Paris Hill, Maine - Museum Quilt

A week or two ago, Sue from the blog I Sew Quilts posted about her trip to Maine, and how she had not been able to visit the museum on Paris Hill.  There is a quilt on display, the Paris Hill Friendship Quilt, and she had heard about it, and seen it on the web, but didn't get the opportunity to see it in person.

Well........

.....that museum is about 20 minutes from me!  Woohoo!

So last Saturday, I went......with camera in hand!  :o)

From the museum website:.....The quilt consists of 61 complete squares, each approximately 11 1/2" square, set "on point" surrounded with 20 half-square triangles and 4 quarter-square triangles and measures 101" x 101". It is particularly interesting because each square was finished individually with narrow binding and then the finished squares were sewn together. The quilting is expertly done with tiny stitches. 

The quilt was made in 1848, in the pot-holder style of quilt making.  Pam Weeks, the curator of the Lowell Quilt Museum, in Massachusetts, has researched and written about this uniquely-Maine style of quilt assembly, and the museum lady told me that Pam has been to the museum, studied the quilt and related papers and photos, and it could be included in a future book!  Nice!

Check out the museum's website for more details about the quilt.....Hamlin Memorial Museum.

The museum lady and I were the only two in the place (it's also the town library on the first floor), so she went with me upstairs to where the quilt is on display.  She went under the rope, and got on her white gloves, and I asked if pictures were allowed.  She said yes, so I started to take a few pictures.  Then I said, "Do you mind if I get in there with you to get closer pics?" and before she had a chance to say no, I was under the rope, and clicking away!  HA!  I assured her I wouldn't touch the quilt, and through my conversation with her, she realized I knew about antiques quilts and their care, so I think she was ok with me so close.

She held up the corners that were laying behind the trunk that it is displayed over, but did not show me the entire quilt (dang!).  And she was a bit wobbly, so some are blurred.  But she said that they put the quilt away in the winter, and display it again in the spring, and always with a different section showing up front.  So I guess I'll be making several trips back to see it!  And maybe get better pics then, too!  :o)

After finishing taking the pics, I turned to get back under the rope, and that's when I saw a mock up of the quilt on a chair.  It is made with photos of each block, then cut and pasted into place, then plastic coated to preserve it, with codes corresponding to the pages in a notebook detailing the info on each block.  I asked if I could take pictures of this mock-up, and she said yes!  Yippee!  Some of the blocks are a bit blurred, but it gives you an idea of what each block looks like.

The lighting in the museum is awful, and there are shadows on everything.......but the pics aren't too bad.

FYI.......if you right-click on a picture, then choose 'Open Link in New Tab', then click on it in the tab line, you'll get a closeup pic, and if there's a + in the magnifying glass, you can click it again and get even closer!  Then you can really see the detail in pics.  Just letting you know, in case you didn't!  :o)

Enjoy!

The mock-up of block photos.

Close ups of the mockup.

Great fabrics!

This block had a name embroidered in the center stitched with human hair.  Just quilting and the name.

Isn't the hand writing on this block lovely?  And to think they didn't have freezer paper stabilizer!  Done with a quill pen!  Cripes!

The quilting on this beautiful block was perfection!

 Close up of the pot holder style joins.

Hubby got home yesterday from his 3 weeks in CA, de-hoarding his mother's house.  It was an awful job, and 2 of his 4 brothers were no help at all!  (Family!  Sheesh!)  Over the 4-day Labor Day weekend, they had a huge yard sale, and managed to make $4,000.  Most of the stuff is gone, and they will be turning the house over to a reconstruction/realty company, that will gut it, make all the necessary improvements, and then sell it for them.  Whew!  By the end of the year, it should all be done!

Needless to say, John is very happy to be home!  I am, too!  :o)

And as of Wednesday, I've put up 100 pints of green beans!  Holy cow!!!!  lol

I think the canning is nearly over!  Whew!

Now I can enjoy this crisp, cooler Autumn weather!  Yay!  My favorite season!  :o)

regan