In a bid to get her beautiful and colorful quilts to the masses, Denyse Schmidt has teamed up with Sarita Handa of India to produce a new line that retails at price points far below Ms. Schmidt's signature line (@$2400-$5400 - You can find the signature line at John Kelly on Franklin Street among other places). We originally saw these new designs at the Gift Show and took pics.
Following in the footsteps of textile-designers-turned-moguls Angela Adams and Emma Gardner, we'll see how Ms. Schmidt does. We were extremely pleased to meet her at our launch party at DWR and are only too happy to give her a boost. Her style is assured and working with an old pro like Sarita Handa seems like a very good idea.
The entire line has been appearing over the past year and is available at Mainecottage.com, Bloomingdales and Crate & Barrel. Smaller NY stores will be selling some designs as well. Prices will run $275-$300 for a queen size.
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Affordable? I don't think a minimum of $2400 for a quilt "affordable". But, hey, that's just me.
I think Maxwell meant that her $2,400 quilts aren't all that affordable, but her $300 line is pretty reasonable. (Of course, there is an even cheaper option: Buy her book and make a quilt yourself!)
Or take a class at The City Quilter on 25th St. www.cityquilter.com. I'm not affiliated with them. I've just taken several good classes there.
While I peresonally wouldn't drop a few thousand on a quilt (I simply can't afford it), I can understand the pricing whenI consider all the ours it takes to put a really beautiful quilt together. That being said, if these ones are cranked out in bulk with a lot of machinery (versus hand stitching) and underpaid labor, the, yeah, the prices are too high.
ok:
Personally (not peresonally)
hours (not ours)
--Libby (with fingers that just don't want to hit the correct keys today!)
I think her "haute couture line" is reasonable if you consider them investment, "future antique" and work of art, all of which I believe them to be.
And, if buying antique quilts (especially collectible varities, like those of Gee's Bend, which her work reminds me of), you generally can't TOUCH good quality vintage quilts in the $2400 range...
Her "ready to wear line", even if machine-produced and "cranked out" is far more colorful, imaginative, and hand-made in feel than most stuff out there in the $275-$300 (or higher) price range.
(And I say none of these things because she is a RISD alum, or because she has gorgeous eyes...)
With you there, Libby. Though it wasn't passed down to my generation- my family were full of quilters. Modern convience made a necessary art unnessary when there are blankets you can buy at the store. But seeing everyone's responses so far and that nagging need to keep the art alive, I think I rather try to make a quilt than spend $5000 on one. As an artist I understand the pricing if it was handmade and not massed produced. I rather have the "real thing" heirloom to pass down.
Isn't Sarita Handa supposed to be a fair wages, equal opportunity company? I thought that was why it was chosen to manufacture a lower cost line of Denyse's designs. Just because it's manufactured in India doesn't automatically mean the workers are getting screwed, right? The prices are certainly in line with other "imported" machine quilted quilts sold in most bedding catalogs (like Garnet Hill etc).
If I could afford it, I'd buy one of those hand quilted jobs in a millisecond! I think her designs are pretty great and don't know anything about her eyes or where she went to school.
regards,
trillium
My wife and I bought the Chain Link quilt (second picture above) from Crate & Barrel when we bought a new bed a few months ago. We absolutely love it, and frankly, the cost was only about $100 more than an equivalent comforter. The bed, a Modernica Case Study king size, looks a lot better with a quilt on it than a comforter. We definitely thought the quilt was worth the money; I'm planning to buy one of the Strings Attached quilts in the next few months to alternate with the Chain Link.
I wish we could afford one of the signature line quilts (which are hand-stitched by Amish women here in the U.S.); after I win the lottery, maybe. In the meantime, we're delighted with the Sarita Handa quilt we have.
You can buy one of Denyse lower-priced-line quilts at Domus, a great little store on 44 St in Hell's Kitchen NYC. They ARE hand-stitched for the most part, with some machine-stitching applique'. I have just bought a fabolous red one with big, bright squares and I love it! Sarita Handa is a woman who runs a very reputable operation in India and, just because the cost of living is lower over there than in the US, I don't think it means that people are always exploited.I am happy if by buying a quilt I can give them work, I can't afford the ones made by hand in the US.