The exhibit of 26 quilts newly-made, but true to 1812-period quilting patterns, fabrics and colors and Great Lakes Seaway Trail “storyteller” interpretive panels on “America’s second war for independence” is traveling to quilt shows, museums and historic venues across Canada and the U.S. through 2015.
|1812 style quilt by Diane MacLeod Shink, Montreal|
The Great Lakes Seaway Trail is a National Scenic Byway that follows the St. Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, Niagara River and Lake Erie in New York and Pennsylvania. Much of the War of 1812 was fought along this strategic freshwater shoreline.
The traveling exhibit includes 20 American-made “cot-to-coffin” quilts from 11 states and six Canadian-made quilts from three provinces. The 30-inch-wide by 70-inch-long sizing represents the average height of a man during the war.
"The Great Lakes Seaway Trail Quilt Show War of 1812 theme inspired quilters on both sides of the international border to learn more about that period in history and the struggle for North America, to interpret the War’s Bicentennial in many interesting and personal ways, and to share their own family ties to that time. We are pleased to share these unique quilts with visitors to the New England Quilt Museum,” Great Lakes Seaway Trail Project Manager Lynette Lundy-Beck said.
Story cards with each quilt share the factual history represented by the quilt or the imagined tale of a family sending a loved one off to the war.
For more information, visit www.nequiltmuseum.org
For more details on traveling the Great Lakes Seaway Trail byway, visit www.seawaytrail.com