A Day at the Wisconsin Quilt Museum

On a bright and breezy autumn day in early October, Norm and I took a little road trip to the Wisconsin Quilt Museum.  I wanted to catch the "Trends and Traditions" exhibit before it was due to close the following week.  

It included a number of beautiful quilts by Victoria Findlay Wolfe, and I didn't want to miss the chance to get up close and personal with her colorful and inspirational work.

Right off the bat, as we came through the main door of the quilt museum, these bright star quilts were there to greet us.

Summer of Stars by Victoria Findlay Wolfe

They were breathtaking!

True North by Victoria Findlay Wolfe

Close-up of quilting (by Shannon Baker) on True North by Victoria Findlay Wolfe

Quilters Play Manhattan by Victoria Findlay Wolfe

In the main part of the quilt museum were the remainder of the quilts for "Trends and Traditions."  These included awe-inspiring double wedding ring variation quilts by Victoria Findlay Wolfe, as well as traditional quilts by Mary McElwain, an important Walworth, Wisconsin quilt designer and quilt store owner from the early part of the twentieth century.  I'll cover those quilts in a separate post.  I loved that exhibit as well, and did equal ooh-ing and aah-ing over both the "trends" and "traditions" genres.

Double-Edged Love by Victoria Findlay Wolfe

Close-up of quilting (by Lisa Sipes) on Double-Edged Love

There were so many unique iterations of these quilts!

A Summer's Day by Victoria Findlay Wolfe

I loved this one (below) named Farm Girl.  The quilting on it, by Karen McTavish, was exquisite.

Farm Girl by Victoria Findlay Wolfe

Close-ups of quilting (by Karen McTavish) on Farm Girl by Victoria Findlay Wolfe

Iris By Night by Victoria Findlay Wolfe

A smaller quilt based on the same pattern, the name of which I forgot to note:

By Victoria Findlay Wolfe

A quilting closeup of another striking DWR quilt:

By Victoria Findlay Wolfe

The polyester quilt (below) pays homage to her grandmother Elda Wolfe's influence.  There were several of Elda's quilts on display as well, which illustrated the connection Victoria has to her quilting roots.

Retro Poly Mod by Victoria Findlay Wolfe

Who knew there could be so many interesting variations on a theme!

Leona by Victoria Findlay Wolfe

I really enjoyed this exhibit.  You can appreciate a quilt on a blog or in a book, but to see the colors and details in person is a wonderful experience. 

By Victoria Findlay Wolfe

As I mentioned, the traditional quilts on display were every bit as captivating! Stay tuned for those in part two of A Day at the Wisconsin Quilt Museum.