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Museum of the American Quilter’s Society | Everyday Life || VAM Home

Diane Gaudynski made this quilt in memory of her father, John Hinterberg. “Butternut” refers both to the color of the quilt’s fabric and to the town her father lived in when he was young—which became legend in his stories. Butternut Summer has quilted motifs throughout the center area that disregard seam lines and swirl around the nine feathered star blocks. Many of the motifs are representational, such as flowers, leaves, and animals, and are reminders of her father and his interests. Gaudynski used quilting designs by various artists that she had collected over the years as well as her own designs. The piece was machine-quilted using smoke nylon monofilament thread. Gaudynski washed the quilt five times to remove starch, water-soluble thread, and markings and to soften the heavily quilted areas.

This quilt won the Bernina Award for Machine Workmanship at the 1999 American Quilter’s Society Quilt Show and Contest. Four of Gaudynski’s quilts have won this award.

About the Artist

Diane Gaudynski grew up sleeping under her grandmother’s scrap quilts, then taught herself to make her own. She has been making quilts since 1980, beginning as a hand quilter and moving to machine quilting in 1988. Gaudynski has been an innovator in such areas as the adaptation of hand-quilting techniques to machine quilting and in the use of silk threads for quilting. She teaches, lectures, and writes about quiltmaking techniques.

Classroom Ideas

Discussion: The artist created this quilt as a tribute to her father’s memory. What kinds of quilts do you have at home? Who made them? When were they made? How can a quilt composed of geometric designs pay tribute to a person’s memory? What designs can you see in the quilting on this piece?

Activities:

Working individually or in groups, pick a subject and design a “memory quilt.” The subject might be a beloved family member or friend, a topic in history, a favorite hobby, or a hero. Develop an overall design and plan the colors, fabrics, and finished size. Establish a budget for the project and determine how much material you need to purchase. If possible, continue the project and produce a quilt for display. Another option is to use construction paper and drawing instead of material and sewing.

Bring in family quilts for display and discussion. Tell stories associated with specific materials in the quilt or particular designs.

Invite a quilting group from a local church or art guild to demonstrate how groups work on quilts and how old quilts are cleaned and restored. Then have a quilting bee of your own in which students tell summer stories, either made up or from their own lives, as they work on a group project.

Links

See more of Diane Gaudynski’s quilts at her web site, A New Tradition in Quilting.
[www.dianegaudynski.net]

Read an interview with Diane Gaudynski at the Center for the Quilt.
[www.centerforthequilt.org/qsos/show_interview.php?pbd=qsos-a0a2m1-a]