After attending our homeschool class at our art museum, we went on to the quilt exhibit that we've been eager to see. In the gallery, Alexandra and I both sketched several quilts. We enjoyed it, but the best surprise was what we saw as we left the exhibit... a hands-on center! They had rolls & rolls of colored masking tape in 4 different sizes... maybe 70 rolls in all. And, they let you choose from different size boards to "create" your own tape "quilt." We had so much fun! We probably spent about an hour then, went to eat lunch, and then came back for another 30 minutes or so. (We were at the museum for over 4 hours!) Altogether, we made 12 "quilts" and we will be back to make more!
The exhibit is called "Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt." The quilts were made in a small town in Alabama that is pretty much cut off from nearby towns. The quilters are mainly descendants of slaves, and they have created their own style. They never follow a pattern, but change it to make it unique. Several of the quilts we sketched were made of corduroy. And, we were surprised to see quilts that were misshapen (not rectangular) and pieces that didn't match up. They were very different than what I was expecting. Many were made in the 1930's, but many were also made within the past 5 years.
If you get a chance to see this exhibit, I'd encourage you to check it out!
Books we read:
- The Quilt Maker's Journey by Jeff Brumbeau - a favorite!
- The Quilt Maker's Gift by Jeff Brumbeau - a favorite!
- The Quilting Bee by Gail Gibbons
- The Josephina Story Quilt by Eleanor Coerr - we own this one & have read it MANY times
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