Everything old is new again in Mary Kerr's world

Vintage to some are those musty stained remnants of another era. A reminder of grandma's handiwork that is relegated to a cedar chest. We stand clueless as to how to rejuvenate them or integrate them into our current art, quilts or lives.

But for Mary Kerr vintage is the vision for something new and exciting. She challenged several friends and colleagues to use vintage and this lead photo shows Cyndi Souder's interpretation. Old certainly never looked so new! You will be surprised and amazed at what Mary can make out of something old....

Please welcome Mary Kerr in her own words. -- Dawn

I love all things old…. rustic furniture, old friends, driftwood at the beach and antique textiles.

Lots of antique textiles!

I have collected vintage quilts for years and have a large collection that travels with me to teach and lecture. In addition, I hoard fragments of quilts, orphan blocks, linens and sewing “stuff” ---- buttons, lace, sewing cards, etc. I have never been picky about condition and often find myself bringing home the runt of the litter --- that tattered piece that no one else can imagine as useful. My passion is to incorporate these cast-off pieces into contemporary quilts.

My work ranges from traditional to art.

I am not bound by a single genre as long I am able to incorporate my vintage pieces into each design. Stars for Grandma Kay (See Photo 2) was included in the IQA Quilts in the American Tradition exhibit that traveled in 2007-2008. The central appliqué unit was found in my Grandmother’s home and is circa 1940. I pieced the stars and saw tooth border using vintage fabrics and incorporated a fragment of a damaged Flower Garden top from the 1930’s. Only the black fabric was purchased new. It was hand quilted by Didi Salvatierra.

The art piece, I Would Dance (See Photo 3) was created for my local guild challenge. Each participant was given a fortune cookie and challenged to create a quilt inspired by the fortune. Mine asked, “What would you do if you had no fear?”

I created this piece using fragments of lace, linens, jewelry and buttons that had belonged to my grandmothers. The foundation is a scrap of a cutter quilt and the pieces are layered beside the image of me dancing.

This was my first vintage collage quilt and began a series of quilts that all incorporate those nontraditional pieces we find in our sewing baskets, jewelry boxes and dresser drawers. I love teaching this technique and watching as my students get excited about incorporating these treasured pieces into their quilts.

I will frequently work with orphan blocks and finish them in a variety of ways. This set of four small quilts was created during a beach retreat when I was playing with techniques and design. Each of the 11 inch quilts incorporated a vintage pink and white star block, circa 1940. Edisto (See Photo 4) features marbled fabric by Linda Cooper and found objects from my morning beach walk.
 
 
 
 
 

Happy Hour (Photo 6) plays with folded fabrics and button embellishment.

Tropical Smoothie (See Photo 5) showcases a woven technique with thread painting.

Pretty in Pink (Photo 7) is a cascade of buttons over a simple pieced background.

As I played with various sets of vintage blocks, I began to wonder what would happen if we divided a set of blocks among a larger group of artists?

Would anyone else want to work with the vintage pieces? In 2006, I sent out letters to a group of friends asking them to play with me. My invitees were an eclectic mix of friends and quilting acquaintances. Within the group we have art quilters, quilt historians, judges, appraisers, hand quilters, a textile artist and new quilters. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into as Vintage Revisited was born.

Over the course of two years, I distributed six sets of vintage blocks to these adventurous artists. The block was theirs to play with! Each artist received an identical block. They could add to it, cut it up, embellish it, recreate it, improve upon it, and more. The only requirements were that the finished quilt be their original design, that it measure 24 x 24 inches, and that the original block be included in the final project.

The second block in the challenge, shown here (Photo 8), is an Odd Fellows block from 1880. The color combination appealed to some of my artists and others were appalled. Here are a sample of their interpretations:

A Pennsylvania Sampler by Barb Garrett

It's About Time by Cyndi Souder

Two Roads Diverged by Pam Weeks

Not Odd Anymore by Karen Dever

There was a wide range on interpretations and every quilt was unique and exciting. I loved that we were able to create a challenge that allowed each artist to create in her own style. It is a project that allows everyone to participate at their individual pace, level and comfort zone.

When I started this project, my initial expectation was that we would display the quilts at a couple of shows. Today this collection of 117 has been exhibited all over the country and is currently scheduled to be traveling through 2014.

 

The single magazine article has blossomed into a wonderful book that captures the voices and talents of each of my artists. A Quilt Block Challenge: Vintage Revisited was published in May and is now available at my web site, through Schiffer publishing and hopefully at local quilt shops around the country.

Working with this group of women has been a joy and I am so very blessed to be a part of our amazing quilt community!

Check out Mary Kerr's website.

The Ohio Star and variations

I'm a native Ohioan. One of my favorite traditional patterns has been and will always be the Ohio Star. No surprise there. It has been a popular pattern for a good many years, first appearing in 1815, according to DawnPages quilt history.

What surprises is what people have done with this simple little pattern of squares and triangles. Check out the photo of Kaffe Fassett beside one of his dazzling Ohio Star quilts at the Festival of Quilts, 2006.

Quilt.com offers directions for constructing a basic Ohio Star block. The Quiltaholics offer a variation based on colors and turning a few squares into triangles. Quiltville offers a variation based upon size of the individual blocks, setting them together in a colorful, pleasing configuration. It is a good choice for a quilt made from a block exchange. Quiltville also offers great photos and step-by-step directions on piecing blocks efficiently. And if you want to make it in a day, check out Eleanor Burns, she even has some cute socks sporting Ohio Stars for sale on her site.

How about an Amish version?

An antique quilt at Stella Rubens Antiques shows how an Ohio Star pattern changes with added borders. And miniaturist Kate Adams demonstrates what Ohio Star quilts look like in antique fabrics and teeny tiny pieces. Note that Adams frames her finished quilts, a fantastic idea for displaying your own projects and turning them into art....

Then, check out what artist and quilter Rita Denenberg does with an Ohio Star. Rita writes on her site,

I took the traditional Ohio Star pattern,
blew it up and gave it dimension. I left the traditional
blocks in the corners. This quilt is hand pieced
and hand quilted.

And we can't forget the luscious, amazing and startling version of The Ohio Star that Caryl Bryer Fallert created and offers for sale at only $3,000.

For a departure from the basic fabric quilts, check out the barn project where traditional patterns have been painted on barns across Southern Ohio.

This is only a tiny sampling of what I found on the Internet this evening. As I find more variations, I'll be adding them. If you have some to add, please let me know!

Addition: A beautiful antique Ohio Star and Carolina Lily quilt circa 1920 offered by Betsy Telford in vibrant Christmas colors on a pristine white background. And below is a book devoted to Ohio Star variations by Jackie Robinson
available on Amazon.


Fellow writer and quilter, Marijke Durning sent me a photo of her version of the Ohio Star. She used a flowered fabric to showcase the center of each star. A friend from Town and Country Quilters in Lima, OH made Ohio Stars using the center as a place to showcase a miniature of another pattern -- sail boats, card tricks, even small Ohio Stars.

Quilt designers Jean Wells and Marina Anderson offer a book, A Celebration of Hearts that features heart quilts. One pattern is an Ohio Star variation. I believe it is the top middle block.

Starting small

I'm one of those needlers who started learning the sewing arts as a 4-Her. Every summer I attended meetings in the elementary school home economics room, if I remember right. There we learned how to sew straight seams, circles, and hems from Carolyn and Kathleen McCague and from Clair Schick's Mom. I suffered over that first apron and pincushion more than any project I've made since. But I learned enough to make most of my clothes and those for my children and shirts for my husband. It was the 70s -- sewing and baking and gardening were in style. And they benefited our meager budget. While Mom crocheted afghans and pieced quilts using the patterns she loved from her teen years during the 1930s -- flower gardens, double wedding rings, Star of Bethleham.... I dreamed of making all sorts of things, but never got around to it.

So now I start small with little miniature quilts, a birdhouse wall hanging using directions by Debbie Mumm, and fabric bowls.

The bowl projects was the first time I had tried to make something that wasn't to wear or to cover up with (the birdhouse wall hanging came later). I stumbled across Linda Johansen's "Fast, Fun and Easy Fabric Bowls" book and just had to give it a try. I became totally fascinated by adhering fabric to rigid interfacing with that iron on bondable stuff, like stitch witchery only better. The secret to great success is to iron on the paper side, not on the fusible side -- it could destroy a hot iron in the blink of an eye.

But, it is this use of unusual materials (for me, they're unusual) and new procedures that has drawn me ever closer to making art quilts. Remember my mother is a traditional quilter, a daughter of a long line of traditional quilters whose roots harken back into Pennsylvania Dutch territory. Transitioning away from the tried and true fabric quilts made from traditional patterns for utilitarian purposes, took some doing.

I go to quilt shows and am drawn to the art quilts, trying to figure out the techniques used or the amazing array of fabrics incorporated into quilts. Tulle and organza-- I would never have thought to use it, but it works so beautifully. And the use of dissolving fabrics so that the stitches seem to float, well, they do float and create a new fabric all their own. And the appliques, the use of fabric paints and markers, embellishments, found objects, paper and print and photos....The list is endless.

Now, as soon as I can convince my husband that I can't live without that $5000 Bernina sewing machine that embroiders and quilts with or without me, then maybe I'll be a giant step closer to making my own art quilt. In the meantime, I peruse a variety of websites and drool over the work of such gifted quilters. Quilters I hope to interview and discuss in upcoming blog entries.