Red, White and............More Red & White.

“Red", I write "is the color of life. It's blood, passion, rage. It's menstrual flow and after birth. Beginnings and violent end. Red is the color of love. Beating hearts and hungry lips. Roses, Valentines, cherries. Red is the color of shame. Crimson cheeks and spilled blood. Broken hearts, opened veins. A burning desire to return to white.” 

Mary Hogan, Pretty Face

 The following quilts celebrate red and white in amazingly beautiful ways. 

They were all on display at the Vermont Quilt Festival 2013 in Essex Junction, Vermont this past weekend. Enjoy!

 C202- Second Place Red Ribbon (seen above)

"The Star and Crown" by Consortium of Malone, NY, was an entry in the "A New Twist on and Old Favorite" theme quilt category. The description reads "Twenty-four reds with twenty-four background off-whites made into Peaky and Spike, four-patches, half-square triangles, solid block units and paper pieced four pointed stars were arranged to create a circle and star within. Long arm machine quilted."

 

 C618- Third Place Yellow Ribbon

"Feather Storm" by Rose Orr of Colchester, Vermont is my personal favorite of this set of quilts. It uses a variation on Storm at Sea setting. Rose was able to play with machine quilted feathers in the blank spaces and how color progresses from red to white within the blocks. It was quilted on a home machine.

 

 C611- Third Place Yellow Ribbon

"A Quilter's Snowflake" by Cathy Pelletier of Danvers, MA

Cathy writes "A Quilter's Snowflake by Richard Larson, Quilter's Newsletter December 2005, is a two-color quilt bed topper or wall quilt. Traditional Hunter's Stars complement the large Feathered Star. Long arm machine quilted nu Pamela Gondola."

C1010- Third Place Yellow Ribbon

"Peppermint Swirls" by Pauline R. Charpentier of Maynard, MD was the maker's response to a guild challenge of red and white. This piece was inspired by "a friend's vase." It was quilted on a home machine.

C915- Third Place Yellow Ribbon

"My Fantasy Flower Garden-No Weeds" by Rita A. Bond of Pembroke, NH

 Rita writes, "My daughter-in-law has an antique embroidered red and white quilt, which I love. I have tried to duplicate it by machine embroidering the white blocks. I used floral designs from Garden Fantasy, digitized by Janet Sansom. Long arm machine quilted by Saima Davis."

This antique beauty was in a special exhibit at VQF. The exhibit called "For Fellowship, Love and Farewell" was curated by Debra Grana and Sharon Waddell.  This beauty above was made sometime between 1850 and 1870 by an unknown maker. There are little trees in the border which were common to NY, PA and New England. Debra Grana, owner, writes, "Some references attribute this pattern to the inspiration of woven coverlet designs. Note the heart variation in the center of the block."

"Drunkard's Path, circa 1910 was a pattern believed to have been used by the Temperance Movement. Some, offended by the name, refer to the pattern as Fool's Puzzle. This quilt was hand-pieced and hand-quilted by Louisa Campbell of Nyack, NY," writes collector Mary Daughton.

Next was a friendship quilt from the Woodlawn Reformed Church of Schenectady, NY. I was immediately drawn to it having grown up in the city of Schenectady and having known many from the congregation. This quilt, however, was made in 1915 by the Helping Hand Society of the church as a gift to Reverend and Mrs. Bruce Ballard as they moved on to another church. I love how each block has a unique setting for the signatures.

 

 "Touching Stars, circa 1880" is also from the collection of Debra Grana. She believes it is from Unadilla, NY.  "There is an assortment of symbols in the quilting, including hands, hearts, hex or good luck, scissors and a series of people holding hands."

Finally, this "Red Cross" quilt is believed to have been made for a Red Cross Fundraiser for World War I sometime between 1917 and 1920. There are over 600 names from the 1920 census in the Springfield, Illinois area included on the quilt. It was found at an estate sale in Albany, NY.