On Saturday, Mary and I visited the Virginia Quilt Museum in H-burg. We had driven down for lunch at Clementines and saw the museum nearby, so we took it in too. Here’s an official blurb from the web page:
“Located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, in the Historic Shenandoah Valley, the Virginia Quilt Museum opened in 1995. In the year 2000, the museum was designated "the official quilt museum of the Commonwealth" by the Virginia General Assembly and the building was given to the museum by the City of Harrisonburg.”
Mary was a curator at the National Building Museum and now teaches historic preservation at U of Md, so we are always interested in craftwork and history in the places we visit. What we found when we went inside the wonderful house the museum is in was a large sampling of quilts and antique sewing machines, many featured in the photos here.
The last photo shows a few little novelty quilts - they were designed and made to be used at craft shows - all featuring the message - "don't touch."
We chatted a bit with the staff member there and learned that the museum has nearly 300 quilts in their collection. We got a look at the archives and saw the work that goes into maintenance of these delicate items – very impressive. And about the history of the museum, and the challenges of operating such an important resource outside of a capital city.
It was well worth the stop – have to recommend this one to everybody. Link is http://www.vaquiltmuseum.org/
6 comments:
That sounds like a pretty cool place. One of my best friend's mother in San Francisco is a member of a quilting group. I'm sure she would enjoy that place a lot.
Very Americana.
(By the way, where were you last night for Rock-n-Roll Nite at Club Silberwangs?)
Brian,
The museum was a nice place to visit, just as you've imagined.
I am in Stoneville, NC for a few days for my grandmother's funeral. I signed on for a few minutes last night but the club was empty by that time.
Jim
Really beautiful work. Are they "modern" quilts (<50 yrs old) or older? Does Mary still have the quilts that she acquired before you were married?
Jim:
My condolences to your family. I am sorry to hear about your loss.
Best wishes.
Thanks, Brian, we've had a nice reunion down here in NC over the last few days remembering my grandmother. Back up on Hawksbill Cabin on Monday. Jim
"Mom and Dad" - I believe most of the collection is vintage >50 years, although there are some recent notable ones. Mary still has her quilts. One of the interesting parts of our visit there was a look at the archive room and a technical conversation about how the manage the collection - how many quilts is the right number, etc. Pretty cool stuff.
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