Originally published in the March 5, 2014, issue
By Dallas Duncan
It’s rare for Beverly Hammack to see an
ugly quilt.
She challenges anyone who considers
quilting a mere craft to take a peek inside the Southeastern Quilt &Textile Museum and not leave with a newfound appreciation of the quilt as an
art form.
The idea for a quilt museum was born 14
years ago, when the Georgia Quilt Council decided to establish such a facility
in the Deep South. Now at its home in Carrollton, Ga., the museum features quilt
guilds, art quilts and historic exhibits that rotate on a regular basis.
“My grandmother quilted. She had 10
children – I assume she quilted out of necessity with 10 children,” Hammack
said. “She made use of anything that was available, because back then they
didn’t have quilt shops.”
The art skipped a generation: Hammack’s
mother didn’t quilt. But several years ago Hammack attended a workshop and
became enamored with it.
“I’m what is called an art quilter. I do
small quilts, usually of landscapes and flowers,” she said. “A traditional
quilter is one who uses old patterns … that have been handed down for many,
many years. An art quilter is someone who goes out of that range. I do my own
patterns. I also do my own paintings. I painted some oak leaf hydrangeas in a
watercolor and I changed that to a quilt. I’ve got them hanging side-by-side
and you can see they match.”
Most quilts are done with blocks,
Hammack said. Once a certain number of blocks is created, they’re sewn together
to create the quilt top, and then combined with the batting layer and back to
complete the project.
The quilt museum showcases both
traditional-style quilts and art quilts. A favorite of April Carlson, executive
director, was crazy quilts – a Victorian-era style that created “family
stories” in quilts using materials from memorable events, such as a scrap of a
Christening gown, rather than focusing on a geometric pattern.
“It is traditional in the sense that it
comes from the Victorian era, so a lot of people feel comfortable with it being
that traditional style,” she said.
She also enjoyed a recent art quilt
exhibit featuring the work of JoAnn Camp, a Gainesville, Ga.-based quilter.
“She dyes her own fabric and she creates
these images that look like paintings,” Carlson said.
And though quilting is traditionally
thought of as something grandma might have done, it’s making headway into a
younger generation.
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| Kathryn Trescott learned to quilt from her great-grandmother Doris Collier. Though they did many patterns together, such as this flower garden quilt, Trescott's favorite was one the two did together for her husband, Sam, before Collier passed away in October 2013. Photo courtesy Kathryn Trescott |
Kathryn Trescott of Macon, Ga., learned
to quilt at age 14 from her grandmother and great-grandmother. Trescott’s
favorite quilt was the one she and her great-grandmother made for her husband,
not just for the sentimental value, but because it was the last one they made
together.
“We did all of our quilting by hand,”
Trescott said. “It was fun coming up with new patterns, like when I go on
vacation and there’s a quilt on the back of the couch I take pictures of it. …
I was on spring break one year and saw this really cool pattern and came back
and we did a little mini quilt out of it. We always used to use puzzles we
would find and arrange them to make squares.”
Though Trescott does not search online
for patterns, Elyssa Sanner finds much of her inspiration from social media
site Pinterest and quilting blogs.
Sanner, originally from Evans, Ga., took
up quilting as a senior in high school. Her county required seniors to do a
year-long project and related research paper, and she said it was the perfect
excuse to take her sewing skills to the next level.
“My research was on quilting as an art
form and I made an album block quilt for the senior project,” Sanner said. “It
had white pieces of fabric people could sign, so I had all of these signatures
on my quilt.”
Now a resident of Marquette, Mich.,
Sanner took her love of quilting to her new home. She’s made several quilts
through the years and has experience both hand quilting and machine quilting.
Sanner lets the design and the quilt
recipient guide the materials she chooses.
“I made a daisy chain quilt for my best
friend’s wedding present. I used a combination of fabrics that were old sheets,
small floral prints, and bought brand-new fabric that matched that color
scheme. That was fun, to mix old and new,” she said.
Her latest project is a quilt similar to
the one she made in high school, but it will serve as a guest book for
attendees to sign at her wedding later this year.
Trescott’s advice for new quilters is to
not expect things to be perfect, and to just jump in and try different things.
“I think it’s becoming more popular for
younger people to do quilting. A lot of the blogs I follow are by people 30 and
younger,” Sanner said. “Pinterest and blogs have been really accessible sources
of ideas. Often you get some pretty thorough explanations of techniques that
walk you through it.”
