Museum Inspiration

Museums have always been a source of inspiration for Teri and me. We have been to many together; like our trip to the Lovely Lane Museum and the road trip we took to the Virginia Quilt Museum. Other times we have gone to them separately, such as the time Teri attended the crazy quilt exhibit at the Baltimore Museum of Art, or when I visited the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum just outside of Denver. Together or separately, both of us seek out inspiration in any museum we visit. Here in Europe, there are so many museums to choose from, and I know it will be hard to fit them all in; however, in the past two months, I have been able to visit two of the biggies: The Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Louvre in Paris. 

For this week's post, I thought I would share a photo log of the inspirational things in both museums that captured my attention. Hopefully you will find some inspiration as well!

The Victoria and Albert Museum

The detail of the flowers is stunning!

I fell in love with this coat!

Cotton or wool appliqué? Either would be beautiful.

Put a bird on it!

This cotton coverlet had so much in the way of
botanical inspiration.

This twill-weave bedcover in cotton and linen was made in India
for the European market, circa 1725-1750.

The vase was based on European engravings from the early 18th century.

The colors are still so vivid!

I can almost guarantee you will see this flower
in one of our future designs.

These chintz bonnets were so charming!

This Mughal rug from the mid 17th century has an inspiring floral design.

This Indian floorspread from the 1700s was made of cotton and was embroidered
with silk and metal-wrapped threads. I see some lovely appliqué flowers in this one.

Wouldn't this tile make a lovely medallion center?

English paper piecing anyone?

The vine is a lovely, curved, complement to the angles in the flowers.

Can you believe this gorgeous, appliqué wall hanging dates from the 1500s?
It is made of felted wool with silk appliqué.

I would have dearly loved to have seen a quilt exhibit at the Victoria and Albert museum, but alas, there was none. While we were not able to see the entire museum, my husband and I searched for at least one quilt. Can you guess who finally found it? My husband—the force is strong in this one! I was thrilled to say the least that he found the mother of all whole cloth quilts!

It was hard to get a good picture because, as you can see, the quilt is huge!
The quilt was made in Florence, Italy, between 1360 and 1400.

This quilt tells the story of King Tristan—a popular story in medieval, romance, literature.

In the quilt, there are 14 different stories of King Tristan's adventures.

I love this floral detail!

Such tiny stitching!

As we wrapped up our tour of the museum, we came across this appliquéd wall hanging.
Once again, Tristan makes an appearance with the story of his ill-fated love for Isolde.

The happy—or not so happy—couple

While this hanging looks to be quite worn, consider that it was likely created in the late 1300s.

The Louvre

Our trip to Paris and the Louvre was timed well, because if we had gone a week later, we would not have been able to visit the museum, due to widespread flooding in downtown Paris. This museum, by far, is my absolute favorite. Half a day was not nearly enough time to see everything, but that just means we will have to go again. We didn't see much in the way of textiles, but what we did see was inspirational nonetheless.

This Roman mosaic border would certainly make a lovely quilt border.

It boggles the mind that a sculptor could so stunningly create the look
of draped fabric out of stone.

I can already imagine recreating this ancient owl in wool and stitches.

Mere words can't describe the beauty of this ceiling!

The Winged Victory of Samothrace or the Winged Nike was one of my favorite sculptures.
It was amazing how the sculptor captured the look of a sheer garment out of stone. 

The artist captured a sweetness in the woman and
a slightly mischievous look in the child. 

The colors in this painting are still so vibrant, which is why it caught my eye.

What would this post be without pictures of two of the most famous, ladies in the Louvre—Venus and Mona. Many people said to lower our expectations in anticipation of seeing the Mona Lisa, so we were pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed viewing this painting.

The Venus de Milo

This lady needs no introduction.

I hope you have enjoyed this very small tour of two of the most famous museums in the world and the inspiration I found in each.  Whether it is a painting, sculpture, or ancient textile, all can inspire our stitching. Have you been to a museum that inspires you? We would love to hear about it!

The Beauty of New York Via Denver

As we had mentioned in previous posts, Teri and I have been traipsing around various parts of the country over the last six to eight months--sometimes together and sometimes not. This October, I had a chance to visit my daughter in Denver, Colorado. Denver in the fall is absolutely amazing, and we had wonderful weather to enjoy as we spent time together.

Sampling some of Denver's great beers

A gorgeous day at the downtown farmers market

When Kaitlin had to work, I planned a field trip for myself, doing some of my favorite things: looking at antique quilts, shopping in an antique mall, and visiting a new quilt shop. How convenient that I was able to do all three things within 30 miles of Denver. 

My first stop was the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum. The day I stopped by was the last day of the New York Beauty quilt exhibit, and it did not disappoint. The collection is owned by Bill Volckening, who began collecting quilts in 1989 and hasn't stopped yet. You can read more about Bill on his blog, Wonky World, and on his website, here.

Golden, Colorado, has a quaint little downtown, and the museum is situated right in the midst. I was warmly greeted at the door and paid my admission fee. While the museum is not very large, the $6 admission fee was reasonable, as they are able to beautifully display many quilts. 

The volunteer docent was kind, helpful, and a wealth of information about the current exhibit. I am not a very good piecer of quilts, so the tiny pieces used to make these quilts was impressive. It is amazing how one pattern can be interpreted in so many different ways. I will let these lovely quilts—and their makers' interpretations—speak for themselves.

This was my favorite

I could write more about the origin of the New York Beauty pattern, but this blog post has such great information, I thought I would direct you there. If you would like to see more of this collection and find out more information about each quilt, you can purchase the book New York Beauty Quilts from the Volckening Collection from Quiltmania here.

The next stop was the Brass Armadillo Antique Mall. This is a vast antique mall with so many aisles! I walked away with some vintage trim, but I really should have purchased these two gems.

Someone had quite the sense of humor when they stitched this.

A whole new look for trapunto

An interesting take on Grandmother's Flower Garden

A sweet doll quilt

This would not have fit in the overhead compartment

These would be beautiful additions to someone's chatelaine

The Victorians sure loved beautiful sewing tools!

The last stop on my field trip was Harriet's Treadle Arts in Wheatfield, Colorado. This is an amazing quilt shop, and should be a must-stop if you are in the area. They have a huge selection of reproduction fabrics, and that is just in one section!

The reproduction section

Some of these went home with me

The book section

A spacious classroom

I hope you have enjoyed this little field trip, and that someday you will be able to stop in to some of these places and enjoy them as much as I did. Have you been on a fun quilting field trip? Let us know, so that we and our readers can visit too!