QUILT INDEX RECORD

11-37-7080

Essay:

Acid Rain
1991
Sylvia H. Einstein
Belmont, Massachusetts
48"w x 70"h
Machine pieced; machine quilted
Cotton

"Acid Rain" calls attention to an issue at the forefront of environmental concerns in the 1980s and 1990s. In her statement for the quilt in the exhibit, "Soft Protests," at the New England Quilt Museum in 1995, she wrote: The environment is slowly being destroyed. Animals and plants are dying. Thin diagonal rectangles of orange, yellow, deep pink, and red represent the acid rain falling on dying vegetation in the various somber black, brown, gray, and blue squares and on dying fish in the pink over-dyed green fabric. There is ample evidence of Sylvia Einstein's fascination with the crazy quilt and unexpected relationships between two patterned fabrics, her love of story telling fabrics, and her search for fabrics that help her express the meaning of a piece in this quilt. Born and educated in Switzerland, Sylvia Einstein came to the United States in 1965 and made her first quilt in 1975 to celebrate the United States Bicentennial.

Gift of Sylvia H. Einstein, 2004.03

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Massachusetts Quilt Documentation Project - MassQuilts

Who documented this quilt?

Massachusetts Quilt Documentation Project, MassQuilts; New England Quilt Museum Collection

MASS-Quilts ID Number:

5534

Alternate inventory control number:

NEQM# 2004.03

Ownership of this quilt is:

Public Museum, Library or Institution

Quilt owner:

New England Quilt Museum

Quilt owner's city:

Lowell

Quilt owner's state:

Massachusetts (MA)

Quilt owner's county:

Middlesex

Quilt owner's country:

United States

Width:

47.25

Length:

68.5

Quilt's title:

Acid Rain

Quilt top made by:

Einstein, Sylvia H.

Quiltmaker's state:

Massachusetts (MA)

Quiltmaker's city:

Belmont

Quiltmaker's country:

United States

How did owner acquire quilt?

Gift

Where the quilt was made, city:

Belmont

Where the quilt was made, state:

Massachusetts (MA)

Where the quilt was made, country:

United States

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

from Sylvia Einstein, the artist

Date made:

1991

Time period:

1976-1999

When was the quilt finished?

1991

Format:

Finished quilt

Layout:

Nontraditional or art

Technique, piecing:

Machine Piecing

Block shape:

Squares

Block size:

.75 to 21

Fabric fibers:

Cotton

Patterns:

Print

Describe the fibers or fabrics in the quilt top:

plain weave

Predominant colors:

Black

Overall color scheme:

Multicolor

Quilting:

Machine quilting

Describe the quilting designs used:

free form

Color of thread used in the quilting:

variegated thread

Binding and edging:

Separate binding applied

Binding; fiber:

Cotton

Binding; weave:

Plain weave

Binding; pattern:

multiple print fabrics

Batting:

Cotton

Backing, number of pieces:

three pieces

Backing, fiber:

Cotton

Inscription, content:

Acid Rain by Sylvia Einstein

Inscription, technique:

Attached label

Condition:

Excellent/like new

Condition, structurally sound?

This quilt is structurally sound.

Pattern name, variations and comments:

Original

Details

• 
• 

Date estimated by an antique dealer, quilt historian or appraiser:

1991

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

Copyright holder:

New England Quilt Museum