afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art

Style Imitating Art: The Thousand Quilt by Elizabeth Shippen Green

March 7, 2022 / 41 Comments
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art

About Style Imitating Art

Style Imitating Art is hosted by Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey, Terri of MeadowTree Style, and Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge. Style Imitating Art challenges us to draw style inspiration from pieces of art. Every other Monday, one of the hosts, acting as curator, selects an inspiration image that they will each post on their blogs. The following Monday, each host shares her art inspired outfit. Participants are invited to submit their art inspired outfits to the curator by 10:00 p.m. EST on the Tuesday following the hosts’ art inspired outfit posts. The following day, Wednesday, the curator will share all of the submissions on her blog.

You don’t have to be a blogger to join! You are invited to share your images on Instagram or other social media platforms. Just be sure to tag Salazar, Terri, and Shelbee or use #TeamLOTSStyle and #StyleImitatingArt so the hosts know you have joined. Go have some fun in your closets and join the SIA challenge next week!

The Inspiration Artwork

The inspiration artwork was curated by Terri. You can read why she chose this work here.

The Thousand Quilt by Elizabeth Shippen Green (Pen and Ink Illustration, 1904)
The Thousand Quilt by Elizabeth Shippen Green, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, The Thousand Quilt by Elizabeth Shippen Green
About the Artist: Elizabeth Shippen Green

Elizabeth Shippen Green was an American illustrator born on September 1, 1871, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By the time she was 18 years old, she was making pen and ink drawings for national publications like The Ladies’ Home Journal, The Saturday Evening Post, and Harper’s Magazine as well as illustrating various children’s books. In 1901, she signed an exclusive contract with Harper’s Magazine.

Green enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1887 at the age of 16 where she studied with the painters Thomas Pollock Anshutz, Thomas Eakins, and Robert Vonnoh. She continued her art studies with Howard Pyle at Drexel Institute where she met fellow female artists Violet Oakley and Jessie Willcox Smith. These three female artists eventually formed the Red Rose Girls with friend Henrietta Cozens. They set up a living arrangement in Philadelphia’s beautiful Red Rose Inn and began referring to themselves as the Cogs family, using the first initial of each woman’s surname to create their own “family name”.

During a generation when women artists were not granted the same respect as male artists, these four women were rebels in their field yet they each commanded their own level of respectability through their art and their way of life.

In the later part of the nineteenth century, art created by women was considered inferior to that created by men. But with the emergence of the New Woman ideal, more opportunities were becoming available for female artists to make a professional living from their artwork. Artists like Green and The Red Rose Girls were instrumental in paving the way for careers in art for the female artists who came after them.

Green was also a member of The Plastic Club which was an organization established to promote “art for art’s sake”. Many of the women who founded this organization were also students of Howard Pyle and their focus was to encourage one another professionally while also creating sales opportunities for their works.

In 1911 at the age of 40, Green married architecture professor Huger Elliott and continued her illustration works including some projects in conjunction with her husband. She passed away on May 29, 1954, and was posthumously elected to the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 1994.

afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
About the Art: The Thousand Quilt

“The Thousand Quilt” is a pen and ink illustration that Elizabeth Shippen Green created for the short story of the same name by Annie Hamilton Donnell. The short story with Green’s illustration appeared in the December 1904 issue of Harper’s Monthly Magazine on pages 133-137. The story also appears in a collection of short stories by Annie Hamilton Donnell called Rebecca Mary, but I cannot tell if Green’s illustration is printed in that work. If you are interested in the story which tells the tale of Rebecca Mary making a thousand piece quilt for her Aunt Olivia, you can find a video of it here. The illustration for this week’s inspiration features the image of little Rebecca Mary stitching on the final pieces of her quilt with either her Aunt Olivia standing beside her or possibly the minister’s wife who is also a main character in the story. The minister’s wife found Rebecca Mary’s quilt to be tragic rather than seeing the beauty in the colorful mismatched squares. I, on the other hand, think the quilt is gorgeous.

Resources/References:

afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, The Thousand Quilt by Elizabeth Shippen Green
About My Outfit Inspired by The Thousand Quilt

When I first saw the artwork for this challenge, my mind went immediately to my favorite kimono which features a colorful blocky type print similar to the quilt squares in the illustration. But then I was on vacation in North Carolina and on my weekend visit to Asheville I found this amazing crocheted afghan cardigan at the adorable Traveling Chic Boutique.

I have been wanting one of these cardigans for so long but just hadn’t found the one for me…until I was almost walking out the door of this shop. I spotted the cardigans folded up like afghans. When I realized they were sweaters and not blankets, I actually squealed out loud and made kind of scene over this fabulous piece before running to the register to pay for it while murmuring under my breath, “It’s mine, mine, mine. Mine!” I also got this gorgeous beaded horn necklace in the same shop. I have been wanting to add more “Frankie” necklaces to my collection and this was just perfect.

Then it came to styling my wonderful new afghan sweater in a way that it would suit the illustration. I put together the cutest little prairie dress outfit with a black floral maxi dress that was similar in style to the woman’s white dress but the floral print picked up some of the flower patterns in the background of the drawing. The dress outfit alone was super cute but when I layered the cardigan on top of it, I quickly ended up in the land of frump and had to ditch the dress in favor of the sweater. I should have photographed the outfit without the cardigan, but I was in a hurry and quickly shed that outfit in favor of this one.

Instead I just went for the vintage vibes of the 1970s that this afghan cardigan screams for, wearing flared denim, a fitted red turtleneck sweater (to mimic the girl’s red dress), and platform boots. It is not my most detailed interpretation for Style Imitating Art, but it’s an outfit I love so much that I have already worn it twice this week. And that’s the real fun of these style challenges…creating outfits that make my heart happy and my soul smile!

What kind of styling fun have you been having lately?

afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
afghan cardigan, boho style, fashion over 40, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art, The Thousand Quilt by Elizabeth Shippen Green

Be sure to check out Terri’s interpretation of the painting as well as Salazar’s take on it. And please visit Terri on Wednesday to see her review post of outfit submissions. The new inspiration artwork for the next challenge will be announced on Monday, March 14, 2022. Won’t you get creative in your closet and join us!

Keeping it on the edge,

Shelbee

Linking up with these Fabulous Link Parties.

Outfit Details: Cardigan and Necklace-Traveling Chic Boutique / Jeans-Charlotte Russe / Boots-Shoe Dazzle / Gloves-TJMaxx / Hat-Wona Trading / Turtleneck and Earrings-Old / Belt-Torrid

I am a midlife woman, wife, and stay-at-home mother of 2 boys and 2 cats. I have a passion for helping other women feel fabulous in the midst of this crazy, beautiful life.

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