Paradise Garden quilt, or The Garden quilt, Rose Frances Good Kretsinger

Archive Label 2003:
The Paradise Garden design, with its impressive stuffed work and appliqué, first appeared on a quilt made in 1857 by Arsinoe Kelsey Bowen of New York. In 1929, Bowen’s quilt was published in a text entitled Old Patchwork Quilts and the Women Who Made Them. Ruth Finely, the author of this text, deemed Bowen’s design an “acme of the branch of the art.” Subsequently, quilt contests around the country during the 1930s and 1940s featured examples of Paradise Garden (or The Garden as it is also called). In 1946, Kansas quilter Rose Good Kretsinger tried her hand at the challenging design and produced the stunning result seen here.

Exhibition Label:
"Summer in the Central Court," Jun-2006, Kate Meyer
Blooming flowers, overhanging leaves, and fresh garden produce all suggest the beautiful abundance of summer. In her Sunflower quilt, Christina Hays Malcom transformed the complex head of a sunflower-a profusion of seeds and petals-into a familiar pattern of pieced cotton circles and a radiating burst of yellow color. A Currier and Ives lithograph showcases the typical yield of a summer garden, while the symmetry of a specific leaf from a locust tree might be preserved in the form of a cyanotype. Rose Kretsinger’s Paradise Garden quilt forms a gigantic bouquet from brightly colored floral designs. Linda Samson Talleur and Denise Low examine not only the recognizable pattern of Flower Garden quilts but also the communal process of their construction as quilters use small hexagonal pieces to create a “flower.” In these natural forms, artists capture seasonal beauty through timeless patterns.