Quilt c. 1937

Isabelle De Strange drew this Quilt in Westchester County, and it's all in tones of blue. I see it was made in March 1831, according to the inscription. I imagine De Strange hunched over her table, carefully inking each of the quilt’s shapes, the birds, the rosettes, the eagles. What a feat to capture all of this detail by hand! I wonder what the original textile looked like. It was probably a family heirloom. De Strange’s depiction is not quite an exact copy, but an expressive interpretation. De Strange added a little fringe at the bottom and included a few lines of text. I like her drawing’s directness, her way of abstracting and flattening the forms. It reminds me of the work of contemporary artists like Faith Ringgold, who use quilting and storytelling to explore ideas about identity, memory, and history. We build on each other, you know?