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Quilting is the term given to the process of joining a minimum of three layers of fabric together either through stitching manually using a needle and thread, or mechanically with a sewing machine or specialised longarm quilting system. An array of stitches is passed through all layers of the fabric to create a three-dimensional padded surface. The three layers are typically referred to as the top fabric or quilt top, batting or insulating material, and the backing.
A quilt is a multi-layered textile, traditionally composed of two or more layers of fabric or fiber. Commonly three layers are used with a filler material. These layers traditionally include a woven cloth top, a layer of batting or wadding, and a woven back combined using the techniques of quilting. This is the process of sewing on the face of the fabric, and not just the edges, to combine the three layers together to reinforce the material. Stitching patterns can be a decorative element. A single piece of fabric can be used for the top of a quilt, but in many cases the top is created from smaller fabric pieces joined, or patchwork. The pattern and color of these pieces creates the design.
The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and the largest of the New Deal art projects. It was created not as a cultural activity, but as a relief measure to employ artists and artisans to create murals, easel paintings, sculpture, graphic art, posters, photography, theatre scenic design, and arts and crafts. The WPA Federal Art Project established more than 100 community art centers throughout the country, researched and documented American design, commissioned a significant body of public art without restriction to content or subject matter, and sustained some 10,000 artists and craft workers during the Great Depression. According to American Heritage, “Something like 400,000 easel paintings, murals, prints, posters, and renderings were produced by WPA artists during the eight years of the project’s existence, virtually free of government pressure to control subject matter, interpretation, or style.”
Cuesta Benberry was an American historian and scholar. Considered to be one of the pioneers of research on quiltmaking in America, she was the pioneer of research on African-American quiltmaking. Her involvement in quilt research spans from founding and participating in various quilt groups to writing articles in renowned quilt magazines and journals. As a quilt scholar, Benberry acquired a collection of important quilts dating from the late 19th century up to the 21st century, as well as an extensive collection of paper documents supplementing quilting exhibitions, books, articles and her personal research.
The Quilt Treasures Project is an oral history project that documents the stories of a number of notable individuals who were instrumental in moving the 20th Century Quilt Revival forward in some significant way. These individuals include:
The Great Lakes Quilt Center is the Michigan State University Museum’s center for quilt-related research, education, and exhibition activities. While the museum, established in 1857, has long held significant collections, its focus of activities on quilt scholarship and education began with the launch of the Michigan Quilt Project at the museum in 1984. The Michigan Quilt Project not only spearheaded the documentation of the state's quiltmaking history, but also stimulated interest in strengthening the museum's quilt collection, upgrading its care, and expanding its use. As of 2008, the Michigan Quilt Project has collected documentation on over 9000 quilts in the state and the collection of quilts numbers over 700 with significant examples from Michigan and the Great Lakes region, examples of quilts from numerous African countries, major ethnographic collections of Native American quilts and Michigan African American quilts, and special collections assembled by Kitty Clark Cole, Harriet Clarke, Merry and Albert Silber, Deborah Harding, and Betty Quarton Hoard. The MSU Museum also houses two important collections developed by pioneering American quilt historians Cuesta Benberry and Mary Schafer.
Michael Cummings is an American artist and quilter who lives in Harlem, New York.
Roland L. Freeman was an American photographer and award-winning documenter of Southern folk culture and African-American quilters. He was the president of The Group for Cultural Documentation based in Washington, D.C.
Women of Color Quilters Network (WCQN) is a national organization dedicated to preserving African American quiltmaking.
Joyce J. Scott is an African-American artist, sculptor, quilter, performance artist, installation artist, print-maker, lecturer and educator. Named a MacArthur Fellow in 2016, and a Smithsonian Visionary Artist in 2019, Scott is best known for her figurative sculptures and jewelry using free form, off-loom beadweaving techniques, similar to a peyote stitch. Each piece is often constructed using thousands of glass seed beads or pony beads, and sometimes other found objects or materials such as glass, quilting and leather. In 2018, she was hailed for working in new medium — a mixture of soil, clay, straw, and cement — for a sculpture meant to disintegrate and return to the earth. Scott is influenced by a variety of diverse cultures, including Native American and African traditions, Mexican, Czech, and Russian beadwork, illustration and comic books, and pop culture.
The New England Quilt Museum, founded in 1987, is located in downtown Lowell, Massachusetts and is the only institute in the Northeastern United States solely dedicated to the art and craft of quilting. It is the second-oldest quilt museum in the United States. It houses special and permanent exhibits, a library, a museum shop, and classrooms. Collections are strong in 19th century quilts, with a geographic focus on New England.
Museum folklore is a domain of scholarship and professional practice within the field of folklore studies (folkloristics).
Redwork is a form of American embroidery, also called art needlework, that developed in the 19th century and was particularly popular between 1855 and 1925. It traditionally uses red thread, chosen because red dyes were the first commercially available colorfast dyes, in the form of Turkey red embroidery floss. Redwork designs are composed of simple stitches and were mainly used to decorate household objects in the 19th and 20th centuries, especially quilts. Patterns for individual quilt blocks were sold for a penny in the United States, making them popular and affordable. In the 21st century, redwork has seen a resurgence among crafters. The main stitch used in redwork is backstitch or outline stitching, formerly known as Kensington stitch. Redwork was a common introductory form of embroidery taught to children in the 19th and 20th century. Children would make quilts decorated with redwork motifs, with motifs of various sizes prior to approximately 1910 and uniform sizes after that year. It was also a way for women with skills in pattern stamping or embroidery to generate their own source of income from the home.
Mary Lum is an American visual artist whose paintings, collages and works on paper reference the urban environment, architectural forms and systems. Critic John Yau writes, "Mary Lum’s paintings on paper are based on collages, which are made from things she uses or encounters in her everyday life as well as photographs she takes of the places she visits. "
A signature quilt is a quilt that has multiple names signed, stamped, or embroidered on it. While examples exist prior to 1800, the tradition was popularized in the 19th century often as a means of fundraising or given as keepsakes to people moving west. They were also used to commemorate and document historical and communal events, or to indicate affiliations with organizations or groups. They would rarely include signatures of famous people with one unusual specimen created by Adeline Harris Sears containing 350 signatures including those of eight U.S. Presidents.
Gwen Marston née Gwendolyn Joy Miller was an American quilter, quilt teacher, lecturer, and author who championed a style of quilting she called liberated quiltmaking. She encouraged modern quilt makers to break away from using commercial quilt patterns and to learn to design their own unique pieces of art.
C. Kurt Dewhurst is an American curator and folklorist. Dewhurst is Director for Arts and Cultural Partnerships at Michigan State University (MSU) and also a Senior Fellow in University Outreach and Engagement. At MSU, he is also Director Emeritus of the Michigan State University Museum and a Professor of English and Museum Studies.
Nellie Zelda Star Boy Menard was an American quiltmaker and educator. In 1995, she received a National Heritage Fellowship.
Linda Gass is an American environmental activist and artist known for brightly colored quilted silk landscapes, environmental works, and public art sculptures, which reflect her passion for environmental preservation, water conservation and land use.
References
- ↑ "The Quilt Index". quiltindex.org. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
