Some of the quilts exhibited in Abstract Design in American Quilts were great examples of repeated block patterns, one of the hallmarks of American quilts. This Kaleidoscope example features repeated blocks that run together to form secondary designs, linking it to contemporary forms of Op-Art with which Holstein and van der Hoof were familiar. This quilt was in bad shape when Holstein and van der Hoof bought it; as he recalled, “It taught me... that bad condition was no bar to beauty” (Abstract Design, 184).

Pattern: 
Kaleidoscope
Maker: 
Maker unknown
Circa
1900
1920
Possibly made in
Pennsylvania
United States
72.5
67
IQM, Jonathan Holstein/Gail van der Hoof Collection
2003.003.0038