10.10.08
Posted in Announcements, Quilt Discoveries, publications at 10:11 pm by Administrator
The beautiful Mrs. Ellen Webster is seen in this photo probably taken in 1893, if that is, indeed, her wedding dress. After months of researching and writing, I have finally turned over a Master Copy of the CD that contains information about Mrs. Webster and all of her activities. She had a keen mind that was active right up until the time of her “unexpected death” at 82.
The CD is in pdf format and can be viewed using any computer that has downloaded Adobe Reader, a free software program. There is a lot to like about this format, including easy scrolling through the pages.
I am just thrilled that we decided to give this piece of history to the New Hampshire Historical Society so that they can replicate the CD and sell it in their museum store to raise funds that will stay with them. It feels good to present this gift.
More information about the project is located on the index page of our website, along with ordering details.
http://www.quiltersmuse.com
Do yourself a favor and send for this unique and wonderful product.
Thanks to my friends who have been passing out brochures at meetings and promoting the project verbally. All help is needed and appreciated.
Patricia Cummings, quilt historian, and James Cummings, photographer and photo editor
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02.26.08
Posted in Announcements, publications at 2:20 pm by Administrator
I understand that my latest article in the May 2008 issue of The Quilter magazine reached at least one subscriber yesterday. I received a lovely phone call from a friend across the country to exclaim how much she just loves Jim’s photos and my writing.
For us, the article is a very special one! Why? The needlework and quilts we talk about were made by four generations of the Lewis family, Jeff Lewis being my husband’s first cousin.
This is the first time that we sought and found the gravestones of quilters about whom we have written. We traveled to South Sutton, New Hampshire. Knowing that I can still see and hold their work is strong testimony to the way that textiles are a tangible representation of a person’s life and what was meaningful to them. These quilts speak of New England frugality and using what you have.
South Sutton is not on the way to anywhere, and although I have lived in New Hampshire for most of my life, with the exception of about five years, I had never visited the lovely, still quiet town that has changed little since Jim, my husband, was a boy and accompanied his Uncle Harry Lewis when he delivered grain there, by truck.
Deciding which quilts to photograph was a difficult choice. I hope you enjoy seeing the selection of nineteenth and twentieth century quilts, etc. that I’ve chosen to share in print. See The Quilter magazine: coming to a newsstand near you … soon. (May 2008 issue)
To see who visited us, the day we visited S. Sutton, view the front page of our website: http://www.quiltersmuse.com
Patricia Cummings
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04.29.07
Posted in Textile Discoveries, Uncategorized, publications at 5:29 pm by Administrator
Whenever we go antique hunting, inevitably, we come across a large cardboard box in which the dealer has thrown a potpourri of this and that kind of textile. There could be doilies, old kitchen towels, lace, quilt tops, Redwork, you name it. Usually, items “displayed” in this manner don’t amount to much. They could have torn edges, may be stained, or look undesirable in a wrinkled state. Sometimes, one gets lucky.
That was the case when Jim found the “Angels Sing Thee to Thy Rest,” (casket cover for a child?), in Maine. We bought it, I took it home and washed and pressed it, and proceeded to copy the design to make a pattern, researching its meaning, in the meantime. My research led me to a book titled, Stories in Stone: A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism and Iconography, in which the author shows a color photo of angels as rendered in a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792). The placement and the faces of the Redwork image look much like those in the painting. The saying on the piece is from Shakespeare.
One never knows what one will uncover when one opens his/her mind to the possibilities. This incident just reminds me, once again, that all of material culture does not happen in a vacuum. Items are related to words, and often to the deeds or preceding works of others.
For more information see:
Angels Sing Thee to Thy Rest pattern
I have a few of these Redwork patterns left @$8.49 each (that includes shipping.) If you’d like one, please contact me at: pat@quiltersmuse.com for payment details. Paypal, U.S. checks and money orders accepted.
Patricia
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