They’re but a sampling of a 200-quilt collection that Gross, a noted quilt historian, sold in January to the Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin. During the quilt revolution of the 1970s, Gross urged people not to overlook the “fantastic work” from the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s, says Brenda Gunn, an associate director at the center. Sorrell especially likes a quirky quilt top called Album With Dogs and Birds , which features traditional flowers and birds along with five dogs on “really bizarre platforms,” she says. Also in the DAR display is a quilt by Mary Tayloe Lloyd Key, whose husband, Francis Scott Key, penned The Star Spangled Banner and was a lawyer for Sam Houston.

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However, even I, with my particular penchant for quilts in any shape or form, have to admit that Geeâs Bend quilts are truly exceptional. It was around this time that the quilts first caught the attention of the outside world with the establishment of a quilting collective known as the Freedom Quilting Bee to uplift the economically impoverished area. The quilts dropped out of public attention in the 1980s and didnât reappear until the 2002 exhibition âThe Quilts of Geeâs Bend. Other quilts are based on traditional Euro-American quilting patterns, such as Wild Goose Chase and Bethlehem Star, but still maintain the Geeâs Bendâs penchant for creativity and innovation. Much criticism toward the exhibition has been aimed at the highly enthusiastic response of the popular press toward the Geeâs Bend quilts, particularly the tendency to praise them in comparison to modern abstract art of Rothko, Still and even Pollock.

The Califon line (already in its 4th or 5th printing and about to be retired) was produced by Northcott Fabrics, which created a whole division just for him - Mark Lipinski’s Home for Northcott . At the upcoming Houston Quilt Market (October 25 through 27) Mark will unveil a line of blender fabrics featuring about 25 or 30 colors to coordinate with Krakow and Califon. I asked Mark if he had any upcoming classes or retreats in Michigan and he raved about a retreat he did with the Michigan Quilt Network this summer. Mark will be back in Michigan Monday August 17 through Thursday August 20, 2009 at the Michigan Quilt Network retreat at Thunder Bay Resort.