Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Texas Beauty Quilt

I have a friend in Oregon who collects wonderful old quilts and the pattern New York Beauty in particular. The block to the left is from one of his quilts. You can check out his website at www.billvolckening.com and see a video about Bill and his extraordinary collection at this link http://www.nwdocumentary.org/gallery/2061 . When I recommended an old NY Beauty ebay find to him, Bill and I shared our our mutual love of all things scrappy and pointy. 






Then I realized that way back on the shelf, I had a NY Beauty pattern quilt too but when it was sold to me, the dealer had called it Rocky Road to Texas. I had seen it literally tumble out of a garbage bag of quilts onto the show floor in Houston, Texas and jumped on it immediately--love at first sight. What was there about the slightly worn and very soft surface of this small scrap quilt that intrigued me? 






I think this quilt has heart. Not high-falutin' technique. tee-tiny stitches, or expensive fabrics. But heart and history. I can relate to the long-ago quiltmaker using every scrap as carefully as possible and imagine her showing off her skills as she carefully sewed the small compass blocks between the larger areas. This quilt is still a Texas Beauty.