VAM galleries including this work:
Museum of the American Quilter’s Society | Animal Farm || VAM Home

“This quilt was made over an 11-month period, but took the equivalent of five months,” recalls Barbara Barber of Andover, Hants, England. “I would never have made it if it hadn’t been for Goato, a goat that lived across the field from us. A lovely fellow with a complex character and high intelligence, Goato provided me and my family with incentive for a good walk. Unfortunately, two days before we left England in April 1996 to attend the AQS [American Quilter’s Society] Show, Goato died at the ripe old goat age of 14½ years.”

Most of the designs in the quilt are original. The dog and rabbit designs are derived from needlework by Candice Bahouth, Barber says. “As this was my first appliquéd quilt, techniques were developed as I needed to create various effects.”

This quilt won the Bernina Excellence in Machine Workmanship Award at the 1996 American Quilter’s Society Show and Contest.

About the Artist

Barbara Barber began quilting in 1991 to make a quilt for her bed. She is self-taught, and the quilts she makes for exhibition may take 6-12 months to complete. Quilting is her full-time occupation, with the time divided among her own work, teaching, lecturing, and writing. Barbara’s husband, Peter, assists with her quiltmaking by producing accurate geometrical drawings from her rough designs. Teaching assignments have taken Barbara across Europe and to the United States, and she is the author of a book and two videotapes.

Classroom Ideas

Discussion: There is an old saying that “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” What does that statement mean? Is it true or false? If the quilt Goato and Friends were the cover of a book, what do you think the book would be about? Who is Goato? The overall feeling of the quilt is very harmonious. What might be some conflicts that could arise between the different animals on the quilt?

Activities: Explore the concept of symmetry as it relates to the quilt in terms of shapes, colors, and themes. Work individually or in groups to write stories from the point of view of each animal pictured on the quilt. (Each story could be a chapter of a Goato and Friends book.) Research the visual concept of Peaceable Kingdom and view some of those works by Edward Hicks. Compare and contrast Hicks’ concept to this quilt. Compare the visual image of peace to the actual events associated with early European settlers and Native Americans in Colonial days.

Links

Find out more about Barbara Barber and see images of her quilts at the artist’s web site.
[www.barbarabarberbritishquilts.com]

You can see examples of Edward Hicks’ Peaceable Kingdom paintings at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the National Gallery of Art.
[www.albrightknox.org/ArtStart/Hicks.html]
[www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pinfo?Object=59644+0+none]