This is where I live. Canal Place is an old mill built in 1909
Monday, October 17, 2011
Now that all the Maine quilts are down, they must have condition reports completed, and be folded and repacked in their original shipping boxes or other containers. That is primarily what I worked on today. It was quite time consuming and I didn't get finished although I worked on it all day long. It's fun to be this close to all these beautiful historical quilts. It's not fun to do the folding, packing, and paperwork. But, it all goes with the territory and proper care of these wonderful treasures is really important. While I was doing that today, we had five or six great volunteers that came in to help hang the new quilts. Some rearranging had to be done to accomplish that, and it all got finished. The quilts are all up, and tomorrow the labels and some art work that arrived with the exhibition need to be placed throughout the gallery.
Now that all the Maine quilts are down, they must have condition reports completed, and be folded and repacked in their original shipping boxes or other containers. That is primarily what I worked on today. It was quite time consuming and I didn't get finished although I worked on it all day long. It's fun to be this close to all these beautiful historical quilts. It's not fun to do the folding, packing, and paperwork. But, it all goes with the territory and proper care of these wonderful treasures is really important. While I was doing that today, we had five or six great volunteers that came in to help hang the new quilts. Some rearranging had to be done to accomplish that, and it all got finished. The quilts are all up, and tomorrow the labels and some art work that arrived with the exhibition need to be placed throughout the gallery.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
This morning came too early to say the least. We drove the hour from Pam's house to the NEQM to begin taking down the Maine's Quilt Heritage exhibition, and preparing to install the next exhibition, Patience to Raise the Sun: Art Quilts from Haiti & Their Power to Change Women's Lives. Another intern, Kate, came in today and we finished unpacking the quilts for the new exhibition and did all the condition reports. Quite a job! It was great to have Kate here. It goes much quicker with two people, two pairs of hands, and two sets of eyes. Kate is currently working at the Kennedy Museum in Boston, and has worked at the National American History Museum in Washington D.C. She has a lot of training in museum and collection procedures so she is a good instructor for me. Kate will be working at the NEQM on Saturdays.
This morning came too early to say the least. We drove the hour from Pam's house to the NEQM to begin taking down the Maine's Quilt Heritage exhibition, and preparing to install the next exhibition, Patience to Raise the Sun: Art Quilts from Haiti & Their Power to Change Women's Lives. Another intern, Kate, came in today and we finished unpacking the quilts for the new exhibition and did all the condition reports. Quite a job! It was great to have Kate here. It goes much quicker with two people, two pairs of hands, and two sets of eyes. Kate is currently working at the Kennedy Museum in Boston, and has worked at the National American History Museum in Washington D.C. She has a lot of training in museum and collection procedures so she is a good instructor for me. Kate will be working at the NEQM on Saturdays.
Marikay showing Mountain Mist patterns
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Today was the symposium. Everything went very well. I functioned as NEQM staff and as a participant. We had an opening address from Madelyn Shaw, and then rotations to the other speakers began. I spent the first two rotations at the NEQM in the quilt turning with Marikay. She brought with her many original patterns from newspapers, magazines, and Mountain Mist wrappers. We had several quilts that were either exactly the pattern she brought, or almost exactly the same. One great example is a Ruby Short McKim pattern of The Three Little Pigs. It was an embroidery pattern that had a series of blocks. One block was published in the newspaper each week. We had a quilt in the NEQM collection that followed her pattern exactly. Pretty Cool!! Marikay has a fabulous collection of historical patterns and articles. One great source has been the patterns collected for thirty years by Mildred Dickerson, Marikay stumbled upon this collection one day unexpectedly and purchased it. OHH what a find! Thank you Mildred for doing what Marikay advises us all to do: KEEP THE PAPER! I promise Marikay I will do better!
At lunch time the symposium moved to the American Textile History Museum where there is a cafe and a yummy buffet lunch. Before the next session began, I had a chance to poke around the museum a little bit -- very cool! I will have to go back. They had an exhibit called Grace and Glamor: 1930's Fashions. It was fabulous! Then I watched a video about how baseballs are tested and torn apart to assure there is no tampering going on. It was pretty darn amazing! . The topic of the lecture given by Giles Kotcher was decorative arts and designers 1920 - 1940. He had a very interesting way of linking textiles to history. For example, in the 1930s nylon stockings were developed, replacing the very expensive silk stockings. 60% of Japan's economy was supported by their silk exports. 75% of the silk consumed by the U.S. was used for silk stockings. When nylons became available, the demand for silk plummeted, negatively impacting the Japanese economy. This "event" contributed to Japan's economic issues that ultimately led them to look for other economic resources. Japan invaded China to expand their economy which was their gateway into World War II. How's that for textiles impacting the world?
The symposium ended with a keynote address by Marikay Waldvogel. Her topic was the role of quilts during the 1930s which closely followed her book Soft Covers for Hard Times. She also had a great presentation about the Sears quilt contest at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair -- who won and why -- seems like a little hanky panky was going on. Burst my bubble! I thought all quilters were nice, like me! All in all, it was a terrific day of textiles and learning!
Party Time! After our symposium guests left the museum, and things were put back together, Pam and I left for New Hampshire where we were invited to a party being thrown by one of her dearest friends, Katy. Oh my my! It was a gorgeous drive north and the party was fun fun fun. She had a beautiful home on acreage and on the river to boot. Too bad when we got there it was about dark, because I would love to see the grounds and the view! Pam took me up some (many) winding narrow stairs to the cupola that is windows all around. In the daytime, I can't even imagine the view. There is a bed up there in that tiny room, so on occasion someone gets to sleep up there. WOW! What great sleeping!
At this party, I heard all sorts of New England "gossip" and the story about how another of Pam's friends ran Aristotle Onassis out of town in the early 70s when he tried to buy up land options in an attempt to put an oil refinery in Durham. Can you imagine? Dudley Dudley went on to have a political career. She was a heroine in the state of New Hampshire! She is also very down to earth and modest. When I was chatting with Dudley I asked her what she did and she described herself as "I have done a little of this, a little of that, a little politics." Later Pam told me about the Aristotle incident. Apparently even Jackie came to Durham. My goodness! What a terrific bash, complete with a great live band in the living room!
Today was the symposium. Everything went very well. I functioned as NEQM staff and as a participant. We had an opening address from Madelyn Shaw, and then rotations to the other speakers began. I spent the first two rotations at the NEQM in the quilt turning with Marikay. She brought with her many original patterns from newspapers, magazines, and Mountain Mist wrappers. We had several quilts that were either exactly the pattern she brought, or almost exactly the same. One great example is a Ruby Short McKim pattern of The Three Little Pigs. It was an embroidery pattern that had a series of blocks. One block was published in the newspaper each week. We had a quilt in the NEQM collection that followed her pattern exactly. Pretty Cool!! Marikay has a fabulous collection of historical patterns and articles. One great source has been the patterns collected for thirty years by Mildred Dickerson, Marikay stumbled upon this collection one day unexpectedly and purchased it. OHH what a find! Thank you Mildred for doing what Marikay advises us all to do: KEEP THE PAPER! I promise Marikay I will do better!
At lunch time the symposium moved to the American Textile History Museum where there is a cafe and a yummy buffet lunch. Before the next session began, I had a chance to poke around the museum a little bit -- very cool! I will have to go back. They had an exhibit called Grace and Glamor: 1930's Fashions. It was fabulous! Then I watched a video about how baseballs are tested and torn apart to assure there is no tampering going on. It was pretty darn amazing! . The topic of the lecture given by Giles Kotcher was decorative arts and designers 1920 - 1940. He had a very interesting way of linking textiles to history. For example, in the 1930s nylon stockings were developed, replacing the very expensive silk stockings. 60% of Japan's economy was supported by their silk exports. 75% of the silk consumed by the U.S. was used for silk stockings. When nylons became available, the demand for silk plummeted, negatively impacting the Japanese economy. This "event" contributed to Japan's economic issues that ultimately led them to look for other economic resources. Japan invaded China to expand their economy which was their gateway into World War II. How's that for textiles impacting the world?
The symposium ended with a keynote address by Marikay Waldvogel. Her topic was the role of quilts during the 1930s which closely followed her book Soft Covers for Hard Times. She also had a great presentation about the Sears quilt contest at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair -- who won and why -- seems like a little hanky panky was going on. Burst my bubble! I thought all quilters were nice, like me! All in all, it was a terrific day of textiles and learning!
Party Time! After our symposium guests left the museum, and things were put back together, Pam and I left for New Hampshire where we were invited to a party being thrown by one of her dearest friends, Katy. Oh my my! It was a gorgeous drive north and the party was fun fun fun. She had a beautiful home on acreage and on the river to boot. Too bad when we got there it was about dark, because I would love to see the grounds and the view! Pam took me up some (many) winding narrow stairs to the cupola that is windows all around. In the daytime, I can't even imagine the view. There is a bed up there in that tiny room, so on occasion someone gets to sleep up there. WOW! What great sleeping!
At this party, I heard all sorts of New England "gossip" and the story about how another of Pam's friends ran Aristotle Onassis out of town in the early 70s when he tried to buy up land options in an attempt to put an oil refinery in Durham. Can you imagine? Dudley Dudley went on to have a political career. She was a heroine in the state of New Hampshire! She is also very down to earth and modest. When I was chatting with Dudley I asked her what she did and she described herself as "I have done a little of this, a little of that, a little politics." Later Pam told me about the Aristotle incident. Apparently even Jackie came to Durham. My goodness! What a terrific bash, complete with a great live band in the living room!
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