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SUMMER 2010 NEWSLETTER

New Exhibition
Childhood Treasures: Doll Quilts from the Ghormley Collection will be on display from August 6 through December 12. The exhibition includes examples of nineteenth and early twentieth century doll quilts and antique doll cribs and cradles. The Lincoln Quilters Guild will host an opening reception honoring Mary Ghormley on August 6 from 5-7 PM.

Collected over a forty-year period from all over the United States, the Ghormley collection is one of only a few such quilt collections in the world. Mary Ghormley is a founding member of the Lincoln Quilters Guild and was a leader in the Nebraska Quilt Project, which documented the rich quilting heritage of Nebraska and resulted in publication of the book Nebraska Quilts and Quiltmakers. Today, Mary is a weekly volunteer at the museum. In 2005, Mary and her family agreed to add her doll quilts to the IQSC's collection.

Programming associated with the exhibition includes:
August 6, 5:00 - 7:00 pm, Free admission, Opening dessert reception sponsored by the Lincoln Quilters Guild, with special guest Mary Ghormley
September 19 - 2:00 pm, Public lecture and book signing, "Childhood Treasures" by Merikay Waldvogel, author of the book Childhood Treasures: Doll Quilts By and For Children. Sponsored by the Nebraska Humanities Council.
September 28 - Noon, Tuesday Talk, "Ups and Downs in Quilt Styles," by Dr. Kari Ronning, lead contributor to the book Nebraska Quilts and Quiltmakers and UNL Research Associate Professor of English.
October 16 - 2-4 pm, Workshop "American Girls Discover Childhood Treasures and South Asia" with Sheila Green, for school age children
November 6 - 9 am-3:30 pm, Workshop, "Miniature Masterpieces by Machine" with NQA certified instructor Barbara Caron
December 11 - 2-4 pm, "American Girls Tea Party" for school age children with Sheila Green
December 12 - 2:00 pm, Tea honoring Mary Ghormley sponsored by the Lincoln Quilters Guild. The guild will sell tickets closer to the event.
Call 402-472-6549 to register for workshops and "American Girl" activities.

In conjunction with the Childhood Treasures exhibition three rooms from the Kruger Collection of Miniature Furnishing and Decorative Arts, on loan from the University of Nebraska College of Architecture, will be on view in the Ghormley Reading Room. Each room features a 1/12-scale miniature quilt placed in a vignette with furniture and accessories. The exhibit includes examples of miniature Lone Star and Four-Patch style quilts, among others.

July 31 Artisans Demo, Talk, and Trunk Show
The International Quilt Study Center & Museum will host an artisans’ demonstration, talk, and trunk show by members of the Kala Raksha Trust on Saturday, July 31st from 10:30 -4:00. A talk will be given by the trust founder, Judy Frater, at 2:00 pm. Kala Raksha is a grassroots social enterprise dedicated to the nurturing of the creativity of traditional artisans of the desert Kutch, in India. This event is held in conjunction with the current exhibition South Asian Seams: Quilts from India, Pakistan, & Bangladesh.

The August 24 noon Tuesday Talk will focus on Gujarat and the Kutch desert. Dr. Wendy Weiss, professor of Textiles, Clothing, and Design will discuss her experiences while traveling in the area. She will share examples of textiles collected at villages in the region.

A Night at the Museum...Destination South Asia
The newly formed organization Friends of the International Quilt Study Center & Museum has planned an exotic and fun evening on Friday, September 17 as their inaugural event. Experience the sights, sounds, tastes, and textiles of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh with the Friends. Tour the exhibition, sample exotic appetizers, learn to tie a sari...maybe take your turn learning a Bollywood dance step! Everyone is welcome, Museum membership or Friends membership is not required. For reservations, at just $25 per person, send your check (payable to IQSC Friends) to PO Box 21936, Lincoln, NE, 68542 or call Sheila Green at 402-483-0453 by September 1.


The French are Coming!
The International Quilt Study Center & Museum will present the first US exhibition exclusively devoted to the French needlework tradition broderie de Marseille from November 13, 2010 through May 8, 2011. Marseille: White Corded Quilting will demonstrate the qualities that make French whole cloth quilted and corded needlework unique, review the origins and development of the tradition, and describe its influence on quilted needlework traditions over three centuries on five continents. An opening reception for members, fellows and special guests is scheduled for Friday evening, November 19, from 5-7 pm.

The exhibition is guest-curated by Kathryn Berenson, author of Quilts of Provence and the forthcoming Marseille: The Cradle of White Corded Quilting, available in November 2010. Berenson has studied and collected extensively in France and many of the pieces in the Marseille exhibition are from the Berenson Collection, now part of the collections of the International Quilt Study Center. Additional pieces are from the Dillow Collection.

The Center’s biennial symposium will feature this art. "Quilted and Corded Needlework: A Closer Look" is scheduled for April 1, 2011. Featured speakers, sponsored in part by the Dillow Excellence Fund, include Kathryn Berenson and Linda Baumgarten of Colonial Williamsburg.

News Bits
Quilt Identification Days upcoming dates: August 1, October 3. Call 402-472-6549 to register. Cost per quilt is $8 for members and $10 for non-members.

One of the IQSC's most popular recent exhibitions, Quilts Under the Microscope, which closes in the Gottsch Gallery on August 1, will be extended as a mini-exhibit in the museum's third-floor Education Gallery starting August 10. It will present a group of carefully studied quilts (including several not in the original installation!) that divulge some of the secrets of their past. In-depth information panels help visitors understand the most common agents of textile deterioration as well as how to care for their own quilts at home. An illustrated brochure on quilt care accompanies the exhibition.

While you are visiting, don't miss the new exhibit of antique sewing tools and paraphernalia on loan from a private collector. The new display cases were acquired with funds from last fall's benefit lecture by Marianne Fons.

Members of theTextile Society of America will be meeting in Lincoln this October. The opening reception for the biennial symposium will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 6 at the museum from 5-8 pm. The James Foundation is sponsoring the reception and Robert James will welcome the group. IQSC members are invited to the opening reception (rsvp by calling 402-472-6549). Curators Marin Hanson and Carolyn Ducey will be conducting site seminars at the museum on Friday afternoon Oct. 8. The museum will host four of the 18 textile-related exhibitions organized in Lincoln in conjunction with the TSA. These include South Asian Seams: Quilts from India, Pakistan, & Bangladesh; Childhood Treasures: Doll Quilts from the Ghormley Collection; The Quilted Conscience: Dreams and Memories, featuring a story quilt made by 20 Sudanese-American girls; and Quilts from the Beggars Camp showing quilts from a Nepal beggars camp. The TSA Biennial Symposium is open to the public. Register on-line at www.textilesociety.org.