Women's Writes

Women's Writes: Signature Quilts & Stories opened yesterday at the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts.  I loves me an exhibit opening - not only does a new exhibit go up, but the quilt selections from the permanent collection get rotated. It creates an entirely new "place" to see.  Signature quilts appeal to the deeply sentimental slob that thrives inside me.  These quilts were made for many reasons, some as welcome gifts, others as farewell or thank you gifts, still others to raise money for churches, organizations, or special causes.    This from Christina Inge, our PR goddess/maven:

At a time when women did not have the vote, property rights, or occupational opportunities, and were justbeginning to have beyond-basic literacy skills, creating signature quilts was a chance at self-expression and self-sufficiency. Frequently made as charity fund-raisers, signature quilts gave women a measure of both political and economic independence, enabling them to fund their favorite social causes entirely on their own. Groups of women raised money for temperance, abolition, church renovations, the Red Cross, and women's social clubs by raffling off signature quilts. Many women's groups also signed the quilts they made for troops during the Civil War, often adding patriotic verses to their signatures.

The only problem with opening a new exhibit is that I get completely sidetracked from what I am working on and think I must immediately begin a (fill in the exhibit name here) quilt.  It is a nice problem to have.