The first floor of the Gaches Mansion will be covered with Embroidered Beauties: Old & New, a look at embroidered quilts over the past 200 years. We will have many examples of hand embroidery on hand but we will also feature a few fine examples of work done by artists in the computer age.
On display will be a white-work technique known as Candlewicking. This was a popular embroidery technique during Colonial times in America. Candlewicking derives its name from the thread used for the design work–the thread was braided and used as a wick in candle making. The design is composed of knots, satin stitches and running stitches, this embroidery decorated all types of fabric surfaces.
We will also have embroidered Crazy Quilts on display. The Crazy Quilt fad ran wild from about 1880 through the late 1920′s. The earlier quilts are often made of silk fabrics and are highly embellished with a wide variety of embroidery stitches.
The embroidery phase continued in the 1930′s when a large variety of patterns were available through newspapers, magazines, and by mail order. Newspapers carried patterns that could be used for appliqué; at times this pattern would be adapted for embroidery. One of our quilt tops is embroidered using designs by Nancy Page. Early transfer patterns were “printed” by piercing the paper and applying black powder for transferring the pattern. Later, hot-iron transfer became popular; red was usually a multi-stamp pattern, while blue, green or yellow was often a one-time use pattern.
We will also feature some embroidered quilts from post WWII. The 1950′s saw the rise of the pre-stamped cross stitch kit. Available through a number of magazines, these embroidered quilt kits can still ordered today.
Some contemporary quilters are still doing their embroidery work by hand. Susanne Staton (exhibit on the 3rd floor) is just such a quilter; making most of her wonderful crazy quilt vests with hand stitches. Other quilters might use computerized sewing machines to embroider a pattern. We will have a machine-stitched embroidery quilt made by John James on display. If you are a fan of embroidered work, this is a wonderful exhibit for ideas and inspiration.
