Stars in the Loft - the story continues and The Bookshop Band

It's story time for the turtle girls and their friends

 

Yesterday I told you about a black and white picture of a hexagon quilt in an old book. I searched the web for the original quilt but with no basic information it was a lost cause. I really wanted to know something about the hand that made the original and I wanted to understand how she made the quilt. I found many interesting quilts in the process but was unable to find the Mosaic quilt.

 

There was no pattern given in the book. There were some interesting blocks but I couldn’t tell if they were pieced or fussy cut from plaids and stripes. I didn’t want to fussy cut so I developed a technique that would allow me to recreate the blocks without fussy cutting. So I drafted my ow pattern and just filled in the "blanks" with my own ideas. This included the border which I just could figure out. I understood the layout of the hexagons but thought that the colours would play a significant role in the design and I just didn't have any idea about the colours so I designed my own border.

Just this year I was searching the web for something completely unrelated to the Mosaic quilt and lo and behold I found the original quilt! It is at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. You can also visit Annenberg Learner to see the quilt under magnification. It was made by Elizabeth Van Horne Clarkson. She was born in 1771 and it is thought that she made the quilt at age at about age 59 and that the quilt was likely made as a wedding gift for her son Thomas.

Mosaic Quilt made by Elizabeth Van Horne Clarkson

 

Here is a close-up of the border from the book.

 

 

And this is what I designed.

 

 

 Here is a close-up of one of the blocks in the book - hard to make out isn't it?

 

 

And this is what I came up with.

 

 

And here are a few more blocks in my quilt!

 

 

 

I'll post more pictures and talk about the lessons I learned tomorrow.

 

And in keeping with today's theme of stories, I want to tell you about a very interesting band, The Bookshop Band out of England. They write and perform songs inspired by books. They play their music in bookshops, often in front of the author. The first song I heard that lead me to them is "Innocent Pride". It is gorgeous.  You can listen to a clip on YouTube. It is based upon the book Red Joan by Jennie Rooney. At the age of 87 a woman is exposed as having been a spy who sold atomic secrets to the Soviets during the Cold War. The Bookshop Band has a four CD set of some of their music. You can listen to all of it on their website. I plan on purchasing the set. The music is beautiful and haunting.