Ruby Short McKim Revival

Ruby Short McKim, July 27, 1891- July 1976

 “What is the compelling fascination of quilts?” is a question I hear frequently once someone discovers my passion for quilt history. One of the reasons I give is because quilt history is a natural vehicle for learning about the changing theories of social history and, more specifically, the changing tides of women’s history.  But quilts also have an amazing thread linking them to the study of economics, trade and the industrial revolution.

After the 1880s, quilts also gradually began to reflect the shifts in Western attitudes about children and childhood, i.e. childhood as distinct from the world of adulthood, a trend that blossomed as we entered the 20th century.

Children, Art and Ruby Short McKim

Children and art naturally make me think of Ruby Short McKim, the 33rd Inductee of The Quilters Hall of Fame. McKim's first quilt designs focused uniquely on themes that would entertain children but eventually her newspaper series contained many traditional quilt patterns as well.

To read my complete article, visit The Quilters Hall of Fame blog by clicking here.

Enjoy!

Art and Children

I just cannot not resist. My daughter sent this photo to me today. No, it's not my grandkids. My daughter found it on the Internet somewhere. But boy can I relate!!

 I just had to share it, even though it is not quilt related.

Someone needs to teach them how to thread a needle, then hand them scraps of fabric and a spool of thread. The curtains would probably turn out fabulous and any potential mess would be a lot easier to clean up!!

But this story does remind me of something my grandsons DID do two summers ago. It was the first time we allowed them to walk the 2-miles to the village and back by my themselves. They had finally talked us into it, so we had them buy some vegetables to give us a reasonable belief that they would be back by a certain time.

On the way home, they discovered globs of black gooey sticky stuff along the road and, of course, thinking it surely must be some kind of play dough, they experimented!

Good thing grandma has some turpentine on hand.

Let's hear it for curious kids!

Woven Coverlets

Woven coverlets, another example of something I don't collect myself; 

but I do like to photograph them when I see them.

This example was also seen at an antique shop in late August of this year.

You can see this lovely woven Jacquard coverlet is "lost" in the jumble on this shelf. What a shame. It is in excellent condition!

I hear rumors that a couple of researchers in the quilt history world may be exploring the cross-over between the patterns seen in Jacquard woven coverlets and the rise in similar patterns in U.S. quilts about the same time. Hopefully an AQSG research paper will appear some day soon!  The cross-over seems so natural but who influenced who the most, I wonder?

 Joseph Jacquard invented a very sophisticated type of loom that first arrived in the U.S. about 1820. Safford and Bishop, in America's Quilts and Coverlets, state that there were many pattern books for the Jacquard loom so why couldn't quilters have borrowed from those pattern books as well?

I was curious as to why the earlier Double Weave coverlets did not contain a name or date. Safford and Bishop suggest it is because the Jacquard loom could now produce elaborate wide borders and said borders became a distinguishing feature of the large un-seamed coverlets. In contrast, the earlier narrow looms forced forced weavers  to create seamed Double Weave coverlets. But with the large border the Jacquard loom could produce, the weaver now had the option of adding something unique in the corner of the border, if he so chose. So why not a name and a date?

Do you suppose this also influenced quilters to name and date their quilts?  Or did a weaver see a signed quilt and decide to sign his work as well? Will we ever know which came first?

Franklin D. Sheaffer, whose name appears on this found coverlet, is included in the list of Professional Weavers found on page 277 of the 1972 Safford and Bishop book, America's Quilts and Coverlets.  

I couldn't find any example, however, of Sheaffer's work in the book itself. But I did see another coverlet that contains the same outer "leaf"/ring pattern (see page 256).  It is dated 1848. (See additional photo details at the end of this post.)

The house border pattern (see detail immediately below) on the the coverlet is similar to but not the same as the one seen on page 267 of the Safford and Bishop book. However, the one in the book is 1856, so much later. It's a very iconic rendition of a house for its time.

Franklin D. Sheaffer is also mentioned on page 211 in American Coverlets and Their Weavers: Coverlets From the Collection of Foster & Muriel Mccarl by Clarita Anderson.  Unfortunately, there is no mention of where Sheaffer lived or worked, though we do know that the great majority of this type of coverlet were apparently woven in PA, NY, OH and Indiana. Safford and Bishop also record a few known and identifiable weavers from New Jersey and Michigan.

In the Anderson book it is stated that it is unknown whether Sheaffer was the weaver or the client of the coverlet dated 1849 bearing his name, and, according to Anderson, 1849 is the only date known to carry his name.

As a client, could there be more than one coverlet bearing one's name? Did weavers put the name of a client on every coverlet they made for that individual client?  I shall have to check with a few friends who are into woven coverlets  to see if they can enlighten me. 

Now that I have done this much research today, I wonder if I should have purchased this coverlet! If I had had an iPad with me that day, I could have discovered all this info on-line while still in the antique shop! 

Nah, I don't need to start collecting woven coverlets or buttons. No room in my house for more than quilts and books! And not enough money in my budget to to allow the collecting bug to do any more damage!

Enjoy these coverlets wherever you see them, and do take a few minutes to visit the Foster & Muriel Mccarl Gallery now! Just click here. 

Cheers!

Karen

PS-1:  See a previous post about another woven coverlet I discovered right here in the San Juan Islands. 

PS-2: A little footnote in the comparison of patterns:

Did this pattern inspire appliqued wreaths in the 1840s-50s or vice-a-versa?  The quilt below was seen in an online auction in September 2011.

Actually, I think this feathered wreath pattern pre-dated both the coverlet and the quilt. When I discover something that contains a similar wreath that pre-dates 1840, 

I'll add it to this post.