By: Sandra K. German
Quiltmaking in America has a rich and diverse history. In the 1990s, quiltmakers enjoy many outlets for their interests in the way of social and professional support groups, and have a wide variety of resources at their disposal. The popular appeal of quilts has created economic opportunities on many levels and has generated increasing demand for quilt-related goods and services. Overall, the picture seems to be one of a thriving,
By: Mary Jane Furgason and Patricia Cox Crews
A study of records from the Nebraska State Fair quilt competition coupled with a study of winning quiltmakers and their quilts exhibited at the Nebraska State Fair during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries provides information about the quilt competition over the years and broadens our perspectives on Nebraska quiltmakers and their quilts. In addition, it clearly demonstrates that the annual State Fair competition reflects the cultural,
By: Pat Crothers
Drawing on a historian’s perspective, I have used quilting as the context in which to study the validity of the “separate spheres” ideology. This concept is predicated on the belief that nineteenth-century women and men functioned in distinctly different worlds, or “spheres.” With a focus on the American West in the years 1850 through 1890, I determined that the supposed invincibility of this doctrine was not the case.
By: Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
For textile scholars Anne Bradstreet’s example offers a double message. On the one hand, it validates the activities of women everywhere who attempt to do the unexpected. On the other, it invites us to think about the often troubled relationship between pens and needles.
» Read more about: Uncoverings 1993 Pens and Needles: Documents and Artifacts in Women’s History »
By: Kristin Miller
The distinctive quilts made cooperatively by a group of women living on an island in coastal British Columbia offer a fresh perspective on the development of the art form. An inventive, resourceful, and non-dogmatic approach to quiltmaking reflects the demand, of the quilters’ rugged lifestyle and the qualities valued in their close-knit communities. In fourteen years, they’ve made twenty-eight quilts together, with little input from conventional quilting sources.
By: Judy Elsley
My paper documents the recent Smithsonian Controversy, explaining the debate and explicating the significance of the dispute in terms of the cultural and ideological issues it raises. What seems like a trivial issue to the Smithsonian represents a major concern in the quilting community because, as I will argue in this paper, the controversy speaks to how we perceive quilts, what purpose we think they serve, and what cultural meaning we assign to them.
» Read more about: Uncoverings 1993 The Smithsonian Quilt Controversy: Cultural Dislocation »
By: Jeannette Lasansky
In 1985, the Museum of International Folk Art, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, commissioned a survey of living traditional quiltmakers. The survey focused (as does this paper) on the oral histories of rural women living in New Mexico who had learned to quilt from relatives or friends – ¬not from workshops, videos, or manuals. Prior to the author’s arrival in New Mexico, news releases detailing the scope and time constraints of the project were sent out statewide.
» Read more about: Uncoverings 1993 Southwestern Quilts and Quiltmakers in Context »
By: Emma Grahame
The Australian Bicentennial of 1988, and the protest it inspired among Aboriginal and other activists, had far-reaching effects on all forms of cultural production in Australia, including quiltmaking. I examined a variety of written sources, and many Bicentennial quilts to ascertain what the effects were on quiltmaking. My study of the publications of the various states’ Crafts Councils 1982-1989, the magazine Down Under Quilts 1988-1992, The Template, journal of The Quilters’
By: Bets Ramsey
Prior to major exhibitions of non-traditional quilts, between 1950 and 1970 certain artists began to adopt and incorporate various quilting techniques in their work, coinciding with a new awareness of the value of women’s work and an acceptance of fiber as an art medium. This paper notes the influence of the Arts and Crafts Movement and the Bauhaus philosophy and recognizes several fiber artists of the twentieth century.
» Read more about: Uncoverings 1993 Art and Quilts: 1950-1970 »
