patchwork

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Image features: Child's sleeping mat composed of several layers of indigo dyed cotton fabrics, patched and heavily stitched. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
Pieced and Patched
Today, indigo-dyed cotton cloth and clothing are emblematic of Japanese folk traditions. But cotton is not indigenous to Japan, and for most of Japan’s history, rural clothing was made from available plant fibers: paper mulberry, ramie, nettle, hemp, and wisteria. Cotton, which was originally introduced through Korea and China, was first cultivated in the warmer,...
Image features: Small pieces of printed cotton in various colors patched to form a star medallion with scalloped outer edge. Each medallion set in white cotton about eighteen inches square. Twenty-five squares, each five by five inches, joined in a grid of strips of printed cotton, predominantly green. The center of each medallion plain white and several have handwritten inscriptions: "Our mother / The First to Cherish / The last to desert us. / Wm D. Jones / Frances L. Jones / May 11, 1845." "Made by Our Mother / Lucy Jones/ for / I.S. and M.P. Jones / 1845 / in her 64th year." "Our Parents / May the Evening of their / lives be as the morning sun / I.P. and M.E. Jones." Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
Mariner’s Compass
A very special family quilt in the Mariner’s Compass pattern was given to Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum by Susan Weitzman in 1972. Thanks to thoughtful, easy to read, handwritten inscriptions found on three of the twenty-five squares that make up the quilt, we know that Lacy Jones made the quilt in 1845, and that...
Length of fabric in which squares of various woven and embroidered white Nuno fabrics are machine stitched to a water-soluble base cloth which is then dissolved away, leaving an open ground with 'floating' scraps. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object
Tradition and Technology
In celebration of Women’s History Month, March Object of the Day posts highlight women designers in the collection. Tsugihagi was designed by Reiko Sudo, one of Japan’s most important contemporary textile designers. Educated at Musashino Art University, she and Junichi Arai (Japanese, 1932–2017) were the co-founders in 1984 of the Japanese company and store, NUNO,...
On a Wild Goose Chase
Author: Jeffery McCullough One of the most challenging aspects of researching quilts is that, for many of them, there is no identifying information about the maker. Fortunately, this quilt top has a handwritten label stitched to it, which states “Made by Martha Brownlee born 1 Nov. 1801 Mother of Mary Brownlee Meloy.” Martha Brownlee was...
Waste Not
In pre-industrial Japan, aprons were a basic element of everyday dress, worn by children and adults to protect one’s clothing, which was infrequently cleaned. Some form of apron was worn by workers of all sorts, from shop-keeping to field work to fishing. Like other work clothes, aprons were often made of repurposed cloth, as this...
A Triumphal, If Only Temporary, Arch
The short-lived Dewey Arch lives on in this commemorative textile by Hamilton Print Works. The triumphal arch was erected in Madison Square in Manhattan and stood from 1899 to 1900. Inspired by the Arch of Titus in Rome, it was built for the parade honoring Admiral George Dewey (American, 1837–1917) for his 1898 victory in...
Patchwork Panel by Fillìa
Fillìa was the adopted name of Italian Futurist artist Luigi Colombo (1904–1936). Fillìa’s association with the Futurists began with the second generation that rose to prominence during the 1920s. This next wave of artists gave the movement a much needed infusion of avant garde spirit after the death or defection of several Futurist founders. Their...