GLIN==> Press release: Great Lakes Seaway Trail wants War of 1812-like quilts for Bicentennial event; Interest invited from US, Canada, Native Nations, Internationally

PRESS RELEASE: April 11, 2011
Contact: Teresa Mitchell, 315-646-1000 x202
 
War of 1812-Like Quilts Wanted for Bicentennial Event; Interest invited from
US, Canada, Native Nations, Internationally
 
Sackets Harbor, NY - It¹s ³a once-in-200-years² opportunity. The Seaway
Trail Foundation is asking quilters and non-quilters, to make quilts with
War of 1812-era colors and patterns for the Great Lakes Seaway Trail 2012
War of 1812 Bicentennial Quilt Show and Challenge event.
 
Organizers are reaching out to American history enthusiasts and re-enactors,
children and people of all ages from the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom,
Native nations, and internationally to enter and attend the commemorative
event to be held March 17-18, 2012 at the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery
Center in the War of 1812 heritage community of Sackets Harbor, New York.
 
Guidelines for making ³cot to coffin²-size (30 inches x 70 inches) quilt
using a variety of fabrics, including cotton, linen, silk, wool and
linsey-woolsey, and patterns common to the 1812 period are online at
http://www.seawaytrail.com/quilting.html. Entries must be committed to the
show by January 15, 2012; quilts must be completed by March 3, 2012.
 
The Great Lakes Seaway Trail 2012 War of 1812 Bicentennial Quilt Show and
Challenge guidelines suggest studying the research works and books of noted
quilt historians Barbara Brackman, Anne Orr and Pepper Cory.
            
Brackman of Lawrence, Kansas, suggests that a quilt in medallion or strip
format would be a good patchwork design for the historical era. Brackman
says, ³Patterns that were popular during the 1812 time were simple stars and
basic nine-patch and four-patch variations. The War cut into fabric imports
into America but well-to-do women already had stashes of imported French,
English and Indian chintzes and calicoes in a variety of colors, and loved
to mix large-scale and small-scale prints. For those thinking of using
fabric reflecting the domestic prints of the time, indigo blues, browns and
a touch of pink would be among the best colors.²
 
Brackman has designed a reproduction collection of prints from the era for
Moda Fabrics; the ³Lately Arrived from London² collection should be
available in quilt shops by the end of the summer of 2011.
 
The Seaway Trail Foundation is sponsoring the event as part of a host of War
of 1812 Bicentennial commemorative plans
((http://www.seawaytrail.com/Press_Room/2011/3-9warof1812events.html) for
tourism, cultural heritage and military history programs in 2011-2014. The
March 2012 show will be the kickoff for a 2011-2014 traveling educational
exhibit of the War of 1812-like quilts.
 
³The Great Lake Seaway Trail 2012 Quilt Show marks our 12th year of shows
that celebrate the themes that attract domestic and international visitors
to our National Scenic Byway. We are excited about the potential of the 1812
Bicentennial Quilt Challenge cultural and heritage theme to draw diverse
interest groups to the Seaway Trail region,² says Seaway Trail Foundation
President and CEO Teresa Mitchell.
 
The 518-mile Great Lakes Seaway Trail along the freshwater coastline of New
York and Pennsylvania is a National Scenic Byway offering authentic American
travel experiences. #
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.great-lakes.net/lists/glin-announce/attachments/20110411/dfc178b8/attachment.html