WHITTINGTON - Janice Tauer Wass wrote the book on Amish quilts in Illinois, literally.

Known as the foremost expert on this intriguing American art form, Wass wrote "Illinois Amish Quilts: Sharing Threads of Tradition," which chronicles the fascinating stories of the quilters' lives and presents their handiwork.

Oral histories, extensive genealogy work and research into Amish belief and practices are patched together with 60 full-color Amish masterworks that are part of the Illinois State Museum's collection.

The end product is a historical exploration of Amish society through quilt-making.

"It's the result of years and years of research studying the genealogy behind each family and documenting each of the Amish quilts we have in the collection of 150," says Debra Tayes, associate curator of art for the Southern Illinois Art Gallery, where the rare textiles are currently exhibited. "It's the first extensive documented research that has been published, and it's a defining book on Illinois Amish quilts."

Wass completed most of her research while decorative arts curator for the Illinois State Museum in Springfield. She is now retired, and living in Tennessee. Wass returns to the Whittington gallery for a book-signing and gallery talk Saturday at both 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. "She is the No. 1 resource on Illinois Amish quilts and is highly revered throughout the quilt world," Tayes says.

The Amish quilts exhibited come predominantly from Arthur, the nation's fourth largest Amish community.

"Some are made as early as 1860 with homespun fabric," says Tayes, who coordinates a quilting exhibit each year at the same time as the American Quilter's Society Show and Sale in Paducah. The event draws some 35,000 quilt enthusiasts, many of them traveling down I-57, where the Whittington gallery is located.

For the exhibit, the museum's collection of Amish quilts is paired with similar "English," or non-Amish quilts. Exhibited side by side, Tayes says they reveal interesting technical comparisons and aesthetic questions that Wass will address.

"I think people will be delighted to see in what way the Amish quilts are comparable to the English quilts. Often times, the quilters were at the born same time, lived only 30 miles apart and produced similar quilts," Tayes says. "With each pairing of quilts, an extensive didactic label describes each quilt maker, how each quilt was made, and how they are alike and different. There are subtle differences, often times just a sense of aesthetics."

marleen.shepherd@thesouthern.com

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