Bulloch Hall 32nd Quilt Show - attic

This is the third and last post on the Bulloch Hall Quilt Show.  Please look at my two other posts if you have not seen the quilts yet.  After coming up the stairs to the attic and taking just a glance we could see that many exquisite quilts were hanging on the wall and other places and we would have to slowly look at each one.  (Please click on collage twice to enlarge.)

Below, top left is "Moon and Stars" by Dianne Cannestra, next to "Patriotic Star Sampler" by Linda Wirtz.  Lower left is "Macchiato Scraps" by Karen Gornall, next to "Underground Railroad" by Kayla McDavid who says "I did this for my senior project in high school."

Some quilts were hanging in the middle of the arttic.  The bluish quilt on the right below, no. 184 is called "Winter Reflections" by Patrick Cavigliano who says "I grew up in western New York State.  Lots of snow and good memories.  Fabric reminded me of my childhood."  It does look like all the winter scenes are seen through shelves or windows, with the three dimension illusion.

Quilt no. 166 "Familiar Expressions" by Pam Martin, did have some funny scenes like "Dog Days of summer" and "3 Dog Night."

Some of the quilts were not easy to photograph as they were hanging on a slight angle and there was not much room to photograph them.

In the collage below you can see part of the quilt I placed at the top of this post - it is no. 167 "Circle Illusion" by Betty Duff of Milford, Michigan, who says "I was intrigued with the sewing together of curves to achieve circles."  My husband found the orange-yellow quilt no. 183, below on the right, very attractive.  It might be because the quilter, Nancy Hutchison says "Scrappy ties include recycled fabrics from my husband's shirts."

The quilt on the bed looked comfortable, but the bed ... not really.  I liked the quilt hanging behind the bed, mostly in aqua and blue tones, no. 161 "Mixing Traditional with Contemporary" by Julie Bizzoso.

Another quilt near the bed was very intricate - no. 160 "Mountain Cabin" by Pam Martin.

I took time to look at the sunny view from the little window and also at the wood under the roof.  It does not look like there is any layer of insulation.  It could be what they call "double" roofing, with the insulation being above, maybe.

More beautiful quilts below.  Quilt no. 173, top right-hand side, by Karen Gornall is called "My Faux Pottery Barn."  She says "I saw this quilt in Pottery Barn's catalog - so I just made it."  Below, on the bottom right-hand side is quilt no. 177 "Count your Blessings" by Holly Anderson.  She says "This was a mystery quilt for the members of Sea Island Quilt Guild in Beaufort, South Carolina.  There are 52 pieces in each blog, not to mention the pieced sashing."

I took some close-up shots too.

Most of the quilts were tall and large but there were some lovely smaller ones as well, such as those below.  Quilt no. 187, top left, by Barbara Rotondi is called "Heartland Crossing" - she says "This quilt gets its name from the passage by wagon across the Heartland of America and the log cabins that were built after they staked out their land and settled."

You had to look closely at quilt no. 178 "Thanks for Alaska" by Diane Berdis, as there was much going on there.  She says "We saw this quilt in a quilt shop in Skagway, Alaska on a recent trip.  This is a kit purchased at that shop called "Quilt Alaska."  My husband fell in love with it."  I think anyone would love it too.

Then we walked downstairs and passed another quilt hanging on a door, and another one I had missed earlier.  Quilt no. 73 by Barbara Rotondi is called "At Mama's Knees."  She says "Title of quilt refers to a young girl's education during the 1800's when a girl would start sewing by hand by age 5, and start making quilts, samplers and clothing to be a good wife."  Quilt no. 55 "Lines at the Seashore" is by Liz Bauer.  It certainly reminds you of the colors close to the sea.

Then I remembered that I had to choose one of the quilts and write its number on my slip of paper.  As I went down the stairs I had seen a really stunning quilt in purple hues - purple being one of my favorite colors.  So I went back to get a closer look.  It is quilt no. 7A named "Together" by Zoe Palmer of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.  She says "Found these fabric strips in my stash of "To-do one day" - perfect for a wedding quilt to celebrate the love of my sister and her wife."  The more I looked at it, the more I liked it - it looked so lovely and peaceful.  So I voted for 7A.

Then we went out and saw two inviting rocking chairs - just waiting for us ... good to rest our feet for a while.

After our little rest we walked toward the Slave Cabin.  At the Gift Shop there was a brochure with the title "The topic of Slavery is a difficult one, ..." see below.  Inside they give information on the slaves from Bulloch Hall.  Daddy William was a coachman and butler.  Maum Charlotte was the housekeeper and ran the Bulloch household.  Daddy William and Maum Charlotte continued to live in Roswell after the end of the Civil War.  Daddy Luke Mounar was a literate slave and read to the mill work's children.  After the family left Bulloch Hall, Daddy Luke cared for the property and gave account about it in letters to Mrs. Bulloch.  In 1873 he inherited money from the family.  The Bulloch family supported him financially until his death at the age of 105.  Mittie Bulloch Roosevel, President Roosevelt's mother, would recall her childhood in Roswell for Teddy.  She and her siblings had often gone to the slave cabins to listen to stories such as B'rer Rabbit, B'rer Fox that the slave told them and she recounted them for her young son, Theodore.  Here she is below with Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., as a young boy.

My husband and I visited Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.'s birthplace home in New York City last November when we were in New York.  It is maintained by the National Park Service (I'll have a post on this in the future.)  Our guide told us "Mittie was considered a true southern belle who possessed great beauty, charm, and spirit.  It is believed that the character of Scarlett O'Hara in Margaret Mitchell's novel Gone with the Wind is partly based on her."  Because of all these childhood memories from his mother, President Roosevelt wished to visit his mother's girlhood home.  He was finally able to do so in October 1905.  Mammy Grace and Daddy William were there to greet him as you can see them in the picture below.

In early 20th century the slave buildings were destroyed by fire.  The dog-trot Slave Cabin has been reconstructed with living quarters and exhibits.  It is dedicated to their legacy.

My husband went then to sit on a bench and looked at some large bird flying above.  Could it be a falcon?

A large tree must have fallen down many years ago and was looking like a nice bench - that is where I went to sit.

As we were leaving Bulloch Hall a sweet Bluebird was chirping on the fence.

It was 2:30 pm then and we were ready for a late lunch.  I recalled that the French bakery Douceur de France had opened a second shop in Roswell.  We found it and they were still serving lunch.  I had my favorite - the Basque tartine, and my husband had a tuna salad sandwich.  We then shared a luscious looking chocolate pastry.

That cake was delicious and the perfect, sweet topping to a wonderful and warm day - by then it was 75 degree F (24 C.)

Bulloch Hall 32nd Quilt Show - second floor

This is a continuation of my post from last week on the quilt show at historic Bulloch Hall in Roswell, Georgia.  Last week I covered the ground floor.  Today it will be the basement and second floor.  I intended to only write one post about this show, but the quilts are so extraordinarily beautiful that I could not stop at just a few.  After slowing admiring all the quilts on the ground floor, we descended into the basement.  At the top of the stairs was quilt no. 59 by Mary Ruth McDonald called "Windows to the Past."

Exhibited in the basement were bags made in Hellenne Vermillion's workshop.  These are Sashiko Tote Bags.  Hellenne was born in Tokyo, Japan, and is an artist using oil painting, fiber art and silk dye painting.  She conducts Sashiko workshops in Atlanta.  (Click on collages twice to enlarge.)

Truthfully, I had never heard of "Sashiko" before so I researched it.  Sashiko  刺し子, literally "little stabs" or "little pieces" is an ancient fabric art form from Northern Japan.  There is no date for the start of sashiko but it could have had its beginning during the Edo era of Japan (1615-1868.)  It was originally used to reinforce points of wear or to repair worn or torn areas in fabric.  The designs usually came from nature, such as water, clouds, birds and flowers.  Designs could also have geometric form, such as squares, triangles, circles, straight and curves lines, etc.  From being a repairing technique on worn clothing it has evolved into a decorative technique.  As with traditional quilts, the variety of sashiko designs is endless.

 White cotton thread on indigo cloth is traditional, but other colors can be used in modern sashiko designs.  Sashiko can be made into quilts, pin cushions, pillows, table runners, tote bags and more.

There are several books on sashiko and even some YouTube videos explaining the technique on the Internet.  I have many pairs of old jeans and chambray shirts that I was going to give away or throw away.  Now I can cut the best parts of the fabric and start working on some sashiko of my own.  I like that you can even sashiko stitch on the fabric with the sewing machine.

As we came back upstairs to the ground floor a colorful quilt was hanging on the door - no. 58 "Give the Dog a Bone" by Ben Hollingsworth.  The brochure states that "This 'quilt' is a tongue-in-cheek green quilt made from mylar doggie treat bags sewn together.  The back is the mylar used in floral arrangements.  The batting is made from plastic grocery bags that are sandwiched between layers of mesh vegetable bags."  Pretty campy!  

There were quilts hanging on the walls as we went to the second floor.  I liked no. 94 "Josh's Wolves" by Jackie Collopy.  She says that her grandson Josh loves wolves.  He is her 5th grandson and this is his high school graduation quilt.  I took a close picture of the wolf.

Another original quilt hanging in the staircase was quilt no. 92 "Tinseltown Meets Chattahoochee" by Maxine Moore.  It was a guild challenge - making 15 stars using 15 different fabrics.  Maxine says that she interpreted this to include her love of movies and Hollywood.

When I saw this quilt I straight away thought about my friend Naomi in Hollywood of the blog Here in the Hills.  Naomi has been in theater art and show business for decades and regales us with reminiscences and stories on her blog.  Lately she was a judge on Oscar's movies and predicted the top movie winners with 100% accuracy - go to her blog if you do not know it yet.

There were some Christmas themed quilts in one of the bedrooms.

On the wall quilt no. 111 "Winter Socks" by Barbara Means is quite cheerful.

Quilt no. 112 "Christmas Cabins Table runner" by Helga Diggelmann would be a great addition to a lovely dinner table at Christmas time - I like its smooth design.

Upon entering Mittie's Bedroom I was drawn to the chimney where an impressionist style quilt was hanging - no. 129 by Jan Antranikian called "Seasonal Snippets."

On the walls were more lovely quilts.  Little spot lights near the quilts were a bit close and bringing too much light for my picture taking as you can see in the two quilts at the bottom below.  Holly Anderson in quilt no. 133 "Heritage Baskets" in the lower left side, used 3 basket sizes to create a ripple effect.  She says that colors were inspired by Amish and Mennonite quilts of Ohio.  The quilt is titled in honor of her paternal grandfather who was born on a Mennonite farm in Holmes County, Ohio.

A low chest under the window was covered with quilt no. 126 "Cross Roads" by Patricia Ann Simone who says "It's recycled - it's reused - and it's repurposed! Love Grama!" I took a close-up of it as I have been keeping all my husband's ties since the 1960s and, if ever I start a quilt, I could use his ties in this pattern.

There was a truly splendid quilt on the wall near the window but difficult to photograph.  I took a closer photo of the roses - please note all the fancy stitching.  On the door was hanging quilt no. 122 "After the Rain" by Joy Collins featuring luminous roses.  She says "Walking through my English Garden following a spring shower inspired this quilt.  The rain gave a mysterious shine to every flower and leaf.  Even the birds and butterflies capture the glow."  A beauty!

Returning into the hall, angels quilts welcomed us into the Sewing Room.

The Sewing Room is not very large but it had some spectacular quilts.  Quilt no. 146 "Cobblestones" by Katy King was covering a table, and with a bouquet of flowers on it, it made for a striking picture.  It is at the top of this post.  Behind it was quilt no. 143 "Delectable Mountains" by Alberta Irwin.  This was one of my husband's favorites - I guess because of its handsome non-nonsense good looks - no fussy frou-frou.

There were still some historic Bulloch Hall exhibits left in the Wing Room but some quilts were hanging there, too.

Quilt no. 152 by Helga Deggelmann is called "Detour."  She says "Patience is required for this one!"  With the myriad of multicolor squares, I am sure that patience and technique were involved.  Quilt no. 150 "Dreaming in Crimson" by Diane Knott required some patient attention as well.

When I returned to the hall I saw something that I longed for.  You can see it near the cabinet with the family pictures on the shelves ... yes - a chair!  certainly a nice place to sit in after all this standing.  While in this chair I looked at the quilt on top of the opposite piece of furniture, quilt no. 103 "Fire and Ice" by Barbara Rotondi.  Looking at it closely it seems that this quilt could be executed with yarn and knitting instead of quilting, don't you think so?  (click on collage to embiggen.)

Then I went to look at a beautiful quilt spread on top of a low chest, quilt no. 96 "Star and Stripes Forever" by Diane Berdis with a "Please do not sit" sign - but I was rested by then.  There were more quilts hanging from the walls.

There was a dazzling star quilt on the door leading to the attic.  Quilt no. 104 by Lisa Walker "Fireworks at the Capital."  She says "I made this little quilt for the bicentennial while living in Washington, D.C.  We have many happy memories of July 4th at the Capital."   I think it is a good way to end this visit to the second floor - with fireworks!

More quilts to come in my next and final post on the Bulloch Hall quilt show ...

Bulloch Hall 32nd Quilt Show - Ground Floor

Last Tuesday, March 11, 2014, started as a very sunny day.  We were pleased as we had scheduled to go to Roswell, Georgia, to look at the 32nd annual quilt show in Bulloch Hall.  We had been there last year and thoroughly enjoyed our visit.  I wrote three posts on the show, starting with A Quilt Show at Bulloch Hall - Ground Floor on March 18, 2013, then posts here and here.  We bought our tickets in the gift shop and walked to Bulloch Hall which looked gorgeous in the sun with daffodils in bloom around the front lawn.

In addition to the quilt shows we had visited Bulloch Hall before, during the Christmas season in December 2010 and again in 2012.  I wrote posts about each visit.  As I had mentioned then Bulloch Hall, which belongs to the city of Roswell now, was the childhood home of Mittie Bulloch who married Theodore Roosevelt in the dining room of the house in 1853.  Her son Teddy Roosevelt became the 26th president of the United States.  Her other son, Elliott, was the father of Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt.  The home was built in 1839 on 10 acres of land by Major James Stephens Bulloch, an early settler in Roswell.  Bulloch Hall is the home of the annual Great American Cover-up Quilt Show.  We visited there for more than two hours and when we left it was 78 degrees F outside (25 C.)  It was difficult not to take too many pictures of the antebellum mansion or the quilts.  (Click on collages twice to enlarge.)

This year the exhibit is taking place March 8 through 16, 2014, with more than 200 quilts mostly made by local artists.  Quilts old and new, contemporary and antique are displayed throughout this historic house.  The theme for the 2014 show is "Reflections."  Marie Wood, co-chair of the event said "It could be reflections of the past, reflections of an image in a mirror or water, or simply reflecting angles in a pattern, whatever the personal interpretation."  As we entered the home we were greeted by two large quilts hanging in the front hall.  Quilt no. 1 is called "Kimono" by Ann Quandee.  Ann was there and told us that the kimono pieces had been pieced and appliqued by a friend and given to her for a quilt.  Quilt no. 2 is called "Garden Song" by Carol York.

We wandered around in the front hall and back hall.

At the end of the hall a tall quilt included many flowers.  Its name was "Shine on Mrs. Willie B. Brown" by Elisa Wood.  The brochure stated "The embroidered blocks were made by Mrs. Willie B. Reed Brown of Memphis, Tennessee.  She started hand embroidering the 50 state flowers in the 1950s.  In 2013 she turned 101 years old and her blocks live on.  Peace!"

At the entrance of the exhibit we were given a small slip of paper to write the number of our favorite quilt - an impossible task!  Here is one below I really liked before I even knew what it was called.  It is called "Road Trip" by Wendy Blanton.  She says "Road trip is made of hand-sewn 3" blocks with 70 pieces in each block.  Each block was pieced as my husband and I traveled the roads around our great country."

With such a splendid display of quilts in a great variety of sizes and designs, choosing a favorite will be a very hard task indeed.

I followed my husband into the Warming Room.

The quilt below, no. 21 is "Everything Old is New Again" by Ben Hollingsworth.  He said "The quilt is made using all wool clothing purchased by my wife at thrift stores ... each item in the piece represents a way of life in a simple place and time."  The bright piece in the center is "Colores de Mexico" by Ellen Apte who says "The fabric photos are from a trip I took to Ajijic, Mexico.  It is embellished with Guatemalan worry dolls."

Some quilts had received ribbons.  Quilt no. 49 by Patsy Eckman is entitled "Reflection of Sunset on the Zambezi."  "This small quilt brings back memories of an evening boat trip on the Zambezi River in Zambia, Africa."   No. 50 by Nancy French is called "Gerry's Passion."  "This quilt commemorates our friend and guild member Gerry Largay, who was lost on the Appalachian Trail in July 2013."  It represents a sunset seen while backpacking to the top of Mt. LeConte in the Great Smoky Mountains in 2012."  (Gerry has not been found yet.)

Going back in the hall toward the dining room I passed more lovely quilts, such as the one at the top of my post, no. 29 "Bunch of Beauty" by Altan Altikulac, who was there and told me that the paisley yellow fabric in the center of her flower was decades old.  No. 85 "Hearts and Hands" by Penny Menefee took her ten years to complete.

A table topper on the dining room table was outstanding.  No. 17 by Diane Berdis is called "East is East."  If I ever quilted, this is what I would like to do - a small quilted table topper.

I feel that the period furniture in the historic home adds elegance and atmosphere to the handmade quilts.  The dazzling colors of the quilts give the old home an emotional aura full of warmth.  While in the dining room I took a picture toward the front parlor but then remembered that photos were not allowed inside the parlor and stopped.  I did visit the parlor and was in awe of the artistic quilts shown there.  Mrs. Karen Reese Tunnell was the Special Exhibit Artist featured this year and I am sorry I cannot show her work.  She specialized in hydro-printing (marbling) fabrics.  She has taught and practiced quilting and surface design for 40 years and teaches her art in two schools, one in Brasstown, NC and the other in Gatlinburg, TN.

In the Informal Hall I liked the quilt "Life is a Beach" by Karen Gornall.  It would look perfect in a teenager's bedroom.

In the Master Bedroom, the star quilt over the chimney was striking - no. 80 by Linda Wirtz called "25 Charmed Stars Salute."

There were other intricate quilts in this room, such as no. 77 "Your Petticoat is Showing" by Vanessa Howell Brown.  She used Civil War fabrics and added lace to the dress forms creating the petticoat that women wore before the turn of the century.  The colors of quilt no. 79 "A Quilt for Katherine" by Margaret Betz are very harmonious.

Four large quilts needed closer attention.

No. 78 "Erin's Wedding Quilt" by Beth Garrison Culp was covering the bed.  She says "I have worked on this quilt off and on for approximately 20 years."

Walking into the Library my eyes were drawn to both the Victorian settee and marble table.  No. 89 "Log cabin - Barn raising setting" by Holly Anderson is a foundation pieced 1/2 logs of silk.  This quilt was made circa 1900 by an unknown quilter.  Table topper No. 90 "Fall in the Great Smoky Mountains" by Pam Martin was made upon returning from the mountains.

Two guild members were present in the Library, one member was quilting and the other selling raffle tickets for a large blue and white quilt.

We returned to the main hall to continue our visit.  As we passed a couple of doors I took some quick photos with my cell phone of two wall hangings.  Quilt no. 7 "Tea Ceremony Geisha" is by Lisa Kaupp and is one of the few quilts for sale.

The other quilt, no. 20 "Dragonfly" is by Karne Gornall.  I thought that its striking design and colors would lend itself to my "waterlogue" watercolor treatment, which I did when I returned home.

More quilts to come in my next post ...