Please join me in welcoming guest blogger Margery Newman as she shares with us the new Milwaukee Art Museum and quilts from the "American Quilts: Selections from the Winterthur Collection" exhibit. Thanks Margery for sharing this fabulous exhbit with us.

I had the great pleasure of leaving my home in what some people this summer are calling the Baked Apple (NYC) for a day, and heading out to Milwaukee where I visited the Milwaukee Art Museum and the exhibition "American Quilts: Selections from the Winterthur Collection". The show is on until September 6.

I was excited to see selections from one of the finest collections of early American quilts when my car pulled up to the Museum and I beheld the jaw-dropping futuristic architecture.

And inside, the museum was just as stunning! That’s Lake Michigan you see out the window.

In the Museum lobby, the signage for the exhibition shows a detail of an appliqué counterpane quilt by an unknown maker from around 1800-1825. It’s influenced by Indian palampores (a type of hand-painted and mordant-dyed bed cover made for export) and features birds and a butterfly cut from fabrics printed by John Hewson, a Philadelphia calico printer who learned his trade in London.

Here’s the quilt in its full vibrant glory depicting a tree in flower with curling branches and heart-shaped leaves. It’s so unique and feels to me like the tree of life. (Photo credit: Maker unknown, Appliqué counterpane, 1800–25. Cotton, 100 x 92 in. Courtesy, Winterthur, Museum purchase with funds provided by Mr. Samuel Pettit in memory of his wife, Sally Pettit)

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Earlier this year, I told you about the “New from Old” quilt contest in support of the Alliance for American Quilts.

Quiltmakers are encouraged to think broadly and creatively about this opportunity to celebrate the past in the frame of the present. The rich array of prizes this year includes a Handi Quilter HQ Sixteen Quilting Machine for Sit-Down Use valued at $5,000.

The rules are simple: quilts must be 16″ x 16″ (including a 4″ sleeve and a label) and consist of three layers. Contest quilts must be sent to the AAQ by May 31, 2010. Entries will tour national venues and be displayed on the AAQ website, and later entered in the Quilt Index. The contest is also a fundraiser; all quilts become a donation to the organization and will be auctioned on eBay in November to benefit the AAQ and its mission to document, preserve and share the history of quilts and quiltmakers.

Special Prize for Quilting Gallery Fans

The AAQ would like to offer a special incentive to Quilting Gallery readers and bloggers. All Quilting Gallery fans who enter a quilt in the contest will have a chance to win a prize package that includes an assortment of Simplicity specialty scissors, EZ Quilting acrylic templates and an Alliance Collection for a Cause quilt kit by Moda (total retail value over $250).

Just be sure to write Quilting Gallery fan on your entry form under How did you find out about the New from Old contest?. A small panel of AAQ board and staff will jury this special prize and you’ll still qualify for all the other great prizes.

And remember only AAQ members are eligible to vote for the overall winners of the contest, so if you believe in the work of the AAQ, become a member when you enter the contest. Annual membership is as low as $25 and members enter the contest for only $5 per quilt.

Complete information and a downloadable entry form are available on the AAQ website. Questions about the contest should be sent to the AAQ directly.

See some of the first New from Old entries:

P.S. If you’ve already submitted your quilt for this contest, send an email to the AAQ indicating that you are a Quilting Gallery fan so you’ll be entered for the special prize too.

The Alliance for American Quilts has announced a new quilt contest.

“New From Old” is the theme of the 2010 contest and quiltmakers are encouraged to think broadly and creatively about this opportunity to celebrate the past in the frame of the present. They might seek inspiration and/or content from antique quilt blocks, fabrics, trims, color palettes or stitches, then use the tools and materials of contemporary quilting to produce a new wall quilt. Artists might also respond to the theme more conceptually-an “old” idea recycled, a new way of creating an old block, technique or style, or a more personal interpretation.

The rules are simple: quilts must be 16″ x 16″ (including a 4″ sleeve and a label) and consist of three layers. Contest quilts must be sent to the AAQ by May 31, 2010. The contest is also a fundraiser; all quilts become a donation to the organization and will be auctioned on eBay Nov. 8 – Dec. 6, 2010 to benefit the AAQ and its mission to document, preserve and share the history of quilts and quiltmakers.

The contest quilts will tour national venues, including the National Quilting Association’s annual show in Columbus, Ohio, June 16 – 19 and the American Quilters Society Show in Knoxville, Tennessee, July 14-17. All contestants will benefit as well from their quilts being displayed on the AAQ website, not just during the contest and auction, but permanently, on the Quilt Index.

I’m really excited about this contest, and have been thinking about ideas for the past few days. I’m thinking something miniature, Amish-like or totally scrappy. The Alliance does amazing work for quilters, and I’m happy to support their efforts in this creative way. Head over to their web site to get all the contest info.

Since its establishment in 1994, the Massachusetts Quilt Documentation Project (MassQuilts) has documented over 6,000 quilts originating or currently owned in this state.

This summer, many historically significant or esthetically appealing quilts documented by MassQuilts will be on display at the New England Quilt Museum in an exhibit entitled, Massachusetts Quilts: Our Common Wealth. The exhibit runs from July 17 through September 20, 2009.

Guest curated by noted quilt historian and lecturer Vivien Lee Sayre, the exhibition will bring together not only quilts, but also historic photographs and memorabilia to tell many of the compelling stories of the state’s social history.

Among the quilts featured in the exhibit are:

• A Civil War quilt, made for a Northern soldier recovering from his captivity in the Andersonville prisoner of war camp.
• A c1910 silk quilt, made by Italian immigrant Josephine Rossi Anzalone of Cambridge, from silks given her by her sisters, both of whom worked in the dressmaking industry.
• A patchwork and appliqué quilt featuring scenes of farm life, made as a group by women in South Royalston in the 1880s, with stylized images of neighbors, favorite household items, local sights.

Also featured in the exhibit is a representational of author Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women”, designed by Marion Cheever Whiteside Newton, early 1800 quilts, Depression Era quilts, and fund raiser and temperance quilts created by charitable groups across the state. This groundbreaking exhibition will bring together quilts from all across Massachusetts, truly representing the fascinating history of this unique American art form, as seen through the lens of Massachusetts history.

Please visit the New England Quilt Museum’s web site for more information.

Photos: The Hexagon detail is from a paper-pieced quilt made by Sarah Clarke (Ellis) Ide c. 1845; the other two photos are of a quilt made c. 1865 by Emily Monroe.

Congratulations to #50 Frances and #45 Sandie for winning a Perfect Half-Square & Quarter-Square Triangles Ruler in last week’s Friday Give-Away donated by June Tailor.

When you are done entering the Friday give-away here, visit the Happy Canada Day post for your chance to tell a Canadian story and win some funky fabrics from a new Canadian fabric retailer. There’s also a give-away from a very inspiring guest blogger, Margaret Bucklew.

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all of my quilting friends south of the border a happy and safe July 4th weekend.

Antique Quilt Dating Guides…by Style

Now, I’m turning over this blog post to Kimberly Wulfert of Women On Quilts and Quilter’s Spirit to let her tell you about the fabulous Friday give-away this week.

Quilting has always been a great part of American history, and as we Americans celebrate Independence Day this weekend, I’m pleased to offer my Guides for dating antique quilts as a give-away at this special time.

With that in mind, antique quilts can’t help but enter your mind when thinking of the cold New England winters and need for warm covers that also beautified the log homes. Quilt collecting is a popular hobby today. Making new quilts that look like 19th and 20th century quilts is possible and easy with the wonderful reproduction fabrics available today.

Do you wonder what quilt would have been made using the reproduction fabrics you bought at the last show and loved but are now not sure what to do with them? The Antique Quilt Dating Guides…by Style will give you many options to chose from.

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Earlier this year, Kim Wulfert from Women on Quilts asked for submissions of creative stories by creative women.

The Women’s Historical Fiction Challenge E-Book is complete and available for download.

It includes 16 fictional stories written by 14 women about women who create and live at a tough time in history. Complete with period photos and quilts, plus personal thoughts from the writers and judges about their stories.

Kim’s done an amazing job putting this together. I can only imagine how much work it was. I’ve had the pleasure to read some of the stories already, and they are wonderful.

Visit Kim’s sites:

• Women on Quilts
• Quilters Spirit
• New Pathways Into Quilt History
• Quick Guides to Dating Quilts