Posts Tagged ‘Quilter’s Muse Publications’

Ways that People Utilize Information Found at Quilter’s Muse Publications

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

Millions of visitors have enjoyed our site since we first published it in 2002. Of course, we consistently add new files. The following is a list of some of the ways that individuals or groups have used information found here.

1) “Work for the Night is Coming,” an old song, sung by Patricia Cummings, was played at a funeral in AZ in honor of a grandmother who loved the song.

2) A recent article in the Bangor Daily News provided a link to my article about Girlhood Samplers.

3) People visit the file about quilt pattern identification and are able to access a long list of references that would be helpful in locating published names of any given quilt blocks.

4) Graduate students have inculcated information on the site in their master’s theses, citing Quilter’s Muse Publications as a source.

5) Book publishers have requested and been granted permission to reprint Jim’s copyrighted photos in their educational books. (Standard pricing applies).

6) Program chairmen for quilt guilds have secured permission to read entire files written by Patricia Cummings to their groups, as a program.

7) Church groups have published photos from the site in their bulletins.

8) Countless people have written to Patricia Cummings for information, direction, and advice about a number of textile-related questions.

9) Quilter’s Muse is a reliable souce of information. Many students find information here to supplement their papers and to help them understand various topics.

10) Our two associated “blogs” – one, multi-themed; the other a dedicated cooking blog that features related textiles, are updated frequently and enjoyed by many.

11) A teacher in Sweden asked her group of students to duplicate an embroidery design, previously offered, and she sent photos of the many ways in which her students interpreted it. Other quilters have re-created items by using the free patterns on the site for miniature quilts and embroidery.

12) Spanish students have found useful information in the files and songs that are placed on the website, intended to be educational.

13) Readers are kept up to date on the latest books via our hand-selected amazon links and book reviews.

14) The blog often mentions news events around the world, particularly as they relate to groups of people who are featured on our main website, such as the Hmong, Ukrainians, Argentinians, African-Americans, etc.

15) The extensive explanations I am responsible for having written continue to be understood and utilized in the classroom to counteract the Underground Railroad Secret Code Quilt Myth, by informed consumers of the Truth.

16) Photo essays of our trips and of New England landscapes are often shared.

17) Musings about life; humor; and a sense of place in New England, as well as New England’s history, especially in regard to quilt history are all part of the offerings at Quilter’s Muse Publications. Insightful reflections about people and about living life, including financial advice, are included.

18) Books about Redwork, its history and how-to-instructions; a comprehensive book about quilt care; and a biography of Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster (1867-1950), quilt historian, are available as electronic books on mailable CDs.

19) Service announcements for museum lectures and programs are shared through received press releases.

Of course, there are many other ways in which our information, freely-provided, has been of value to readers.

Quilter’s Muse Publications and Virtual Museum is a unique entity that offers special features and high quality books and articles that you will not find duplicated anywhere. At any rate, you have seen many of the topics presented here … FIRST! The July issue of The Quilter magazine will hold the 70th article that Jim and I have collaborated on for that particular magazine.

More is on the way. We deliver! Do you have an article that you would like to contribute, or a topic you’d like to see covered? If so, contact us at: pat@quiltersmuse.com

Patricia Cummings – “not for profit, but for service” – just like the Credit Unions my father organized during his lifetime
Quilter’s Muse Publications

Importance, Obscurity, and Re-discovery: A Woman Named Ellen Webster

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

In quilt history circles, we hear the same names mentioned, again and again, a rehash of the same facts about the same people, and usually their contributions, as a party of one. I was privileged and pleased to learn of the life and contributions of Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster, a 1930s quilt historian from New Hampshire. Before my research, nothing much was known of her life by those who hold her quilt “charts.” The institution had been laboring for ten years under the false information that her name was “Emily.” It was not, and Emily was never even a nickname.

I dedicated many hours, days, weeks and months to not only studying her extant works, but in compiling a list of her life’s contributions within a 355 page/ 340 photo document that is published as an e-book on CD by Quilter’s Muse Publications. This book can be viewed on any computer, or printed out, if you prefer to read printed material.

The CD was exciting to research, as I kept discovering new facts about New Hampshire, most especially history from Hebron, Franklin, and Concord, as well as the societal environment in which Ellen lived in both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It was a joy to locate and read all of Ellen Webster’s published findings.

Ellen was important in her own day, especially when she was young and beautiful. After her death in 1950, news of her and her life went into partial obscurity and much of what has been written about her recently, is inaccurate.

When her adopted daughter died, the estate administrators found Ellen Webster’s quilt charts, and not knowing what to do with them, they gave all 162 charts, with more than 200 “saved designs,” to the New Hampshire Historical Society where they languished on a shelf for years.

With no quilt historian on-hand, the charts were described incorrectly, in some instances, and the penciled notations on them were never transcribed in their entirety, or interpreted, until I came along. I could easily make sense of the information as I am a quilt historian, and I understand construction techniques and color combinations, and am also a nationally-certified master craftsman in quilting, so I have the experience of being well-schooled in quilting techniques which leads to a greater understanding.

Moreover, in presenting Mrs. Webster to the general public, I wanted to place her work within a greater framework of the other quilt historians of her time, particularly those she had mentioned on the charts. My husband, Jim, was asked by the NH Historical Society’s Registrar to photograph all of the charts. He did so, and edited the photos, and we presented those images to the Society for their use in their internal catalogue. A colorful article that I wrote was published in The Quilter magazine that showed 12 of the chart designs and discussed their significance, as well as findings about Mrs. Webster.

There is a lot of satisfaction in doing fine work and responsible research. We left no stone unturned and the result is a CD that is beautiful tribute to the life and work of a very special lady who remains special, even in death. The book is a beautiful read. It is a celebration of all that was Ellen.

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications