"Gossips": A Very Old Design
by Patricia Cummings
photography by James Cummings
This article was first published in the March 2002 issue of The Quilter magazine. The Gossips, a timeless design, has been copied in various formats for almost two hundred years. My column "Pieces of the Past" enumerated just where and when all those duplications occurred.
"Gossips" reproduction with additional embellishments by Pat Cummings.
The humorous theme of the Gossips, an early nineteenth century appliquéd block, is absolutely timeless. Created by Eunice Cook of Vermont in 1830, this little piece is perhaps the only one of its kinds made during the nineteenth century. The original design was worked entirely in silks and measured only
10 3/4" x 11 7/8".
When I first saw the image in the Woman's Day Book of American Needlework by Rose Wilder Lane (Simon and Schuster: 1963), I assumed that it was a photo of the stitched piece. The photo credits were given to the Index of American Design, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. In fact, the photo was actually of a 1938 watercolor and graphite work rendered by the American artist Carmel Wilson. He and other out-of-work artists were commissioned by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Depression era to document American folk art treasures by painting them. The original piece was part of a private collection in Florida at that time.
Painted Piecework
Wilson's version is currently the only known available image of the original Gossips. As such, it is difficult to ascertain whether or not the block was intended to be part of a larger quilt or to stand alone. According to the book Artists in Aprons: Folk Art by American Women by C. Kurt Dewhurst, Betty MacDowell and Marsha MacDowell, the original creation has been "lost." However, there is always hope that it continues to exist somewhere in someone's collection.
The question lingers: why wasn't the quilt block photographed rather than painted? In fact, there were three main reasons. First, in the 1930s, photography was technically very difficult and it was believed that a better quality image with less distortion by shadows could be achieved through painting. Second, the project was an attempt to employ artists so that they would not lose their abilities. Third, a painting that utilized watercolors would have more durability over time and would be less prone to light damage than a photograph, therefore requiring less care. After all, the goal was to create a lasting remembrance.
An Antique Re-creation
We wonder when looking at the Gossips what topics the two women are discussing. The Dewhurst book speculates that they may have been discussing social issues of the day, one of those being the controversial struggle for women's suffrage (fight to vote). This kind of topic was often discussed at quilting bees. The cozy image of two women chatting together, one of them (younger and seemingly impressionable) leaning toward the older woman, could lead to all sorts of speculation as to the nature of their talk. This would be a good essay assignment for any English teacher!
Artists who work in other mediums have wanted to recreate this amusing little piece and have done so in a variety of ways since the nineteenth century. Eva Marie Niles, in her book, Fancy Work Recreations: A Complete Guide (1884), suggests working the design in a manner similar to English paper piecing using all silk fabrics.
Her diagram, under the heading of "Comic Patchwork," gives no attribution to the original creator of the design, at a time when copyright regulations were not often litigated. Niles defines "Comic Patchwork" as a "series of irregular geometrical figures, so combined as to form a representation of the human figure in various attitudes. From the necessity of using angles more or less acute, in this kind of work, the figures have always a grotesque appearance." Today, of course, they would be referred to as "caricatures."
Niles suggest using silks in fourteen different colors to make a 4 1/4" square patch, to frame or to use an appliqué motif for a carriage bag. The acquisition of silk would not have been a problem during a time when it was readily available by mail order as a result of the crazy quilt fad. Finding a variety of colors of silk at an affordable price did not become an issue until the civil war in China in 1912, when export supplies from that country were interrupted. Today, unless one is a dressmaker and has access to fancy scraps, it would be more difficult and costly to find and purchase these same fabrics.
In the Niles book, the Gossips pattern was modified to consist of sharply-angled patches, much like the crazy patchwork of the day. She instructs the reader to trace the design onto paper and then cut out the various pieces, one at a time, overlapping silk on paper before finally sewing the patches together. She does not give detailed instructions as to how to accomplish this feat, perhaps because similar piecing (such as that of hexagonal mosaic patchwork) was fairly common in the late nineteenth century. Individual pieces were most likely placed with right sides together and then whipstitched together.
It seems that Niles did not attempt to make the pattern she presented. The diagram provided in her book and the structure of the delineation make the line drawing next to impossible to construct in the manner described. She advises that "an experienced needlewoman will find no difficulty in executing this pattern, but those who attempt silk patchwork for the first time must be careful, when covering the pieces, to fold the silk exactly over the edge, neither leaving any extra space, or turning down any portion of the paper."
Niles does not mention Eunice Cook's piece of 54 years before as the original source of the design. Perhaps she was unaware of the need to assign an origin, or perhaps she felt that the original was so well-known that it didn't need further documentation.
A Contemporary Approach
More recently, Joyce Strand of Glenmont, New York, decided to recreate the Gossips in another medium, that of canvaswork. After seeing the image in American Heritage magazine (April 1972), she asked her father, a retired engineer, to chart the pattern onto canvas. Joyce successfully finished the piece and exhibited it at the 2001 Greater Albany Embroiderers' Guild of America show in Loudonville, New York. While she did not adhere strictly to the (original ) color palette, she "tried to be faithful in concept." Joyce said that she wanted to stitch the piece because it makes her smile.
In 1984, one hundred years after the Niles book reference, Jan and Emil Kornfeind of Country Appliqués in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, published a pattern of the same design done in country cotton. The pattern included silk-screened muslin faces ready to be appliquéd. While the pattern has been retired for some years now, Jan is graciously making it available once again. Please see ordering information at the end of this article.
In the original quilt block and in the Niles line drawing, the young lady sitting on the left is holding her bonnet. In the Kornfeind version, she is holding a cup of tea. I liked the teacup idea and I did the same in appliquéd quilt. The embellishments I added include a simulated rug (using buttonhole stitch and embroidery floss for the fringe), a cat (a Wrights iron-on appliqué), and a tea-dyed handkerchief at the top which states "The Gossips, Eunice Cook, 1830."
The use of yellow-green and other period colors, adds an old-time look to my quilt, which measures 18 1/2 x 24 1/4". I used both the fusing and needleturn methods of appliqué, and where I did fuse, I added outline stitch embroidery to protect the edges. I suffered from temporary confusion when trying to add the feet and kept making them go the wrong way! What a hoot! For me, that was the most comical part of the construction process.
Timeless Treasure
In summary, a pattern first conceived and executed so long ago, was immortalized in watercolor and is now a permanent benchmark in the history of American design. It lives on today through our continued re-creation. While it would be wonderful to know more about Eunice Cook and her life, as with many other nineteenth century women, trying to find additional information is like hunting for a needle in a haystack. Good records simply were not kept, and real property (including quilts) were inventories in the name of the head of the household, that usually being a male. Nonetheless, we can visually appreciate this work of art. Revisiting old patterns that have become such an integral part of our American folk art heritage makes history come alive.
Many thanks to Joyce Strand for sharing information and to Jan Kornfeind for making her pattern available to readers.
In stitching my quilt, I gave in to my urge to embellish. The basic units were derived from Jan Kornfeind's terrific pattern that she created for sale in 1984. As a courtesy to the readers of The Quilter magazine, and at my request, Jan brought her pattern out of retirement. The pattern, which comes with a silk screened face, can be ordered directly from Jan at Country Appliqués, PO Box 7109, Shawnee Mission, KS 66207. Please check with Jan directly for availability and product pricing.
Questions? Comments? Write to: pat@quiltersmuse.com