Yesterday we spent a few hours at the Peninsula Quilt Guild’s 17th Annual show, “Quilting at the Beach.” The Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum felt full to overflowing with colors and patterns and creativity. There were quilts of all sizes, some for cribs, some for beds, some to hang on walls. There were bright quilts, bold quilts, gentle quilts, whimsical quilts – definitely a quilt for every taste, every occasion.
Around the edges of the displays sat members of the Quilt Guild, ready to explain and answer questions and point out examples. I asked a lot, learned a lot, and continue to be overwhelmed by the talents of the quilters. From totally hand-stitched to intricately machine-stitched and displaying all sorts of techniques from appliqué to embroidery, each and every quilt was of the knock-your-socks-off variety.
Perhaps one of the most unusual was Karen Snyder’s “Let’s Play Paper Dolls” quilt. The 1940s style dolls – fabric, of course, not paper – were lined up in three rows of seven, each in their little girl underwear. All around the sides were pockets in which their dresses and pinafores were kept.
“Please Play with Me” invited a sign on the quilt, but I didn’t dare touch. It seemed too wonderful to handle and, besides, someone had already ‘dressed’ most of the dolls. In the program that we were handed when we entered the exhibit, Karen had explained that the dresses were backed with Batting, enabling to “stick” to the dolls. As I looked (and looked and looked) at that quilt, I was again seven years old, sitting on the floor in our house in Alameda, playing paper dolls with my friend Verna Schott.
Surrounded by those warm, beautiful quilts, I couldn’t help feeling that the entire exhibit felt “interactive” somehow – rather like being in the midst of wonderful paintings except that you knew how it would feel to be wrapped in your favorites. I went back numbers of times to some of them, especially to those with the bright, bold colors. In several instances I was pleased to find that those I liked best were made by women I know and admire. That’s probably a no-brainer – whatever draws me to those women, undoubtedly shows itself in their work. We left reluctantly, already looking forward to next year’s 18th Annual.
Karen’s “paper dolls” quilt is intriguing, and the quilt in the second photograph (do you remember if it had a name, or who created it?) is simply stunning! Thank you for sharing these with us.
Yes, I absolutely remember! (I could NOT get my wordpress program to let me give the picture a caption, but if you hold the cursor over it, it will tell you.) The quilt is called “Sue Grennan’s Quilt” and is by Sue Grennan! She wrote this about it in the program: “This quilt was started while I was caring for my mother. When she passed in 1997, I tucked away the six remaining blocks for several years. After moving to the peninsula, I worked on the blocks at an informal applique group. Finally, last year I had it quilted and last month put on the binding.”
I absolutely loved Karen Snyder’s paper doll quilt. What an absolute work of art! The quilt guilds show must have been a fun thing to attend and a nice thing to do on a Sunday. By the way your corned beef dinner on St. Patrick’s day looked delicious and I’m sure your guests loved it. We had ours yesterday with family as there was just too much going on on Sat. I always love the pictures you post on your blog as well as descriptions of your subject matter. Good job!
From the pictures I’ve with the paper doll fan club! How very fun. Reminds me of the Betsy McCall paper dolls that were in the McCall’s magazine which my aunt saved for me in the 1950s and ’60s.