Quilt Notes:
DIVERSION QUILT debuted in print in the Kansas City Star on Juiy 11, 1945. It is one of the most elemental quilt designs, just a mitered frame with a large square in the center (the shift in colors around the border in the illustrations here are a variation). According to the compendiums, (see Barbara Brackman's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PIECED QUILT DESIGNS, #2595, for example), the center employs some sort of figured fabric, with the rest completed in solids, the overall structure sporting the simplicity of an Amish quilt design (compare with FANCY STRIPE).
Is it an irony then that this block is called DIVERSION QUILT? But, perhaps, that's exactly the inspirational purpose of the title, that challenge to make it more engaging. In this case, the diversion, or ingenuity is to locate some sort of gorgeous, colorful fabric print for the center square, and then maybe pick up the fabric colors in the borders. At the same time, the over-all design (see tiling below) creates a rather entertaining, three-dimensional depth, as well as suggesting a number of other traditional quilt blocks.
Compare at this site with diverse frame type designs including:
CITY STREETS (with Georgia O'Keeffe)
HOMESPUN BLOCK
FRAMED BOUQUET (with Mary Cassatt)
QUILTER'S DELIGHT
OP ART DESIGN (with Bridget Riley)
HANDCRAFT
GREEN RIVER (with Georgia O'Keeffe)
ON THE SQUARE (with Sonia Delaunay)
ALBUM QUILT (with Gunta Stölzl)
|
DIVERSION QUILT (Variation)
