The Reason

I went to the National Museum of Women in the Arts was to see the quilt exhibition "Workt by Hand: Hidden Labor and Historical Quilts" on loan from the Brooklyn Museum of Art.  It's a "canned" show. The BMA assembled it, printed the catalog, and farms it out to other museums for a price.  Capitalism at its finest, eh?  But it is also a fine collection of quilts and worth every penny!~

This quilt was reverse-appliqued!  I mean--holy shit!--it was nearly unfathomable in its attention to detail. 

I loved the individual attention paid to the contents of each basket.  The upper left corner was absolutely the most stunning--but for the record the image is reversed (it would be the upper right corner on the actual quilt).  I replicated it here with fidelity to the catalog.  Bad editing... 

 The craziest thing about this masterwork is the embroidery!  I've never seen finer work.  If only I could have a detail of the border--all embroidered morning glories and each one a masterpiece.

Detail below.