Sweet Madame Blue

Name/Title

Sweet Madame Blue

Entry/Object ID

2023.02.01

Made/Created

Artist

Margaret Solomon Gunn

Date made

2022

Place

City

Gorham

State/Province

Maine

Country

United States

Continent

North America

Dimensions

Height

75 in

Width

75 in

Interpretative Labels

Label

"[The design] was created around the lace doilies I ordered from Istanbul. The remaining design features many shades of my hand-dyed silks in floral and geometric patterns commonly seen in Turkish pottery."

Label

"I started this quilt early in 2020, before the pandemic broke. It is made from over a dozen shades of blues and aquas, coupled with a few stock shades of red, green and champagne. I bought the 8 tatted doilies from an online seller in Istanbul. I stumbled upon them when I was looking for small pieces of lace for a different quilt. I immediately bought them and the quilt's design took off from there. I chose geometric motifs and floral patterns commonly seen in Arabic architecture and Turkish pottery. With this design in mind, I felt forced to make the quilt using semi-traditional colors. Most who know me are aware that I don't tend to work much with blue, but this design kept me away from my more comfortable colors and always thinking on my toes. It is all turned-edge applique. In fact, the entire top is made by hand. I added a good bit of hand embroidery after the quilt was quilted. Go figure - there is always that feeling it is just not quite complete. I also added some crystals as well as beading on many of the flowers. Though spelled differently, the quilt pays homage to a 1975 Styx song which I really like, and it seemed like a fitting name."

Label

Donated by the American Quilter's Society

Research Notes

Notes

Awards Won: The Pacific International Quilt Festival Yuko Watanabe Best of Show 2023 AQS QuiltWeek - Branson Quilt Contest: Best Movable Machine Workmanship Award 2023 AQS QuiltWeek – Paducah, KY Janome America Best of Show

General Notes

Note Type

Materials Used

Note

Silks, tatted lace doilies, beads, crystals

Note Type

Techniques Used

Note

Hand appliquéd, hand embroidered, hand embellished, machine quilted