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Life Between Sunsets

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QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-993

Who documented this quilt?

Michigan Quilt Project; Michigan State University Museum Collection

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Michigan State University Museum

Michigan Quilt Project Number:

97.0009 AIQP

If this quilt is owned by a museum, enter the accession number:

1997:73.1

Object label:

Life Between Sunsets
Bernyce K. Courtney
Wasco/Tlingit, Warm Springs, Oregon
c1985
Collection of Michigan State University Museum acc.#1997:73.1

Essay:

Artist's statement:
I created this quilt based on beadwork designs. My favorite bead color combination are the "sunset" colors of the yellow, orage to red range, especially when they are bordered by a rich royal blue. I wanted to make a big pattern of "beads" based on what you would normally see very small because beads are so small. I mixed satiny fabrics with cotton to recreate richness and sparkly quality of cutbeads. Black borders bring out the brilliance of the intense colors and more contrast was added with white cotton.

Beadworkers always spill beads and I tried to mimic this randomness by "throwing" out squares of intense color onto the white and to break up the rigidness of the pattern of "beads". It gave it such a contemporary feeling. I quilted "in-the-ditch" randomly and to honor the lovely glass bead and to futher add contrast, I beaded some of the white areas with different kinds of white and crystal beads. I used a subtle white-on-white concept because I wanted to enhance the fabrics and not detract from the sensuousness of the variety of fabrics.

I was holding up the piece one day to admire it and it surprised me by casting shadows around the 9-square blocks that gave it a new and deeper sculptural dimension. I was stuck for a name for it and was asking people what they thought, sometimes their feelings or thoughts about a piece help me name it. I wasn't having any revelations. I finally asked my son, he looked at it and suitable said, "Life Between Sunsets"!

Quilt's title:

Life Between Sunsets

Quilt top made by:

Courtney, Bernyce K.

Quilted by:

Courtney, Bernyce K.

If you are the quilt owner, how did you acquire this quilt?

Purchased the quilt

Where the quilt was made, city:

Warm Springs

Where the quilt was made, state:

Oregon (OR)

Time period:

1976-1999

When was the quilt finished?

c1985

Quilt is presently used as:

Museum collection

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's city:

Warm Springs

Quiltmaker's state:

Oregon (OR)

Quiltmaker's ethnic background/tribal affiliation:

Wasco Tlingit; Native American

Other notes on how the quiltmaker learned, and how and why they quilt:

"I am honoring this culture but the culture is comforting me."

This is a:

Finished quilt

How wide is the quilt?

44"

How long is the quilt?

63 3/4"

Shape of edge:

Straight

Overall color scheme:

Multicolor

Quilt's condition:

Excellent/like new

What is inscribed on the quilt?

An Original to Remember, Bernyce Courtney

Location of inscription:

on back

Describe the quilt's layout:

Medallion or framed center

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Number of borders:

3

Describe the borders:

Inner, narrow black; Middle multi-color squares sewn in strip; Outer wide black

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Cotton

Fabric types used to make the quilt top:

Satin

Fabric styles used in the quilt top:

Print

Embellishment techniques used to make the quilt top:

Attachments (beading, charms, buttons, etc)

Embellishments used:

Beads attached

Materials used to make the back:

Cotton

Number of pieces of fabric in the quilt back:

1

What kind of filling is used in the quilt?

Polyester

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 1:

6

Number of quilting stitches per inch, place 2:

5

Quilting designs used, overall motifs:

Outline

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

Quilts: A Wonderous Legacy, Southfield, MI, October 8-11, 1998, Southfield Center for the Arts

Related items such as diaries, obituaries, wills, household inventories, or pictures of the quiltmaker:

To Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions (1997), page 187.

Publications (including web sites) where this quilt or maker was featured:

Interview with quilter

Source of the information on this quilt:

Museum employee

Ownership of this quilt is:

Public- Michigan State University Museum

Quilt owner's name:

Michigan State University Museum

Quilt owner's city:

East Lansing

Quilt owner's county:

Ingham

Quilt owner's state:

Michigan (MI)

How was this quilt acquired?

Purchase

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

5/1997, Bernyce K. Courtney

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

How did the quiltmaker participate in the creation of the quilt?

Made entire quilt

If the source helped design the quilt, describe their input:

Designed the pattern

Describe anything about the design of the quilt that wasn't already recorded in a previous field:

I created this quilt based on beadwork designs. My favorite bead color combination are the "sunset" colors of the yellow, orage to red range, especially when they are bordered by a rich royal blue. I wanted to make a big pattern of "beads" based on what you would normally see very small because beads are so small. I mixed satiny fabrics with cotton to recreate richness and sparkly quality of cutbeads. Black borders bring out the brilliance of the intense colors and more contrast was added with white cotton. Beadworkers always spill beads and I tried to mimic this randomness by "throwing" out squares of intense color onto the white and to break up the rigidness of the pattern of "beads". I was holding up the piece one day to admire it and it surprised me by casting shadows around the 9-square blocks that gave it a new and deeper sculptural dimension. I was stuck for a name for it and was asking people what they thought, sometimes their feelings or thoughts about a piece help me name it. I wasn't having any revelations. I finally asked my son, he looked at it and suitable said, "Life Between Sunsets"!

Describe any favorite patterns, tools, etc. used by the quiltmaker:

Bernyce Courtney blends her interest in her dual heritage by using traditional Wasco and Tlingit imagery and colors in her art.

Copyright holder:

Michigan State University Museum

Cite this Quilt

Courtney, Bernyce K. Life Between Sunsets. c1985. From Michigan State University Museum, Michigan Quilt Project; Michigan State University Museum Collection. Published in The Quilt Index, https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=fullrec&kid=12-8-993. Accessed: 03/28/24

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