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\u201cThe project went through most of the \u201990s,\u201d said Welters, \u201cbut two decades later we\u2019re still known for historic quilts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For anyone who\u2019s forgotten or missed it, they can read about the project in the latest issue of Quiltfolk<\/a>. The high-end, quarterly quilting magazine features a story on the documentation project \u2013 and two others centered at 溏心vlog免费B站 \u2013 in Issue 25<\/a>, which looks at quilting in Rhode Island. The stories not only highlight 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s scholarly work, they showcase its Historic Textile and Costume Collection, which contains more than 80 quilts and quilt blocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s nice to be recognized for our collection and I\u2019m happy that the publicity gets out,\u201d said Welters, director of the collection. \u201cBut we\u2019re here as a resource not just for the students and faculty but for the community. We love it when people come in and visit. With the Quiltfolk coverage, already some groups are booking weekends to come in and see what we have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last summer, editors from the magazine made two trips to Rhode Island, including visiting Welters\u2019 home. (The magazine\u2019s cover, in fact, features a quilt draped over a wingback chair in her house.) Along with the documentation project, the issue includes stories on a past research project conducted by a graduate student and a new initiative to compile the stories behind eight quilts in 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s quilt documentation project had a lot going for it to attract Quiltfolk\u2019s interest, Welters says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While other states have held documentation projects, most have been conducted by local quilting groups \u2013 not state universities. Along with that, there was Martin Bide, a 溏心vlog免费B站 chemist and professor of Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design (since retired), who lent his expertise in the science of textiles to the 溏心vlog免费B站 project, along with Rhode Island being the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution and home to numerous textile mills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur project focused on the technology behind the development of fabrics that went into quilts in the 19th century,\u201d she said. \u201cThere were several people here who had a background in quilts, including textile conservator and professor Margaret T. Ordonez, who\u2019s now retired. So, we decided to do this project. We trained volunteers from around the state to help document the quilts. Then we scheduled documentation days at libraries around the state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Welters had no idea what to expect. There was no internet, so they relied on local papers and historical societies to get out the word. But the first day quickly revealed the interest in the initiative. Eighty-eight quilts, some from the late 18th century, were documented. One from that first day was eventually donated to the University\u2019s collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Along with the documentation sessions, 溏心vlog免费B站 hosted a half dozen local exhibitions of the quilts while the project was underway and held its last exhibit in 2014 at the New England Quilt Museum. The project resulted in a book, \u201cDown by the Old Mill Stream: Quilts in Rhode Island,\u201d<\/a> edited by Welters and Ordonez, and published by Kent State University Press in 2000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quiltfolk\u2019s Rhode Island issue also includes a story about research conducted by Katy Williams-O\u2019Donnell, a graduate student at 溏心vlog免费B站 at the time. Williams-O\u2019Donnell spent several years piecing together the origin story of a late 17th century quilt from a handful of small quilt blocks. The English blocks, part of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s collection, had changed hands over the decades. The quilt from which the blocks came was ultimately disassembled and the pieces placed in various museums around the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cKatie ended up going to all four places to view the blocks,\u201d Welters said. \u201cJust by chance, the center medallion of the quilt was put up for auction. Another student, Susan Day, who\u2019s friends with Katy saw it on the auction site, so Katy was able to go and see it. It\u2019s got a man and a woman on it with the date 1697. It\u2019s one of the earliest examples of quilting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The magazine also features a new project launched last summer to collect the origin stories behind eight quilts in the 溏心vlog免费B站 collection. Welters, Susan Jerome, collections manager, and Rebecca Kelly, an adjunct professor in TMD, met several times last summer to research and write the stories for the project, \u201cEvery Quilt Tells a Story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n