Category Archives: Collections

Sites worth bookmarking: International Quilt Study Center

  By sharonb | June 14, 2011 - 9:00 pm | , , ,
4 Comments

The International Quilt Study Center and Museum, University of Nebraska-Lincoln is a site that not enough quilters know about.

The collection houses the largest publicly held quilt collection in the world. also their holdings are not limited to just American quilts as there are over 3500 quilts that range from from the early 1700s to the present and more than 25 countries are represented.

The online data base is easy to use and if type in a key word of crazy quilt there are enough returns to keep you browsing over your lunch hour.

 

Sites worth exploring: The Boston Museum of Art

  By sharonb | September 22, 2010 - 9:19 pm | , , , , ,
2 Comments

I have been browsing the museum sites again and rediscovered the Boston Museum of Art site. One of the gems I found is a pattern book in the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau style.

Eugène Grasset (1841-1917) was a Paris-based designer who in 1897 produced a classic book on pattern and design.  Plants and Their Application to Ornament is a type of model book. Illustrations of plant-based design motifs are sure to delight readers here.

The Boston Museum of Art has individual plates from the book available online. Since these plates are 800 x 800 pixels you can see  these beautifully drawn illustrations without eyestrain!

History of a Colour Cochineal Red

  By sharonb | July 6, 2010 - 8:20 pm | , ,
4 Comments

The Metmuseum  has produced a series of YouTube videos in a series of lectures under the title of “Sunday at the Met” 

Cochineal produces a red crimson dye.  Elena Phipp, Textile historian takes us through its history via the textile collection at the Metropolitan Museum. 

The story starting off with the history of red as a colour and following the history of dyes stuff around the globe you can easily listen and stitch to Cochineal Red: The Art History of a Colour (that is what I did ) so settle back and hear a very interesting well researched lecture on the history of this dyestuff.

Two online exhibits not to miss

  By sharonb | May 18, 2010 - 8:35 pm | , , , ,
1 Comment

screenshot of websiteA bit of favourites tidy up led me to this interesting website.

This collection of Embroidery from Boston is exhibited at The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA).

There are a few band samplers in the collection so if you have been following the regular series about my band sampler and it has created a little interest you may wish to browse this site.

(Please note Flash must be installed in your browser to view it)

The next exhibit I have recently stumbled across was found via this piece on YouTube.

I think YouTube is a great way to  promote an exhibition in this case it is highlighting the pieces in American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity which is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

You can learn more about American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity here