The New England Quilt Museum is a showplace for antique and contemporary quilts. Four to five exhibitions a year, classes, family activities, and historical lectures let you learn about this distinctive American art form. The museum is located in the heart of downtown Lowell’s historic district.
Located in the lobby/gift shop we were met with a sign that clearly read “Do not touch” but ooooooooh how I wanted to!
We were fortunate in that Tomie Nagano was exhibiting select quilts from her collection shortly after we arrived at the museum. All of her quilts are sewn by hand and each piece began its life as part of a traditional Japanese kimono.
The majority of her quilts used indigo dyed fabric. Her quilts were even more beautiful in person. She told us that she used to piece for 15 hours each day. Now that she’s a bit older, she typically pieces for only 4 hours each day.
My favorite Tomie Nagano quilt in the exhibit!
The name/theme of the exhibit was “Mother’s Memory”. Tomie shared that each of the fabrics in the quilt above was from her mother’s undergarments. Japanese women wear a separate “dress” under their kimonos.
What is it about a Log Cabin quilt? Simply constructed but so versatile in terms of design. What a beautiful exhibit!
And yet another exhibit! Several of the quilts from SAQA’s Sustainability exhibit were available for viewing as well.
A bit of relatively useless info….the building housing the New England Quilt Museum started its life as a bank. The docent who talked with us told us she considers one of her duties to be ensuring it NO LONGER looks like a bank.
The trip to the New England Quilt Museum was marvelous from beginning to end. Thank you, Bev Stebbins of CPQG, for arranging this trip for us and for all your hard work behind the scenes. The bingo games on the bus were a lot of fun…lots of laughing, talking and clapping on this trip!