Like the many individual brushstrokes that form a magnificent Impressionist landscape painting or the repeated cuts that create a wood-block print, the basic “marks” in quiltmaking--the quilting stitches--combine to create an image or concept that is greater that the sum of each individual stitch. 

Richly textured figural images created with quilting stitches cover the surface of the Welsh wholecloth quilt, including spirals, leaves, trefoils and “Welsh pears” (paisleys). In the Indian kantha, the stitches hold the layers of recycled cotton sari and dhoti (women’s and men’s wrapped garments) together, while at the same time covering the surface with a carefully planned and densely quilted herringbone design. Contemporary Canadian artist Dorothy Caldwell draws inspiration from the quilting stitches of Indian kanthas in her piece Four Fields Meet as she makes a statement about humankind’s mark on nature. 

The zig zag, a universal decorative motif, turns a simple line into something that is alive with movement. In quilted textiles as well as in many other worldwide craft traditions including basketry and pottery, the dramatic line creates tension, often through use of contrasting light and dark values.

The Norwegian Streak of Lightning Log Cabin quilt is a vibrant example of the use of color and value – the narrow strips of fabric are grouped into lights and darks, forming strong lines that continuously tilt up and down. The Chevron quilt’s erratic strips are separated by thin vertical lines and a strip of crazy patchwork in the center, yet maintain an irregular rhythm across the surface of the quilt. Artist Michael James masters the use of contrasting colors and values in the multitude of irregular lines in his quilt Bias Cut. The lines break, dead-end, and reconnect, but their sense of movement is relentless.

The spare, powerful form of the square has long occupied the attention of artists such as Josef Albers, who created more than 1000 pieces of minimalist art in his Homage to the Square series, and quiltmakers who recognized the drama inherent in the contrast of colors used to form their vision of the solid shape.

A burgundy square appears to float above a green background in the classic Amish Center Square quilt. The tension between the two complementary colors calls attention to the square-in-a-square format. In a similar way, the lustrous hot pink and emerald green silks of the French vanne (decorative bed topper) create intense visual interplay. In contrast, German artist Ruth Eissfeldt’s quilt Atlantis brings to mind the cool tones of the sea. Eissfeldt’s rippling quilting stitches suggest waves covering the mythical island of Atlantis as it sinks into the ocean. 

Blue is associated with everything from the bright summer sky, to the rhythmic sounds of the Blues, to the comfort of a favorite pair of blue jeans.  A color symbolic of wealth and prestige in many cultures, blue was one of the most common colors on Chinese and Japanese porcelain, an artform highly coveted in the West in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a time when indigo-dyed fabrics were also cherished.

The love affair with the color blue spurred development of fabric dyeing and printing technology in the nineteenth century. The Whole Cloth quilt of floral baskets is made with a dying process that is unusual and complex - the white areas were covered with a paste before the cloth was dipped repeatedly in a vat of indigo dye. The blue and orange Star of Bethlehem is composed of a popular style of fabric of the nineteenth century that was printed in endless yardage for clothing and quilting. Similarly, Shizuko Kuroha incorporates different shades of traditional Japanese fabrics in her quilt The Sea of Japan in Winter.

Papercutting, an art that likely began in China, the birthplace of paper, has been adopted by many cultures over the centuries.  Today, even children learn to use the fold-and-cut method to create paper snowflakes to adorn their wintertime classrooms.

Quilters have used the same technique with fabric, making intricately cut and stitched symmetrical designs. German immigrants to the United States adapted their art of scherenschnitte (“scissor cuts”) to appliqué quilts, like the Pennsylvania Mennonite example seen here. American missionaries may have introduced scherenschnitte-style quilts to the indigenous Hawaiians in the nineteenth century, who then combined it with their quilted textile tradition (kappa moe) to create a completely new style of quilt. In the quilted ralli from the Sindh region of southeastern Pakistan, the maker used a simple twist of the scissors to create variations on each of her appliqué designs.

The tree of life symbol represents immortality, protection, knowledge, and healing in cultures ranging from ancient India, to China, to Scandinavia. Various religions, including Judaism and Christianity also find spiritual symbolism in trees.  The tree of life motif entered European high fashion in the 1600s when traders began importing luxury textiles directly from the Orient. Indian printed panels, called palampores, with tree of life designs adapted for the western market, began to appear in American and European quilts in the late 1700s.

Identical palampore panels were used to make a quilt brought to the United States in 1749 by John Fisher, a German immigrant who settled in Pennsylvania. One hundred years later, the tree of life design inspired Polly Nesbitt Squire of Pennsylvania to make her own stylized appliqué version of the motif. The symbol continues to hold meaning for contemporary audiences, as seen in M. Joan Lintault’s quilt Uncoiling Snakes. The artist draws upon the Hebrew account of the Tree of Knowledge that acknowledges both good and evil (need to explain this a bit more).

In searching for the meaning of our unique individuality among our fellow humans, artists have explored personal identity through a variety of media: quilts, photographs and painted self-portraits, to name a few. In 1867 Lucinda Ward Honstain of Brooklyn, New York, made what has become known as the Reconciliation Quilt. In it she reveals aspects of both her individual and social identity in the time immediately following the Civil War. Vignettes featuring her family and neighborhood are placed among blocks that portray Honstain’s hope for the healing of the divided nation. One block depicts a former slave declaring “Master, I am Free” while another portrays the reunion of Confederate President Jefferson Davis with his daughter, Margaret, after the conclusion of his post-war prison term.

Faith Ringgold uses a combination of paint and fabric in her quilt, The Women: Mask Face Quilt No. 1. The disjointed faces and torsos express how stereotypes of race and gender can misrepresent personal identities. Barbara Watler’s Fingerprint Series enlarges the tiny whorls and lines of the finger to represent the basic, physiological distinctions between humans; in doing so, she says she is honoring those who feel a loss of identity in today’s technological world.

Baltimore Album quilts are a unique style of quilt made in and around Baltimore, Maryland between 1845 and 1855. Identical designs, fabrics and inked details suggest strong community, religious, or familial connections between those who contributed to the quilts, yet the precise link is unknown.

The three quilts hanging here have obvious connections. There are six identical motifs--some made with identical fabrics--in the two Baltimore Album quilts. The third quilt, a Feathered Star, shares with one of the Album quilts a spectacular red feathered plume border made with a difficult reverse appliqué technique. But who made these quilts? Why were these quilts made? Even with these shared characteristics, the common link remains hidden by the passage of time.