Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework

Last updated March 11, 2024

The Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework was founded in Deerfield, Massachusetts, in 1896 by Margaret C. Whiting and Ellen Miller. They formed the society in 1896 as a way to help residents boost the town's economy by reviving American needlework from the 1700s.^[1] It was inspired by the crewel embroidery of 18th-century women who had lived in the Deerfield, Massachusetts, area. Members of the Blue and White Society initially used the patterns and stitches from these earlier works, but because these new embroideries were not meant to replicate the earlier works, the embroidery soon deviated from the original versions with new patterns and stitches, and even the use of linen, rather than wool, thread.^[2]^: 73 The society disbanded in 1926 for several reasons. Ellen Miller was in declining health; the trained stitchers were getting old and could not continue; Margaret C. Whiting's sight was fading; and, the design and quality of commercially produced items was increasing.^[3]^: 35

Founding

The founders of the Society, Margaret C. Whiting and Ellen Miller, were descended from Colonial families, though they were not originally from Deerfield.^[2]^: 68 The Miller family, with two daughters, had come to Deerfield from the nearby town of Hatfield in 1893, and in 1895 Mrs. Calvin Whiting arrived with her two daughters from Holyoke. The families were already friends, and Margaret and Ellen may have known each other while both were students at the New York Academy of Design.^[3]^: 15

By the middle of the 19th century, Deerfield's population was declining, with young people moving away. There was a focused interest amongst those who stayed on in Deerfield's history, and this was reflected in the establishment in 1870 of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, which actively collected local artifacts. These artifacts formed the basis of the Memorial Hall Museum, which opened to the public in Deerfield in 1880. This local interest in heritage served as the setting for the founding of the Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework.^[4]^: 69

Whiting and Miller carefully examined historical crewel embroidery of the area as found in the possession of residents^[2]^: 69 and in Memorial Hall Museum.^[5]^: 104 Using these pieces as learning tools, they mastered the stitches and motifs used by the colonial embroiderers. As their work became known, not only were people interested in buying it, but also learning to produce it. Whiting and Miller formed a cooperative, the Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework, in which the stitching members shared in the proceeds of the sales.^[5]^: 104 Whiting had read John Ruskin's work, and was influenced by his ideas of design and social reform, yet made certain the Society maintained an emphasis on producing a quality product.^[6]^: 72 Miller's interest in color was connected to Ruskin's interest.^[6]^: 75

The business

Miller and Whiting hired workers—four to start—and provided them with the needed materials. They offered classes for beginners, in order to train additional qualified women. Eventually, between 25 and 30 women, ranging in age from 19 to 70, actively participated in the Society at a given time.^[7]^: 62–63 Only women from the local area were accepted as Society members.^[6]^: 72 Women were paid based on the work that they did. The time that would be needed to complete each element of each pattern was determined, so workers who were quick and precise would be at an advantage. The average earning was 20 cents per hour, and average annual earnings ranged from 75 cents to $139.^[7]^: 63 Prices for completed items were based on the cost of the materials, the time to design a project, the stitching time, and the need to pay the designer. In 1904, costs ranged from $1.50 for a 6″ doily to table squares up to $30. These costs were many times more expensive than manufactured linens of high quality.^[7]^: 65

Initially, the Society members based their work on the historical examples. The designs were taken from those in the local museum and from those owned privately. Motifs were used as needed for design purposes, and therefore deviated from the source pieces. Motifs might be combined from different sources and used repeatedly but with a number of different stitches. The most frequently used stitch was New England Laid (also known as Romanian), which conserved thread, which would have been a precious commodity during the Colonial period. At the start, blue threads were used on white fabric.^[6]^: 72–75 Different sources report that these threads were of linen^[6] or wool.^[2] Both Whiting and Miller, using their design training, soon developed new designs, and eventually started using threads in other colors, such as greens, madder (red), and fustic (yellow). Ellen Miller was the expert dyer, who tried out different dyes and mordants, kept extensive records of her efforts, and kept swatches in sunlight to check lightfastness over a six-month period.^[6]^: 75 They experimented with appliqué and cross-stitch. Works emanating from the Society were trademarked with a letter "D" in the center of a spinning wheel.^[2]^: 69

Arts and Crafts movement

The Arts and Crafts movement influenced the Deerfield Society both in its organization and its use of materials. The Society engaged in hand craftsmanship, something that was waning in the Industrial Age. In connection with this rejection of mass-produced materials, members of the Society sought out handmade materials. Whiting and Miller used vegetable dyes in order to create the colors of the wool threads,^[5]^: 104 and handwoven linen fabric was bought for use as the background from Berea College and weavers in Vermont and Georgia.^[2]^: 69

Influence

The Society's founding had an impact on other craft revivals in Deerfield. In 1899 the Deerfield Society of Arts and Crafts was created, which provided a structure for individuals in the town working in a number of crafts:^[7]^: 12 baskets were woven by two groups, one that called themselves the Deerfield Basket Makers and another at the north end of town, the Pocumtuck Basket Makers. Individuals worked with iron, silver and copper, and photography, and wove rag rugs and linens.^[3]^: 28

The founder of the New Hampshire Saffron and Indigo Society, Martha G. Stearns, lived near Deerfield as a girl, and remembered seeing members of the Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework at work on embroidery projects. Stearns, who wrote the book Homespun and Blue about New England needlework, organized the Saffron and Indigo Society as an offshoot of the League of New Hampshire Arts and Crafts. Its goal was "to encourage needlework and to stimulate native designs."^[8]

Demise

The Society's work slowed down during the First World War, when linen was hard to get, the Society's workers shifted focus to contributing to the war effort, and tastes were changing.^[6]^: 76 It managed to carry on until 1926, when it disbanded. There were multiple reasons for this: Miller was in poor health; Whiting was losing her eyesight; and the embroiderers contributing the finished items were aging. In addition, the design and quality of commercially produced items was increasing.^[3]^: 35

Related Research Articles

Cross-stitch is a form of sewing and a popular form of counted-thread embroidery in which X-shaped stitches in a tiled, raster-like pattern are used to form a picture. The stitcher counts the threads on a piece of evenweave fabric in each direction so that the stitches are of uniform size and appearance. This form of cross-stitch is also called counted cross-stitch in order to distinguish it from other forms of cross-stitch. Sometimes cross-stitch is done on designs printed on the fabric ; the stitcher simply stitches over the printed pattern. Cross-stitch is often executed on easily countable fabric called aida cloth, whose weave creates a plainly visible grid of squares with holes for the needle at each corner.

Embroidery is the art of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to stitch thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen on caps, hats, coats, overlays, blankets, dress shirts, denim, dresses, stockings, scarfs, shoes, handbags and golf shirts. Embroidery is available in a wide variety of thread or yarn colour. It is often used to personalize gifts or clothing items.

A needlework sampler is a piece of embroidery or cross-stitching produced as a 'specimen of achievement', demonstration or a test of skill in needlework. It often includes the alphabet, figures, motifs, decorative borders and sometimes the name of the person who embroidered it and the date. The word sampler is derived from the Latin exemplum, which means 'example'.

Blackwork, sometimes historically termed Spanish blackwork, is a form of embroidery generally worked in black thread, although other colours are also used on occasion, as in scarletwork, where the embroidery is worked in red thread. Originating in Tudor period England, blackwork typically, though not always, takes the form of a counted-thread embroidery, where the warp and weft yarns of a fabric are counted for the length of each stitch, producing uniform-length stitches and a precise pattern on an even-weave fabric. Blackwork may also take the form of free-stitch embroidery, where the yarns of a fabric are not counted while sewing.

Hardanger embroidery or "Hardangersøm" is a form of embroidery traditionally worked with white thread on white even-weave linen or cloth, using counted thread and drawn thread work techniques. It is sometimes called whitework embroidery.

Crewel embroidery, or crewelwork, is a type of surface embroidery using wool. A wide variety of different embroidery stitches are used to follow a design outline applied to the fabric. The technique is at least a thousand years old.

Jacobean embroidery refers to embroidery styles that flourished in the reign of King James I of England in first quarter of the 17th century.

Embroidery thread is yarn that is manufactured or hand-spun specifically for embroidery and other forms of needlework. Embroidery thread often differs widely, coming in many different fiber types, colors and weights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cross stitches</span> X or + shaped embroidery stitch

Cross stitches in embroidery, needlepoint, and other forms of needlework include a number of related stitches in which the thread is sewn in an x or + shape. Cross stitch has been called "probably the most widely used stitch of all" and is part of the needlework traditions of the Balkans, Middle East, Afghanistan, Colonial America and Victorian England.

In embroidery, plainweave is a technical category of woven base fabrics that are suitable for working certain varieties of embroidery. Plainweave fabrics have a tight weave and individual threads are not readily visible. Surface embroidery may be performed on plainweave, such as crewel work, goldwork, stumpwork, cutwork, and candlewicking.

In needlework, a slip is a design representing a cutting or specimen of a plant, usually with flowers or fruit and leaves on a stem. Most often, slip refers to a plant design stitched in canvaswork (pettipoint), cut out, and applied to a woven background fabric. By extension, slip may also mean any embroidered or canvaswork motif, floral or not, mounted to fabric in this way.

English embroidery includes embroidery worked in England or by English people abroad from Anglo-Saxon times to the present day. The oldest surviving English embroideries include items from the early 10th century preserved in Durham Cathedral and the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry, if it was worked in England. The professional workshops of Medieval England created rich embroidery in metal thread and silk for ecclesiastical and secular uses. This style was called Opus Anglicanum or "English work", and was famous throughout Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Linwood</span> British artist (1755–1845)

Mary Linwood (1755–1845) was an English needle woman who exhibited her worsted embroidery or crewel embroidery in Leicester and London and was the school mistress of a private school. In the 20th century, Mary Linwood Comprehensive School was named in her honour. In 1790, she received a medal from the Society of Arts.

Mary Electa Allen (1858–1941) was an American photographer and co-founder of the Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework. She worked alongside her sister as a photographer from 1885 until 1920 capturing the life and landscape of Old Deerfield, among other subjects and paid commissions.

Memorial Hall Museum is a museum dedicated to preserving the history, art, and culture of the Deerfield, Massachusetts region as well as New England generally. Overseen by the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association (PVMA), it opened in 1880.

Margaret C. Whiting (1860-1946), was born in Chester, Massachusetts but lived much of her adult life in Deerfield, Massachusetts. She trained as an artist, and published an illustrated book with Ellen Miller on wild flowers. She ad Miller co-founded the Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework, where she contributed her skills as a designer and teacher, and provided leadership for the organization. She won a gold medal for her needlework from the 1915 Worlds Fair in San Francisco for its design and color.

Ellen Miller (1854-1929) was one of the founders of the Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework, with Margaret C. Whiting. She was a painter, designer, author, and needleworker. She was particularly skilled with dyeing, a talent she developed and practiced in her work for the Deerfield Society.

Inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement and the concept, organization, work and success of the Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework, citizens of Deerfield, Massachusetts began to create, show, and sell their craft and art works. Success in the 1899 Summer Exhibition in Deerfield, as well as two subsequent exhibitions, encouraged Madeline Yale Wynne, a founding member of the Chicago Arts and Crafts Society, to organize the Deerfield Society of Arts and Crafts in 1901, and to serve as its president. The Society changed its name in 1906 to the Society of Deerfield Industries.

Bed hangings or bed curtains are fabric panels that surround a bed; they were used from medieval times through to the 19th century. Bed hangings provided privacy when the master or great bed was in a public room, such as the parlor. They also kept warmth in, and were a way of showing one's wealth. When bedrooms became more common in the mid-1700s, the use of bed hangings diminished.

Colcha embroidery from the southwest United States is a form of surface embroidery that uses wool threads on cotton or linen fabric. During the Spanish Colonial period, the word colcha referred to a densely embroidered wool coverlet. In time, the word also came to refer to the embroidery stitch that was used for these coverlets, and then began to be used on other surfaces. The colcha stitch is self-couched, with threads applied at a 45-degree angle to tie down the stitch. Originally, the wool threads were dyed naturally, using plants or insects, such as cochineal. Both materials used and design motifs have varied over time.

References

↑ Gordon, Beverly (Summer–Autumn 1998). "Spinning Wheels, Samplers, and the Modern Priscilla: The Images and Paradoxes of Colonial Revival Needlework". Winterthur Portfolio. 33 (2/3): 163–194. doi:10.1086/496744. S2CID 162196456 – via JSTOR.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Stearns, Martha Genung (1963). Homespun and Blue: A Study of American Crewel Embroidery. New York: Bonanza Books.
1 2 3 4 Howe, Margery Burnham. (1976). Deerfield embroidery. New York: Scribner. ISBN 0-684-14377-1. OCLC 1341513.
↑ Cahill, Susan Elizabeth (2007). Crafting Culture, Fabricating Identity: Gender and Textiles in Limerick Lace, Clare Embroidery and the Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework (MA Thesis). Kingston, Ontario: Queen's University.
1 2 3 The Needle arts : a social history of American needlework. Time-Life Books. Alexandria, Va.: Time-Life Books. 1990. ISBN 0-8094-6841-7. OCLC 21482166.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Moss, Gillian (1979). "Deerfield Blue and White: An Arts and Crafts Society". American Art & Antiques. 11 (5): 70–77.
1 2 3 4 Flynt, Suzanne L. (2012). Poetry to the earth : the arts & crafts movement in Deerfield. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association. Stockbridge, MA: Hard Press Editions. ISBN 978-1-55595-383-6. OCLC 857896280.
↑ Eaton, Allen H. (1949). Handicrafts of New England. New York: Harper & Brothers. pp. 197–199.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Gordon, Beverly (Summer–Autumn 1998). "Spinning Wheels, Samplers, and the Modern Priscilla: The Images and Paradoxes of Colonial Revival Needlework". Winterthur Portfolio. 33 (2/3): 163–194. doi:10.1086/496744. S2CID 162196456 – via JSTOR.

[:3-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Stearns, Martha Genung (1963). Homespun and Blue: A Study of American Crewel Embroidery. New York: Bonanza Books.

[:4-3] 1 2 3 4 Howe, Margery Burnham. (1976). Deerfield embroidery. New York: Scribner. ISBN 0-684-14377-1. OCLC 1341513.

[4] Cahill, Susan Elizabeth (2007). Crafting Culture, Fabricating Identity: Gender and Textiles in Limerick Lace, Clare Embroidery and the Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework (MA Thesis). Kingston, Ontario: Queen's University.

[:5-5] 1 2 3 The Needle arts : a social history of American needlework. Time-Life Books. Alexandria, Va.: Time-Life Books. 1990. ISBN 0-8094-6841-7. OCLC 21482166.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)

[:1-6] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Moss, Gillian (1979). "Deerfield Blue and White: An Arts and Crafts Society". American Art & Antiques. 11 (5): 70–77.

[:0-7] 1 2 3 4 Flynt, Suzanne L. (2012). Poetry to the earth : the arts & crafts movement in Deerfield. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association. Stockbridge, MA: Hard Press Editions. ISBN 978-1-55595-383-6. OCLC 857896280.

[8] Eaton, Allen H. (1949). Handicrafts of New England. New York: Harper & Brothers. pp. 197–199.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]