Table of Contents
Site home
Front page
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 2a
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8a
Chapter 8b
Chapter 8c
Chapter 8d
Chapter 8e
Chapter 8f
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17

References and Resources

 

 

Redwork Embroidery and Needlework Traditions in Europe and America

Introduction

The Needlewoman's Prayer - God grant that I may see the stitch Until my dying day, And when my last short thread is clipped And scissors tucked away, The work that I have done live on That other folk may see The pleasure I have known, Lord, In the skills you gave to me. -Anonymous-

Many thanks to Jill Kane of the United Kingdom for calling this traditional poem to our attention.

---

Acknowledgments

 

We would like to thank William Jenney, Administrator of the President Calvin Coolidge Historic Site in Plymouth Notch, Vermont for allowing us to photograph a piece of Redwork that we first saw on display in a bedroom at the “Coolidge Homestead.”

Lynne Z. Bassett, former Curator of Collections at Old Sturbridge Village, has provided an informative research paper which focuses on needlework as part of a girl's education in the nineteenth century. Sandra Munsey wrote a guest editorial, and shares two of her quilts, one from 1895 and the other, one of her own creation. Thanks to Marilou MacLean who allowed us to print a photo of a block from her early Redwork quilt.

Joan Stevens gave me the amazing gift of a rare, vintage catalog, which has been an invaluable research tool in preparing this book. Debbie Cupp allowed us to include several photos of blocks from a quilt in her collection. Beth Davis sent us photos of a miniature quilt that is quite intriguing and led to a bit of research to track down a military design. Judi and David Fibush provided information and photos for Redwork items in their collection, including a beautiful 1905 quilt.

Elizabeth Gillette sent us some fine examples of European embroidery to photograph for the book. Margareta Faust and Tarja Pajulampi, professional translators for the European Commission, helped with several translations. Monika Johnson, Rebecca Gorham, Connie Ellison, and Hendrika van Dongen also gave translation assistance. Sarah Ellis, a comparative linguist specialist, interpreted the extended meaning of a German phrase.

Doreen Locali provided information about Kewpie designs. Stella Rubin Antiques sent us photos of an antique quilt. Steve Goldberg took the the photos. Thank you!

Rachelly Roggel sent a photo of a 1905 Redwork Signature quilt block. She owns a quilt top which originated in New York state, and has hundreds of names of nineteenth century residents. Rachel Greco provided a charming “Rooster” design, originally published in Godey's Lady's Book, 1867. Betsy Donahue-Davis shared a “Kewpie Kut-Out” ad that is dated “1913,” and is signed by illustrator, Rose O'Neill.

Carol Godreau agreed to tell us about the inspiring story behind a special Redwork quilt that she made. Betty Alderman and Carol Taylor Oates, who designed the interior portion of Carol's quilt, allowed the quilt to be featured on these pages. Janine Gelineau photographed the quilt. The late Laurene Sinema, a dedicated quilt shop owner and Redwork lover who produced several books on the subject, also helped to design the area that has become the central medallion of Carol's quilt.

Thank you all so very much!

---

Preface

At first glance, this book may seem to be composed of many disparate parts, but like a puzzle, if one looks at the “big picture,” it is easy to see how the pieces fit together. There really is a real method to my madness!

We begin our discussion with a look at Owls, a popular motif in the late nineteenth century. That logically brings us to some thoughts about President Calvin Coolidge and some owl connections. From that point of departure, Redwork splashers with messages are discussed. After discovering one at the President Calvin Coolidge Historic Site, we jubilantly found it in an old catalog and re-created it, along with a companion piece.

This led to a further search for other textiles with embroidered messages. This theme runs throughout the book. The theme of written messages added with Redwork Embroidery continues in the chapter about European embroidery. There is a delightful array of European textiles, complete with embroidered messages, for which we have sought translations.

To demonstrate the emergence of women as writers, editors, artists, and illustrators, information about Sarah Josepha Hale, Kate Greenaway, Bess Bruce Cleaveland, and Rose O'Neill, has been added. The common thread that holds these ladies together as a group is their love of children which is expressed in their poems, and/or their art illustrations.

We present examples of quilts, both antique and new, to show how Outline Stitch Embroidery did not exist in a vacuum, but rather, how textiles reflect the times in which they are made. To that end, we show some quilts from circa 1890, that present children at play, botanical motifs, and insects, so typical of the era. Moving to 1905, we see two items, a Signature quilt block in Redwork, and an elaborate quilt that has the “chicks in a hat” design, and other images that were popular at the end of the nineteenth century. We also feature quilts and embroidery that were made in the twentieth and twenty-first century.

Wherever possible, we have shared the historical roots of designs. We have also looked at quilts and embroidery in terms of historical events that inspired them, including the assasinations of President McKinley and President Lincoln.

There is an attempt made to examine the lives of girls and women through the course of three centuries, by looking at the expectations society placed on them, and their changing roles brought on by the Industrial Revolution and by wars, as readily seen in their textiles. Equally fascinating are the connections between prose, poetry, art, and needlework. As you read through the text, please keep that important thought in mind.

---

Background of Redwork

The forty year period from 1880-1920 provides most of the extant examples of vintage Victorian Redwork. A more general term for Redwork is Outline Stitch Embroidery, also called, “etching on linen,” by ladies of the nineteenth century. Perhaps the endorsement of the technique by the Royal School of Art Needlework in Kensington, England led to Redwork's popularity throughout Europe and America.

The name, “Redwork,” derives from colorfast “Turkey Red” cotton floss used to stitch the designs. This color originated in eastern India, and was first available in 1829.¹ Two cousins of Redwork are Bluework and Greenwork. Colorfast, Indigo-dyed thread was favored for “Bluework.” Less commonly seen is “Greenwork,” which often employed #12 or #16 perle coton as threads of choice. A Greenwork coverlet in my collection sports all floral motifs in a deep green and has lots of Colonial Knots on the surface to represent stamens.

Outline Stitch Embroidery in general, and Redwork Embroidery in particular, have been used for embellishing (mostly) utilitarian items such as pillow shams, chair tidies, sewing pouches, table runners, tablecloths, umbrella holders, “splashers,” laundry basket covers, lingerie bags, aprons, carving cloths, clothes brush holders, sofa pillows, embroidered hairdressing capes, religious needlework, casket drapes, coverlets, quilts. Relatively few stitches are needed: Outline Stitch, Stem Stitch, Colonial Knot, Back Stitch, and Couching. Redwork designs seem to have been ubiquitous in the late nineteenth century!

The goal of Redwork Embroidery and Needlework Traditions in Europe and America seeks a wider cultural and historical contexts for the textiles shown on these pages. We sincerely hope that everyone will find this study to be very special. As we glimpse into the past, we give a nod to the present, and a hopeful glance to the future. We cannot help but appreciate our collective and very rich needlework history.

May you enjoy your journey with us, as you view these needlework “pieces of the past.”

Patricia Cummings

January 2006