Wahoo-back on the blog again! Google's platform did hinky stuff and wouldn't let me post photos and then boom! Today I can-I feel like a kid in a candy shop.

What I really like about old quilts, especially those made by folks who lived in the country, is that their makers didn't know--or didn't care about--the "rules." What are some quiltmaking rules? Oh, stuff like seams have to match and you must use thread the same color as the appliques...details, details. The rule-breakers are my idols.

Look closely at this quilt and you discover that the 'trail' is not only serpentine, it is serpents, as in snakes. It sold on ebay and was supposed to have been from the Kentucky hills, home to speaking-in-tongues and snake-handling churches. A little creepy but then again, it ain't all hearts and flowers.

Julie Silber of The Quilt Complex http://www.thequiltcomplex.com/calls these rogue works 'outlaw quilts' and she's curated exhibitions of them. Most people know Julie from her work with the Esprit Collection of fine Amish quilts. Perhaps because of her long association with Amish quilts, you assumed she was quiet and well-behaved a la Amish. Sorry, this textile connoisseur has a wild side and she loves a strange and wonderful quilt.This quilt is from my collection and though similar in its curves to the snake quilt, reads as a much sunnier happier piece and the curves are abtract design elements. Oh boy, does it have some slinky fabric in it! Polyester, rayon, linen, and cotton...all present in this 1960s Flower Power quilt. My hat's off to those ladies who conitnued to quilt through the 1960s and 70s. They were our artistic bridge between eras until the quilt revival came into full flower in 1976.