WQSG

Wisconsin Quilt Study Group

November 13, 2010

Place: Sherri Branson's home, Belvidere, IL

Coordinator:  Sherri Branson

The November meeting of the WI Quilt Study Group met at the home of Sherri Branson in Belvidere, IL.  Eight quilt enthusiasts were in attendance.  They were:

Donna W., Kathy J., Kay, W., Maribeth S., Joey M., Sylvia A., Sherri B. and Guest Mary M.

Old business:

·         Sherri shared materials from Sandi S. who could not attend. 

·         We discussed the recent AQSG meeting and how exciting it was.  The 2011 meeting for AQSG is planned for the end of Sept. and will be in Cherry Hill, NJ.  An attractive feature will be the DuPont quilts.

·         Sherri mentioned that she was invited to participate in quilt study endeavors with a group from St. Charles, IL.  She wondered if it would be alright to include them in our distribution list.  We welcome their attendance.

·         We briefly talked about our next meeting in March, 2011.  The focus will be “Kit Quilts.”  We discussed that Rosie Werner would be the perfect presenter.  Sylvia will make contact and see if Rosie is available.  Weather may an issue.  We bantered about possibly having Rosie in July when the weather may be better.  Sylvia will pursue this.

·         Maribeth brought up that she and Nancy S. wrote a grant on behalf of WQSG.  The grant focus was 3 fold:

A.       Provide an overview of the documentation process to a group of potential volunteers and quilt enthusiasts.  A representative from WQHP would present a small workshop/overview of the project and what is needed to move data from the paper documents to the Quilt Index.

B.      Day-long, hands-on instruction by Merikay Waldvogel focusing on identifying fabrics, patterns, techniques/methods and quilting designs found in quilts.  Her instruction will give current quilt enthusiasts additional skills and greater confidence in their abilities.  This in turn will provide WQHP a larger  pool of skilled and qualified quilt documenters.

C.      Field trip opportunity to the WI Historical Society in Madison to view collection quilts and gain information from the expertise of the Costume, Textiles and Personal Artifacts Curator.

Nancy and Maribeth will keep up abreast of the status of the grant.

·         Northern Illinois Quilt Fest  Sherri shared that the 6 northernmost IL counties are featuring quilting events.  For more information visit: http://www.NorthernIllinoisQuiltFest.com   

·         WQHP will hold quilt documentations in June, 2011 in Cedarburg.  Construction has begun on the farm structures with anticipated opening scheduled for Summer 2011.

New Business:

The focus of our study was "Borders and Edge Finishes."  Sherri prepared a handout for participants.  We viewed 11 quilts brought by members featuring a very wide variety of edge finishes.  Joey took photos and they will be posted soon.

1.      Mary M. brought this Roman stripe quilt featuring a front to back hand applied binding finish.  It was made of mostly silks and ribbons.  We estimate it being circa 1900.

2.    Pink and yellow Grandmother’s Flower Garden from Kay W.  She purchased it from a dealer.  It had commercially-made bias binding on the irregular sides. Yellow straight of grain binding (matching the yellow fabric of the quilt) was used on the top and bottom edges.  Circa 1930.

3.    Robbing Peter to Pay Paul from Kay W.  Purchased from a Wisconsin dealer.  Scalloped edges were covered by a straight of grain binding on all 4 sides.  Featured fabrics include double pinks and shirtings .  Wool batt.  Circa 1875-1900.

4.    Sylvia A. brought a newly-made small quilt featuring a facing.

5.    Maribeth S. shared a pink sateen quilt with a knife edge finish that she purchased from an E-Bay seller in England.  The quilt had wonderful quilting motifs.

6.    Ice cream cone edged summer quilt from Donna.  The corners were cut out for a post bed.  Quilted.  Edge was machine top-stitched.

7.    Triangle quilt.  A tacked, pillow-cased quilt with mostly 1890s fabrics.

8.     Bunnies kit spread 1940-50.  Edge embellished with a narrow strip of orange fabric.

9.     Log cabin, barn raising summer spread.  Asian themed printed backing.  Circa 1875.

10.     Green and white appliqué quilt, probably from a kit.  Facing is attached to the back, brought to the front and then appliquéd in a sawtooth pattern.

11.     Baskets quilt circa 1860 turkey reds and triple-rodded quilting.

    We enjoyed a wonderful buffet-style lunch, excellent conversation and much sharing.

    Submitted by:  Maribeth Schmit