of like a Devils Claw block), pieced blocks alternating with plain blocks, each with its individual wreath quilting design, superior quilting. Typical of Ohio quilts. We all thought it was earlier until we saw the typically late 19th century prints included.

* 1890's quilt of small scale "Four-patch-in-nine-patch" blocks, each of 3 colors, but scrappy thoughout the quilt. Mourning print back. All the light fabrics in the 4-patches run in the same direction and give the illusion of broken diagonals across the quilt.

Nancy K.

* New Baltimore Album Mary Simon reproduction quilt top she just finished, (almost - it still needs borders) with superior workmanship and use of color and specialty fabrics. Nancy is using this as a teaching tool in her applique classes. Her bird's eyes are perfectly formed and Nancy admitted that she collects fabrics from everywhere that have even the smallest areas that can be used as a 3/16" circular bird's eye -- needleturned!

* Liza Prior Lucy showed two of the quilts she made for her new book with Kaffe Fassett, "Museum Quilts, Designs Inspired by the Victoria and Albert Museum." She had copies of the book to sell. The quilts were just what we've come to expect from this talented pair of designers - usually simple designs of repeated shapes made with glorious fabrics used to greatest advantage. They lit up the room!

We shared a 3-foot long hoagie for lunch and had our choice of 2 delicious desserts provided by Trudy and Nancy G. We only had 3 Judys at this meeting, and could have had 5 if everyone had showed up. Wouldn't that have been fun.

Judy, now in Flemington NJ aka The Ringoes Kid judygrow@patmedia.net