Mrs. Grace Averett's Quilt: Unconventional and Unexpected

Editor's Note: "Getting to Know You" is on display at Quilt House through February 6. To celebrate this show's run, International Quilt Study Center & Museum team members are sharing their impressions on select pieces from the exhibition. 

By Marin Hanson
Curator of Exhibitions

What a winner in my book and clearly by the viewers who chose Mrs. Grace Averett’s “String Quilt” as their winner. I am indeed biased as I truly love these everyday quilts, and even better yet, this one is a comforter also called a tied quilt. Everyday quilts that were made to be used could have been made very simply, humbly, and straight-forward---no need for ornamentation or elaborate design.

Why did Mrs. Grace Averett make her comforter this way? Did she make others? Did they all look like this one or did she make a variety of patterns? We shall never know the answers and can only ponder the questions.

Movement is one of the first things that strike me. You can image the waves or ripples from a boat gliding across the water. Start in the bottom lower right corner and follow the fabrics as they snake up to the upper left corner.

Her construction is marvelous in the horizontal layering of printed cottons and feed sack “strings” that create her strips. My gaze had been held primarily by the horizontal lines and the titling movement to the left. Only recently did I realize there is a vertical seam (or line) going down the center of the comforter. I love one printed fabric next to another and another and so on with just the right amount of a solid fabric. What about the solid orange? That’s the “punch” or “pop” for me. What do you think, did Mrs. Averett place those with intention or are they happy accident? Another place she draws my eye is the green printed fabric with 2 red flowers at the center of the quilt: planned or chance? Her ample use of the red ties used to hold the three layers together are visually striking. Why so many and what happened to the blank areas in the center?

Tush Kiiz Envy

Editor's Note: To celebrate the grand opening of the newly expanded Quilt House gallery, International Quilt Study Center & Museum team members are blogging about pieces in the gallery's inaugural exhibition, "Getting to Know You."

IQSCM 2011.040.0039

By Marin Hanson
Curator of Exhibitions

As I thought about why I love this Kyrgyz tush kiiz so much, I looked around my house. And it suddenly became obvious: I have tush kiiz envy.

When I travel internationally, I always bring home something to hang in my house – on the wall, sometimes, but particularly on the ceiling or in a doorway. I love the concept of welcoming people into your home space(s) with beautiful textiles or other decorations. I also like passing under them myself on a daily basis – they serve as a reminder that beauty is everywhere, even in our most commonplace spaces.

These pieces are mostly from India – which undeniably has some of the most beautiful textiles in the world. At top left is a mango and chile pepper fabric ornament that is a quintessential symbol of Mumbai; at top right is a toran, or Indian door decoration with symbolism rooted in both Buddhism and Hinduism; and at bottom right is a beaded hanging from Kutch, in Gujarat. At bottom left are two pieces from China. They were made by a famous artisan from rural Shaanxi Province and they are both loaded with auspiciousness (on the right-hand piece, stacked from top to bottom, are the symbols for fu (a bat), good luck, lu (coins), wealth, and shou, longevity – for those of you who love your Chinese symbology!).

So I guess this just means that I now have to go to Kyrgyzstan and get my own tush kiiz – I have the perfect spot for it: the dramatic portal between my living room and dining room!

A Rabari Ralli

Editors's Note: To celebrate the grand opening of the newly expanded Quilt House gallery, International Quilt Study Center & Museum team members are blogging about pieces in the gallery's inaugural exhibition, "Getting to Know You."

Ghodiyun Cradle Cover, made by the Rabari People,
Kutch, India, Circa 1975-2000. IQSCM 2012.001.0007.

By Marin Hanson
Curator of Exhibitions

I know I've written about India lately, but I just can't help it – I want to keep going back.

Quite simply, I love this quilt because it reminds me of the time I was fortunate enough to be able to go to the part of India where it was made – Kutch, which is a region in the state of Gujarat in the far West of the country. In fact, I was there when this piece was acquired on our behalf – by our good friend Geeta Khandelwal. Isn't it magnificent? The stylized peacocks, flowing trees of life, and triangular temples are surrounded by seemingly endless applique borders that reverberate and ripple outward. Clearly, this quilt would have added color and beauty to life in this arid part of India.

Rabari tribeswomen have made these quilts for generations. The Rabari family from whom we acquired this piece are no longer nomadic like their ancestors – in fact, they welcomed us into their home where the husband has a shop of Rabari crafts for sale.

Here I am – wistfully wishing I could stay longer in this wonderful country!

Triangles, Triangles Everywhere

Editor's Note: To celebrate the grand opening of the newly expanded Quilt House gallery, International Quilt Study Center & Museum team members are blogging about pieces in the gallery's inaugural exhibition, "Getting to Know You."

Patchwork, maker unknown, Thailand,
circa 1980. IQSCM 2008.012.0006.

By Marin Hanson
Curator of Exhibitions

Repeating triangles. It's a thing with quiltmakers everywhere. This quilt from Thailand inspired me to look through the International Quilt Study Center & Museum's collections and find some other examples of the obsessive triangles phenomenon. Enjoy!

UNITED STATES. c. 1850, probably Pennsylvania,
Holstein Collection, 2003.003.0305

UNITED STATES, c. 1890-1910,
possibly Posey County, Indiana,
James Collection, 1997.007.0085

UNITED STATES - AMISH,
c. 1975, L. Miller, Probably Wayne County,
Ohio, James Collection, 1997.007.0501

UNITED STATES - AFRICAN AMERICAN,
c. 1975-1985, Dennis Jones, Pickens County, Alabama,
Cargo Collection, 2000.004.0051

KYRGYZSTAN, c. 1930-1940, 2011.040.0016

PAKISTAN, Sindh,
c. 1970-1990, 2000.003.0004

CHINA, c. 2010, He Xiuxian (maker),
Jialiang, Guizhou Province, 2014.027.0010

Game Boards, Old and New

Editor's Note: To celebrate the upcoming grand opening of the newly expanded Quilt House gallery, International Quilt Study Center & Museum team members are blogging about pieces in the gallery's inaugural exhibition, "Getting to Know You."

Kantha, maker unknown, made in Bangladesh,
circa 1900-1925. IQSCM 2012.001.0004.

By Marin Hanson
Curator of Exhibitions

For many reasons, this kantha piqued my interest as soon as I saw it. I love the Hindu gods Krishna and Radha in the center; I can never resist an elephant; and the British cavalry soldier clearly references India's colonial past (and I was a history major, after all). But obviously, the snakes are the showstoppers here. Every time I look at them, they remind me of board games – Chutes and Ladders, Candyland, even Life. Those were the games I liked as a child, the ones where you seemed to be going on an adventure – linear, yes, but definitely twisty and turny.

So I started poking around online and found out that Chutes and Ladders, a Milton Bradley board game first released in 1943, was simply a version of an old Indian game called Snakes and Ladders. In the game, you roll a die to move through the numbered squares on the grid; if you land on a square with a ladder, you ascend one or more rows, but if you land on a snake, you descend, sometimes all the way back to the beginning.

Snakes and Ladders, India, 19th century

Chutes and Ladders, c. 1952. ("Cnl03" by DASHbot.
Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia)

In the Indian game, Hindu ideas of morality were abundant: "The ladders represented virtues such as generosity, faith, and humility, while the snakes represented vices such as lust, anger, murder, and theft. The morality lesson of the game was that a person can attain salvation (Moksha) through doing good, whereas by doing evil one will inherit rebirth to lower forms of life. The number of ladders was less than the number of snakes as a reminder that a path of good is much more difficult to tread than a path of sins" (Wikipedia). In the Western version, much of this morality is absent, but the fun of seeing who can make it to the top first is still there.

I now want to figure out if I could turn this kantha into a board game of some kind. How would you do it?

The IQSCM Returns to India

By Marin Hanson
Curator of Exhibitions

My knowledge of India is, for better or worse, focused in large part on two things: textiles and Hindi language cinema, aka Bollywood.

As far as textiles go, learning about and coming to deeply appreciate Indian quilts has been a highlight of my work at IQSCM. Collecting and researching quilts from India gave me the opportunity to not only go there for the first time in 2009 but also to help curate an exhibition on South Asian quilts in 2010.

Our Indian collection includes nearly 100 pieces from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and West Bengal, among other states, and it reveals the amazing diversity of Indian textile traditions. Complex embroidery, applique, patchwork, and quilting are all represented and each style is unique to its region, with colors, motifs, and formats changing from place to place. This fantastic piece features hundreds of strips of fabric taken from used clothing -- upcycling at its best!

Gudari from Maharashtra, India -- gift of Geeta Khandelwal, IQSCM 2009.049.0007

And this quilt, despite its simple color palette, is complex in its imagery, intricately depicting animals, people and plants of the Bengal region.

Kantha from West Bengal, India -- IQSCM 2006.039.0002

As for Bollywood, I don't think it was a coincidence that as we were building our Indian quilt collection, I also developed a minor obsession with Hindi language cinema. The music, the dancing, and the melodrama--all of it appeals to me.

Raj Kapoor, Nargis, and me.

And in some ways, the colorful nature of Bollywood movies relates to the exuberance of Indian quilts. The energy and playfulness of songs like "Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna," which features Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in an engagement party scene, parallel the vibrancy and boldness of many Indian quilts.

Last week, I was fortunate enough to be able to return to India. Leslie Levy, IQSCM executive director, and I went to Mumbai to attend an exhibition of quilts from the collection of Geeta Khandelwal, businesswoman, author, quiltmaker, and former member of the IQSCM International Advisory Board. The event also celebrated the book launch for Geeta's Godharis of Maharashtra, Western India.

Geeta Khandelwal with her book,
Godharis of Maharashtra, Western India

It was wonderful to see our old friend, Geeta, and to make many new friends as well, like the Patils of Connecticut.

Vijay Patil, me, Leslie Levy, Geeta Khandelwal, Lata Patil

I was also pleased and honored to be asked to give a lecture, "Quilts in Common: Quiltmaking Around the World and Across the Centuries," at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (formerly the Prince of Wales Museum of Western India). I had a full and appreciative audience, all of whom enjoyed the beauty and history of quilts from a range of times and places.

Our trip was such a success that I think it means only one thing: we must go back to India soon . . . .

. . . . if only for the beautiful tile floors :)

Going Back to China, Part One

Marin Hanson
Curator of Exhibitions

I love going to China. Ever since my first visit there in 1992, I have enjoyed journeying to this complex, fascinating country. Admittedly, after spending a semester there in college in 1994, I didn't return to China for 15 years, but since 2009, I've gone back four times. I love the food, getting to practice my rusty Mandarin, the crazy mix of ancient and new, even the crowds; but most of all, I love the people I've met.

For instance, meet Mr. Yang.

Mr. Yang is the Manager at Shaoxing Master Cultural and Creative Industries, a company that produces art supplies and is looking to get into the quilting supplies market. He organized a commercial quilt exhibition as a part of the huge China Keqiao International Textile Expo and invited us to show some of our antique Education quilts there. (Our Education Collection consists of quilts that have been designated to be able to be shown in non-museum settings, to share with as wide an audience as possible).

Here  I am outside the huge expo hall
in Shaoxing, a city a few hours from Shanghai.

Some of our Education quilts on display.

There were vendors of all kinds, both from China and abroad:

There were full-sized quilts as well as smaller projects, like crib quilts and bags.

Quilting on a longarm machine.

And many other artists participated in the quilt exhibition. It was wonderful to meet quiltmakers from all over Asia and from North America. Here I am with Taiwanese artist, Lin Hsin-Chen, who is also President of the Taiwan Art Quilt Society. Those are her art quilts across the aisle from our antique quilts.

 

And it's always fun to go halfway around the world to meet people from (relatively speaking) your own back yard. Here I am with Bonnie Browning and Ann Hammel, of the American Quilter's Society:

And Brenda Miller, from Canada, was also a delight to meet. Here she is at her booth for her business, "Among Brenda's Quilts."

Be sure to check out Brenda's in-depth, informative, and entertaining blog post about her experience in China.

It was a pleasure and honor to also meet China's most famous and accomplished quiltmaker, Jin Yuanshan, who was a participant in this year's Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. Of Korean ethnic heritage, her works resemble the pojagi patchwork we featured in our 2008 exhibition, "Pojagi: Patchwork and Quilts from Korea." In addition, Japan's Saito Yasuko and Korea's Kim Mi-Sik were there with their beautiful works of art.

L to R: Lin Hsin-Chen (Taiwan), Kim Mi-Sik (Korea), Saito Yasuko (Japan), Brenda Miller (Canada), me, Jin Yuanshan (China), Mr. Yang

It was a wonderful international gathering, all with a focus on quilts -- what could be more fun?!

Tomorrow, I will blog about our partnership with Shaoxing University's College of Fine Arts. We are so excited to collaborate with a Chinese academic institution -- again, all with a focus on quilts!

New Friends

By Marin Hanson
Curator of Exhibitions

Over the last two days I visited with three different quilt makers: Shizuko Kuroha, Reiko Washizawa, and Sanae Hattori. Three wonderful quilt makers, three very different styles.

Shizuko Kuroha is known for her work using vintage indigo fabrics. The IQSCM is fortunate to have two of her early pieces in its Ardis and Robert James Collection. Here she is in her studio showing us some new work.

Reiko Washizawa's work often is based on traditional Western quilt patterns like Hexagon Mosaic or Postage Stamp, to which she adds elements that give a distinct Japanese flavor. Here she is with me and with her husband, who has also taken up quilt making in his retirement. (Even though he has made many complex and beautiful quilts, she said she recently had to send him back to the lowest level class to "learn the basics"!)

Finally, Sanae Hattori has been working for over three decades in what she calls a "Japanesque" style. She is well known for her kimono-shaped quilts and recently has been working with a high-end digital textile printer to create a series of Buddha-themed quilts (being held up here by Nao Nomura, former IQSCM collections manager).

Many thanks to the quilt makers who met with me on my Tokyo trip, and to Mariko Akizuki, IQSCM International Advisory Board member, for arranging the meetings. This has been a truly educational and enjoyable experience!

Time for Supper with Eiko Okano

By Marin Hanson

Curator of Exhibitions

My trip to Tokyo is focused on learning about contemporary quilt makers in Japan and building relationships with them.

Yesterday, at the awards ceremony for the Japan Handicraft Instructors' Association's 12th Quilt Nihon (Japan) Competition, I got to meet several top quilt makers and view their quilts as well. There were some really fantastic quilts in the exhibition!

On our way to view the exhibition, held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, I also was lucky enough to get to walk through one of the most popular parks for viewing sakura, cherry blossoms, which are currently at their most spectacular.

Today, however, my highlight was getting to meet artist Eiko Okano, whose "Time for Supper" is currently on view in our "Expanding the Collection: Recent Acquisitions" exhibition. In 2012, Ms. Okano donated eight quilts to IQSCM and I was really looking forward to meeting her, seeing her studio, and expressing our gratitude for her generosity.

Here she is with her daughter, Naoko, giving us a private showing of some more of her quilts.

She extended her generosity even further by inviting me and Nao Nomura, former IQSCM collections manager and my host for this trip, for a traditional Japanese dinner. Oishii! Delicious! 

Many thanks to Okano-san and Naoko for an enjoyable evening.