Margaret and her wonderful new gadget!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Last summer, I took a class from Margaret Ordonez, a professor from the University of Rhode Island. We have kept in touch since then, and she invited me to come see her at URI. Since she arrived home from an archeological research trip in Honduras on Nov. 15, this was really the only chance to go see her. I drove down to Rhode Island -- a two hour drive, but well worth it! It was great to see Margaret and we spent all day in her conservation lab, the student classroom/lab and the two large collection rooms there. This was the coolest thing ever!
In her conservation lab, Margaret showed me her new gadget. It's a microscope linked to a camera and a computer screen. She put some slides under it and WOW!!! is all I can say. You can really see the images clearly on the LARGE computer monitor she has! The neat thing about this is that you can take an image of a slide as it appears on the monitor. Then you can send the images! She was actually looking at fibers from a pair of socks she purchased last summer at the IQSC. The tag on the socks says "Bamboo Sox." In looking at a few fibers she was able to scavenge off the top of the socks, Margaret showed me how the microscope tells the story -- the fibers are straight and have a center canal. It is a fiber made of cellulose, i.e. like rayon. So, Margaret, and her graduate assistant, Mary Elizabeth, were surmising that the cellulose may have been derived from bamboo, but then was processed. Mary Elizabeth was saying that bamboo is difficult to extract fiber from because it takes so long that it mildews in the process. And the discussion goes on.....
We also looked at slides that were sent from a fabric manufacturer. It showed consistent tears in the fibers. They need help in figuring out why so they can fix their equipment. From the slide, you can see that actually the fibers are being cut. Then, there were also the slides from an historic sampler. You could see where the black thread had disintegrated. Very cool stuff! Margaret showed me several items they have received "on contract" to conserve. One was a flag that was disintegrating. She showed me how a stabilizing fabric will be adhered to the underside. And how is it applied? I asked. She said with a substance similar to Elmer's Glue, except made for fabric.
We went into the lab where students would be working later that day doing a unit on dyes. And there the dyes were, sitting there in glass containers waiting to be used! There was a lot of different equipment in there -- something to test the strength of fabric, washing machines that washed once, but equaled five washings from our home washing machines. There was also another fascinating piece of equipment I asked Margaret about. She said Dr. Bide was working with it and it was a spinneret (I think). Anyway, she said it was being used to develop some possible medical applications. A synthetic fiber is randomly wound on a copper cylinder. When it is removed, the fiber, let's say polyester, is shaped like a hollow tube. The tube may then have antibiotics applied to it, then sliced very thin and used for body parts such as heart valves. How neat is that?!!!
URI bought a new digital fabric printer recently so Margaret excitedly showed off the various parts -- some still in boxes. The problem? Where to put it! Would I ever like to come back and play with that baby!
Then, we spent a lot of time looking at the URI costume collection and the textile collection. Ohhh la la! It was wonderful to say the least. I got to see the quilts and fabrics she used in her images for class last summer. She also showed me all their quilts and some of their textiles. I even got to see turn of the century textiles from Egypt. Very cool! When we came across some crazy quilts with disintegrating silks, Margaret showed me how they were conserved. Now I can apply this technique to my own crazy quilt, made by my great grandmother!
I could go on and on about this great visit with Margaret. She shared all her treasures with me. AND, she had her cell phone in her pocket the entire day because she was expecting news of a new granddaughter being born any minute! Lucky for me, by the time I left at 4:30 little Miss Mandy had not arrived yet, and Margaret took off straight for the hospital. I have to mention also that the URI campus is very, very pretty. The grounds are beautiful and some of the stone buildings are positively wonderful.
Last summer, I took a class from Margaret Ordonez, a professor from the University of Rhode Island. We have kept in touch since then, and she invited me to come see her at URI. Since she arrived home from an archeological research trip in Honduras on Nov. 15, this was really the only chance to go see her. I drove down to Rhode Island -- a two hour drive, but well worth it! It was great to see Margaret and we spent all day in her conservation lab, the student classroom/lab and the two large collection rooms there. This was the coolest thing ever!
In her conservation lab, Margaret showed me her new gadget. It's a microscope linked to a camera and a computer screen. She put some slides under it and WOW!!! is all I can say. You can really see the images clearly on the LARGE computer monitor she has! The neat thing about this is that you can take an image of a slide as it appears on the monitor. Then you can send the images! She was actually looking at fibers from a pair of socks she purchased last summer at the IQSC. The tag on the socks says "Bamboo Sox." In looking at a few fibers she was able to scavenge off the top of the socks, Margaret showed me how the microscope tells the story -- the fibers are straight and have a center canal. It is a fiber made of cellulose, i.e. like rayon. So, Margaret, and her graduate assistant, Mary Elizabeth, were surmising that the cellulose may have been derived from bamboo, but then was processed. Mary Elizabeth was saying that bamboo is difficult to extract fiber from because it takes so long that it mildews in the process. And the discussion goes on.....
We also looked at slides that were sent from a fabric manufacturer. It showed consistent tears in the fibers. They need help in figuring out why so they can fix their equipment. From the slide, you can see that actually the fibers are being cut. Then, there were also the slides from an historic sampler. You could see where the black thread had disintegrated. Very cool stuff! Margaret showed me several items they have received "on contract" to conserve. One was a flag that was disintegrating. She showed me how a stabilizing fabric will be adhered to the underside. And how is it applied? I asked. She said with a substance similar to Elmer's Glue, except made for fabric.
We went into the lab where students would be working later that day doing a unit on dyes. And there the dyes were, sitting there in glass containers waiting to be used! There was a lot of different equipment in there -- something to test the strength of fabric, washing machines that washed once, but equaled five washings from our home washing machines. There was also another fascinating piece of equipment I asked Margaret about. She said Dr. Bide was working with it and it was a spinneret (I think). Anyway, she said it was being used to develop some possible medical applications. A synthetic fiber is randomly wound on a copper cylinder. When it is removed, the fiber, let's say polyester, is shaped like a hollow tube. The tube may then have antibiotics applied to it, then sliced very thin and used for body parts such as heart valves. How neat is that?!!!
URI bought a new digital fabric printer recently so Margaret excitedly showed off the various parts -- some still in boxes. The problem? Where to put it! Would I ever like to come back and play with that baby!
Then, we spent a lot of time looking at the URI costume collection and the textile collection. Ohhh la la! It was wonderful to say the least. I got to see the quilts and fabrics she used in her images for class last summer. She also showed me all their quilts and some of their textiles. I even got to see turn of the century textiles from Egypt. Very cool! When we came across some crazy quilts with disintegrating silks, Margaret showed me how they were conserved. Now I can apply this technique to my own crazy quilt, made by my great grandmother!
I could go on and on about this great visit with Margaret. She shared all her treasures with me. AND, she had her cell phone in her pocket the entire day because she was expecting news of a new granddaughter being born any minute! Lucky for me, by the time I left at 4:30 little Miss Mandy had not arrived yet, and Margaret took off straight for the hospital. I have to mention also that the URI campus is very, very pretty. The grounds are beautiful and some of the stone buildings are positively wonderful.
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