Textile Arts - Recent Titles from Ohio University Press

Uncommon Threads

Wed, 01 Nov 2006

Uncommon Threads (2006)
Ohio's Art Quilt Revolution

By Gayle A. Pritchard

Ohio’s long quiltmaking heritage prepared the way for the contemporary “pioneer” artists of the 1970s and 1980s, who, through individual vision and dedication, have created a new art form and added a new chapter to quilt history. Uncommon Threads: Ohio’s Art Quilt Revolution reveals for the first time the remarkable role Ohio artists, curators, institutions, and organizations have played in the evolution of today’s international art quilt movement.

Against the backdrop of America’s counterculture and civil rights movements, author Gayle A. Pritchard’s compelling narrative threads its way through the emergence of the art quilt, from artists working in isolation to the explosive “big bang” of the first Quilt National and its inevitable reverberations. Pritchard provides a fascinating and personal glimpse into the private world of these unique artists through in-depth interviews, rare photographs, and abundant quilt illustrations.

As Uncommon Threads demonstrates, the art quilt movement could not have occurred without Ohio’s unparalleled contribution. Quilt lovers around the world will relish discovering this tale of the uncommon energy, vision, creativity, and devotion to self-expression that truly made a quilt revolution.

For more information about this book visit ohioswallow.com/book/Uncommon+Threads.
For a look at new releases from Ohio University Press visit ohioswallow.com/new_releases.

Quilts of the Ohio Western Reserve

Tue, 15 Nov 2005

Quilts of the Ohio Western Reserve (2005)

By Ricky Clark

Quilts of the Ohio Western Reserve includes early quilts brought from Connecticut to the Western Reserve in northeastern Ohio and contemporary quilts, including one by a conservative Amish woman and another inspired by Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Ricky Clark, one of Ohio's foremost quilt historians, has assembled exquisite examples of calamanco, "T" quilts, and borderless pieced quilts to show the influence of Connecticut aesthetics and history on the making of early quilts in this region. Rich in color, detail, and inventiveness, and often beautifully designed, the quilts of this region commemorate community history, from town fundraisers of the 1890s to a quilt designed by a Lake Erie shipbuilder. Sections of the book include quilts made during the Civil War and for postwar veterans' organizations as well as military and presidential quilts that relate to the history of the Western Reserve.

Quilt design in Ohio has been celebrated in biennial exhibits, round-robin quilts, and most recently proudly painted on barns in rural Ohio. Quilts of the Ohio Western Reserve, lavishly illustrated with forty color photos of quilts, launches the Ohio Quilt Series. A welcome addition to Ohio's cultural legacy, this book will interest the wider world of quilt and textile enthusiasts and historians.

For more information about this book visit ohioswallow.com/book/Quilts+of+the+Ohio+Western+Reserve.
For a look at new releases from Ohio University Press visit ohioswallow.com/new_releases.

Ohio Is My Dwelling Place

Sun, 01 Dec 2002

Ohio Is My Dwelling Place (2002)
Schoolgirl Embroideries, 1800-1850

By Sue Studebaker

One of the most intriguing cultural artifacts of our nation's past was made by young girls—the embroidery sampler. In Ohio Is My Dwelling Place, American decorative arts expert Sue Studebaker documents the samplers created in Ohio prior to 1850, the girls who made them, their families, and the teachers who taught them to stitch.

In this lavishly illustrated book, these now highly prized works are coupled with the stories behind their creations and the circumstances under which they were sewn. Ohio Is My Dwelling Place also includes an extensive chart of known pioneer teachers and schools in Ohio, as well as maps depicting the counties where the samplers were made.

These samplers serve as a tangible and enduring legacy of Ohio's history, and readers will be intrigued and fascinated by the stories presented in this extraordinary keepsake volume.

For more information about this book visit ohioswallow.com/book/Ohio+Is+My+Dwelling+Place.
For a look at new releases from Ohio University Press visit ohioswallow.com/new_releases.

American Coverlets and Their Weavers

Sun, 30 Jun 2002

American Coverlets and Their Weavers (2002)
Coverlets from the Collection of Foster and Muriel McCarl

By Clarita S. Anderson

Coverlets woven in vibrant colors of red, blue, white, and green are as popular today as they were in the nineteenth century.

American Coverlets and Their Weavers is a lavishly illustrated guide to one of the premier collections of coverlets in the nation. As such, it is also an essential reference for collectors, historians, specialists in material culture, and others who are interested in American textiles.

Published in association with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, American Coverlets and Their Weavers is a work of impressive scholarship. Clarita S. Anderson has drawn upon her extensive research to identify and discuss 700 weavers and to relate details about their lives and professional careers.

In-depth discussions explore more than fifty coverlets, which are depicted in detail. Another key feature of the book is the annotated dictionary of professional American weavers of figured and fancy coverlets compiled from the University of Maryland Historic Textile Database and the research files at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum.

Published in conjunction with the exhibition at the Folk Art Museum in Williamsburg between May 2002 and September 2003, American Coverlets and Their Weavers will be a treasured guide for collectors and historians alike.

For more information about this book visit ohioswallow.com/book/American+Coverlets+and+Their+Weavers.
For a look at new releases from Ohio University Press visit ohioswallow.com/new_releases.

West Virginia Quilts and Quiltmakers

Wed, 01 Nov 2000

West Virginia Quilts and Quiltmakers (2000)
Echoes from the Hills

By Fawn Valentine

A treasury of Mountain State heirlooms.

Tucked away in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, preserved for generations, handmade bed quilts are windows into the past. In 1983, three West Virginia county extension agents discussed the need to locate and document their state's historic quilts. Mary Nell Godbey, Margaret Meador, and Mary Lou Schmidt joined with other concerned women to found the West Virginia Heritage Quilt Search.

The search focused on documenting quilts made in West Virginia before 1940, which marked the end of a fertile period in American quilt history and the beginning of a decline in quiltmaking that would continue until the 1970s. Ultimately, the search registered more than 4,000 quilts.

This effort has culminated in West Virginia Quilts and Quiltmakers: Echoes from the Hills, published by Ohio University Press on November 1, 2000, in association with the West Virginia Heritage Quilt Search, Inc. The book includes 159 color photographs of selected quilts, with maps showing where they were made, a database analysis of the statewide survey, and the oral histories of descendants of quiltmakers.

"Quilts warm the body and the soul," says Valentine. "A quilt can wrap the psyche in a loving embrace. Family quilts are symbols of bloodlines reaching across decades and generations."

For more information about this book visit ohioswallow.com/book/West+Virginia+Quilts+and+Quiltmakers.
For a look at new releases from Ohio University Press visit ohioswallow.com/new_releases.