Barn Quilt Trails of North America (Kentucky)

Whenever I visit Kentucky, I am struck by the beautiful "painted quilts" that can be seen featured on barns that sit along the smaller highways.  More of these quilt murals can be seen on city businesses, the lovely colorful tributes to handmade crafts and Appalachian culture providing an interesting contrast to the colonial architecture of the area.  If you often drive on country roads through mainland U.S. or Canada, you may have seen these so-called "Barn Quilts."  They are large square pieces of  wood or metal that have been painted to resemble a traditional quilt block.  A few are more ambitious, and incorporate tiny blocks or try to create the illusion of flowing drapery, but most of the ones that I have seen were simple, beautiful, brightly-painted blocks that are easy to see at a distance.  Some lovely examples of the different kinds of Barn Quilts can be found here.

The “Quilt Trail” tradition is believed to have begun in Ohio in 2001, with a set of 20 quilts along a trail. A woman named Donna Sue Groves wanted to find a unique way to celebrate her mother and her Appalachian roots, and worked with several committees to create the first official route of painted quilts. She ended up starting a tradition that spread throughout North America.   Many of these Quilt Trails are now sponsored by entire communities, or by arts-based organizations.  For just two examples, here are the lovely websites dedicated to the "Quilt Trails" of McDowell County, North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina.

You can read a little more about the history of Barn Quilts on Wikipedia, although it looks like there are some disagreements between websites about the origin of the trails, and about just how many states feature Quilt Trails at this point.  There are also links to some lovely maps that have been made that incorporate barn quilt thumbnails if you wish to design your own Quilt Trail Tour.   The set of maps that I've found is from 2011, but there are probably more recent maps available.  Here is the map for the Barn Quilts in Madison County, KY, which is where I was visiting. 

Here are some photographs of the Barn Quilts that I was able to see while I was in Madison County (apologies for the darker images):

On Barns:

 

That same barn, close up:

Painted quilts on local businesses:

 

 Some musicians playing in front of the gallery during a "First Friday" event:

 And this one looks like a pixelated weaving draft:

It's fun to drive around and find these painted quilts.  It's sort of like an Easter Egg hunt on a country drive.  And I think it encourages me to look at familiar crafts and techniques as inspiration for a wide range of media.  Don't you want to paint quilt blocks or turn textile patterns into stationery now?

Patchwork & Mending as Art in Japan: Wabi-Sabi, Kintsugi, & Sashiko

A lot of classic Western aesthetics seem to focus on perfection and the hiding of any natural imperfection behind a mask—ladies in magazines are airbrushed beyond recognition, and art restoration is as subtle and camouflaged as possible.  When restoring a painting, sculpture, or textile, the colors used are neutral or are matched as closely as possible to the artist’s original color palette.  In contrast, the Japanese techniques of “Kintsugi” and “Sashiko” place the damaged areas front and center, turning the repair from a “flaw” into a “feature.”

WABI-SABI

I always though that the Japanese aesthetic of “Wabi-Sabi” was an interesting contrast to the modern, sleek, perfect Japanese visuals that most of us see and think of as quintessentially “Japanese.”  “Wabi-Sabi” looks at the beauty and significance in imperfection, irregularity, or impermanence.  “Wabi” refers to the loneliness and simplicity of living in nature, while “sabi” refers to the withered or rusted, and the beauty and peace that come from age.  Together, they draw the eye to the simple, quiet, understated qualities of life, aging, and impermanence.  In wabi-sabi, an artist is understood to be limited by materials and technology, and general wear and tear are accepted as a natural result of life and function.  Any evidence of that erosion, or repairs to that damage, are highlighted as a focal point of beauty or meditation.  As an example, prized cups for tea ceremonies, while skillfully-made, are often more rough-looking, and may be deliberately chipped.  These mugs are also painted with glazes that by nature change color with repeated exposure to hot water.

I feel that this aesthetic of wabi-sabi is directly related to the gorgeous practices of Kintsugi and Sashiko.

KINTSUGI

Practiced since the 15^th century, “Kintsugi” (“Golden Joinery”), or “Kintsukuroi” (“Golden Repair”), was a popular Japanese artistic technique that was used to repair valuable china.  A lacquer resin would be mixed with a powdered precious metal like silver, gold, or platinum.  This metallic mixture would then be used to fill in and re-join the ceramic shards of the broken piece.  If a large shard were missing, the area could be filled in with the gold lacquer or a shard from a completely different piece (the ceramic equivalent of a patch).  The resulting piece would be a newly-functional bowl or cup with gleaming seams of gold or silver radiating through it.

The effect was so beautiful that kintsugi pieces were used in tea ceremonies and were collected as works of art—some ceramic collectors were accused of deliberately smashing their ceramics in order to increase their collections!

SASHIKO

Sashiko is a textile technique that developed around the 17^th century in the Japanese working class.  Patchwork was used to repair, strengthen, and insulate clothing, and the use of contrasting threads and fabrics created a strong visual effect.  Potential brides were judged on their sashiko abilities, and firemen wore wet, sashiko-quilted robes for protection when fighting fires. 

Many fabrics and colors are used in sashiko embroidery now, but the classic look was usually of a white thread outlining a dark blue, indigo-dyed patch--indigo at the time was a readily available, long-lasting dye, and was used as a repellant.  A running stitch was used to create the bright, dotted lines around the edges of the patches, as well as the embroidered designs featured on some patches.  Sashiko is most associated now with white-on-blue embroidery that features flowers, animals, and beautiful geometric patterns, but red thread was also occasionally used for some traditional ceremonial pieces.

For some lovely examples of Kintsugi and Sashiko, check out these great google images.

TRAPUNTO

Have you ever heard of “Stuffed Quilting,” “Corded Quilting,” or “White Work”?  When people describe this type of quilt-work, they are usually referring to the technique known as “Trapunto.”

Pronounced “trah-poon-toh,” the word “Trapunto” originates from the Latin and Italian word “trapungere.”  In Latin this word originates from “tra/trans” and “pungere,” and means “to prick through,” while in modern Italian, “trapungere” means “to embroider.”  “Trapunto” as a term was only adopted around 1920, but the technique of stuffing an image into quilting goes all the way back to Italy in the 1300’s.  This style of quilting can also be seen in many textiles from Tudor England (1485-1550A.D.), and from France in the 1600’s.

Trapunto employs a basic running quilting stitch to create a design or image in a solid piece of fabric.  Picture a dotted line of thread that sandwiches layers of fabric and quilt padding together.  By controlling the proximity of these stitched rows, you can control the relative thickness of your quilt.  For example, by grouping several rows of stitching together, the quilter compresses the quilt padding and creates a flat background.  Wider-spaced rows of stitching allow the middle layer of padding to expand, for a slightly fuller look. 

Featured designs or images are then given even more volume by adding stuffing or cord to the filler layer, in small, controlled pockets.  The result is a pillow-y image made up of tiny half-spheres and ridged lines.  This manipulation of volume with additional filler material is why Trapunto is often referred to as “stuffed quilting.”

Many fabrics have been used to create this classic quilted clothing and bedding effect, but Trapunto is traditionally known for using solid, white fabric.  The shadows on the bright, light-reflecting surface help the eye to see the intricate designs and relief-work of these amazing pieces.

My white work sample, which used quilt filler, stuffing, and cord, in its glorious, haphazard entirety:

In my next sample, I have drawn in the stitches on the front side, to make them easier for you to see.  In this example, additional fabric is only used to create the stuffing pockets that comprise the rabbit, rather than an entire backing:

A less traditional technique, also used with Trapunto, is to quilt a semi-sheer fabric like silk or rayon over a bright fabric or yarn.  By controlling where the color shows through, the quilter can create a striking 2-D image.

In the first example of this method, bright fabric is used as the backing.  Again, I've drawn over the stitches to help you see them.

The areas that are stuffed become white, creating a negative image of an eye:

In the second example of this kind, a sheer fabric is stitched to a bright backing.  Brightly-colored yarn is sewn between the layers, to create an accent design:

When you turn it over, the bright colors have become subtle.  The purple oval is lightly stuffed but distinct from the equally colorful red background.  In contrast, the purple triangle has been stitched between two semi-sheer, white layers (both on top of the red fabric), to make the red background even more subtle:

 

MUSEUMS
If you would like to see more traditional (and complex!) examples of Trapunto, many textile museums have samples and images of beautiful pieces that can be seen in person or online.

 

Below, I have placed the links for 3 lovely examples:

1.  Popular quilt images often included fruit and plants.  A great example of this can be seen in this flower-filled basket detail, from a quilt made by Orella Keeler in the early 1800's.  This quilt is in the collection of the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum. 

2.  Other stuffed-work quilters ambitiously decided to depict specific scenes  from life or literature.  the Russellville Fair Quilt, made by Virginia Ivy between 1856 and 1857, shows various people, animals, and buggies at a county fair, and is in the collection at the National Museum of American History (you can zoom in to examine various details).

3.  Two of the most famous examples of stuffed white work are also amongst the oldest preserved quilts.  The "Tristan and Isolde Quilts," also called the “Guicciardini Quilts,” are believed to have been made in Sicily sometime between 1360 and 1400, and depict a variety of images from the historically popular epic of “Tristan and Iseult.” 

These quilts are thought to have been part of  a group of three quilts originally.  One, called the “Tristan Quilt,” the “Tristan and Isolde Quilt,” or the ”Guicciardini Quilt,” is on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England.  The second quilt (the “Guicciardini Coverlet,” or “Usella Coverlet”), as well as a duplicate of the quilt in England, are on display at the Bargello Palace, Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence, Italy.  The third quilt is believed to be in a private collection.  I could not find a link to the quilt at the Bargello, but I did find this interesting blog piece on the making of the duplicates Tristan quilts in Italy, which includes some helpful links.  For more information on the scenes and symbols in the quilts, you can view this helpful Wikipedia article.

As with any other technique, trapunto can be used for as simple or as complex a design as you wish, and can add a striking element to your piece.  Why not try incorporating a little stuffed work into your next project?