|
Quilts—Part
of the Fabric of the Kentucky Museum
by
Sandy Staebell
Quilts
have long been part of the "fabric" of Kentucky
history. Historically, women sewed quilts for practical reasons,
but they also sometimes crafted special textiles to commemorate
important events in their lives such as childbirth, marriage,
and death. Today, numerous Kentucky women -- and occasionally
men -- make quilts. Many follow the traditional methods of
their nineteenth century ancestors, but others use fabric
and thread to express their thoughts and emotions the way
some artists use watercolors, oil paints, clay or bronze.
The most non-traditional identify themselves as fiber artists
rather than quiltmakers, but the majority of today's quiltmakers
probably occupy the middle ground between both camps.
The
staff periodically mounts exhibits that include historical
and/or contemporary quilts. Longtime Kentucky Museum visitors
may remember past exhibits such as " Like Living a Life,"
"Piece by Piece: A Sampling of Logan County Quilts"
and "Machine Queen II." The first featured a selection
of historic nineteenth century quilts from the museum collection,
the second quilts found during surveys of Logan County, and
the third wall hangings that utilized a rather tongue in cheek
approach to the craft. In recent years, shows have focused
on friendship and memory quilts, textiles made in Warren County,
and quilts made within five years of the millennium.
Quilt
historians and the staffs of its sister institutions are also
familiar with the Kentucky Museum collection. In the past,
its quilts have appeared in exhibits organized by the Smithsonian
Institution, Kentucky Quilt Project, Appalachian College Museum,
Kentucky History Center and Kentucky Folk Art Center. Now
through November 29, 2003, eight quilts from the collection
are part of Quilted Memories of Kentucky, at the Museum of
the American Quilters Society in Paducah. Seven others are
currently featured in educational materials available at "ArtQuest,"
the interactive education gallery of the Frist Center for
the Arts in Nashville.
Kentucky
Museum quilts have appeared in more than 20 books and magazines.
This spring, a detail from the Garnett-Murray Crazy Quilt
was used in Impact magazine, and last summer National Geographic
School Book Publishing made arrangements to use a block from
a Bear's Paw pattern quilt in a book about the Underground
Railroad. Most recently, a quilt researcher living in England
received permission to publish images of two other Kentucky
Museum quilts in her book about Log Cabin pattern quilts.
The
Kentucky Library and Museum has other materials of interest
to quilt enthusiasts. The holdings of the Kentucky Library
include more than 100 publications related to quiltmaking
while Manuscripts and Folklife Archives has received more
than 15 quilt-related projects completed by WKU Folk Studies
students. In addition, Manuscripts and Folk Life Archives
is the repository for the records of the Kentucky Heritage
Quilt Society. Since January 2001, the Kentucky Library and
Museum has hosted the KHQS
web site. As of August 2003, the KHQS
Quilt Registry database allows global access to information
about several hundred quilts surveyed in 15 Kentucky counties.
The
quilt collection at the Kentucky Museum is truly a unique
resource for all Kentuckians.
|
