Fragmented Pieces and Leftovers

I thoroughly enjoyed the Scrap Art Exhibit at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles.
They provided a great cross section of scrap quilts from contemporary to vintage.

As you enter the main gallery there is a well written insight into the minds of the artists:
The definition of scrap-fragments, pieces, leftovers, junk, odds and ens, used and discarded-implies a vast wasteland of useless stuff. What is it about this stuff that has always been a source of great inspiration to artists and makers?"

Louise Groom
Unnamed c. 1920-1930
Hand sewn
101" X 87"
Collection of Michael Groom and Christine Morse
"The quilt was made by Louise Groom who lived in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Louise was born in 1904 and probably made the quilt sometime in the late 1920's or early 1930's"

The quilt seemed to me to be a little bit of a Trip Around The World mixed with a Postage Stamp pattern.
Look at the variety of fabrics and small squares.

The red diagonal squares stop the eye, acting as an inner border.
Notice the solid cream/white for edges gives the effect of being painted on a canvas.

And the hand quilting seems as random as the fabrics.
Do you think the maker might have traded fabric squares with neighbors and friends to gather such a collection?

Nine Patch Variation c. 1925-1950

Unknown

Hand Pieced, hand quilted, backing is pieced: 3/4 one printed fabric and 1/4 solid blue fabric, brought to front on three sides.

71" X 84"

The quilt was found in Wingo, Kentucky

From the collection of Roderick Kiracofe

Roderick Kiracofe generously provided 6 vintage quilts from his collection for this exhibit. and I noticed that all were from the Southern part of the United States 1925-1975.

The use of black polka dots on white/ white polka dots on black mixed with red are very popular with quilters today.

The 9 Patches again seem random with a use what you have, rather than a lot of pre-planning.

Even the dark/ light ratio doesn't follow any kind of pattern.

I remember learning that to be pleasing to the eye, when you have a geometric pattern, make sure to top quilt with a circular or floral design. That way the two patterns won't fight with each other.

The maker had a good sense of what would look best, with the hand quilting of circles.