.... and now for something completely different

Networking is great.  A year or so ago, my art quilter friend Pat Kroth electronically introduced me to her textile conservation friend Patricia Ewer, just because.  And it turned into a wonderful adventure for me.

Patricia was hired to spend a week in Milwaukee, cleaning and remounting a tapestry for St. Paul's Episcopal Church.  The church had just installed a new organ and done a big remodeling job along with that.  The tapestry was removed during all the construction, and so this seemed a great time to do an assessment, spiff it up, hang it according to more modern techniques, etc.

Since Patricia's usual assistant was not available for a couple of those days, she called on me.  How wonderful!  So I read up on tapestry construction, and then had two days of vacuuming and stitching and learning way a lot more about tapestry and about being a conservator.  And we were set up in a lovely hotel with a delicious restaurant to boot!

The tapestry has been dated to the early 1500s, probably made in Belgium, which was the capital of the tapestry industry at that time.  

A Little Bit of Hawaii to Warm Up Your January

This bright and cheery quilt was made by the owner's great-grandmother.  It is tied with thread to the back, which is pieced mostly of large solid turquoise and tan rectangles, with a few more Hawaiian print pieces in the mix as well.  There is no batting.

Several of the seams have ripped open over time, and been stitched back together.  In most cases, there wasn't enough fabric to actually recreate the seams, so the fabrics had just been stitched to the backing.  The stitching was done with white thread, and with higgledy-piggledy stitches.  Some of that stitching caught the back fabric in such a way that some large puckers were created.  This photo shows one of the most damaged areas (and one of the smaller puckers).

Holiday Treats

Oftentimes, beginning quilters start with what I've heard entitled "The Pillow and Placemat Stage".  I certainly did!  But now, all these years later, I've really gotten away from making little quilty doo-dads, focusing more on the quilt repair and art quilt realms.  But sometimes these things are still fun, and sometimes gifts are called for.  So here are my holiday treats:

Last weekend, I joined a couple of other local artists in a holiday open studio sale.  For that, I made two little wall quilts, each about 12" square.

more Little Women: On Stage!

Success!  All those rebuilt dresses, altered suit jackets, added sashes, replaced buttons, and redesigned hats later, the show was a great success.  And, while you're at it, please enjoy the wonderful set built by Joyce and her crew.

The iconic pose of the daughters listening to Marmee read a letter from Mr. March:

more Little Women: Before, After, and In-between

Welcome to my first guest posting!  This is Annie Guter, Thin Ice Theater's great costume re-builder.  You saw lots of her work on the gowns worn in last year's "An Ideal Husband".  So - take it away, Annie:

On a thrift store excursion, as this is THE place to find yards of fabric extra cheap, I came across three voluminous plus size dresses, all yoked, with enough skirt for any respectable Civil War era lass.  I set to dismantling all three and then realized a before photo might be in order.  Two were already too far gone for a photo but I caught Beth’s winter dress, so I think you can at least get an idea of what the float dresses looked like.  

more Little Women: Beth

A Plaid Dress for Beth

For this dress, like Amy's, I also needed to make undersleeves.  Also, the skirt was too short, so I lengthened it by adding a wide strip that matched the new sleeves.

more Little Women: Amy

A Sweet Dress for Amy

This dress had the odd set-up of a (worn-out) velcro closure on the front, and a (broken) zipper on the back.  Let's just say, it was pretty hard to wear in its original state.  I took off the old velcro and closed the front seam.  I replaced the zipper in back.

Then, it came to restyling the dress more in keeping with 1860s fashion.  I took off the lace.  I took off the sleeve cuffs.  I found a super good match in a remnant fabric.