Quilts by Cynthia
Miniature #21 – Constructed 05/2024
Fun Facts
The art of quilting has a long history and vibrant community on Cape Cod, with shops that dot the region. There are annual quilt shows where quilters design and make themed works for display and awards. The Cape Cod Maritime Museum even offers an introduction to the world of quilting.
The term “quilt” comes from the Latin culcita meaning “stuffed sack”.
March is national quilting month. March 18th is worldwide quilting day.
While quilting has traditionally been a female activity, some men in the US military spent time quilting in order to pass the time while enlisted. Many quilts made by military soldiers were known as “convalescent quilts,” as soldiers made them while recuperating after being wounded in the line of duty.
Some military quilts are made up of 25,000 different pieces, since fabric was scarce on the front lines.
The most expensive quilt ever sold was a Civil War-era piece purchased for $254,000 in 1991.
The largest patchwork quilt was made in 2000 and measured 270,174 square feet (251,000 square meters). It is more than 54 times the square footage of the White House.
Description
This piece was named after my friend and website editor, Cynthia, in recognition of her self-taught, artistic talent for making the most intricate and beautiful quilts I have ever seen.
The quilt shop sits on a 12″x12″ plywood base. The overall piece stands at 9.5″ high and the time invested to design and build was approximately 40 hrs.
Materials Used
The exterior of the shop was constructed with craft sticks attached horizontally and vertically to a frame of 2mm thick craft plywood. The exterior of the building and trim were painted with acrylic paint. This was my first attempt at making “glass” doors.
The scallop shapes on the front facade were made from the ends of crafts sticks.
The interior floor was made from craft sticks adhered to foamboard and stained a Golden Oak color. The walls and shelving units, made from 2mm plywood, were painted with acrylic paint.
The bolts of fabric and the quilts decorating the walls were made from cloth glued to cardboard.
The roof shingles were made from black cardstock paper, sprayed with textured spray paint, and cut by hand to resemble realistic roof shingles.
The custom signage decals were provided by www.threeinchesunder.com.
Sheryl,
I am so honored to be included in this museum of incredible miniature art. You captured the quilt store perfectly, especially with no background history of them. I love that you included the details of my modest quilting studio—the glass doors, the sewing notions, the quilts everywhere, and even putting a little Sammy dog in there!! You designed it with such elegant simplicity, impeccably done! Thank you, thank you, my friend.
This is incredible. Your creatativety leaves me without words. I love everything about this.