A Stitch in Time

Bedcover (Crazy Quilt)Date: 1875/80 Artist: United States https://www.artic.edu/artworks/54852/bedcover-crazy-quilt Photo by Art Institute of Chicago on Unsplash

​I recently had the opportunity to view The Art of the Needle: Embroidered Treasures from the Emily Reynolds Historic Costume Collection at the Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead, MN. If you are interested, the exhibit is on through June 23, 2024, and well worth your time. What does this have to do with our family stories and history? Let’s look.

Having enjoyed this exhibition, I was thinking about all the needlework I’ve done, my aunts have done, grandmothers and others. I’m using needlework in the broadest sense of the word from fine silk embroidery to darning socks. Mostly women have plied their needles to cloth their families, to create a warm quilt or create a bit of beauty in their world. This collection has everything from a 17th century shirt embroidered with initials so that it would find its way back to its owner after washing to a beautiful silk kimono for a wedding. And perhaps one article that more of us can relate to was a display of a “crazy quilt.”
 
This made me curious to learn more about the story of quilts and their place in our history. In my family, the old quilts that we have are purely utilitarian. Dark heavy wool squares tied with yarn and a thick warm liner. These quilts were meant to keep the family warm in the cold Dakota winters. The crazy quilt was an outlet for our ancestor females to use up pretty scraps and fabric, while adding embroidery and ribbon that was special to them. The name comes from the odd shapes and haphazard pattern of the quilt. If you’d like to learn more check here.
 
If you have family clothing that was handed down, take time to write a little bit about its history so that future generations know why it was important. Capturing those stories is part of your family history. Perhaps you can picture your grandmother or great-grandmother sewing a doll dress for you or patching blue jeans and overalls. Or maybe they learned fine needlework skills in their Homemaker’s Club. Because you may have grown up knowing these things, we often don’t consider them important, but those everyday activities help make up the fabric of our ancestors’ lives.
 
Here are a few more articles about stitching throughout history.
Crazy quilting - Wikipedia
| National Museum of American History (si.edu)
PieceWork Magazine: Sharing the Story of Needlework | PieceWork
Stitching in Solitude: Women Homesteaders | PieceWork (pieceworkmagazine.com)
Traditions: A Joy and Pleasure to Use - Norwegian Kitchen Linens | Handwoven (handwovenmagazine.com)
 
I hope this has given you some ideas to include in your own family story. Have fun exploring your family’s stitches in time.