Stargazing at the Virginia Quilt Museum

Every exhibit at the Virginia Quilt Museum (www.vaquiltmuseum.org) brings visitors closer to understanding why quilts have been accepted as fine art.

Stargazing, the newest exhibit that opens today, is no exception.

Through Dec. 14, 2013 star motif quilts will be displayed. The galleries of the museumʼs antebellum house, located in historic downtown Harrisonburg, will be filled with quilts made by members of the American Quilt Study Group (www.americanquiltstudygroup.org). Also included are quilts from the museumʼs permanent collection, and modern quilts created by Roanokeʼs Star Quilters and Fredericksburgʼs Virginia Star Quilters guilds.

Twenty-five of the exhibited quilts are newly-made reproductions of antique quilts. American Quilt Study Group members made new quilts based on old quilts in museums and private collections. The artists admit they were challenged to use mathematical precision when drafting their pieces to fit the 50” size limit for the project. Remaking star quilts provided insight into the original quilterʼs skill in creating symmetry without the benefit of modern tools contemporary quilters take for granted.

Among this juried collection of star quilts is a pieced Bethlehem Star by Nancy Losee of Williamsburg,Va. She chose to reproduce a quilt from the textile collection at Colonial Williamsburg (http://emuseum.history.org/). Loseeʼs work as a volunteer in the conservation lab for Colonial Williamsburg gave her a chance to intimately study the old quiltʼs fabrics, colors and skill required as she worked for 13 months on its restoration. Redrafting the large Star for her study quilt took one month. “I found my thoughts drifting back to the original Virginia quilterʼs life,” Losee said, “and gained an appreciation for the meticulous piecing and enormous hours involved” in such an undertaking.

“Shadows of Dusk,” a quilt by Virginia designer Barbara Cline, is also on display. Clineʼs quilt is featured in her recent book of patterns, Diamond Chain Quilts. This quilt design uses graduated color values in the stars and diamond chains to create perspective and depth.

The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm. Group tour rates are available.