America's Quilts And Coverlets

One of the most beautiful books ever published in the field of American decorative arts, America's Quilts and Coverlets is a comprehensive survey of a subject that is enjoying enormous popularity today, which is in great part due to the splendid exhibition of American quilts held at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1971.The main emphasis of this book is on patchwork and applique quilts, which are certainly some of the most expressive, colorful and even dynamic examples of artistry produced in our early American homes. However, much space is also given to other examples of the great variety and beautiful design of the bed coverings created by past generations of American women, including bed-rugs, linsey-woolsey coverlets, whole-cloth spreads, crewel work spreads, "white work" or trapunto, Overshot coverlets, summer and winter coverlets, Jacquard coverlets, candlewick spreads, stencil spreads, crazy quilts and some modern examples of patchwork and applique.Heavily illustrated with 122 color plates and 472 black-and-white photographs of outstanding pieces in all categories from public and private collections throughout the country, many of which are published here for the first time. Accompanying the illustrations is a laymans nontechnical account of styles, materials and needlework. This is the first major work published in many years on the subject, and the beauty in the book speaks eloquently for itself.