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Gold Welsh wholecloth, circa 1840, maker unknown, Wales. This gold small Welsh quilt is thought to be one of the quilts made during the Welsh famine as a source for raising money. On loan for this exhibit from Holice Turnbow.

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MUST RUN MAY 2 WHOLECLOTH QUILTS IS ON VIEW AT NEW ENGLAND QUILT MUSEUM set 4/21 W/1 CUT

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LOWELL, MASS. — “The Whole Story: Wholecloth Quilts by Hand and Machine,” curated by Mary Walter, is on view at the New England Quilt Museum.

In this exhibit, the design and technique of traditional and contemporary wholecloth quilts — whether by hand or machine, printed, stamped or dyed — gives testament to the history and the visual statement the wholecloth quilt makes today. The wholecloth quilt is similar to a painter’s blank canvas. In the same way that the artist approaches the canvas, the wholecloth quilter relies on the design elements of color, scale, texture an finishing techniques when making a quilt.

Many early New England wholecloth quilts were made of wool that was woven and dyed with natural plant dyes before the quilting design was marked and stitched. The scale of the quilting designs on wool quilts was enlarged due to the thickness of the wool and the difficulty of hand stitching a delicate design.

Of two quilts on loan from the Wenham Museum, one is a hand dyed green wool with meandering grapes, vines and heart-shaped flowers fluidly stitched across the surface like bold brush strokes. The other — a fine yellow silk quilt also from New England — is masterfully laid out and stitched with intricate feather motif and highly stylized flower borders.

Diane Gaudynski, a machine quilter, was influenced by this same Northern England quilting style and used her sewing machine to create similar motifs for her small quilts: “Rabbit in Green,” “Joy” and “Abundance.” Another small quilt in the exhibit, a rare Welsh wholecloth crib quilt from the collection of Holice Turnbow, is remarkable to have survived the use so many crib quilts did not.

Jeanne Williamson uses construction fencing and other found objects to monoprint patterns on her quilts that she then stitches and finishes. Similar to the early quilt makers who used natural plant dyes to create a colored surface, Jane Dunnewold uses a layered approach with commercial resist dye techniques to create a rich and colorful wholecloth surface, adding simple stitching to complete her quilts.

On Saturday, May 3, at 1 pm, Jeanne Williamson, a Natick, Mass., quilt artist and author, will present her lecture, “Stitched Monoprints,” detailing her approach to her contemporary wholecloth quilts, several of which are included in this exhibit. Following her presentation, Williamson will sign copies of her recently published book The Uncommon Quilter.

The New England Quilt Museum is at 18 Shattuck Street. For information, 978-452-4207 or www.nequiltmuseum.org.