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There is a "Where's Waldo" in this quilt.  Did you find it?

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And then of course I chased down my FAVORITE fishing Buddy - John Flynn! Watch for him this spring on TQS!!!!

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A Galapagos Iguana

One week from today Justin, myself, and a host of quilters and friends will be meeting in Miami before heading south for our 15 day South America tour. We'll land in Quito, Ecuador then fly to the Galapagos Islands where we set sail on the Galapagos Legend, a 110 passenger ship and tour the islands for five days. We will visit the Charles Darwin Research Center and swim with penguins.

We have three major destinations - the first being Galapagos. I'm going to pre-blog our itinerary so you can virtually travel with me. It is doubtful that I'll be able to communicate during the tour but I WILL follow up when I return.

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See more at www.mckieart.com

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Alex practicing her sewing skills.  Alex, stubborn as always, has her back to Grandmother.

When Alex gave her speech and slide show at The Silver Star Awards event at the Houston Quilt Show last fall, and I saw the childhood images of her with her sister, Sidney, and their Grandmother up on the screen, a warm fuzzy feeling came over me. Shortly afterwards, Alex sent me some amazing black-and-white photographs. I love working with black-and-white photos. I like to see if I can come up with colors that duplicate or closely match the originals. 

Currently, I am in a wonderful portrait mode with this quilt. My Mom ( Barbara) and I looked for just the right fabrics, and we found something that spoke of warmth and of home: one-and-a-half meters of batik fabric in earth tones from The Satin Moon Quilt Shop in Victoria, B.C., was her Christmas gift to me.

After washing and pressing the fabric, I begin to draw. Because the fabric is a dark-colored cotton, I use a hot-pink pastel pencil to see my lines. If you use this type of pencil, and add a line that you decide you don't want, you can remove it easily by rubbing lightly with a cloth or paper towel. By the time you are into the sewing stage, any marks left on the fabric will be very faint, if visible at all.

Once I am happy with the drawing, I leave it alone for a few days and look at what I have done. Is it OK? Yes!  I am ready to paint.

Pastel outline foundation.  Photo By Gail Thom

I begin painting from the edge of the fabric that is now 46" x 59".  Since I don't want to rub off the pastel pencil lines or smudge as I am painting; I start with Alex, who is at the fabric's edge. I like to paint foundation lines first, so that later I will know where to put in my brush strokes (i.e., for faces, hands, feet). I do not work all the way around the quilt. I turn it upside down, sideways, and every-which-way to get to the heart of the matter. A painted face might look fine, but if I can turn the image and look at it from a different angle, I might discover something else altogether.

Here are the first strokes of paint: yellow, a little pink, and mostly white. I am using Angel Paints, Canadian paints made in Vancouver, B.C. I use the drawing marks as a guide.

Painted features begin to appear.  Photo by Gail Thomas

I have been painting since I was seven, and working with watercolors came naturally to me. (It's kind of spooky at times!) In 2007, I found non-toxic Canadian fabric paint on the Internet, in Vancouver, B.C., a six-hour drive from my home. Jackie Haliburton created and founded Angel Paint 20 years ago. (Yikes! I'm just a little sl...oow....!) When I discovered them, the door to painting on fabric opened wide.These paints have a smooth feeling and mix beautifully. You can add a lot of water to the colors, and yet they do not bleed as much as some of the other brands I have tried. I am able use a watercolor wash technique--that is, use more water than pigment, allow to dry, and apply again--to build up the depth and dimension. I am able to paint on fabric the way I want. 

I love that I can make the piece "move" with these paints. Let me explain: The translucent layers allow me to see all the other layers underneath, giving the illusion of many veils overlapping. The images, especially clothing, take on a movement. In some areas, the body underneath is visible, or shapes and color appear from behind and around the clothes themselves. On faces, the multiple layerings pick up color. If, for example, a small child is asleep on a pink or red pillow, she will take on more of the pink and red colors as well as the color that makes up her presence or essence.  Angel Paints allow me to build up layers so that the viewer can see the work come to life...to mold the images or objects as he or she envisions them.

As I continue to work, I keep adding layers and painting in new areas. I am still using yellow, a little pink, as well as white. For Alex's dress, I add more white to my painting wash. I want to paint all the areas that require those colors. To me color is everything, even black and white, so when I say all those areas that have those colors, those are the colors I see.

Adding more layers of paint to the subject.  Photo by Gail Thomas

For this art quilt, I will be adding machine threadwork, stenciling, and possibly some handwork. I love handwork that features different stitches. This helps to bring out the down-home feeling. 

For this art quilt, I will be adding machine threadwork, stenciling, and possibly some handwork. I love handwork that features different stitches. This helps to bring out the down-home feeling. 

For this art quilt, I will be adding machine threadwork, stenciling, and possibly some handwork. I love handwork that features different stitches. This helps to bring out the down-home feeling. 

Gail Thomas

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"Calico Garden Crib Quilt" (49" x 39") by Florence Peto,1950
Pieced appliqued and quilted cotton. 

Shelburne Museum permanent collection.

Photo courtesy Shelburne Museum. 

Today it's hard to realize how little quilt history was available before the influence of our early 20th century pioneer quilt historians. Florence Peto is one of the most influential figures active before 1960. Peto wasn't alone in her pursuit of quilt history at that time. Marie Webster preceded her and Carrie Hall, Rose Kretsinger, Dr. William Dunton, Ruth Finley, and Berthe Stenge, just to name a few other TQHF Honorees were each busy in her/his own sphere Each would eventually come in contact with Peto. Yet, Peto remains a unique voice in the quilt world from the 1930s-60s.

Taught by her New York Dutch grandmother to be a fine needlewoman at an early age, Florence Peto had a life-long interest in antique textiles in particular. Born in 1881 and married in 1900, her personal interest in textile research took on an added dimension as a result of her husband's position as a cotton converter and mill owner. Her access to his fabric sample books stirred her interest in dyes and printing methods, wetting her appetite for ever more knowledge. Her self-directed studies eventually led her to focus on quilts and for that the quilt world can be very grateful.

Photo by Karen Alexander

However, Peto didn't stop at just studying the fabric and pattern of the quilt. She went in search of the quilt's story. This is where the contacts she made through her lecturing often paid off. Peto believed that quilts were "cloth documents," and she wanted to know who, where, why and when about each quilt. Once she found a quilt, she interviewed family members and, when possible, sifted through archives, files, letters and even diaries to get the quilt maker's story. So great was her passion for these stories, her first book "Historic Quilts" (1939) focused on quilts for which she had personally gathered documentation.

Photo by Karen Alexander

Eventually becoming an excellent quilt maker herself and winning several contests, Peto's "Calico Garden" was selected in 1999 for inclusion in "The 20th Century's 100 Best American Quilts". Peto also wrote about quilts for the popular publications of the time — Antiques, American Home, Americana, Woman's Day, Hobbies, and McCall's, lectured widely, designed needlework kits and greatly influenced the quilt collecting of several museums. 

"Where Liberty Dwells" 1953 by Florence Peto.  Private collection.

Photo courtesy Shelburne Museum.

Contemporary readers of the earliest quilt history books (such as Webster, Finley and Peto) will note that today's modern quilt historians have corrected some of the misnomers of these early historians.  This in no way disparages their earlier work.  We simply correct it and build upon it as new information is uncovered and new understanding develops.

This brief article is but a thumbnail sketch of a very talented productive woman.  Surely Peto's life story presented in a full-length book with lots of photos is long overdue.  

Karen Alexander

Member of AQSG since 1981

Past President, The Quilters Hall of Fame

January 19, 2009

Want to know more? Publications of both the American Quilt Study Group and The Quilters Hall of Fame offer more history on Florence Peto. This brief article is but a thumbnail sketch of a very talented productive woman. Surely Peto's life story presented in a full-length book with lots of photos is long overdue.

Avery, Virginia. "Florence Peto-Renaissance Woman of Mid Century," Quilter's Newsletter, January 1980.

Avery, Virginia. "Florence Peto, Path Finder," Ladies Circle Patchwork Quilts, Summer 1983: Carter Houck, Editor.

Clem, Deborah. "Florence Peto," The Quilters Hall of Fame, Rosalind Webster Perry and Merikay Waldvogel, Editors(1984),pg. 125.Gross, Joyce "Florence Peto and Woman's Day," Quilters' Journal, Mill Valley, CA, Vol. 3, No. 2.__________ "Florence Peto," Quilters' Journal, Mill Valley, CA: Winter 1979, Vol. 2, No. 4.

Peto, Florence "American Quilts and Coverlets New York": Chanticleer Press, 1949.

_______ "Historic Quilts New York:" The American Historical Company, Inc., 1939.

_______ "The Crib-Size Quilt". Woman's Day, December 1951, pg. 72-75, 125-127.

______ "A Textile Discovery". Antiques Magazine, 1953, pg. 120-121.

Florence Peto letter to Elizabeth Richardson, March 19, (1951?): courtesy of Bets Ramsey.

Woodard, Thomas K. And Blanche Greenstein. "Twentieth Century Quilts: 1900-1950" New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, 1988.

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photo by Jeff Bilyeau

Designing fabric is fun - but challenging. I love working with various jump off points and then using Photoshop to see where it can lead. I'm experimenting with designs for my next round with Red Rooster (due out at Fall market and shipping Spring 2010). The designs you see here are manipulated from the designs I painted (nearest me). The one that looks solid (right) is not really solid - it is a textured design created from a photo of mud on the door of a truck. The stripe uses portions of all designs except the pebble-like design. My mug is in the photo so you could see the scale of print. No promises whether these will become actual fabric or not, but I'll keep you posted. What types of fabrics do you like? What do you think are the hottest colors these days?

Back to work - Ricky