Saturday, August 27, 2011

San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles

I love coming home.
So many things to see and do in the Bay Area that it's hard to pick.
When I saw that the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles was showing an exhibit of Scrap Quilts, I knew it was a must see.
This current show will run through October 16th.

There was a sign that said no photography.
When I mentioned to the staff how sad I was not to be able to take pictures for my quilt blog, they said they make exceptions for bloggers. Yay! They wanted to make sure we give credit for each quilt, which I am very happy to do.
Be aware that I loved this exhibit and took a lot of pictures.
Today I will show you two, so there will be many posts in the future.

I love scrap quilts, especially antique scrap quilts. There is something so uniquely creative when women pull from what they have and make do.
My favorite quilt from the show was:
Unknown Crosses (Stone Mason's Puzzle)
c. 1940-1970
71" X 81"
Collection of Roderick Kiracofe
*The quilt top was found in Alabama

Look at the variety in fabrics.


A real kitchen sink effect.


Some of the crosses were made with solids.


Some with stripes.


Others with florals.


And some.... well, you can tell this artist made use of every scrap she had.


Unknown Strips

c. 1955-1965

72" X 70"

This is also from the collection of Roderick Kiracofe.

*The quilt was found in North Carolina


From the Museum's handout:

"Scrap ART examines the history of the scrap quilt and showcases historical quilts pieced from small bits and pieces of leftover fabrics."


"Drawn from the Museum's collection of historic and contemporary quilts, ethnic textiles and from private collections, works by invited contemporary artists, and through a community outreach, Scrap Art surveys the long and varied history of textile reincarnation."






The San Jose Museum was the first museum in the United States to focus exclusively on quilts and textiles as an art form.

Located in old downtown San Jose, 520 South First Street

11 comments:

Cardygirl said...

Great quilts...can't wait to see the next post.

Lurline said...

Aren't they just fabulous, Nedra!
Hugs - Lurline♥

Stacey said...

Those scrap quilts are amazing...quite inspirational...thanks for sharing!

Abby and Stephanie said...

Oooo I love these. I keep telling myself I need to do more scrap quilts. Thank you for sharing.

Lois Evensen said...

Wonderful! Some of these appear to have been made in stages as the materials became available to the maker since there are repeats in rows, then the next rows start with some new fabrics. Love it!

Tamara Hampton said...

georgeous!! can wait to see more!

Pinkadot Quilts said...

Thanks for sharing, they are wonderful!

Julia said...

How wonderful Nedra...I love scrap quilts, and amazing how they made these scrap quilts with whatever they had...
Julia ♥

Meats thats me. :) said...

I really enjoyed these scrap quilts. Some really unique patterns and they truly just used it up...
Mary

Tonya Ricucci said...

oh oh oh oh my. Wow. I am in LOVE with that strip quilt. Thank you so much for posting these pics. So wish I could see these in person too! I hope C&T publishes a book on the exhibit.

beth s said...

Thank you for sharing these wonderful quilts!