_ As we celebrate our Silver Anniversary in 2012, we are offering free admission to the New England Quilt Museum on the 25th of each month (when we are open on that day).  On those “free” days we will be showing episodes of the nine-part series Why Quilts Matter, produced and hosted by Shelly Zegart.The series includes images of eleven quilts from the permanent collection of the New England Quilt Museum. For more information about the series, there is an excellent website: www.whyquiltsmatter.org. Information about all of the images shown in the episodes is in the “Resources” section of the website. 

Episode 2, which the museum will be showing on Saturday, February 25th, has images of three quilts in the NEQM collection.  School House in a Garden Maze (NEQM 1991.11) is a c.1900 quilt donated by the Binney Family.  Basket Quilt (NEQM 1999.13), a c.1870 quilt also donated by the Binney Family, was featured in the May/June 2011 issue of Quiltmaker magazine along with the pattern to make it.  Flag Central Medallion Charm Quilt (NEQM 2005.14) was donated by Deborah Conant Kennedy. This c.1876 quilt is currently hanging in the Donahue Permanent Collection Gallery as part of the Campaigns and Commemoratives exhibit.

The DVD of Why Quilts Matter is available for sale in the New England Quilt Museum shop.


~ Laura Lane, NEQM Collections Manager

This week, a quilt from the New England quilt Museum permanent  collection is on display in Tokyo, Japan!  Martha Washington’s Flower Garden (NEQM 1989.06T) is on display at Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival 2012 in a special exhibit of hexagon quilts assembled by guest curator Shelly Zegart. 

It all started last summer when Shelly put out a call to museums and private collectors for hexagon quilts. I sent Shelly a list of seven of our collection quilts, along with photos, for consideration.  She chose NEQM 1989.06T for the exhibit. In late October, the quilt was boxed up and shipped to Shelly in Kentucky.

NEQM 1989.06T is an un-quilted top. It was constructed using the English paper-piecing method, where the fabric is basted around a paper template, then the hexagons are whip-stitched together. This top still has all of its paper foundations, which were cut from magazines. In the exhibit photo, a corner of the top is pinned up to reveal the foundations on the back. The maker is unknown, but the top is c 1930 and was discovered in an attic in Barre, Vermont. The top was donated to the New England Quilt Museum by the Lamoille County (Vermont) Quilters Guild.

The Martha Washington’s Flower Garden pattern features hexagons arranged into large diamond shapes. The pattern was no doubt named after our original First Lady. Although quilts were made from hexagons in Martha Washington’s day using the English paper-piecing method, the pattern was probably not named for her until the colonial revival period in the early twentieth century. There is currently a Martha Washington’s Flower Garden quilt on display in the Depression Era Bedroom at NEQM in conjunction with the exhibit Campaigns and Commemoratives: Quilts for Presidents.

~ Laura Lane, Collections Manager

2011 is almost over! How is it that the older we get, the faster the years seem to scroll by?

There are only four more days to see PATIENCE TO RAISE THE SUN: ART QUILTS FROM HAITI & THEIR POWER TO CHANGE WOMEN'S LIVES. These are wonderful pieces by women in Haiti helping their families by making one-of-a-kind art quilts for sale abroad. The PeaceQuilts project in Haiti, founded by Martha's Vineyard resident Jeanne Staples, is one of those rare examples of synergy, a great idea joining up with talent and hard work to create something wonderful in the world. If you haven't already been in to see the exhibit, drop by before it closes at 2 PM on New Year's Eve, December 31st. But even after the exhibit closes, the PeaceQuilts initiative will continue its good work in Haiti. Visit their website at www.haitipeacequilts.org to learn how you can help.

As noted above, the museum will close at 2PM on New Year's Eve. We are then closed for our winter break from January 1st through the 18th. On January 19th, we kick off our 25th Anniversary Year with CAMPAIGNS & COMMEMORATIVES, a fascinating retrospective on political quilts made from 1780 to 2008. How better to relieve the too-frequent stress of strife and silliness in a national campaign year than by enjoying some wonderful quilts? Won't you join us?

In the meantime, we at the New England Quilt Museum wish you and yours a safe and very happy New Year. See you in 2012!

~ Maureen Smith, PR & Marketing Manager

Join us this Saturday for a book-signing with Salley Mavor, author/illustrator of Pocketful of Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes.

It took Salley ten years to develop her own fabric relief techniques. She embroiders and sews illustrations, each scene taking nearly a month to complete. In this book, she renders a new and visionary nursery rhyme world with precision and intricacy that generations of your family will treasure for years and years to come.

We're especially thrilled to have her here this year, since we're planning to exhibit her wonderful, whimsical scenes in a very special exhibit as part of our 2012 holiday celebrations.

Come do your holiday shopping at our one-day 20% OFF sale in the museum gift shop. Enjoy holiday refreshments, visit the Holiday Express model train and quilted village (children admitted FREE on Saturday) and have Salley Mavor autograph one of these wonderful books for that special child on your gift list.

ALSO ON SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10th:

Our exclusive cotton blend blanket, based on an 1850s feathered star quilt in the Permanent Collection, is specially priced for one day only: $75.

A generous 60" x 80", this fully-reverisible, machine-washable blanket makes a fabulous holiday gift!

Hello!

As we prepare to launch into our Silver Anniversary year in 2012, it seemed a fitting time to polish up and improve our website. (Twenty-five years ago our Founding Mothers probably couldn't have imagined the idea of a website, nor would they have had the faintest idea what a "blog" was!) 

We're hoping this new look will be easier to read, easier to navigate and easier to update. We want you to feel welcome, both on this website and (of course) at the New England Quilt Museum. To that end, we hope you'll post friendly comments and suggestions here. 

More than anything, we hope to see you at NEQM, Showplace for Antique and Contemporary Quilts. The museum is a landmark in the heart of America's historic textile producing region. Over the past twenty-five years, thousands of visitors have strolled the museum's galleries and taken part in classes, special events and ongoing programs.

What unites us all is our love of this wonderful art form. Quilts are like snowflakes: no two are exactly alike. Each quilter brings her own inspired eye to the creation of her piece. The New England Quilt Museum showcases the very best in antique and contemporary quilts in the hope of inspiring a new generation.

Keep watching the website for news of upcoming exhibits and special events. We very much hope to see you soon!