"REDWORK --- Why Redwork?"
Chapter 9
Guest Column by Sandra G. Munsey
How did I come to be a Redwork enthusiast? Was it acquired taste, an urge for something different, a need to be unlike other quilters? Was it environmental – such as some sort of subtle brainwashing by my mother? In truth, it was probably the result of all of these factors.
A little of my history is in order. I grew up in an 1797 farmhouse on a New Hampshire seacoast farm. The land upon which the farmhouse stands was owned by my ancestors at an even earlier date. For me, this meant that there were hand-woven, light-weight, wool blankets on my bed. As I look on them now, I believe they originally were intended as bed sheets, and are still as good as new. Heavy quilts, those too heavy for hand quilting, were tied. These were probably made by my grandfather’s first wife, sometime around 1900. They were later patched or recovered by my grandmother forty or fifty years later.
Every bureau, chest of drawers, or bedside table sported its own scarf, runner, or doily. Many of these were red and white. Some had woven red designs, some were embroidered, some actually were intended for use as fancy hand towels. As these wore out, my mother would scout the church fairs, yard sales, and shops to replace them, eventually collecting quite a few. At that time, red and white pieces were very inexpensive, fifty cents to a couple of dollars. My mother's influence is the brainwashing part.
I like red and blue. The good strong red, white, and blue flag, fire
engines, cranberries, low-bush blueberries, and the ocean on a bright
sunny day, are favorite versions of red and blue. If you believe in
the color theory of personalities, you know me now! When I recognized
my interest in all things quilting, I gravitated toward the quilts
with lots of red or blue or red and
blue.
Nearly thirty years ago, I spied a Redwork quilt for sale at the Vermont Quilt Festival. Partially obscured and hanging behind the consignment table, this quilt of Redwork blocks beckoned me. Although the price was not too-o-o bad, I waited a couple of days to see if I really wanted to spend the money. Since the 1891 Redwork Album Quilt, with embroidered names from Canaan, NH, was still there on the last day of the show, I decided that I was destined to bring this quilt home. The acquisition of Redwork items had commenced.
The year was 1983. No one I knew paid any attention whatsoever to embroidered quilts, much less one or two color ones. Usually the prices of embroidered quilts in any dealer’s offerings ranged significantly lower than the cost of other styles of quilts. Lack of competition in the marketplace for Redwork pieces suited me just fine. One dealer even started putting Redwork “orphans” aside to show me. The next thing I knew, I had Redwork items stored in a stack of acid-free storage boxes in a closet.
A few years later – when my quilt guild planned its annual show, it included an exhibit of antique quilts, a “chore” falling to me and my faithful friend who allowed herself to be dragooned regularly into joining my “projects.” The subject we chose? Redwork! At this point, my dirty little secret became exposed to the world. The subject was “new.”
Published books on Redwork were not available. Designs had to be adapted from other sources. The good news is that an underground of Redwork lovers existed, hiding among the store racks of Aunt Martha’s™ transfer patterns, and reading Workbasket magazine. We found them, with their quilts dating from the 1890s though the 1980s. After adding my mother’s linens and some educational information, the Redwork exhibit and its “relatives” occupied about a quarter of the total exhibit area at the show!
Curating an exhibit meant I had to learn more about the history of Redwork, another step to where I am today as a researcher of quilt history. This is where my preference arises for the term “outline embroidery,” found in mid-nineteenth century English references. To me, outline embroidery is more generally descriptive and less awkward than Redwork, Bluework, or Greenwork.
Another early nineteenth century term is “etched embroidery” because the intention of the technique was to emulate printed etchings, those inexpensive, popular, art works that were available to the public. Whatever other name it may be given, outline embroidery, and my other love, Hawaiian appliqué, constantly compete for my time. By the way, Redwork leis appear on circa 1900 Hawaiian embroidered quilts, and Hawaiian Redwork is becoming popular again.
Initially, I did not make any Redwork quilts myself. I simply purchased examples that caught my eye, a lovely 1895 quilt made near Northfield, VT, a spectacular four-block quilt with a large satin stitched monogram in the center from the Northampton, MA vicinity, and the too expensive quilt that I bought anyhow, a blue “Quaddy Quiltie” quilt of Thornton Burgess characters, circa 1935-40, designed by Ruby McKim.
Then there is the “Ugly Baby” quilt, so named because of a design in which a not-so-beautiful baby stands in front of a chair that looks like the antique potty chair at home.
In addition, there is a lovely symbolic message in the surrounding flowers. Finally, the attempts to find examples of the different colors used on outline embroidered quilts yielded a top, a summer spread, and a square European style pillow sham of pink, strong yellow, and lovely gold.
With no regrets, I did leave the lavender-on-white top at a vendor’s table, when I discovered that it was highly overpriced for a mediocre twentieth century example. In order to have a green example, I finally stitched one myself, having never seen an old “Greenwork” quilt, even now. When the alternating blocks of a white-on-red and red-on-white antique quilt had a New York City price tag of $5,000, I made one of those, too!
There you have the story. In spite of the popularity of outline embroidery in recent years, I still have a dear friend who believes that I must be a little bit “strange” to like “those.” Although, even he admits, “Some of them are interesting.”
Sandra
G. Munsey
Cape Cod, December 2005
The 30 1/2” x 30 1/2” Greenwork quilt, shown above, was made by Sandra Munsey. “Kate's Green” utilizes embroidery designs from antique quilts and transfer patterns of needlework related designs from Workbasket magazine, a publication that was in existence from 1935 until 1996. The quilt was created while the quilter was planning a show called, "From a Stitcher's Attic,” which she curated.
A portion of a famous Kate Greenaway design, girl in a tree, takes center stage. The block below, a tomato, was traced from an old quilt block and has a darker colored background than the other designs to give the piece "character.”
The above image is a long-ear squirrel that appears on an 1895 quilt owned by Sandra G. Munsey. At first, she was baffled. Then, she states, ”Much to my surprise one night, while watching a nature program on television, there were the long-ear squirrels, native to England!” To her, this confirms that early Redwork designs of English ancestry are not limited to Kate Greenaway motifs.
Click on the image to see a larger view.
The antique Redwork quilt pictured above has a block that is dated “1895.” Some of these designs appear in the 1890 Cunning's catalog. Notice the lovely, embroidered sashings and borders with trailing leaves. The 64” x 79” quilt was purchased in Vermont in 1988 and is a great example of a quilted Redwork bedcover. Collection of Sandra Munsey. Photo by James Cummings.
This Rose design appears on another circa 1890 quilt in the Munsey collection.
The “Dove of Peace” is a line drawing of a Redwork design that appears on an 1895 quilt made by “K”. The quilt was collected in Vermont by Sandra G. Munsey who kindly allowed us to publish the motif.
These two botanical motifs appear in circa 1890 quilts from the Munsey collection.
The Delineator magazine advertisement of 1889, shown above, is the type of ad that was commonly seen at the time. “Stamping Outfits,” perforated parchment paper with tiny holes, would be used with chalk (for “pouncing”) to mark the outlines of designs to be embroidered. Fancy Alphabets of all kinds were created from which the homemaker could choose letters to monogram household linens. Courtesy of Sandra Munsey.
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