historical quilt museum

10 years ago

We went camping last weekend. On our way we drove through a small town that had a sign for a historical quilt museum. DH saw the sign and asked if I wanted to drive by it. We were late and we still had a while to drive before the campground, but I said, yes, let's just drive by. Well...one block later we saw balloons and lots of people and live music and an ice-cream social in the garden and a huge banner saying there was an open house that evening at the historical quilt museum.

My fantastic family enthusiastically agreed to stop and we all marveled at the quilt exhibits. The oldest quilts were from the 1850s. I couldn't believe the time/effort that was taken to make these quilts. There were a lot that were huge (about 90x90) and one in particular was stitched 11 stitches to the inch with a diagonal crosshatch that was spaced 1/2 inch apart. I have never hand quilted anything, but when I looked at the exact stitches in that quilt I thought it would take a master quilter years to complete.

It was really fun going with my family and seeing what they liked and were drawn to both from a color pallet and style perspective. I also enjoyed that they recognized some traditional patterns. The top floor of the exhibit was a modern quilt artist's collection of bird quilts. They were amazingly life-like. It was really neat.

Unfortunately, photography was not allowed and the museum's website doesn't have many pictures on it. I wish I could show you what I saw.

Anyway, I know that a lot of you have experience in old quilts but this was the first time I have been to any kind of quilt show. It was such an unexpected, unplanned, serendipitous event that I just wanted to share with you all.

And, thanks to the summer solstice, we still were able to set up our tent before it was pitch dark.

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Comments (12)

pirate_girl
10 years ago
Nice story, enjoyable reading. Glad you had such a good time & w/ your family too.

Perhaps you could list the name of the Museum & its location so others might have a chance to go on by & enjoy it as you did.
nanajayne
10 years ago
Some of the best times are those we don't plan and your fortunate visit sound like one. What a nice surprise. I am happy for you.
lola99
Original Author
10 years ago
The museum was in La Conner, Washington (link below).

The modern quilt artist who quilted birds is Karin Franzen. I can't remember how to put a link into a post, but her website is http://www.karinfranzen.com/ (just to see some of her work)

Here is a link that might be useful: La Conner quilt museum
msmeow
10 years ago
Lola, that sounds wonderful! What a great find. I'm so glad your family enjoyed it, too!

Donna
toolgranny
10 years ago
That sounds wonderful. I'm so glad you got to stop.

It reminds me of a show in Reno NV. My hubby, with two teenage grandkids in tow, told a lady at the door he had to go find me to take me home and she let all three in for free. I found them later wandering around admiring all the quilts and they had forgotten all about me. It's heartwarming to see the others share your love of quilts.
petalpatsy
10 years ago
I love it when things fall together. It always seems like twice as much fun just for it being a surprise, and it's fun to read your story, too!
geezerfolks_SharonG_FL
10 years ago
What a great story and memory. I think it's fantastic how your family all came together for you and your love of quilting. I appreciate your family doing that for you.

SharonG/FL
lola99
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you my quilting friends. It's nice to have friends like you to share small moments in life, quilting stories, etc.
littlehelen_gw
10 years ago
A spontaneous event you all shared...how special is that! Thanks for sharing with us!
V.
K8Orlando
10 years ago
Oh Lola that sounds wonderful! You not only got to see all those beautiful quilts, you got to share the whole quilting experience with your family! They may have a whole new appreciation of your art now!

Kate
gininmn
10 years ago
Sounds wonderful! I saw on museum's website a mention of a petroglyph quilt which fascinates me. I'd love a quilt feauturing pictographs from Quetico Park. Maybe I'll doodle a little and design something (not that I'm good or experienced at designing so maybe a photo quilt). Might spark my long latent iinterest in doing some quilting.
bev2009
10 years ago
A great story, Lola. I love the unexpected when traveling. When we took my daughter to college in CO last summer, we caught an exhibit of Hawaiian quilts at the university. I've never seen any, so it was special. I'll always remember strolling through campus and catching the exhibit and the test gardens full of every color of flower and then ending up at an ice cream shop and a quilt shop. What a day....sigh.