Last month Connie and I went to Lincoln, NE to the International Quilt Museum combined with an event in Omaha the following day. We also visited several quilt shops – we “needed” fabric – ha ha! Here’s our shopping show and tell from the hotel.
One of the collections on display was Bill Volckening’s double knit scrap quilts from the ’70’s. These quilts were pieced better than you might have thought possible for a stretchy knit fabric. And some were just so ugly. Bill had real vision when he snatched up these quilts! I remember jokingly telling a friend 30 years ago to burn her mother’s double knit pants suits instead of trying to sew with them. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Ha! This quilt was my favorite.
This one was simply the homeliest quilt on display.
Two more. They look very modern, don’t they?
This one was the most amazing – it laid quite flat and the edge was pretty straight yet it was completely pieced of triangles cut from stretchy double knit.
The next collection was Sacred Scraps from the “stan” countries like Khurzistan and the others around it. (I’m writing this from memory so apologize for misspelling.). The piecing was crude but tiny and nothing was wasted. Ikat fabrics were predominant. The book was sold out in the gift shop so my knowledge is limited but the collection was breathtaking.
Childrens’ cover-ups were popular.
Red and black were the predominant colors.
There were two other collections of art quilts that were simply too modern and “off the wall” for me to fully appreciate. These two quilts were in a hallway and I loved them.
Upstairs with the display of doll beds was this great chair upholstered with a quilt – simply wonderful – in my eyes.
On our way to Omaha the next day we had plenty of time to kill at an antique mall where I picked up a couple of real treasures which I’ll save for another day. We attended an afternoon Jubilee of Religious Vows for Sr. Carol Tlach who was celebrating 50 years as a nun. Carol grew up on the farm across the road from me and returns to visit her brother and stays here with Rick and me. It was a moving mass and lovely reception for 8 Notre Dame Sisters, one for 70 years, 3 for 60 years and 4 for 50 years.
Sr. Carol and me.
What a fun adventure – fun fabrics and interesting quilts. The picture of you and Sister Carol is delightful both of you so happy to be together!!
HAHAHA!!! Love the knit quilts – we have many in our family from the 60’s and 70’s. My grandmother thought poly double knit was the best thing since sliced bread and I wouldn’t take anything for them!!
What a fun time you had!!! And that is a great photo of you and Sr. Carol!
I live in Omaha & worked at the BIG quilt shop here for many years! So glad you had a fun time! You deserve it!
I LOVE that you were there for her 50 anniversary as a nun and I am sure it meant a LOT to her as well.
They work so VERY hard and receive nothing in recognition for the work except kindness and God’s Love. Bless her for giving of herself.
Glad you made some pleasant memories you deserve to do so.
Isn’t the quilt museum wonderful!? Sounds like it was a great trip!
Gosh, Carol Tlach sounds so familiar to me…I graduated in 1966….she must have been near me in school. I cannot imagine sewing with knits unless I’d back it with something. Interesting. Love that chair…but I’m wondering if the quilting threads would break after a while.
What a fun day!! Sister Carol”s 50th anniversary and the others sound great. I love the pictures of your Show and Tell purchases, the double knit quilts, and the gorgeous “Sacred Scraps” quilts. My Nana’s friend made double knit quilts for our two kids because my Nana died before I was married. The kids loved those quilts and they will NEVER wear out. I love them because my Nana’s friend made them. I still have them.:) Nice memories, Mary.
beautiful pic of you. Ox
Did you visit the Cosmic Cow Quilt Shop in Lincoln?
Ginny – I LOVED it!!
I LOVE The Cosmic Cow……I go there every time get back to Lincoln and I visit The Vickeridge on the corner, too!
Lorna – what’s Vickeridge?
I hope you went to Modern Quilter in Omaha. Cool stuff there!
Mary – we sure did – very fun!
Our youngest son lives nearby so I like to go there. Any chance you did The Quilted Moose too, in Gretna.
Mary, I own a double wedding ring quilt my mother made from double knit! The predominant color is ORANGE! I had orange in my bedroom as a kid so I suppose she thought I would always love that bright color!!! Not so much! The quilt weighs a ton and I just couldn’t hack the fabric or color so my sister has it hanging on her quilt ladder in HER home! I don’t care to relive that fabric era-I figured I had the only ugly double knit quilt! HA!
Beautiful colors! I really loved the children’s cover ups, and that chair!
How wonderful that you were able to attend the celebration of your friend, Sr. Carol. What an accomplishment! I want that chair!
Ahhh, quilt therapy. So good for what ails you. Love that chair!
So happy to get another Chicken Scratch!! Love them! You ladies sure made a haul!! And what fun to share the good times together!! Hang tight!!
The pictures of your purchases reminds me of when we would attend the Quilt Festival in Chicago, that is what our beds would look like! Shopping is always good therapy and how fun for the two of you to have a mini vacation.
I love that chair, wouldn’t that be great to do. Do you remember if it was just a top or was it actually quilted before upholstered?
So glad you got to see Sr Carol. I believe she was home one time when we were there, or maybe my old mind is thinking of someone else!
Your purchases laid out on the bed look like when the kids bring home their Halloween candy haul!! Too funny. I love the chair and I’m just surprised that my mother never made one of those double knit quilts, they would have been right up her alley! I’m sure Sr. Carol was so happy that you could attend!
Jan in MA
Sounds like a fun trip with new stash to boot, woo hoo! A dear friend in college (1978) had a double knit quilt on her dorm bed which her grandmother had made. I was aghast someone would actually quilt with that stuff and now cannot believe someone is actually collecting them! Crazy! Will have to keep my out eye at yard sales now, LOL. Thanks for sharing your fun adventure.
I envy you both for what you got to see….now these are wonderful memories! Someone told me once to replace a bad memory with a nice, new, happy memory…looks like a very good memory or two! Keep at it! Thanks so much for sending such a great post! I really look forward to your tales and lessons and everything you care to share with us.
Have seen other chairs done like that and just love them. The quilt on the one you saw, sure has little pieces to it! When our house burned down a lady from town arrived the next afternoon and let me choose a quilt. She had several to choose from, all basically the same 2inch squares but the colors were different and they were all made with knits. It kept us warm for quite awhile and I still have it in a trunk.. It was so nice of her. She makes all sizes for people who have fires or other tragedies.
great post – great trip – great haul. so glad you got to do fun stuff. i did laugh at the double knit quilts. my mother sent her scraps to my grandmother who made a double knit quilt. it is heavy heavy. my sister has already claimed it for the future. we used it for a ‘baptist pallet’ on the floor when there were too many people and not enough beds. next time i’m in texas i’ll try to get a picture of it (if i can find it again). great to get a post from you today. patti in florida
Thanks for the quilt show, Mary! The Quilt Museum in Lincoln is on my list of ‘places I want to visit’. Bill Volckening is a very savvy collector, what a hoot to see all those double knits hanging on the wall. When I was a child my Grandmother had one: orange and purple were the predominant colours: I though it hideous even when I was 5!! Don’t know what became of it, maybe it is hanging in a museum somewhere! Ha!
Wow ! The knit quilts are eye poppers for sure! Waste not want not ran thru my mind. Loved the chair too! They do fuss for the Jubilee’s as my mother in law attended a few for her close cousins over the years. Thanks for sharing.p, and looking forward to seeing what you make with your fabric purchases! Bet you had a wonderful time!
My husband’s aunt was a nun. We miss her but have several quilts made by her out of double knit fabric. I folded them and use them as cushions on our wicker settees. I think they look great and have so much meaning.
Good to see you smile. Quilts from the Stan countries are fabulous. Thanks for showing us. So glad you were able to buy a bit of fabric. 😄. Anita
What a great trip for you to have done. Loved seeing your shopping treats. That is always fun to lay them out and admire what you purchased. I really do hope we get a followup blog post on the doll beds cause that sounds like a cute way to display small quilts which seem popular right now.
Glad to see you took a little get-away! Great to seeing you smiling. My daughter and I (MN) made that trip a few times too stopping at antique and quilt shops. Brass Armadillo in IA is one of our favorite antique shops that we always stop at.
I have been wanting to stop at that Lincoln quilt museum forever.
Brings back memories. I remember a double knit pant suit I had … of course orange plaid. It had a sewn “flap” down the front of the center of the pant legs. I wore it inside all day as I taught and no one said a thing or noticed??? I did not discover this til I changed clothes when I got home!!
Polly – oh, that is a funny story!
Love. Love the quilted chair!! It is a treasure.
Double knit brings back memories of my mother. When we cleaned out her attic we came across one of my father’s WWII footlockers which was locked. My brother had to practically destroy the footlocker to get it open. We were so sure it contained something very valuable. To our surprise it contained double knit fabric. Crammed full of double knit fabric. Mother must have wanted to keep it “safe” when the movers moved it in 1999! We have laughed and laughed at that story. Sounds like you had a great trip to Lincoln and a wonderful time with your old friend. I love road trips!
Hi Mary. I missed you. You are the best contact blog on the web. You are always right on for me. Lois in Omaha. Rudeness is never a good day to go…..
Oh my, the memories! Double knits! I made all my suits in that stuff also made a sport jacket for my husband ( including leather patches on the elbows) he was so proud of that jacket. He would rather die now than wear it today. Now I bind quilts for a quilt store customers and I am binding more and more of those old old quilts. Some are pretty bad, but special to their owners. Thanks all for the throwback in time😊🐩
❤❤ the quilted chair!
Thank you for sharing your quilt trip. Such interesting quilts, especially the work from the “Stans.” So glad you had such a productive trip, all the fun things you bought and saw.
Thanks so much for your “Chicken Scratch” again. I always look forward to them, first thing I look for daily.
Mary, thanks for the great photos and story. I loved: the “Stan” quilts/close ups, the CHAIR, the blue and white quilt (I made about 160 half square triangle blocks out if some Japanese wovens last week, a little tricky to sew but easier than poly, I’m sure, no plan for those blocks yet but you inspire me!) and I really love the two quilts you labeled as “modern”. Just brilliant!
Jealous of your road trip stash, I saw some grey/neutrals piled up there that I thought had my name on????
Lovely hearing from you so quickly … two in a row, we are all cheering!
I love Lincoln and the Museum!
How wonderful that you and Connie were able to make that trip. I absolutely love the museum in Lincoln. In fact, I think I visited it the same/only time I ever got to your shop and, like so much in my life, appreciated it more in retrospect ( both museum and your shop). Same with the stans. After I learned more about Ikat and cloth structure, wanna go back! The quilters of Cairo are in that same category. Coulda, woulda, shoulda!
Happy days ahead for you.
Brenda
Ahh, the double knit days. My husband worked in a Singer sewing machine store where they sold fabric and most of it was double knit at the time. I sewed him a double knit suit and we always laugh about it because it had a belt and I placed it a little too far up on his waist, almost chest high, but he wore that thing everywhere. I made his grandmother a throw with double knits. Not the easiest fabric to make quilts with. Love the ones you showed us.
I have a poly quilt my mother gave me a long time ago, it is the liner or my protector of the gray liner in my trunk it is indestructible!!
Great picture of both of you. So glad you enjoyed your excursion!
One of our quilters Debbie, I nicknamed “polyester lady” because when she joined our club in 2005 she was using polyester. She uses cotton fabric now but saves her polyester in a closet. For the last 12 years several of us have given her polyester left over from our mothers stash or purchased at yard sales. I have told her if polyester comes back in style she will be rich!!! Paula in KY …..so glad you are back. I just love your blog and hearing about the animals and your life.
Oh my, you need more fun trips with Connie!!!
So glad you got out and had some fun!!!