Luana Rubin of eQuilter.com’s video of the Ruby Jubilee where my quilt, “Honoring CBOT” was in the circle.
Listen to Interview on American Patchwork & Quilting Radio with Pat Sloan
All about this quilt, “Honoring CBOT” on Pat Sloan’s radio/podcast show. Follow the link to listen …
http://www.creativetalknetwork.com/ OR http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/magazines-more/quilting-podcast OR
go to iTunes and search podcasts for American Patchwork & Quilting radio and subscribe to Pat’s podcasts for automatic downloads or for this one specifically on 9 February 2015. Enjoy!
American Patchwork & Quilting Radio with Host Pat Sloan
a robin’s view of CBOT
Street Level by Joy by Robin
The street level is 2.5″ x 6″ … there are 18 pieced pieces of fabric within that area!
Columns in Process by Joy by Robin
Columns without the distinguishing “shell” on the top. These are pieced. The shells will be “needle turned” in order to create curves. These represent the columns on each side of the doorway when exiting the CBOT to Jackson Boulevard at LaSalle Street. Once the shells were attached the columns were placed on the background. Notice the colors of the inspiration quilt shown on the right. My drawing is on the left.
Background is assembled!
The representation of the Chicago flag is the background for the quilt. The level of detail needs to exist for my quilt because Mr. Rowley was a draftsman and the detail in his quilt is accurate to the layout of the fairgrounds. My inspiration quilt for the Quilt Alliance “Inspired By” contest is Richard Henry Rowley’s “Bird’s Eye View of the Chicago World’s Fair 1933 from Waldvogel Archival Collection. The documentation is available at http://www.quiltindex.org and the contest information is at http://www.allianceforamericanquilts.org
For those who know the flag … there will be a red star to represent the 1933 Exposition/World’s Fair.
Chicago Board of Trade à la moi
“Inspired By,” is the theme for the Quilt Alliance annual contest. My inspiration is a quilt from the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933, A Century of Progress. The quilt was said to have been made by one, but when purchased by Merikay Waldvogel, a note said that the son, Richard Henry Rowley was the actual quilt maker! Sears Roebuck held the largest quilt contest with some winning quilts shown at the fair. Check the information at www.quiltindex.org and be inspired.
The aerial view of the fairgrounds, the quilted waves of Lake Michigan, the fun colors of the time, Chicago … Mr. Rowley’s quilt inspired me to create my memory of Chicago, the Chicago Board of Trade which was built before the World’s Fair and down the street from the Sears Tower (now Willis Tower).
I remembered a field trip to the Board of Trade’s trading floor, eating lunches at the restaurant when I worked downtown, the exquisite features inside and outside of the building, and the magnificent view down LaSalle Street from the river toward the building.
My drawing includes features inside the building placed on the outside of the building to create movement, showing the deliberate design of the building, its location at the south end of LaSalle Street, the beautiful lines in the building are outside, and the inside of the Jackson Boulevard entrance sits on each side outside my rendition, modern representation of a great Chicago landmark!
Background for “Inspired By”
“Inspired By”
This year the Quilt Alliance chose inspiration for the annual contest, from either The Quilt Index or the Q.S.O.S. (Quilters’ Save Our Stories).
When I reviewed quilts from Illinois on The Quilt Index, I found a quilt from the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago when Sears, Roebuck & Co. sponsored a quilt contest for the fair. The quilt was entered by a woman, Louise Rowley, but in fact was made by her son, Richard, a draftsman. The pattern name called A Century of Progress is an aerial view of the fairgrounds and was entered in the contest at the State Street store.
The quilt spoke to me .. the bright blue and waves of Lake Michigan, the architecture of the buildings, the sunny yellow orange, purples, appliquéd pieces on the quilt; mesmerizing.
The Chicago Century of Progress was the theme of the fair. I own the book by Merikay Waldvogel and Barbara Brackman which features quilts and the history from the Sears competition. Recently I acquired the booklet from the competition.
The links to me include: from Chicago, worked downtown in the loop near the Sears Tower, love Chicago architecture, near and dear.
This inspiration led to my quilt design of the Chicago Board of Trade which was built in the same time period (1930).