Whistler's Mother--A Study in Gray and Black
Whistler's Mother--A Study in Gray and Black
A Miniature Quilt Exploring the Values of White to Black, 1995
17 x 14"
In July 1995, I attended Arlene Stamper's (of San Diego,
CA) class at Quilt Camp in the Pines, Flagstaff, Arizona, called "It's Your
Values That Count". We explored color values of fabrics from white,
through the grays, to black.
As a class exercise, each class member brought a white, a gray, and a
black print fabric to class cut into 2 inch squares. We arranged the
squares into a single array from lightest to darkest value. Then we sewed five
fabrics into split nine patch blocks measuring 4 1/2" square. Each class
member made five to ten blocks using her own choice of five shades. As
the blocks were completed other class members pressed them and
Arlene began to arrange them on a design board. Since the split nine
patch can act in the same way as a log cabin block, with lights on one side and darks on
the other, divided diagonally, the same arrangements of blocks are
possible, such as sunshine and shadow, barn raising, and streak of lightning.
The class chose to arrange our blocks in the barn raising setting
and sewed the blocks together. At the end of the day, a drawing was held and
one lucky person took the quilt top home to California.
Going home empty handed, but with a good idea, I decided to make a
miniature version of the same quilt. I used 1" squares so my blocks
are only 1 1/2" completed. I also arranged my miniature in the barn raising
setting.
For the back I wanted to make sure the viewer would understand the basic split nine patch block,
so I made one big block and added another strip of black (since the
quilt is not square) to hold the label.
I hand quilted the miniature using silver and black Sulky Sliver thread to
give the quilt a little extra sparkle. The center contains 48 blocks of 11 pieces each.
The label on the back reads:
Whistler's Mother -- A Study in Gray and Black
Quilt Camp in the Pines -- Arlene Stamper
Split Nine Patch in Barnraising Setting
Betty Reynolds -- August 1995
Why Whistler's Mother? Did you know that the title of the
painting we call "Whistler's Mother" is really "A Study in Gray and Black"?
This values study was reproduced as the January 1996 block on the Block of the Month
page. The winner of the 54 blocks made by participants was Gin Garten. Be
sure to check out the Block of the Month page for information about
future blocks.
Return to my quilts page
Return to Betty Reynolds'
Homepage
Contact breynold@zianet.com
with comments concerning my Web pages.
This page is maintained by
Betty B. Reynolds
Last updated July 5, 1999