Proceedings of the 4th Biennial Symposium of the International Quilt Study Center & Museum

Ethnic Quilting Traditions in Magazine Articles 1900–1980

Colleen Hall-Patton — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:00:58 PDT

Quilting, while often seen as a quintessentially American art form, has a long history throughout the world. Americans’ exposure to other traditions has been intermittent, but reflects other trends in the study of ethnic arts. In the 1950s, interest in folk art overlapped with interest in ethnic art as both create an exotic “other” to readers. Before 1960, that “other” was primarily Hawaiian and European. The 1960s added Cuna molas, and the 1970s saw an explosion of interest in worldwide quilt traditions from Tibetan to Amish.

This paper is a content analysis of quilting traditions referenced in magazine articles from 1900 to 1980. The article database was derived from the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature and the Art Index. These indexes provide a replicable source and describe national level magazines of (more or less) popular interest. I reviewed six categories in each index; any articles which included the techniques of applique, piecing, or quilting were included. I examined changes over time, types of magazines, the contexts where ethnic quilts were published, and the intersectionality of gender and ethnicity.

Swedish Quilts in the Context of the Hemslöjd Movement

Laurel Horton — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:22:46 PDT

During the late nineteenth century, when Swedes determined which textile arts would be promoted through their hemslöjd, or handicraft movement, they selected weaving and embroidery as representative of the indigenous textile expressions of their national heritage. In the twenty-first century, Swedes and tourists alike purchase kits to reproduce traditional embroidered items. Many modern Swedes order their own folkdräkt (folk dress) outfit representing their ancestral village, which are woven and sewn by artisans and worn for weddings and other ceremonial occasions. In all the ways that indigenous Swedish crafts are presented to the public, quilts are absent.

And yet, during a research trip to Sweden, this American researcher found quilts everywhere. Many museums have quilts in their collections, although these are rarely displayed. Women showed me their quilts, including a wool log cabin made by a grandmother; an elaborate late-nineteenth-century crazy quilt purchased in Östersund, in the remote northern province of Jämtland; and the baby quilt a young clothing designer made for her baby daughter to use.

This paper examines the place of quilts in contemporary Swedish life and compares the historical development of hemslöjd with the American experience of the Colonial Revival.

2009 Symposium Speakers, Program & Schedule / The Global Quilt: Cultural Contexts / International Quilt Study Center & Museum 4th Biennial Symposium

International Quilt Study Center & Museum — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 07:23:34 PDT

The Global Quilt: Cultural Contexts will feature invited speakers, juried papers, thematic sessions, and panel discussions. Two days of presentations will be supplemented by pre-conference and post-conference tours, including a behind-the-scenes tour of the International Quilt Study Center's new museum, its state-of-the-art storage facility, guided tours of exhibitions, and special exhibitions at other venues in the Lincoln area. Keynote speakers for the symposium are Jacqueline Atkins, the Kate Fowler Merle-Smith Curator of Textiles at the Allentown Art Museum (Allentown, PA) and Jennifer Harris, Deputy Director of the Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester (Manchester, UK).

Quilting as a Mode of Self-Expression among Irish Women

Emer Fahy — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:46:49 PDT

This paper arises from the research work of my M.A. in Women’s Studies at UCC in 2005, which addresses the motivations for women’s involvement in quilting. This work is supported by a scholarship from the Irish Council for Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences. In this paper I will focus on the importance of disidentification for women accessing quilting as a form of artistic self-expression.

My research shows that for many women, it is the cultural invisibility of quilts and quilting, supported by the myths of frugality and functionality surrounding them, that enables women to comfortably access this medium of self-expression and to create communities that bring them support in their lives. Understanding this need to mask a creative activity and reluctance to declare a need for creative expression or an artistic outlet, becomes very important in designing and presenting programs that women are prepared to access.

Mathematical Classroom Quilts

Elaine Krajenke Ellison — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:15:30 PDT

In an effort to create a visual and historical basis to my classroom instruction, I began quilting high school mathematics topics in the early 1980's. The visual approach to teaching a lesson was successful in that the quilts engaged the students immediately. Students' motivation and enjoyment of mathematics were evident in their enthusiasm for the topic being studied. Cultural and historical connections evolved with the story of each quilt.

Fractal Geometry in African American Quilt Traditions

Judy Bales — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:54:01 PDT

My first encounter with African American quilts was in the early 1980’s in Madison, Georgia. I have a distant memory of an exhibition at the Madison Cultural Center--I do not remember whose collection it was. But I felt an immediate kinship with the way these particular quilters worked, and the experience planted a seed for future interest in similar works. I had always rebelled against the precision and tidy stitches of traditional quilting, and these quilters seemed to favor improvisation, color, texture and “punch” over precision of stitches and precise repetition of pattern. The quilts seemed as much paintings as quilts, and I was a painter turned fiber artist. Over the years the memory of these quilts often inspired directions in my own fiber work, and gave me a sense of validation of my own working methods. A decade later I came across the writings and collections of Eli Leon, who has collected African American quilts chiefly from California, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana for many years. His interviews with the quilters expanded my understanding of this particular quilting style that focused on improvisation, variation on a theme, and a welcoming attitude toward irregularities and accidentals.

Religion and Norwegian-American Quilts

Laurann Gilbertson — Mon, 18 May 2009 08:43:30 PDT

Quilts and quiltmaking have been closely connected to the religious identities of Norwegian-American women and to churches in the Midwest in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Lutheran Church was an important institution, socially as well as religiously, for many Norwegian-American families. Through Kvindeforening, or Ladies Aid, women learned to make quilts, practiced English, built and maintained social relationships, and sold quilts and textiles to fund local, national, and global projects. Immigrant women followed the churches’ teachings to avoid ostentatiousness by making quilts that, in the early years, were more modestly beautiful. Some quilts made by devout Norwegian Americans show evidence of faith in imagery and language with embroidered scenes from the Bible and Bible verses in Norwegian. Some quilts are best understood within a religious context, like temperance quilts and fundraising quilts that became cherished records of church members because theological disputes were splitting congregations and communities. This presentation explores quilts made by Norwegian immigrants and their descendants within the framework of religion. I will focus on quilts made by women in the American Midwest before about 1935. I’ve used published and unpublished diaries, letters, and memoirs, as well as the histories of artifacts in collections such as Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa.

Indo-Portuguese Quilting Tradition: The Cross-Cultural Context

Patrick J. Finn — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:10:17 PDT

The arrival of the Portuguese in India at the end of 15th century marks the beginning of a significant period of bilateral cultural exchange of quilting concepts, designs and techniques. As early as the 4th century BCE, India had developed a rich and varied textile tradition recognized internationally. Subsequent to the Portuguese opening the trade route around the Cape of Good Hope in 1498, many Europeans voyaged to India in search of trade opportunities. However, it was the Portuguese who initially explored the potential of Indian embroidered textiles, including quilts. “It was their familiarity with Islamic and Judaic culture which enabled the new arrivals to interact with the local elite and access the sophisticated production of the karkhanas (royal workshops.)” The intent of this paper is to examine the mutual exchange of design concepts, motifs and techniques evidenced in both Indian domestic quiltmaking and the quilts made in India for colonial offshore markets. This paper also surveys the origins of design, the techniques employed and the context in which the quilts were produced. The Europeans produced quilts not only at Satgaon, but also other locations on the subcontinent. This paper investigates these locations and their quilts types in hopes of better identifying the few remaining examples in collections worldwide.

The "Download" (button at upper right) accesses an "optimized" version with file size reduced to about 10 Mb. The attached "Additional file" (link below) is the full original file size of 64 Mbytes.

The Global Quilt: Cultural Contexts International Quilt Study Center & Museum 4th Biennial Symposium (registration brochure)

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:57:04 PDT

Thursday, April 2
1:30–3:30 pm Guided tours of Quilt Museum exhibitions offered every hour on the half hour; last tour begins at 3:30 pm. Shuttle service from Holiday Inn–Downtown provided: 1–4 pm.
1:00–5:00 pm Registration & Information at Holiday Inn–Downtown
6:00–7:00 pm Registration & Information at International Quilt Study Center & Museum
7:00 pm Keynote Presentation by Jennifer Harris, Deputy Director of the Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester (Manchester, UK) Reception to follow. Shuttle service from Holiday Inn–Downtown provided.

Friday, April 3
8:00 am–4:30 pm Registration & Information at Holiday Inn–Downtown
8:30–10:30 am Concurrent Sessions
10:30–11:00 am Break
11:00 am–12:30 pm Concurrent Sessions
12:30–2:00 pm Luncheon
2:00–3:30 pm Concurrent Sessions
3:30–4:00 pm Break
4:00–5:30 pm Concurrent Sessions
5:00–7:00 pm First Friday at Quilt Museum: Light hors d’ouevres, cash bar and optional guided tour. Shuttle service from Holiday Inn–Downtown provided.
7:00 pm Dinner on your own

Saturday, April 4
8am-12 pm Registration & Information at Holiday Inn–Downtown
8:30-10:30 am Concurrent Sessions
10:30-11 am Break
11:00 am–12:30 pm Closing Plenary Session by Jacqueline Atkins, Kate Fowler Merle-Smith Curator of Textiles, Allentown Art Museum (Allenton, PA)
12:30–2:00 pm Lunch on your own
2:00–3:30 pm Works-in-progress. Two moderated informal sessions. Open to all symposium registrants. One for Creative work and the other for Research. Share, discuss, and solicit feedback on your projects that are in any phase of development.