• Home
  • Laurentide
    • Farm
    • Cool Women
    • Family
    • Interiors
    • Lessons
    • Procrastination
    • Reviews
    • Travel
    • Vintage Finds
  • Videos
  • Resources
    • Message Me
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • Subscribe
  • Search
  • Archive
Menu

The Bubble Joy

Street Address
City, State, Zip
Phone Number
"In folly's cup still laughs the bubble joy." Alexander Pope

Your Custom Text Here

The Bubble Joy

  • Home
  • Laurentide
  • Blog
    • Farm
    • Cool Women
    • Family
    • Interiors
    • Lessons
    • Procrastination
    • Reviews
    • Travel
    • Vintage Finds
  • Videos
  • Resources
  • Contact
    • Message Me
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • Subscribe
  • Search
  • Archive

Kicka%$ Quilts That Aren't Even Close to Boring

February 9, 2018 mithra ballesteros
BoxersQuilt1_600.jpg

You are a tourist when you walk through a museum. You marvel and gawk. Standing in front of a famous statue, you know there is more to the object than its surface. You wonder how the sculptor chiseled away the marble's negative space to reveal the goddess within. Perhaps curators at museums prefer a little intellectual distance between the art and the tourist. Maybe our ignorance intensifies the mystery behind the art. 

This gap between art and visitor does not exist when it comes to quilts. We are as familiar with fabric as we are with our own skin. We understand the physics of a needle and thread. We can't see the cotton batting between the front and back of the quilt but there's no mystery to it. Perhaps this is why quilting is called the democratic art. 

I visited the Art Institute of Chicago recently and was swept up in the quilt exhibit on display through April 1. The show is titled, "Making Memories: Quilts as Souvenirs". The day I was there, the gallery was nearly void of other visitors and it was so nice to wander freely, closely examining each quilt, and taking photos (it is allowed) with the intent of sharing them here.

The nice museum attendant followed me around and when I set down my bag to take a photo, he warned me. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." 

"Take a photo?" I asked. "I thought it was allowed."

"It is," he said. "I mean leave your handbag on the bench there."

"The room is empty..." I said, looking around. 

"Yes, but you never know," he said.

"Are you going to steal my handbag?" I asked him.

He did not steal it but he did end up holding it for me, which helped him relax. I wish I had brought my tripod and reflector, which I'm quite sure he would have been willing to hold for me. Alas, I'm never quite prepared for the circumstances. 

Enjoy my slightly blurry photos. We did our best. 


THE SETTLING OF THE WEST

This quilt, titled The Settling of the West (below) was stitched by Mildred Jacobs Chappell in 1931-32. It portrays an idealized version of the westward expansion. I've read "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" and "Black Elk Speaks," so I know full well this is a fantasy version of our country's westward expansion. But when I was a little girl, I idolized Laura Ingalls Wilder, and wished with all my heart I had been alive at this time. 

FrontierQuilt5_600.jpg
FrontierQuilt3crop_600.jpg
FrontierQuilt1_600.jpg

GLIMPSES OF IRELAND

This quilt, appliqued, pieced, and embroidered by Bryde Glynn in 1984, uses twills and tweeds to capture vignettes that, I think, are composed like little Instagram photos. 

ScotlandQuilt4_600.jpg
ScotlandQuilt3crop_600.jpg

FLORIDA PICTORIAL QUILT

This Florida Pictorial Quilt, (below) made for the WPA Project in 1939, is another nostalgic version of history. The boy with the banjo and the watermelon singing "Suwanee" is a stereotype that makes us blush now. If we were to stitch a cultural map of Florida now, it would have to include Disney World, retirement villages, a hanging chad, and Spanish language television. 

FloridaQuilt1_600.jpg
FloridaQuilt2_600.jpg
FloridaQuilt6_600.jpg

SUNDAY SCHOOL PICNIC

Sunday School Picnic Quilt (below), made in 1932 by Jennie C. Trein, uses scraps of many different fabrics. I imagine making this was a little like playing with paper dolls. Everyone in their Sunday finery on their way to a festive afternoon. I worried about the lack of provisions but maybe it's early. Did you notice the gravestones near the church? They are marked. Also, note the border contains not a single boy or man. 

SundayQuilt1_600.jpg
SundayQuilt2_600.jpg

DINER QUILT

The quilt maker's name is lost, as are many of the iconic all-American eateries where hash slingers and wizened waitresses ruled the roost. The curved border is in keeping with midcentury modern architecture and is not easy to accomplish in quilting.

DinerQuilt1_600.jpg
DinerQuilt2crop_600.jpg

QUILT SHOW

This one, titled Quilt Show, (below) was stitched in 1943 by Bertha Stenge. I love how meta it is - each quilt square containing more quilt squares. 

MetaQuilt2_600.jpg
MetaQuilt1_600.jpg

MOTHER-IN-LAW QUILT

This quilt, stitched in 1930 by Lulu Bennett, reminds me of Jane Austen. This might be the house that Lizzy Bennett Darcy could afford to purchase for her mother after Mr. Bennett passes away and horrid Reverend Collins inherits Longbourn. The inscription reads, "The home that tenderly greets -- the mother-in-law."

MILQuilt1_600.jpg
MILQuiltcrop_600.jpg

QUILT WITH BUILDINGS, ANIMALS, AND SHIELDS

This quilt, appliquéd and embroidered around 1890, has a perfectly symmetrical design. If you fold it lengthwise, each side is a mirror image of the other. Each castle, each church, each flower is matched with another with one exception. Do you see the boo-boo? The second square on the outside row does not match its corresponding square. I have no doubt the original went missing.   

SymmetryQuilt2_600.jpg
SymmetryQuilt2crop_600.jpg
SymmetryQuiltNumbered_600.jpg

If squares #2 and #9 switched places, the subject matter of each quilt square would match the subject matter of its mirror image. What's your theory?  


MAP QUILT

Appliquéd and embroidered with ink drawing and inscriptions, this quilt dates to about 1920. It looks like a wooden puzzle I played with at my grandparents' house. 

MapQuiltAIC_600.jpg

JOHN L. SULLIVAN QUILT

Here is what the Art Institute of Chicago says about this wonderful crazy quilt:

Lionizing the infamous Irish-American boxer John Sullivan, this quilt presents a striking collage of representational images, patterns, and text. The embroidered portrait of Sullivan in the center depicts him as a formidable individual with crossed arms and a steely gaze. Around him, the quilt features an irregular assemblage of fabric scraps embroidered with imagery and text drawn from popular print media of the time. Although the central placement of the portrait, which is accented with shamrocks and an American flag, as well as the scattering of lucky horse shoes, appear celebratory, the ominous phrase BLOODY BUTCHERY appears at left, perhaps a description of one of his matches. Below the central portrait, the red- and black-striped fabric features a depiction of the 1889 bare-knuckle match in which Sullivan triumphed over Jake Kilrain after seventy-five rounds. 

BoxersQuilt2_600.jpg
BoxersQuilt1_600.jpg

DOROTHY'S QUILT

This quilt, created by Barbara Palzewicz in 2001, is the most contemporary in the exhibition, and makes me wish to meet this Dorothy myself. I think I'd like her. She's got gumption, you can just tell, the way she's perched on her own gravestone offering up a quilt to her maker. Note the quote stitched into the grass at Dorothy's slipper-clad feet. 

"If I could take the tears cried into your hankies over Barney, Butch, and Les, and turn them into flowers, in the garden you could rest. If tears could build a stairway, and memories a lane, I'd walk right up to heaven, and bring you home again."

DorothyQuilt3_600.jpg
DorothyQuilt4_crop_600.jpg

Phew! You made it to the end! I think you deserve a bite of a cookie for being such a good reader. See you next Friday!


For a Friday morning dose of art, literature, humor, and style, subscribe below:

Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates.

I respect my mother and father AND your privacy.

Thank you!
In Travel Tags Art Institute of Chicago, Quilt Show, John L. Sullivan
← Thursday Night Fights: Mithra vs. The Pre-crastinatorContests! I Love Contests! →

Mithra B096 copy.jpg

Welcome! I'm Mithra (pronounced Mee-thra). I'm an interior stylist and a writer. I'm also a vintage and antiques lover. I have an online shop, Finder Not Keeper, where I sell my best finds. (That's a white lie. I keep the best finds.) Read more about me and the blog here. 


FIND ME IN YOUR INBOX


CATEGORIES

Cool-Women_png.png
Family_png.png
Interiors_png.png
Procrastinate_png.png
Reviews_png.png
Travel_png.png
Vintage_png.png
Lessons_png.png

Instagram posts

A few days back in the ‘Quon. All of February is the price I’m willing to fork over for one week in September.
A few days back in the ‘Quon. All of February is the price I’m willing to fork over for one week in September.
Latest blog post about our new outdoor shower and the differences of opinion between this guy and his mother (me) on how it should be used. #linkinbio
Latest blog post about our new outdoor shower and the differences of opinion between this guy and his mother (me) on how it should be used. #linkinbio
Brainy, brave, kind, genuine, indefatigable, funny, patriotic, fair, hard working, gentle, strong, iconic.
Brainy, brave, kind, genuine, indefatigable, funny, patriotic, fair, hard working, gentle, strong, iconic.
Those aren’t my hands forming baguettes. But I took the pic. @heat_her_all_a_man has it down  and I’m ready with my salted butter and honey. What do you eat with baguettes?
Those aren’t my hands forming baguettes. But I took the pic. @heat_her_all_a_man has it down and I’m ready with my salted butter and honey. What do you eat with baguettes?
Surveying the herb garden after a good weeding session. Basil took a hit the last couple weeks but everything else is flourishing like summer lasts forever.
Surveying the herb garden after a good weeding session. Basil took a hit the last couple weeks but everything else is flourishing like summer lasts forever.
First restaurant account for @littlelaurentide! Also first time eating out since the snow was flying. Really really fun night. (Not to mention that building’s white with black trim paint color scheme is 💯)
First restaurant account for @littlelaurentide! Also first time eating out since the snow was flying. Really really fun night. (Not to mention that building’s white with black trim paint color scheme is 💯)
Surprise lilies, also known as naked ladies, fit in well here at the farm for reasons we will let you ponder.
Surprise lilies, also known as naked ladies, fit in well here at the farm for reasons we will let you ponder.
This is son #2, the farmer. Walter is working hard to turn this place into a sustainable organic farm. Follow us @littlelaurentide for the latest on how mother and son align, clash, argue, hug.
This is son #2, the farmer. Walter is working hard to turn this place into a sustainable organic farm. Follow us @littlelaurentide for the latest on how mother and son align, clash, argue, hug.
On the blog today, the newest bachelor at Little Laurentide. Will he draw viewers or is he a train wreck along the lines of Juan Pablo Galavis? Read the latest blog post to find out! Link in bio.
On the blog today, the newest bachelor at Little Laurentide. Will he draw viewers or is he a train wreck along the lines of Juan Pablo Galavis? Read the latest blog post to find out! Link in bio.
On the blog today: a tour of the best places on the farm to sit for a spell. And I write a bit about what it’s like to cohabit with a son who used to give me every kind of gray hair. He could teach a polar bear how to be grumpy and I could teac
On the blog today: a tour of the best places on the farm to sit for a spell. And I write a bit about what it’s like to cohabit with a son who used to give me every kind of gray hair. He could teach a polar bear how to be grumpy and I could teach a grizzly bear how to be grumpy. It’s a new world for the two of us, farming together, and can you guess how it’s going??

OLD POSTS

Archive
  • October 2021 1
  • July 2021 1
  • June 2021 1
  • May 2021 2
  • April 2021 3
  • March 2021 1
  • February 2021 2
  • January 2021 2
  • December 2020 2
  • November 2020 1
  • October 2020 2
  • September 2020 1
  • August 2020 5
  • July 2020 7
  • June 2020 6
  • May 2020 9
  • April 2020 8
  • March 2020 4
  • February 2020 3
  • January 2020 5
  • December 2019 1
  • November 2019 4
  • October 2019 3
  • September 2019 3
  • August 2019 4
  • July 2019 7
  • June 2019 5
  • May 2019 8
  • April 2019 8
  • March 2019 8
  • February 2019 7
  • January 2019 7
  • December 2018 8
  • November 2018 9
  • October 2018 8
  • September 2018 7
  • August 2018 9
  • July 2018 6
  • June 2018 7
  • May 2018 7
  • April 2018 5
  • March 2018 4
  • February 2018 4
  • January 2018 4
  • December 2017 1
  • November 2017 3
  • October 2017 3
  • September 2017 4
  • August 2017 4
  • July 2017 4
  • June 2017 5
  • May 2017 3
  • April 2017 5
  • March 2017 3
  • February 2017 2
  • January 2017 4
  • December 2016 5
  • November 2016 4
  • October 2016 3
  • September 2016 5
  • August 2016 4
  • July 2016 5
  • June 2016 4
  • May 2016 4
  • April 2016 4
  • March 2016 5
  • February 2016 8
  • January 2016 8
  • December 2015 6
  • November 2015 9
  • October 2015 9
  • September 2015 8
  • August 2015 8
  • July 2015 5
  • June 2015 4
  • May 2015 5
  • April 2015 4
  • March 2015 4
  • February 2015 4
  • January 2015 5
  • December 2014 4
  • November 2014 4
  • October 2014 6
  • September 2014 2
  • August 2014 3
  • July 2014 5
  • June 2014 3
  • May 2014 3
  • April 2014 4
  • March 2014 6
  • February 2014 5
  • January 2014 4

Powered by Squarespace

Contact: mithra@thebubblejoy.com