Quilt storytelling part 1

In my last post I discussed the sense of touch and my compulsion to touch the ones on display at the International Quilt Festival as well as just about any type of textile I see.  After seeing Suzassippi’s comments I realized that I need to share the stories behind these quilts and more.  I enjoy reading each story and relating it to the quilt; the quilt’s story is often as interesting as the quilt!

The Selvage Star of Bethlehem quilt by Mayleen Vinson of Haysville, Kansas, was made using fabric selvages collected by her quilt guild.  The selvage is the outer edge of the fabric and will contain the designer’s name, the manufacturer, the year, and sometimes little color test dots.  It is usually cut off and thrown away! She used these in her version of a vintage string quilt. I would guess that each strip was no more than an inch in diameter. Quilters use a quarter inch seam, so sewing these together is tedious!

The red setting fabric just makes all the colors in the selvages seem to pop out and the interesting border adds interest to the quilt’s design.  And, isn’t that quilting beautiful with it’s intricate design?

This realistic quilt picture caught my eye for two reasons:  the subject and the colors. I love old buildings and things from the past. This old service station just brought scenes of a by-gone era to my mind.  I can just see those humongous cars from the 1940’s pulling into this station!  Fill ‘er up!

I’m not sure where the photograph of this station was made, but it could have been anywhere in the Southwestern United States.  Her use of color was perfect; look at the colors in the sky and how they soften the orange and red!  I would love to see the other quilts she mentions!