My Visit With Jane Stickle

(photo-heavy post)

(click on photos for a larger view)

Last weekend, my husband and I made a trip up to Bennington, VT to this place...

...to see THIS!....

Jane Stickle's 150-year-old original quilt on display...

The photos are grainy and not very bright, but the quilt is displayed in a very dimly-lit room, so photos with a point-and-shoot camera (and no flash allowed) are not the best. The room is actually dark most of the time and the light only turns on when someone is in the room. And as you can see, the light is not evenly distributed over the quilt.

But it's still a magnificent thing to see and because it's not displayed in a glass case, the museum visitor can get quite close to the quilt. I'm amazed that they have it so close that people can even touch it (but they wouldn't dare!).

Although the fabrics are not very bright, they are actually brighter than I expected. Photos in books and on the computer screen are not quite as vivid as in real life. But then, "vivid" is a very relative term here.

I love the fussy-cutting of the striped fabric below...

I took this next photo from the side, hoping to give an idea of how thin the quilt is. It almost looks like there is no batting or backing. The quilt doesn't look worn (at least not on the front), but I'm sure it's in very delicate condition.

The standard "yes, I was there in person" shot...

If you're able to zoom in on your computer screen, you should be able to read the following few photos. Basically, they say that the museum recently learned that Jane was bedridden at the time she made the quilt (she made it to pass the time) and that in the 1863 Bennington Agricultural Fair, Jane won a $2 prize ($40 in today's value) for a pieced quilt (it doesn't specify what the quilt looked like, but it's assumed that it was this one, since she made it in 1863).

The museum also recently discovered a watercolor painting by Jane, which was also on display...

The quilt is only on display for about six weeks every year, so if you're anywhere near Bennington, Vermont, I highly recommend you make a trip to the Bennington Museum to see it in person.

One more thing checked off my bucket list!