Swatch from Patchwork Quilt c. 1938

These watercolor swatches from a patchwork quilt were made by A. Zimet, sometime between 1855 and 1995. Each patch is a small world, a universe of color and pattern. I love how Zimet uses a limited palette of mostly browns and creams, with just a touch of red, blue, and green to create a feeling of warmth and comfort, like snuggling under a quilt on a cold winter night. Take the bottom right swatch, for instance: tiny bunnies marching across a brown field. The simplicity of the forms and the repetition of the pattern creates a hypnotic effect. The textures are flat, but the patterns create the illusion of depth, like looking into a kaleidoscope. You could easily see the influence of Gustav Klimt in this piece, who similarly used pattern and ornament to create a sense of otherworldly beauty. Quilts, like paintings, are not just about what you see, but how they make you feel.