New England Quilt Museum - It's Official!

 In September my friend Pam (Pamela Weeks – Curator at NEQM) asked if I would be able to share some of my quilts in an exhibition this winter. NEQM holds a special place in my heart and I am honored to have my quilts gracing its walls from February through April.

 We delivered the quilts over the weekend and I was so excited to be able to see 3 of the most wonderful exhibitions ever. First, the collection of Baltimore Album quilts was beyond sensational. I had never seen so many Baltimore type quilts in one place. Truly remarkable! 

It was hard to pick a favorite, but this one really spoke to me. 

I have loved this one for a long time. It is owned by Deb Clooney and the detail is simply amazing. You know how I love to applique circles. Look at these babies. 

yikes! 

and this is one of my all time favorite blocks on any quilt, quirky, like me!

The exhibition in the main gallery is one I have wanted to see for quite a while:

 The Quilted Canvas III, Still Here! is the final exhibition in a series that began in 2017 at the New England Quilt Museum to celebrate America’s pioneering art quilters. This third installment features the works of four such pioneers-- Judi Blaydon, Rhoda Cohen, Nancy Halpern, and Jan Myers-Newbury. These artists received “classical” training in art school in the 1950s and 1960s, but chose to explore fabric as their primary creative medium at a time when this was unusual.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the “hippy movement” and the American Bicentennial spurred a craft revival and general re-awakening of interest in fiber arts. Artists explored the textile medium through the lens of a fine arts perspective and shattered conventional notions of what the American patchwork quilt should be. 

Exhibited internationally, coveted by collectors, and featured in numerous publications, the innovative works of these four women continue to demand our attention and influence new generations of textile artists.

 I have followed the work of all 4 of these artists for years and it was wonderful to see some old familiar pieces and new works that I had never seen. Fabulous! I'm sorry that I lost (somewhere in cyberspace I am sure) the image of Rhoda Cohen's definition of an art quilt, because it was spot on. I have admired her work for decades. 

This was an amazingly clever work and I loved Nancy's description. I too feel trapped in a world of technological advances that I will never master. 

This Jan Myers-Newbury quilt was my husband's favorite.

 

The mini gallery of NEQM quilts featured quilts with “numerous” pieces. This gallery is often my favorite part of my visit and this one did not disappoint! I’m sorry I neglected to photograph the card on this one, but I believe there are over 10,000 pieces in this quilt. 

 So, that is just a tiny taste of what is up right now. It was sensory overload and I highly recommend a visit. NEQM is following strict CDC guidelines and I felt very safe at all times. The museum also offers virtual tours for supporting guilds. Check their website (here) to see if your guild is one of those supporters – and, if they are not, perhaps you can convince them that they should be.

 Nothing would please me more than to “meet up” with all my New England blogging friends for a trip down, but times being what they are, I will stick to my “wait and see” attitude and hope that things will improve before the exhibition ends in the Spring. If you live in New England, I hope you get a chance to visit. For the time being, we can get a lot closer to the quilts than we can to each other!

                                                          Happy Quilting!