Thursday, October 4, 2012

Early quilt collections 10-04-12

A friend reminded me of the Esprit Quilt Collection which originated in the 1970's in San Francisco.  The main focus was fabulous Amish quilts from the first half of the 20th Century.  I used to spend time in San Francisco every year and one of the highlights of these visits was to go to see the quilts and shop at the nearby Esprit clothing outlet.   The quilts are now housed in the Quilt & Textile Museum in Lancaster, PA., if you are in that area do go to see them, pictures cannot do them justice.   Here are a few websites of interest:

http://atn2002.tripod.com/intersections/id11.html

http://www.thequiltshow.com/os/blog.php/blog_id/1869

http://sallyjanevintage.blogspot.com/2012/03/esprit-quilt-collection.html

Another collection that includes some wonderful quilts was the Nutrogena Collection once housed at the Nutrogena Corporate Headquarters in Pasadena where it could be visited by groups with prior reservations.  Like the Esprit Collection the pieces were displayed in lobbies, offices, shipping areas - anywhere they would fit.  The 2500 (or so) pieces are now at the Nutrogena Wing of the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  There are many early quilts by 20th Century art quiltmakers - go for a visit and allow lots of time! 

www.internationalfolkart.org/








3 comments:

Terry Grant said...

The Esprit Collection was so inspiring to me. I loved seeing it in SF. The exhibit of the collection at the de Young museum in 1990 remains to this day the most beautiful quilt exhibit I have ever seen.

shilsenbeck said...

Thanks for the reminder -- the setting and the collection were wonderful.

Anonymous said...

I'm going to be in Lancaster in a few days. I will try to drag my relatives to see the museum -- thanks for the reminder that it's a stop I should make.

And as you see, I am still online -- haven't been knocked off yet (not knocked up, either, although there's little chance of that -- too much age, too few men

June