A LITTLE MORE REDWORK HISTORY

What is it? As we understand it, Redwork is a combination of using red and white fabric, along with some red embroidery. The era for this stitchery in the US was 1885 to 1935. Designs were stitched on pillow shams, towels, splashers for washstands, tablecloths, napkins, dresser scarves and bedcovers. Many were stitched in one color of red cotton thread, known as ‘Turkey Red,’ on a white linen background.  

First seen in Europe the stitchery was called "Turkey work" referring to the name of the red thread, a color fast dye (Turkey Red) that had been developed more than 200 years ago, though its recipe still remains a mystery. This cotton thread became quite popular because it was color fast and was not nearly as expensive as the silk threads used during that period.

Redwork patterns began to come into the US in the form of 6” muslin squares that were printed with simple patterns in red ink. You could find these squares in any General Store. The stitching quite simple. In fact they were so easy everyone, young and old, could do them.  These 6” squares became known as “penny squares” for children to practice their sewing and embroidery skills.

The majority of the redwork quilts were made for children and were meant to be used and washed. These "embroidered picture quilts" often featured pictures that were of interest to children. The squares were sometimes personalized with the name of the child or a favorite pet or family member. Other "outline quilts" were made as presentation quilts, friendship quilts, remembrance quilts and fund raising quilts that combined embroidered names with stitched images.

In time women began to use blue embroidery floss in the same way. This became known as Bluework. One color for all the blocks in one quilt. Now quilters are taking the designs and doing both Redwork and Bluework and evolving it many other ways. A local quilter and longtime co-worker at The Cotton Club has made a wonderful chicken top drawing of 12 different chickens and embroidering them with red variegated pearl cotton then using assorted fabric on the pieced corners to form a connector block.

Redwork continues to thrive and develop.  The white and red fabrics are not necessarily solid colors – they might have prints on them and the colors of reds, whites, beiges might vary in value just in one quilt.  Some quilts are now even embroidered using varying shades of red thread as well. However the stitchery and embroidery designs remain to be quite simple.

Threads of Many Colors and Fibers Too!

Which is the right one to use when and why do we offer what we offer?

We have always heard and still agree that using 100% cotton thread is still the best thing for cotton quilts. However, now with quilts being used in more ways, we find quilters are willing to use other threads for a variety of reasons and so are we. Quilts are no longer used just for bedding, so not every quilt made has to endure many washings and hard use. The silk, polyester and rayon threads allow us to get new elements into the quilting, but they aren't for every situation. Decorative stitching can be added to make the quilt prettier, more interesting or fun or a piece of art. Thread painting and machine embroidery has become very popular among crafters and artists alike.  Below we only hope to offer you a guide for the selection of thread in relation to its use.

In general, we almost always use cotton for piecing, whether by hand or machine.

However – again depending on the quilt’s use, wear and tear – if there are lots of tiny pieces, like there would be in Paula Nadelstern's Kaleidoscope blocks, then we love our 100% Cotton Fine Thread (120 weight) for machine piecing. It reduces the bulk in the seam allowance.

 

For piecing quilts with larger pieces or quilts that will receive more wear, i.e. a baby quilt, we love 100% Cotton Silk-Finish Mettler - 50 weight 3-ply. We carry the twelve most popular solid colors and all 54 variegated colors.  All Mettler silk-finish cotton thread is mercerized which creates that beautiful silk-like sheen, high breaking resistance, color fastness and optimal elongation.

Sidebar:  Variegated colors are ideal for machine quilting, machine embroidery and other special thread effects. We especially love the Mettler Silk Finish 50-weight variegated colors because the colors change at regular 1” intervals, therefore creating that lovely variegated look.  Aurifils variegated thread changes color more spread out and more randomly in length, therefore the effect might appear more “stripey, or bunched,”   for lack of better term. So in truth, as a more decorative look, it just depends on what you want.

The 100% Cotton Aurifil 50 weight 2-ply is good for peicing too, but it is a 2 ply so it isn't as strong as the Mettler 3-ply. To us, Mettler, is still the utilitarian thread.

However, that being said – we do tend to recommend the Aurifil 50-weight 2-ply thread as a universal thread.  Though truthfully consideration should be given to how much wear and tear the quilt will receive. And because it is only a 2-ply thread, it will reduce seam allowance bulk, it is great for wall-hangings, heirloom quilts, hand and machine appliqué, as well as machine quilting.

When we took a thread painting class locally, we noticed the Aurifil had the ability to absorb more light and therefore produced more beautiful motifs. It was far superior to any of the other cottons being used which were duller, but, of course, even it doesn't have the brilliance of the rayon and metallics and NOW gorgeous trilobal polyesters - the newest addition to our thread family - more below.

The Invisafil polyester thread is whole new generation. When Harriet Hargraves introduced Heirloom Machine quilting – over 25 years ago, some quilters didn't take to it right away because of the monofilament thread.

Now, with Invisafil, we see a whole new generation of machine quilters as well as hand and machine appliqué because it takes very close inspection to find it at all. Invisafil is a 2-ply 100-weight soft polyester thread.  It can be ironed.  It will disappear into the fabric.

Another use for Invisafil is to use it as the bobbin thread for machine embroidery. By its nature embroidery thread produces bulk, therefore if you use Invisafil in the bobbin will make the end result much lighter and softer. Or stipple with it to enhance your finished quilting work.  And it is taking the machine and hand appliqué world be storm because it virtually hides into the fabric.

We thought we would see it replace monofilament altogether until we discovered Madeira 60 weight Monofilament – smoke and clear – and the thread of choice for art quilter Barbara Shapel. Oh my, it is nice. It too has been added to our thread family.

And last but not least – Kimono Silk thread.  This is a 100-weight, 2-ply filament silk thread, and the finest Japanese thread made.  Because it is silk, it naturally has a lustrous sheen and excellent strength.  There are 80 colors available which gives you 20 more choices in color for machine or hand appliqué than the Invisafil thread.

When all is said and done, it all does come down to your own preference.  And if you do think about how the quilt will be used (wear), or the effect you wish to create, then hopefully the information above will guide you towards the right direction.

FABRIC DYEING IN THE MICROWAVE

Here's something a former co-worker of ours was given and we are just passing it on. (Let us know if you think you deserve credit for this method. Also, please keep in mind that we have not tried it ourselves, therefore we do not wish to appear we are recommending or endorsing the method, just sharing.) Here goes:  2 c. water
1/4 t. soda ash
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. Procion dye

1. Mix above ingredients in large (2 quart) bowl - one that will NOT be used for food preparation later. 
2. Add 2 yards fabric and let fabric soak up all the liquid. I scrunched the fabric up for a mottled affect.
3. Cover bowl with Saran Wrap. 
4. Microwave on HI for four minutes. 
5. Poke a hole in the Saran Wrap IMMEDIATELY after microwaving. (This step is VERY important as it will allow steam built up during microwaving process to be released slowly - STEAM IS HOT - BE CAREFUL - TAKE PRECAUTIONS TO NOT BURN YOURSELF WHEN DOING THIS.)  
6. Rinse fabric until water runs clear - and we all know how long that takes! Actually, this method seems to lessen the rinsing step.

NOTE: The member who passed this along tried this: She mixed a batch of the water/soda ash/salt solution, then used 1/4 cup in a 2-cup measuring cup with a 1/4 teaspoon of dye and 1/4 yard of fabric. For darker (or lighter) color, she would adjust dye amount for desired intensity.
If you're game - give it a shot, tell us how it worked.

Enjoy and have fun!

ADD A FLANGE TO ENHANCE YOUR QUILT

Here's another tipbit.  Have you ever thought about adding a flange, say 1/4" or smaller if you can, to your quilt?  The idea behind this is to:

1. Frame your quilt
2. It acts as an accent and will add just an ever so slight bit of color (or maybe it's black) to help pop another color from within.
3. Create just a wee bit of visual interest and texture
4. We even think it will help to somewhat stabilize your quilt and keep it in shape.

This would not take the place of any sashing and/or border.  It's just a way to enhance your quilt.  You can either frame your main set of blocks or just include it in various places within your block.  

Something to think about next time you're putting a quilt together.

BINDING A QUILT TIPBIT

Okay, I know I was on a roll earlier this summer and posting on the blog a bit more frequently.  Occasionally I'm going to try to now post some of what I will call "Tipbits."  These will just be little tips or tidbits of information on quilting, piecing, appliqué, embroidery - whatever we can think of that might be helpful to you.

Today we'll begin with a quick little tipbit when binding a quilt - Patty suggests doing all your four corners first.  Then the rest. 

Surprisingly whether you realize it or not, the binding can stretch while you're sewing it down around your quilt.  By doing the corners first, you can ease the binding, if needed, and prevent any stretching.

That's it till next time.

MY TRIP TO NEW YORK CITY!

I told Paula Nadelstern that I would be in New York City and she told me of a couple of exhibits that I should go see.

And like the good girl that I am, I did follow her advice.  I first went the American Folk Art Museum, where they are currently featuring an exhibit titled "Self-Taught Genius." This exhibit runs through August 17.  In it were many types of art, from quilts, to embroidery, to painting, to woodwork, metal work and more.  And all these pieces were put together by artists who taught themselves how to do whatever it was displayed.

Here's what the museum says their exhibit is about:

Self-Taught Genius considers the shifting implications of a self-taught ideology in the United States, from a widely endorsed and deeply entrenched movement of self-education to its current usage to describe artists creating outside traditional frames of reference and canonical art history. Self-taught art, past and present, blurs frontiers between disciplines, makes definitions look constricted, and forces us to reconsider our assumptions about authoritative systems. These individuals have been active participants in the shaping of American visual culture, influencing generations of artists and establishing lively artistic traditions. Recast as self-taught geniuses, they fit within a pervasive but mutable self-taught culture, reflecting life in America as it has changed and as it has been ambitiously dreamed.

For example - this embroidery piece below was done by a 9-year old girl sometime in the 1800s.  As you know back then all girls were taught to embroider and do some sort of sampler, the alphabet, possibly their home, numbers, etc.  This piece is not thought to be a sampler - but simply a pastoral scene of most likely her home.  Look at how tight her embroidery work is, look at the detail, look, just look...  Truly an incredible piece by one so young.

 

Another piece, a quilt also done in the 1800s, came from the home of a Southern Great Lady of Kentucky.  It was once thought that the quilts found in southern homes were made by "the lady of the house."  However, that was not always correct.  Many of these quilts were made by their slaves, such as this one below. Several slaves worked on this particular one. Slaves did not have any idle time.  The women slaves did their assigned chores by day, and quilted (or sewed) by night.  This was also something I recently learned of from Sue Monk Kidd's book THE INVENTION OF WINGS.

 

 

The next piece I'll show you is a wedding quilt, made by a man for his adoptive daughter.  This log-cabin style quilt contains over 31,000 pieces and uses both silks and cottons.

 

 

 

Last but not least - Paula Nadelstern had one quilt hanging in this exhibit.  This one was done in 1995.  It is a series of off-centered mandalas, surrounded by many kaleidoscope orbs.  It is always truly amazing to see one of her quilts - the tiny pieces she puts into it to create the effect she's looking for.  She also uses both cotton and silks in this quilt - the silks because they shine and can create the illusion of dichroic glass.



 

 

WHAT IS REDWORK?

A Patchwork Garden Year Redwork Block of the Month

One lovely project we found at the Spring 2014 Quilt Market the other week is a Redwork Block of the Month program.  We've been searching for a nice Redwork pattern(s) for a while now, and we're just thrilled to have found this one.

It is A Patchwork Garden created by Kathy Schmitz for Moda.  She has created twelve 12" square blocks of fun designs - not too cute and not too sophisticated.  Additionally what we loved about this Redwork program is that it is not traditional redwork.  We're going to suggest that you use different shades of red Perle Cotton thread (or DMC floss).  The redwork embroidery will actually be done on a dark beige, or tan if you will, fabric that also has a crackled texture on it.  And then the pieced blocks surrounding the embroidery will be a mix of lovely graphic designed fabric of reds and creams.  The fabric will be from Moda's collection - A Patchwork Garden.

But what is Redwork, or traditional Redwork?

Traditionally the floss used is a DMC floss, usually color #321, but there have been some variances.  And once the red color selected, it would be used throughout the entire needlework.  Also the embroidery is usually done on a muslin and the pieced work surrounding the embroidery has been done using solid reds, whites and or cream fabrics.

The craft of Redwork is a style of decorative needlework that has been around since Victorian times, the late part of the nineteenth century.  It was a technique used to teach young girls their stitches that consists of embroidering the outline of designs onto a white or off-white background with a contrasting color thread.  It was also something the more wealthy ladies did, since they did not have to do "housework."

This simple, yet striking style is called Redwork for several reasons. Red thread is typically used in this style because the red color contrasts well against a light background also, during the nineteenth century when the style first became popular, artists could obtain a red thread that was "colorfast," meaning that the red coloring would not wash out or "bleed" onto the white fabric.  However this same type of needlework has also been done in blues and blacks as well. Today you might Redwork designs done assorted red colors to add depth or in a variegated red (or blue). We're rather excited about our new program!  It will begin October 2014.  We encourage you to sign up now in order to participate for our Patchwork Garden Year Redwork Block of the Month.