Eat it, drink it, burn it

[ellid]

Today was the last day of class. We took a short exam (I passed, both the exam and the course), had a tour of the storage facilities at the IQSC, and then went back to restoring a sadly worn dark blue calamanco quilt made around 1790 by a New York woman named Molly Dewey. By the time we were finished, the holes were patched, the binding redone, and the worn places covered with an overlay. It will become part of the IQSC's traveling educational exhibit now that it's stabilized. I hope that Molly Dewey approves.

As for me...I'm packed except for the clothes on my back. My room is clean. I'm about to engage in the old SCAdian ritual of "eat it, drink it, burn it," or "it's your last night at Pennsic, so whatever food can't be eaten or drunk goes into the fire pit." Since I'm not going to the War this year, I'm going to finish up my last bits of food tonight so the room is clean when I leave.

I had a wonderful time in Lincoln, and very much look forward to my return. Right now that looks like next summer for a one-week intensive on ralli (Indian and Pakistani quilts) with Patricia Stoddard, who quite literally wrote the book on ralli; I spoke to my advisor about my job concerns, and she agreed that coming out for the residential semester in 2012 makes more sense in my particular case. At best I would only be 2/3 of the way through the degree, and quitting my job and then having to find another non-quilt related job for the remaining 18 months I'd be taking classes won't work.

My thanks to the IQSC and its staff, and to etienetteblue, Leofwyna, and all the MagMorons for making me so welcome. If our paths don't cross again in the near future, still be assured that you're in my heart.

I'll post when I'm home tomorrow night. Can't wait to be home!

Comments

[etienetteblue.livejournal.com]

Travel safely home! I forwarded your greeting to the MagMor list; only Gerald's Eleanor and Chiara are on the LJ.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

(offtopic) I saw you say in Eric Van's thread (!!!) that you had a passion for needlework and old textiles. So do I, although I observe rather than participating; I'm fascinated by somebody who does all the work. Mind if I friend you?

(edit: and OMG the handwork! Wholecloth quilts fascinate me, because there's nothing but the quilting on display, so the stitching had better be PERFECT.)

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Sure! I'm primarily a quilter and quilt historian, currently working on an MA in a hybrid distance learning program at the University of Nebraska. I'm about a quarter of the way through the program. My eventual goal is to write a book on medieval and Renaissance quilting and patchwork since there's nothing really in print beyond a couple of articles, one of which I wrote (see icon for the anthology it's in).

What's your particular passion? :)

[ellid.livejournal.com]

I got home in good order last night around 11:00, after dinner at Una's. My flight home was nice and smooth, and yes, you were right - there was a Cubby's on 13th street in Omaha where I filled up my tank.

BTW, what is the purpose for the Qwest Center? Is it primarily for concerts or for sporting events as well? It's so big I wondered.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Mm. My particular passion is historical costume, although over the years it's broadened; I currently have two (rotary-cut and machine-seamed, thanks) quilts in process. I am fascinated by surviving historical textiles and needlework; I have the recent "19th-century embroidery" somewhere by my bedside.

I also, desultorily, needle-tat. I come from a line of seamstresses, crocheters, knitters, and the like, so it sometimes feels as much like an act of tribute as a craft.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I would certainly buy your book. Information on pre-1600 textiles, asyouknowbob, is hard to find. Are there many surviving pieces of patchwork? I jumped up and down when the posthumous Janet Arnold was published.

(I think I'm being a bit choppy. Pardon the squee.)

[etienetteblue.livejournal.com]

Qwest... it's an arena... a convention center... it's huge so it's for anything big enough to need it or afford it. There was a big dog show there recently and there's a rodeo next month.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

I am aware of two non-heraldic examples of patchwork prior to 1600. These are actual artifacts as opposed to paintings showing patchwork clothing or written references:

Hungarian throne tapestry, 14th century (http://www.btm.hu/___english/varmuzeum/allando/karpit/kepek/kar1.jpg). It's not only pieced, it might have originally been quilted as well; there are traces of stitching that the Hungarians who restored the tapestry think may have secured padding or batting at one time.

The Impruneta cushion (http://www.chiantimusei.it/arte/op_im_004.jpg), terminal date 1477. This tiny cushion (29 cm x 29.5 cm) was pieced of silk and wool, and placed in the tomb of Bishop Antonio degli Agli when he died in 1477. Italian conservation reports indicate that the cushion was damaged by bodily fluids produced when the Bishop's corpse decayed; they did not carbon-14 date it because removing enough of a sample to perform the test would have pretty much destroyed the cushion itself. It *may* have been paper-pieced but that is pure speculation since no trace of foundation papers was found.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Are you in the SCA, by any chance? I know a lot of historical costumers there. Several of my classmates last week were in the University of Nebraska's fashion design program.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

That cushion is glorious. Gracious. (As is the tapestry, but it doesn't have quite the same 'little-jewel' effect.)

I have a question for you -- I have always wondered how it happened that the various graveclothes -- the Eleanora of Toledo, the German examples, and now this pillow -- were uncovered. Did the Italian government go on a spree of opening early-Renaissance tombs? Was it archaeology, history, or simply remodeling?

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

I was, briefly, but I found that it had an unfortunate costume-ball effect. There I was, dressed to the best of my ability, as a lady of 1490's Italy, talking to a gentleman dressed for the Elizabethan court -- and we were talking about the fortunes of DEC. The visual illusion was often quite good -- modulo the mix of periods -- but it wasn't terribly immersive. Different groups vary, et cetera et cetera.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Can you tell me a little about restoration? How did you learn to do the tiny handsewing necessary to mount fragile textiles? And how, specifically, do you choose threads that both blend in and are obviously modern (and ideally removable) to a later restorer?

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Bishop Agli's tomb wasn't opened by choice. The sarcophagus lid was knocked ajar when Americans bombed the church in 1944. After the war the Opera, the civic corporation that manages the church in Impruneta (a small town about 15 km south of Florence, in the Chianti region), decided to check the tomb and its contents for damage. The cushion was found under Bishop Agli's head and removed from the tomb at that time. It was initially conserved by a Signor Clignon and then fully conserved in 1990. It has not been wet-cleaned due to its fragile condition.

The Medici grave clothes...I'm not sure what happened. Anyone else know? Bueller? Bueller?

[ellid.livejournal.com]

That was why I took the conservation class this week, actually. To answer your questions:

- Most conservation stitches are deliberately fairly large so they can be removed in the future should conservation methods change. The watchword is "do nothing that cannot be reversed." Too many artifacts were ruined by overzealous restorers and conservationists, and modern conservationists try to avoid this.

- Choosing threads is trickier. Silk filament blends into most textiles pretty well. Otherwise, conservationists usually try to find a fine silk or cotton thread that matches the main color of the textile.