Redwork in Germany

My new favorite red & white quilt….”Composition II” by Shoko Sakai, Japan

2010-09-25T15:17:00.002+02:00

I “found” this red and white beauty at this years 16th European Patchwork Meeting 2010 in the Val d’Argent, Alsace (Region in France). It was part of the the “Nihon Vogue and JHIA (Japan Handicraft Instructor’s Association) Exhibition in Liépvre at the Espace Exposition. For all Alsace Patchwork Meeting “pilgrims” that was Exhibition Site No. 20.

The quilt is 2 x 2 meters big and is pieced with “thousands” of little red and white squares. Shoko Sakai won a very well deserved gold prize in the traditional quilt category at the “10th Quilt Nihon Exhibition”, Tokyo.

It reminded me of my “Little Elements of Fire” quilts, especially the" “all white” part. And as the red silk patches in my quilt “deteriorate” with every further washing I was thinking of making myself another version of my quilt anyway. So this quilt definitely is a very welcome inspiration….

You will find some more pictures in my flickr file.

I have to mention how Shoko Sakai quilted this. As you can (hopefully) see from the picture above she used red quilting and/or embroidery thread for the red blocks and white thread for the white ones. She quilted every big or small square block individually with sometimes very different patterns. I am not sure that everything is hand quilted but most of it definitely is. It is perfectly quilted so there could be machine quilting on some of the blocks, i really could not tell.

Luckily (certainly no touching allowed) the quilt was not hanging plan on the wall therefore I was able to get a glimpse at the (all white) back of the quilt with some of the red quilting showing.

Little Red Riding Hood (finished in 2008)

2010-05-03T08:24:00.001+02:00

Chinese Red cotton for the wolf medallion, the little red riding hood's hood and the border, linen in five different shades of white for the appliqué one shade of white for every layer of the picture. 5 different shades of beige for the vertical linen panel and all the different shade of white I could find in my cotton stash for the horizontal panel of little squares.

In the end the details did not really show up in the finished quilt but as long as I know they are there….

White cotton, beige linen and the Chinese red cotton for the disappearing nine patch on the back. The quilting thread is red sulky thread 12w.

The little red riding hood appliqué is inspired by the the beautiful work of Patricia Zapata (www.alittlehut.com)

The beautiful work of Patricia Zapata ( a little hut) started this quilt, though it wasn't the best idea to work with linen for this appliqué adaptation of her paper wall art the fraying drove me crazy:

The finished top in front of my window with a sample block from the backing:

Big bad wolf embroidery white on red (upside down on my ironing board) with the patched back showing:

For the back I choose this simple pattern; it is called disappearing nine patch and very easy to piece. You’ll find the perfect pattern tutorial from Helen on her blog

Last but not least the quilting with pretty big stitches and not a fancy pattern at all. Just long even lines all over the quilt, except for the appliqué part:

Little Red Riding Hood – end of story…

Nähen in den Mai – “Sewing into Mai”

2010-05-02T19:49:00.001+02:00

A virtual sewing bee with the Quiltfriends started at 07:00 pm on 29. April and ended for me at 04:00 am on 01.Mai 2010 with a yet an unfinished “Nähbox” (SewingBox).

My “Dear Baby Jane Stuff–Nähbox” with handles….

We had two tutorials to choose from:

one was Nickel-Pickles Sewing Box - there is an English language version on Nickel-Pickles blog

and a life Tutorial fromPatchBea – one of the Quiltfriends – via forumposts for a little suitcase.

A funny night with lot’s of things to learn by trial and error… and I really hope we will do it again!

I wanted to make the sewing box and therefore I needed a really long zipper. As the only one I had was black I also choose black linen (by Ikea) and the rosé-ish fabric “City Girl” by Kitty Yoshida (a Bernatexfabric); oh and and an appliqué bambi I made from the City Girl fabric some time ago.

This is how the WIP looked like at about 04:00 am on Mai 1st – a “Nähbox” (Sewing Box) big enough to hold all my Dear Jane Stuff – the book, the small Clover ironing/cutting board, my DBJ File Folder with the finished blocks and all my sewing notion. As you can see I did not really follow Nickles-Pickles instructions to the point. And for a first trial it is a bit wonky…

WIP picture – Nähbox/Sewing Box inside

WIP picture – Nähbox/Sewing Box outside

In the end I decided to add some handles – now it looked more like the suitcase and the little bambi ended up on its side. Next time I will plan (think) a little ahead.

"Roses from the Heart" - the Bonnet Project by Christina Henri

2009-07-19T14:46:00.001+02:00

I love conceptual art – is that what it is called? – where there is a story behind it; something that triggered the artist's interest to create something or to enable others to create, to bring people together, make people think and talk and in some cases act themselves, contribute to the art work, spread the word and make a change, challenge a myth or believe or as with the the Bonnet Project help remember and honor - the 25.556 convict women Great Britain deported to Australia between 1788 and 1853.

Christina Henri's textile art project "Roses from the heart" touched me when I first read about it in the "Inspiration" Issue No. 51 (an Australian embroidery magazine) in 2006. I went to the quoted website www.femalefactory.com.au read about the female factory's history and found the links to the convict files with all the women's names published to make us and especially the convict women's descendants and Australians in general remember them. Remember their names, their suffering and cruel life in that then unknown county and most of all acknowledge their contribution to help settle Australia.

It has been a different time then which might explains though it does not excuse what has been done to them, how they were treated and how many of them and especially of their innocent children had to die. Even more so as they have been shunned for all those years; that is what Christina Henri's project will change.

From what I read in this years July edition of British Patchwork & Quilting, 2 years later "Roses from the heart" has become an international project with people from UK, Ireland, USA and Canada as well as New Zealand, and from Africa, and the European Countries Spain, Italy, France, Switzerland, Norway and Sweden taking part. Not all of the 25.556 bonnets have been created yet. It shows what a vast number it really is.

If you want to take part and contribute Bonnets go to http://www.femalefactory.com.au/FFRG/fffdb.htm#Records find a relative among those convict women or "adopt" one and make a bonnet in her name. The free bonnet template and sewing instruction can be found on http://www.femalefactory.com.au/exhibit.htm#henri or on Christina Henri's website. There you can also find where to send them and when and where they will be displayed.

In 2010 an installation of at least 10.000 bonnets is planned for the "The Festival of Quilts" in Birmingham, UK (aka Birmingham Quilt Festival).

Let "Roses from the heart" grow all over "blogland"…

Copycat Quilt Block Sampler

2009-07-08T00:06:00.001+02:00

4 1/2" blocks of solid red and white fabric, not patterned, no batiks

The rules for myself – which I will try to follow as best as I can – are:

The "master" must be a red and white design; can be of any material, style etc. except it must not be from a quilt or an existing quilt block!

Any magazine ad, leaflet or flyer, painting, web layout, sculpture, building etc. will do, as long as it is

red & white
I like it ;-) and
it can be transferred into a quilt block – pieced and/or appliquéd with a dash of Redwork now and then

Small alterations and layout changes are ok…

Block number 1 – DenkDramen

Based on a flyer from the theater in Frankfurt "Schauspiel Frankfurt" from 2006

PDF: Block number 1 – DenkDramen

Giveaway Day giveaway given away and Japanese fabric sources listed...

2009-06-01T22:47:00.004+02:00

Random.org tells me that out of my 184 comments commentoresse # 75 is the lucky winner....so, Abigail please send me your snailmail adress via e-mail and I can mail the bunnies to you.

A big thank you to Sew, Mama Sew for hosting this fun event, I really enjoyed it.

Giveaway Day

2009-05-27T10:27:00.006+02:00

I went to the “Holländische Stoffmarkt” which happened to be in Frankfurt the other day. A “travelling” fabric market with lots of colorful, mainly clothing fabrics but also quite a few patchwork fabrics and notions, too. As I did not plan to go there I had almost no cash (lucky me ;-) ) on me, though I would have loved to buy that striking red linen not really need but sooo nice to have…

Where I did stop to buy – and sadly I really had barely just enough to buy two pieces of fabric - was at the booth of Kiseki – Stoffe aus Japan - authentic Japanese fabric only, in beautiful colors and texture. My photos do not do them justice, at all. The owner, Juliane Reichenbach, was so very nice to even reduce the price for one of the fabrics for me as I literarily gave her my last cents. Though it wasn’t expensive just me being absolutely broke and not ATM near that market…

I choose a pink – of all colors – rabbit print and the dark blue “rabbit on the moon” panel with 12 picture blocks. Juliane Reichenbach was selling the picture blocks individually but other women were faster than me and had already snatched away the ones I wanted. That is why I bought from the bold got all the rabbits I wanted plus six I know I will not use in my project.

Here comes in the blogland giveaway Sew, Mama Sew is hosting and as I “registered” last minute I don’t know for sure I am on her list at least I think I’m — if not, then I’m having a giveaway anyway.

Giveaway Rabbit Blocks!

Just write a comment and if you have add the address, url etc. of your source for Japanese fabric around the world. I will draw a “winner” from all that left a comment.

Here is my source…

Kiseki – Japanische Stoffe
Juliane Reichenbach
Sredzkistraße 47
10435 Berlin
Juiane@kiseki.de
http://www.kiseki.de/
Tel.: 0173/6141305

I am posting a few hours early as I will be at work at the appointed posting time here in Germany and yes, I will ship internationally for free – it’s worth the fun of participating in the Giveaway day. Can’t wait to visit all the blogs listed…

Dear Jane© quilts by the quilt group “Dancing Hands” from Osnabrück

2009-03-14T13:52:00.013+01:00

A group of eleven women with a love for hand stitching and piecing finished their version of that quilt in (only) three years. I envy them for their beautiful finished quilts – but then “the journey is its own reward”, isn’t’ it. Especially with that quilt.

All the stories prompted by that quilt about our small and big (piecing) problems, our own and fellow quilter’s achievements and little lapses lets us learn from each other by sharing our quilt block’s pictures, stories and tutorials while travelling our own (colour) roads with our own special (little big) quilt.

Just as the “Dancing Hands” quilter we all work with the same pattern and in the end will hopefully have created just as beautiful and yet so individual quilts

The quilts were on display in the Bachsaal of the Christuskirche in Aschaffenburg, Bavaria, at the 3. Main Quiltfestival; 350 km away from the “Dancing Hands” hometown Osnabrück in Northern Germany.

Thank you for showing us your fantastic work.

"Dear Janes little sister" by Ulrike Knickrehm,
Quiltgroup "Dancing Hands", Osnabrück

"Kaffe Fassett meets Dear Jane"
by Isa Rode Quiltgroup "Dancing Hands", Osnabrück

"Red Roses" by Manuela Miete,
Quiltgroup "Dancing Hands", Osnabrück

"Multicolor" by Heike Lampe,
Quiltgroup "Dancing Hands", Osnabrück

"Janes Blumengarten" by Frauke Gamm,
Quiltgroup "Dancing Hands",Osnabrück

"Ulrikes Original" by Ulrike Kopsch,
Quiltgroup "Dancing Hands", Osnabrück

"Herbst" by Margret Menkhaus
Quiltgroup "Dancing Hands", Osnabrück

Grey Quilt "unknown title" by Brigitte Müller,
Quiltgroup "Dancing Hands", Osnabrück
(if you know the title please let me know I did not take a proper photo of the label, sorry)

"unkown title" by Annelies Willen,
Quiltgroup "Dancing Hands", Osnabrück
(if you know the title please let me know I did not take a proper photo of the label, sorry)

Brothers Grimm Household Tales Quilts

2007-08-14T10:56:00.000+02:00

This is a request for help I posted in the flickr “quilts and quilting group”. I am adding it to my blog posts not only to also ask anyone reading this for their inspiration and thoughts but above all to share the progress of this quilt project with you.

“I am working my way to a “Household Tales of the Brothers Grimm Quilt”. I am serious; this is my quilt group’s 2008 summer exhibition theme. You know the Brothers Grimm (the real ones not their movie version), don’t you?

By now I know most of their “fairytales” which are a surprisingly lot more (200 +) than the well known Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood etc. tales. Here is a list (and full text) of the Grimm’s’ Household Tales

I know their town of birth Hanau , went to their childhood home turned museum in Steinau an der Straße and paid the “Brüder Grimm Museum” in Kassel’s Palais Bellevue a visit.

Now I would like to see other quilters creative work inspired by the Brothers Grimm. Do you know of any quilts ideally on flickr or with a www link to the picture inspired by their household tales? Can you recommend a link to any kind of illustrations that would be a nice inspiration for a quilt? Any thoughts and suggestions are very very welcome!”

Diesen „Hilferuf“ habe ich in der flickr group “quilts and quilting group”. geposted. Ich nehme ihn jetzt in meinene Blog Posts auf um auch alle anderen, die ihn lesen um deren Ideen zu bitten aber auch um die Fortschritte und Ideen dieses Quilt Projektes zu dokumentiern.
„ Ich arbeite mich zu einen „Märchen der Gebrüder Grimm Quilt“ durch. Das meine ich ernst, es ist das Jahresthema meiner Quilt-Gruppe für die Sommerausstellung 2008. Ihr kennt die Gebrüder Gimm (die richtigen, nicht deren Kinoversion)?

In der Zwischenzeit kenne ich so ziemlich alle ihre Geschichten, von denen es so viel mehr (200+) als nur die gut bekannten Aschenbrödel, Rotkäppchen etc. Märchen gibt. Hier ist eine Liste (und Text) der Kinder- und Hausmärchen der Gebrüder Grimm..

Ich kenne ihre Geburtsstadt Hanau , war im Haus ihrer Kindheit , dass jetzt ein Museum ist, in Steinau an der Straße und habe das “Brüder Grimm Museum“ in Kassels Palais Bellevue besucht.

Jetzt würde ich gerne die kreativen Arbeiten anderer Quilter / Patchworker sehen, die durch die Gebrüder Grimm inspiriert wurden. Kennt Ihr Quilts bestenfalls auf flickr or mit einem www link zu deren Bildern, die durch die Kinder- und Hausmärchen der Gebrüder Grimm inspiriert wurden. Könnt Ihr links zu jeder Art Illustration empfehlen, die eine schöne Inspiration für einen Quilt sein könnten? Jede Idee oder Vorschlage ist sehr sehr willkommen.!”
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Little Elements of Fire

2007-08-12T16:11:00.000+02:00

The „4 Elements“ have been this year’s summer exhibition theme of my quilt group. I have been thinking about a red and white log cabin quilt for quite some time and choose to use that idea for the Elements theme.

I love to work with old/vintage cotton though this time the fabric was rather new; t used to be the curtain for my Berlin apartment a few years ago. 3,80 m high walls, big old windows and therefore lots of white cotton….

The red fabric is silk I bought from IKEA two years ago. And I have to admit I regretted using it. It is not colour fast especially when washed with cold / timid water; it suffered from the hot ironing temperature needed for the cotton and the edges frayed a lot.

The batting is the cotton batting 275 from Freudenberg. It is not very heavy; it looks a little bit like it has been felted which I why it does not loose its shape even after several washing or heavy use. Hand quilting it was pretty good too.

It all started with log cabin squares without measuring their size just sewing one after the other whenever I felt like it. Later I had to trim quite a few of them to size.

When I have already finished many of the squares I started planning the quilt. Thinking about it size, the amount of squares needed for it in the end and especially making up my mind about how to quilt it.

With the little doll quilt I learned how the quilting lines can change a quilts appearance and with the graphic strictness of the log cabin I wanted to add a little “chaos”, some softer lines to my quilt. That is why I went with an all over quilt pattern with circles and half circles to contrast the log cabin squares, again.

Quilted but not finished yet.

The finished quilt, photographed in front of a window with the sun shining through it. It is beautiful (I am biased I know…) and very comfy.

little red and white doll quilt

2007-05-15T22:15:00.000+02:00

Something different, not exactly Redwork though I added a few running stitches in red just like aviva_hadas suggested.

Inspired by the doll and miniature quilts of the doll quilt swap I created my own version. The progess with such a small quilt is amazing only two nights and all hand piecing, basting and the first quilting lines were finished. If only my other project would go so fast. Now I wished it would grow into a big quilt all by itself…..

My little doll quilt as a WIP after two nights.

Liebst du der Rose Pracht hab'auf die Dornen acht.

2007-05-06T14:04:00.001+02:00

My latest fleamarket treasure. It is very old, way to delicate to really use and I am afraid it could break from displaying it alone. But I love it.

The German text reads if you love the rose’s beauty be aware of the thorns.

It has all the marks of its age, the dayly use and the fequent washing. Threadbare and already loosing a few of its Redwork stitches it still is simply beautiful.

I took this photo in front of a window to show how thin the fabric of this Redwork piece is. The darker parts are done in traditional embroidery with white floss. And you can see a few Redwork lines are already missing.

Here are a few photos where you can see the different stiches in white floss used in this redwork piece.

If you want to re-create the piece here is the pattern I traced from the original.

IKEA hack - "Turntable Ironing Board"

2007-04-03T16:48:00.001+02:00

I saw this Clover „Turntable“ ironing board in many of the japanese craft magazines and thougth it would be quite handy. As Clover does not sell it in Germany and I remembered the “lazy susan tray” at IKEA I made one myself.

Material needed: SNUDDA (lazy suzan tray 39 cm) from IKEA 5,99 €.

Cotton fabric, and heat resistant batting (mine is from an ironing board cover). The batting needs to be cut exactly the size of SNUDDA, the fabric appox. 10 cm bigger than SNUDDA.

Make a giant yoyo with a rather strong thread, put the batting on top of SNUDDA and cover both with the yoyo. Pull the thread tight and voila…

Nursery Rhyme Pattern in Jayne's Quilt...

2007-04-02T14:10:00.000+02:00

I kind of love the nusery rhyme pattern most as all of them have the little text line in it.

Little Miss Muffet

Sat on a tuffet,
Eating of curds and whey;
There came a spider,
And sat down beside her,
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

On Project Gutenberg I found the book The Little Mother Goose published in 1912 by "Good Housekeeping Magazine" with the lovely illustration by Jessie Willcox Smith. All of the nursery rhyme pattern in Jayne's quilt are based on the original artwork of this female illustrator.

Apparently her work must have been quite popular in her time as those Mother Goose illustration where already available as Redwork pattern then according to Deborah Harding

Later on the pattern was also published by Butterick. A re-print of that vintage Butterick pattern is available from
Patternbee

Jessie Willcox Smith- Bio Links
http://www.ortakales.com/illustrators/Smith.html
http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/jwsmith.htm
http://www.library.pitt.edu/libraries/is/enroom/illustrators/smith.htm

and the wounderful Children Book Illustrator site www.nocloo.com with some of her artwork:
http://www.nocloo.com/gallery2/v/jessie-wilcox-smith-garden-verses/
http://www.nocloo.com/gallery2/v/jessie-wilcox-smith-north-wind/

May I introduce Greta Lillian Rutledge

2007-03-04T23:27:00.000+01:00

Jayne’s Grandmother and the quilter of her Redwork Quilt.

I have a little green cardboard box with all he finished Redwork blocks of my re-make of Jayne’s quilt. It is like a little treasure trove, by now it contains 11 of the quilt’s squares.

In a file folder I keep the patterns in all their different stages.

the printouts of the photo jpgs Jayne sent me from all the individual Redwork block in her quilt, for which I am ever greaful
my tracings on overhead films which I made from each block to act as my pattern masters that I scanned and then resized to fit the fabric squares I choose
and last but not least all iron-on transfers of the final pattern I made by tracing the pattern on the back of paper print-outs

I also filed all the little stories Barb send me, the mails I received on my progress and the comments that where made on the photos in my flickr photo file.

And very special pieces in my little collection are the two b&w photos Barb sent me. A potrait of Greta Lillian Rutledge which was the source for my Redwork picture you can see in this post and another b&w print showing Greta Lillian and her little son Floyd for whom she made the quilt so many years ago.

My new etsy shop RedworkInGermany.etsy.com

2006-11-25T22:21:00.000+01:00

RedworkInGermany.etsy.com

A little over a year ago I got my etsy account as I wanted to open my own etsy shop and just didn't find the time or - more truthfully - the courage to set it up.

But then, this year was the second time I offered my Redwork on a local craft fair and the positive feedback on my work was so encouraging I finally "opened" my shop, albeit very small...

La Belle Chocolatiere - Redwork embroidery kit
available in my new etsy shop RedworkInGermany.etsy.com

The set has my original embroidery pattern I created based on the painting “Das Schokoladenmädchen / La Belle Chocolatiere" from Étienne Liotard (1744/45).

The original painting by the way can be admired at the Gemäldegalerie alter Meister in Dresden.

The Redwork pattern is pre-printed on a piece of white cotton that perfectly fits the wooden frame which is also part of the set as well as the embroidery floss I used for my version of the Redwork piece: Anchor #1005 and an embroidery needle.

Vintage hand pieced Album Block aka Chimney Sweep Block

2006-11-04T08:40:00.000+01:00

This is a vintage block I bought from Jane Lury of Labors of Love at the Carrefour de Patchwork in the Val d’Argent a few years ago. Again, as usual, it was the red&white color combination that made me notice it. But I also really liked the simple and grafic block pattern.

Back in Germany I started to research the pattern a bit and found some very nice quilts on the web pieced with this block pattern.

A beautiful example –

and the one I liked most…guess why… - can be found in an an article on the Quilt History site, which is by the way a great source if you are interested in vintage quilts!

Another example of a beautiful Album Quilt is on the RMSC site

As with quilt projects and me it take ages before I am ready to start. Sometimes I think the research and planning of a project is what I love most about this craft…However, I want to use the vintage block in my quilt and so far I haven’t found “the” idea, yet.

Nevertheless, I keep looking for Album Block Quilts and already marked a few sites with the pattern piecing instructions to be ready to go when I am ready to start…

An Album Block instruction with foundations to print out
http://www.threshpublications.com/kris.html
A German text version:
http://www.patchworkgilde.de/quilts/public/show.php?id=133
This link is also for a pattern of the classic Album Block but the way the fabric color is used it looks kind of wrong but interesting….
http://www.sewquilty.com/History/0105.html

If you find out more about this block pattern please let me know.....

Hand piecing detail of the Album Block aka Chimney Sweep Block

W. W. Denslow's Humpty Dumpty

2006-10-29T11:27:00.000+01:00

I love the online "libraries" on the web, especially the Project Gutenberg where I found a book by the illustrator and caricaturist W.W. Denslow. The pictures in his Mother Goose book from 1901 are just beautiful.

And I fell in love with his 1903 version of Humpty Dumpty, a book not part of the Project Gutenberg though. He spinned a story from the orignial nursery rhyme, made the unfortunate Humpty Dumpty to "Old Humpty," the father of this children books main charater Humpty Dumpty a wandering ministrel who travelles the world as the "hard boiled" version that learned from his father's raw egg foolishness. ..

My Redwork designs are adapted from Denslow's Humpty Dumpty illustrations.

Humpty Dumpty Senior

Humpty Dumpty Junior

Halloween Redwork Pattern

2006-10-03T11:19:00.000+02:00

I found the orginal Halloween postcard in KellyLWatson flickr file and thought it would be a very nice Redwork pattern for Halloween.

Download my original pattern in a larger size for your own Redwork project.

12 Carrefour Européen du Patchwork - Val d'Argent 200

2006-09-20T01:17:00.000+02:00

12 Carrefour de Patchwork in the Val d’Argent was again – as every year has been so far – an amazing gathering of quilts and quilter from all over the world and across all quilt, patch and textile art disciplines. I just love it.

The old churches, public buildings like theatre and exposition halls scattered in the 4 adjoining villages are a rather unusual and very beautiful setting for the patchwork exhibitions. And a week-end spend with hundreds of other quilter which you meet in the exhibitions, shuttle busses, sidewalk café, hotels etc. is just as inspiring as the quilter’s shopping mall with international vendors and the textile artists that top this event off. What awed me was the fact that even though we seldom spoke each others language quilter’s of all countries seem to understand each other perfectly in front of the quilts they unanimously admired.

This year there were almost no Redwork quilts on display. Too bad, but it obviously is a quilt style just too simple for most of the avid quilter. The elaborate appliqué or colourful textile art quilts with lots of batik fabric and fabric manipulation still seem to be the thing among the patchwork community.

I prefer the vintage quilts (beautiful examples shown in the Villa Burrus – Collection of vintage Australian Quilts from Annette Gero) and the few examples of simpler / traditional quilts especially in red&white (very nice Quilts in the Austria Exhibition - this year’s guest of honour ).
Nevertheless, like many I was impressed by the craftsmanship of the quilts in the “Japanese Exhibition”. Yoko Saito showed amazing appliqué quilts with so many delicate details all stitched and quilted by hand

and the colourful quilts by Suzuko Kosegi were just as beautiful and an example of almost intimidating skills.

But also all the other quilts on display in the different exhibition venues were amazing. Léa Stansal work was another extraordinary example. According to the program her exhibit in the Espace Exposition in Lièpre (Venue No.) “Philosophical Tales” was “…inspired by Alsatian tales and particularly Hansel and Gretel. Léa has built either a fictitious world with original scenarios that include embroidered and simple stitches patchwork objects or large narrative quilts….” Nothing prepared you for the colourful explosion and almost pop art-like quilts.

I had great fun to see her work life and in “technicolor”. Most of it is in her latest pattern book “La trousse à couture Petit conte philosophique pour 20 objets à réaliser soi-même” which I am sure is available via amazon. If you are in to “something different”, funny and modern in quilts, especially for children, you’ll love her work.

There wasn’t a single exhibition that wasn’t worth seeing and even though many of the quilts and textile art pieces weren’t exactly “my cup of coffee” I enjoyed seeing the vast variety of patchwork techniques.

If asked for my favourite exhibitions that really impressed me most I would choose “Face to Face” by “Pascale Goldberg” in Rombach le Franc and the already mentioned presentation of vintage Australian Quilts from the collection of Annette Gero.

“Face to Face” by “Pascale Goldenberg”
I was intrigued by a quote in the exhibition program”“…new materials don’t interest me, they don’t appeal to me! It is not their “virginity”, but their “inexperience” that I don’t like…” Pascale Goldenberg prefers recycled materials that “sublimate a life” for quilts dedicated to life….”” A statement I can wholeheartedly relate to. I also love fabrics with a life and history.

And as an icing on the cake she used my favourite red&white color scheme in quite a few of her pieces. I just loved her work.

Antique Australian Quilts from Annette Gero

A quilt historian collection of vintage quilts and interesting pieces of history of the women in Australia presented in the Villa Burrus.

Not a single Redwork quilt (not counting two Kate Greenaway kids in this crazy quilt)

but a wonderful appliqué nursery rhyme quilt from the 1940ies.

It looks like Mother Goose was well known all around the English speaking world.

Not exactly quilt or patchwork but another interesting exhibit I enjoyed was from the “France Point de Croix”; a textile artwork called “Recycled Clothing”. Unfortunately the rather long description was all in French and the ladies “guarding” the display weren’t able to give an English or German translation/explanation. However, I liked it even without knowing the deeper meaning….

And then there is Jane Lury of “Labors of Love” all the way from Hillsdale, New York who sets up shop in the “Ancienne Sogenal” in Ste Marie aux Mines at least for the last three years. I always pay her a visit and look through the vintage quilt blocks she brings with her to the Val d’Argent which are the only items within my budget. Last year I found a few niece Redwork blocks and a “love at first site” traditional red&white patchwork block. Her collection (for sale) of antique quilts is breathtaking. She even had two Redwork quilts this year but then I am not able to spend several hundred dollars for a vintage piece (yet…). I envy Deborah Harding (author of one of my favourite Redwork books “Red & White American Redwork Quitls” who obviously purchased this beautifulRedwork quilt from Jane Lury. Unfortunately, other than in all exhibitions where photos are aloud, Jane asked not to take any photo, so no picture samples I could share with you.++++ little update +++ Apparently, this was not true, I must have mixed up the "please no photo" signs of the commercial exhibits/vendors I tried to respect. Jane was so kind to mail me and said I could have taken photos....too bad! But then there is the 13th Carrefour du Patchwork next year.

************************************************************

But now on to this year’s Val d’Argent booty of mine: I was looking for a French Redwork embroidery book and did indeed find it for surprisingly little money (8,90 €)!

“Broderie Rouge” by Agnès Delage-Calvet (ISBN 2501-04657-99 has an almost “Japanese craft book” look and very nice, simple Redwork ideas. I wished there where more Redwork books like these on the market….

Another book or rather pattern collection I found by chance actually is “Le nappe de Gertrude” (Gertrude’s table cloth).

I saw a Redwork tablecloth in the booth of www.abcedaires.com and the very nice shop told me the story of this collection of vintage Redwork pattern used in this tablecloth. She also allowed me to take this photograph.

To my surprise, as it was a Redwork piece stitched in France, I already knew some of the pattern from vintage American Redwork quilts. The world a village already in 1899….

Notions (the “most wanted” rubber thimble – … and a few more pieces for my red&white fabric collection also went home with me.

Unbelievable but true, not a single vendor was selling the sulky cotton 12wt. But I found an Italian brand “AuriFil” with nice red 12wt cotton tread. All the other floss, especially the overdyed ones which I was really looking forward to, just didn’t appeal to me.

All in all I had a great time in Alsace and I am already looking forward to next year’s Carrefour the Patchwork.

Just to give everyone a glimpse of the vast array of quilts on display in the Val d’Argent I added a few of the 200+ photos I shot to my flickr file even though most of them are not “my cup of coffee”…

Finished UFO #4

2006-08-25T12:38:00.000+02:00

The first of many UFOs on my list - finally - finished.

It has been a long time with little to no internet time for me latley. Now that I up-date my flickr file I can see how much I missed. There are so many beautiful new pictures of crafty things in the group files and other flickr members photofiles that I haven't seen yet...

Floyd's Rose Twigs Block

2006-07-25T19:13:00.001+02:00

Life is beautiful with happy and sad times

and while working on recreating Jayne’s quilt

so many things happen.

In memory of the little boy for which the original Redwork Quilt

was made by his loving mother.

Vintage Redwork Collection – Three Dutch Kids

2006-07-05T15:22:00.000+02:00

This is a vintage Redwork splasher from my little collection. I like the Dutch themes on Redwork pieces. Dutch boys and girls or the “Delft” sceneries were very popular in Gemany at the turn of the last century.

But it wasn’t only the pattern of this fleamarket find that made me buy it. This Redwork piece is very neatly stitched with only a thin sewing thread. It gives this Redwork a very delicate "line drawing" effect. Rather unusual and I haven’t seen anything like it in Redwork so far.

I am always trying to find out more about my collection pieces. Up to now, I have not found the pattern source, it might have been a pre-printed pattern which were available from magazines and catalogues also in Germany;´but it could also be that someone created it herself.

What I did find out is that the pattern is a pretty close copy of a picture by the female illustrator Florence Hardy. It was published on postcards approx. 1916 or ealier and was part of a series of pictures featuring the little Dutch girls and boy in different scenes. I know that those postcard where available at least between 1913 and 1918 by the German publishing house Dondorf.

Waldspaziergang NinePatch

2006-06-25T12:00:00.000+02:00

This is number 4 on my RedworkStitchers Group UFO list. A ninepatch I finished quite some time ago; I just couldn't decide what Redwork pattern to stitch.

I found the 2005 BOM on www.sulky-international.de/ Waldspaziergagn (walk throught the forest) with lot's of different leaves as applique and embroidery pattern. And as my patchwork group exhibition theme this summer is "Trees" it is the perfect match....

In the meantime I finished 7 1/2 blocks but don't have a current photo, therefore, here is the 4 1/2 blocks picture:

My nine patch has 17 white blocks to stitch and as the pattern only has 16 leaves I will add a little saying for the remaining block. Needless to say, it will be something about trees and in Geman...

Jayne's Quilt - some more pictures of the finished blocks

2006-06-25T11:44:00.000+02:00

The finished blocks so far and given my day job and other craft projects always intefering ;-) I really did good....

The "date block" which I think shows an aster but I am not too sure about the names of the flowers in this quilt. Nice little frenshknots in the blossoms middle by the way....

Another one of the "little girls" block, the most recent one and yet soo many more blocks to stitch.

Floor-Standing Quilt Frame for my Missouri Puzzle Quilt

2006-06-15T12:15:00.004+02:00

My quilt is large, 2 x 2 m and I am still determined to do all the quilting by hand. When I took quilting lessons with Ester Miller in Berlin we worked on those wounderful floor-standing scroll quilt frames which I loved but was not willing to spend that much money on. Besides, those frames are like a bulky piece of furniture which I wouldn’t know where to put when I am not working on a quilt.

That’s why I was using a larger hoop frame at first and also tried one of those plastic klip frames a friend gave me. But to be honest once you worked on a large floor-standing quilt frame anything else just doesn’t feel right. And with the technique we learned from Ester Miller you need both hands free for quilting which doesn’t work with frames you have to hold in one hand.

I always thought about the quilting bees in the old days on frames they made themselfs and kept looking for “how-to’s” for a frame that would fit into my appartment. I did not find anything I liked that is when I started to make up my mind about my own version of a two poles floor-standing scroll frame and here it is:

The Material I used is:

my kitchen table ;-) ( actually it is the table legs Vika Artur from IKEA which look a little bit like sawhorses but have two seperate top bars for adjusting the hight of your table. Between the two bars you can easily secure the side poles of your quilt frame)
two wooden poles approx. 30 cm longer than your quilt (you need 15 cm minimum on both ends to hold the poles between the bars of “Artur”, smooth sanded otherwise your quilt fabric might get damaged. In my example I used flat ones but if I’d do is again I would choose round poles.
4 screwclamps
4 smaller “regular” clamps
two pieces of 30 – 50 cm long string (I used cotton fabric string)
two stips of Linen (or any other strong material) a little shorter than the length of your poles, widths 10 cm
Only tool needed is a tacker with staples long enough to secure the fabric strips on the poles

Tacker the fabric on to the wooden poles.

Now you are ready to attach the quilt to the frame. As my quilt was a work already in progress it was “properly” prepared. The quilting design was marked and the backing, wadding and top where tacked with basting stitches. (on the website of Cotton Patch you can find a very good description of how to prepare your quilt and they offer the “real frames” too)

All three layers of your quilt need to be attached to the fabric stips on the poles. The fabric strip should be facing up ( see picture above) and the entire quilt needs to be smooth and flat between the two poles. If you are in doubt do it again otherwise you might regret it when you quilt it in your frame later.

Roll up the enire quilt on one of the poles and give it a little tension. First, put the “empty” pole between the sidebars of the “Vikar Artur” table leg (see picture below) and secure it on both ends with a screwclamp. Then roll off just as much of the quilt to barely fit the lenght of “Artur”. Pull it tight and now secure both ends of the second pole with a screwclamp.

With the “regular” clamps and the string I pulled the sides of my quilt tight (which is optional I think, see if you need to).

When you finished quilting the part of your quilt in the frame just open the screwclamps, roll the finished part on the "empty pole" and put all clamps back on.

Now when I finished the quilt or want to take a longer break I just disassemble the frame. I can put the quilt rolled-up on the poles under my bed and Artur will become my kitchentable again.

Quiltrahmen Anleitung in deutscher Sprache

Quiltrahmen von Redwork in Germany steht unter einer Creative Commons Namensnennung-Keine kommerzielle Nutzung-Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen 3.0 Deutschland Lizenz.

UWYH – Revisiting my Stash

2006-05-07T02:22:00.000+02:00

Vintage Monogram Stencils

In my vintage sewing notion collection I have quite a few copper (as well as tin and brass) monogram stencils. I have a thing for monograms and letter/abcdaire embroidery pattern in general.

One of my Redwork WIPs is an alphabet sampler.

I can’t keep from buying monogram stencils and collecting ABC embroidery pattern whenever I come across some interesting or old...

By now I also own a complete set with blue and white fabric ink cakes in little porcelain bowls as well as the proper stencil brushes in it's original packaging with instruction.

I did use the stencils for embossing or printing on fabric but so far I have only once embroidered a monogram with them.

For this monogram I even took a lesson in a local embroidery school to learn how to do it “properly”. It was fun, very intersting but also a lot of work.

To think that young women would embroider their entire dowery linens with monograms ....

Some time ago I started to transfer most of my copper monogram stencils with red fabric paint on white cotton.

This is one of my non-Redwork UFOs:

The final quilt with alternating natural linen and stenciled white cotton blocks I planned to finish with a white cotton backing and thick batting for a warm and cosy lapquilt. It was planned to be finished by last christmas...but then I am not going to feel guilty as it is my UFO finishing time and I should have it ready to quilt this summer.

Those are not copper but still monogram stencils. It is a little collection of pinprick monogram patterns which I suppose are from approx. 1954 (The envelope they were stored in has a poststamp from that year).

I read about this method of transferring Redwork pattern. And interstingly enough in a tour of an old traditional porcelain manufacturer I saw porcelain painter who used the same technique with pattern pinpricked into metalfoil and charcoal as the painting medium.

From the number of pinprick patterns and the dark blue fabric ink on most of them it looks as if they where used quite often. I will have to give it try just see how it works out.

I also found an older German craftbook - “Das Grosse Buch der Handarbeiten” from 1978 - it has a nice description on how to use the copper stencils in it.

In the German magazine Living & More special edition „Country-Träume“ from 2005 (I think) I found a little feature about copper monogram stencils. They even mentioned Kirsch Interior as a current source to buy brand new vintage copper monogram stencils. They can be found under "bei Heidi und Großvater - Etwas selbermachen"

Now and then I found articles and creative how-to projects for embroidered monograms in craft books or magazines. In 1991 the “Brigitte” magazine claimed in one of their “Brigitte Kreativ” supplements that copper monogram stencils would be readily availabe in all craft shops and department stores (Beck in Munich was given as an example) – which unfortunately was not true. It seems that any producer of copper monogram stencil went out of business by now.

A good source for monogram / alphabet emboridery pattern is the Italian embroidery magazine RAKAM. They regularly have beautiful ABCs also as iron-on transfers in their editions.

A wounderful book – unfortunately out of print – is Eva Maria Leszner “Monogramm Stickereien” (Publisher: Rosenheimer). It is in German and the text is indeed very interesting reading but it also has a lot of wounderful pattern and examples for every letter of the alphabet. Furthermore she gives very clear directions how to embroider them.

An online source for free downloads of vintage “Sanjou” (Frensh) monogram embroidery pattern is la maison danael. Most of the old booklets are cross stitch ABCs but it has also one “regular” monogram embroidery pattern.

An old German letter alphabet I found on this site...

And another wounderful Frensh site is Netmadam with an article (all in Frensh) on “Weißstickerei” / “Broderie Blanche”, don’t know the English translation but it is the embroidery technique / stitches used for classic monogram embroidery

Netmadam offers a few very beautiful vintage Redwork and monogram pattern as free downloads:

Among others two 1912 ABCs: broderie 1912 riche and broderie 1912 simple as well as an Art Deco ABC

eBay Stores specialized on vintage copper monogram stencils I know are

“Grandma’s Antique German Monograms”
“Antique Linens Monograms and More” and

”Lindys Monograms & Stencils”

My Month of May Resolution # 2

2006-05-01T16:36:00.000+02:00

Calm and collected I am sitting at my computer and musing about whether or not. But yes, May will be the “Use What You Have” month of mine.

With all the preparation for my Redwork UFO list I looked through my stash and fell in love again with so much of the stuff I collected – and have not been using. Remembering all my enthusiam and motivation when finding that special red fabric tape, the umpteens copper monogram stencil or the vintage baskets that would look so beautiful once I touched them up with a little new fabric lining.... And then it was neetly stored with all the other stuff on my stash shelfs and forgotten.

Now I bought enough of the embroidery thread in that special color I need for Jayne’s quilt on Saturday. Got my last fix of fleamarket “need to have” this week-end and couldn’t help but had to buy two beautiful vintage “Überhandtücher” on an antique market on the last day of April.

But this is it. It is May 1st and until the very last day of this month I will use what I have and only what I already have...

I know I will not be able to finish all of my UFO that way. There is not enough batting for the Redwork quilts I want to work on but then I haven’t finished the stitching anyway and with 7 UFOs to work on and off I am sure I won’t be left without something to do just because I wont’ buy anything new this month, right?

And revisiting the long “lost” stash collection will be fun and help clearing “the clutter”. There is so much stuff I just know I won’t ever use so it will also be a month of eBay and this years first fleamarket visit as a “vendor”. Yes, it is time to “release” some things.

Thank you Simple Sparrow for this inspiration.

My Month of May Resolution # 1

2006-05-01T16:31:00.000+02:00

The RedworkStitchers UFO Frenzy

“...An UFO is a project that is either 1. started or 2. you have all the necessary items in your home to start and complete the project. It is not an idea you have of something you want to stich with no supplies in your home. The idea is to try and get some of our ufo's completed so that we can start new ones without feeling guilty....”

We have been joking about the Queen of UFO in our group with fellow members admitting 60 + unfinished projects and I was so sure I could come up with only a hand full of UFOs, if at all. Oh boy, was I wrong! When we got serious about this Linda (Listowner) asked us to start preparing an UFO list and at the end I had 18 item on my sheet of paper. And that are 18 unfinished Redwork projects only. Not counting the work in progess or other none Redwork projects... And can you believe it, while going through my stash sorting through material I might need for finally finishing all those UFOs I came across another few like there is an UFO nest somewhere in my appartment happyly producing more guild riding work.

Now, the Redwork UFOs I am going to work on - to finally finish them - I put down in our group’s tracking database. Linda called for 10 projects maximum, I reduced my goal to 7, keeping in mind that I really do not want to neglect my WIPs – no way I am postponing my work on Jayne’s Quilt in favour of some UFOs! I want this to work and have fun doing it not beeing frustrated by the sheer amount of things I “must” do and in the end giving up .

There will be a virtual Redwork frenzy; everyone is asked to work on their UFOs and post on that day respectivly week-end what they are working on, what needs to be done etc. To keep each other on track and motivated. Once an UFO is completed that memorable date will be added to the track database. Oh and being the wounderful ListMum she is, Linda will send reminders which leave no excuse to forget about a frenzy...

Just as I am writng this my radio plays Gloria Gayners “I will survive” for me, love this song yeah now I know i will succeed... Go now go, la lalala...

Little Girl with Balloon

2006-05-01T00:41:00.000+02:00

One of the "Series-D" pattern from the Victoria Quilt Block Company. She has been a wee bit difficult.

I was almost finished with the first version of that little girl when I saw a small whole in the fabric and all of a sudden "everything" about her seemed wrong: two small, no details in the hand and worst of all facing the in the wrong direction...so I decided to go back to square one.

Now, here you can see on the left my (almost finished) first version and on the right the way I wanted her to look like.... can you spot the difference?

First of the floral pattern

2006-05-01T00:31:00.000+02:00

I do not exactly know what kind of flower this is but it was fun stitching it.

Deedle, Deedle Dumpling

2006-04-17T08:52:00.000+02:00

The second block I finished is one of the pattern that must have been inspired by the Series-A set of the nursery rhyme pre-printed blocks of the Victoria Quilt Block Company.
But as the littel detail stitches e.g. on his buttom and his back are not part of the original pre-printed pattern I assume that Jayne's and Barb grandmother did not use the pre-printed pattern itself...

First Block - "October 15" Flower

2006-04-16T14:10:00.000+02:00

The first of 32 blocks finished and I really like the result...and yes I know the c is missing but it wasn't on the orignal and I didn't want to change that.

The iron-on transfer and the "stamped" pattern for this block.

Pattern Research

2006-04-16T13:46:00.000+02:00

I have very limited sources to research the pattern other than the internet. A great book I own is the "Red & White American Redwork Quilts" from Deborah Harding (ISBN 0-8478-2244-3)". Here I found quite a few of the nursery rhyme e.g. "Mother Goose" pattern Jayne's and Barb's grandmother used for her quilt.

According to Deborah Harding's book the nursery rhyme pattern originally are from the pre-stamped blocks series-A and series-D sold by the "Victoria Quilt Block Company". However, while retracing the pattern I found too many little differences between the blocks and the "original", therefore I doubt Jayne's and Barb's grandmother used the pre-stamped fabric blocks. Maybe she traced them from a cataloque or another quilt...

The Master Piece

2006-04-16T12:47:00.000+02:00

This is the beautiful vintage Redwork Quilt Jayne was referring to. Made by Jayne's and Barb's grandmother for her little son, their father. I fell in love with its simple beauty and was bold enough to ask Jayne if I could recreate the quilt. Now, over several weeks Jayne fotographed every single blook for me and sent me the sets via email.

I tried and tested several ways to get as accurate copies of the blocks as possible and in the end I printed every one of her fotograph, traced them onto a clear overhead films and scanned that linedrawing back to a jpg file.

All those jpgs I could then resize on my computer to get more or less same sized print-outs. The print-out I "simply" retraced with my iron-on pencil. That way I created iron-on transfers which I "stamped" onto my fabric.

It is as much work as it sounds but I am enjoying every single moment of it. The more I work with the pattern the more I find out about the "best" techniques to trace. Besides, I am not working solely on this quilt - I love to work on several projects at the same time that way I don't get overwelmed...

And then, with preparing the pattern I had to choose the embroidery floss and white fabric I wanted to make this quilt with.

The fabric is from my stash of vintage white cotton. It is heavier than the regular "Kona" cotton but not as rough as it apears in this close-up shot. It is very nice to work with as it feels like it is "starched".

As for the shade of red I decided to go with the Anchor # 1005. ( Second from above). It is a darker shade of red than my favourite Anchor # 47 (First one from above) I think it looks more vintage...well at least to me.

Jayne's Quilt....

2006-04-16T12:31:00.000+02:00

This is my little Redwork quilt that started everything. I posted this photo in my flickr file and Jayne ( Queen Conch ) commented it reminded her of her dad's youth quilt.

Stickvorlagen selbst gemacht...

2006-03-09T21:54:00.000+01:00

Es gibt viele Möglichkeiten Stickvorlagen auf den Stoff zu übertragen. Wenn man auf einen Laserdrucker oder Kopierer zurückgreifen kann, reicht ein einfacher Ausdruck bzw. eine Kopie die man nur auf den Stoff aufbügelt. So wie die "richtigen" Bügelvorlagen von denen man in Deutschland leider nur wenige mit schönen Motiven kaufen kann. Über das Internet gibt es einige schöne, zum Beispiel die von Aunt Martha.
Eine andere, einfache Möglichkeit Stickvorlagen zum Aufbügeln selbst herzustellen ist mit dem "gutem, alten" Bügelmusterstift. Den gibt es z.B. von Prym in jeder x-beliebigen Nähabteilung.
Ich selbst drucke gerne mit meinem Tintenstrahldrucker direkt auf den Stoff. Den Stoff schneide ich vorher auf DIN A 4 Größe zurecht und bügele ihn auf Freezerpaper.
Ganz beliebt und je nachdem wie Blickdicht der Stoff ist, ist das durchzeichnen der entsprechenden Vorlagen mit einer Lightbox direkt auf den Stoff und ansonsten bleibt ja immer noch das "Freihandzeichnen".

Redwork Basics

2005-11-08T22:01:00.000+01:00

work in progress - Redwork Quilt ..., originally uploaded by Redwork in Germany.

Es braucht nicht viel für Redworkarbeiten. Das Stickmuster, die Nadel, den roten Sticktwist und einen Stickrahmen. Auf die Stickmustern komme ich später in diesem Blog öfter zu sprechen. Es gibt endlos viele Vorlagen - nicht nur im Internet - die sich ganz einfach nachsticken lassen.

Bei den Nadel bin ich wenig dogmatisch. Ich sticke mit der Sticknadeln aber auch einfachen Nähnadeln, je nachdem was ich gerade aus meinem Nadelmäppchen greife.

Beim Sticktwist sieht die Sache etwas anders aus. Hier gibt es das "richtige" Rot. Es soll dem alten "Turkey Red" ähneln. Nachdem es das alte Garn aber nicht mehr gibt nehme ich mal an dass die alten Redwork Quilts als Beispiel genommen wurden. In den meisten englischsprachigen Infos zu Redwork sind die Farbangaben alle auf DMC Garne bezogen. Es sind die Garne #321, #304, #817 und #498; ich habe mir bisher noch nicht die Mühe gemacht mir diese Farben anzusehen da ich ohnehin lieber mit Anchor Garnen sticke. Mein "Redwork Rot" ist das Anchor Garn Nummer # 47, das ungefähr dem DMC Garn 321 entsprechen soll - ich finde aber es ist irgendwie "röter" als das DMC Garn.

Der Stickrahmen muß nicht sein, wenn mach auch sticken kann. Das gibt es. Einige Redworkerinnen sticken alle Redworks ohne. Ich kann das nicht und habe mir auf diversen Flohmärkten eine kleine Sammlung unterschiedlich großer Stickrahmen zugelegt. Ein ganz einfacher, runder Holzrahmen ist ideal.

Zu guter Letzt noch zu den Stickstichen. Gestickt wird zu 99,9 % im Stielstich und für den einen oder anderen Akzent wird der Schlingenstich oder der Knötchenstich eingesetzt.

Das ist alles was es zu den Basics zu sagen gibt.

Redwork

2005-11-01T14:04:00.000+01:00

Redwork Doll Quilt, originally uploaded by Redwork in Germany.

Die Sticktechnik ist denkbar einfach, in feinen Stielstichen werden die Konturen der einfachen Linienzeichnungen mit rotem Garn auf weißem Stoff nachgestickt. Die Einfachheit und der klare rot/weiß Kontrast machen den Charme von Redwork aus.

Wirklich bekannt und sehr beliebt war diese Form der Stickerei in Europa – wenig später auch in den USA – in den achtziger Jahren des 19. Jahrhunderts. Ein besonderes rotes Stickgarn (so genanntes Turkey Red = türkisch Rot) war ein wesentlicher Faktor dafür. Anders als andere farbige Garne in der damaligen Zeit war es erstmals farbecht und konnte daher auch zum besticken von alltäglichen, oft zu waschenden Gebrauchstextilien benutzt werden

In Deutschland gab es vor allem in den Jahren 1870 bis 1930 eine wahre Redwork Blütezeit. Der Begriff Redwork wurde damals hier in Deutschland dafür noch nicht benutzt.

Zuerst in den Haushalten des Bürgertums der Gründerzeit, sehr bald aber auch schon in den Kleinbürger- und Arbeiterhaushalten entstanden wahre Kleinkunstwerke in Form von gestickten Spruchtüchern und bestickten Haushaltstextilien. Wand- und Überhandtücher, Kissen, Servietten und vieles mehr wurden mit Redwork verziert. Neben dem Schmuck des eigenen Heims hatten diese handgearbeiteten Stücke immer auch den praktischen Zweck zu schützen und zu schonen.

Anders als in Deutschland wurden in den USA neben den bei uns bekannten Haushaltstextilien auch Decken (die traditionellen US amerikanischen Quilts) in Redwork gearbeitet. Die Motive, die gestickt wurden, waren vielfältig und oft aus Zeitschriften u. ä. abgepaust. Man konnte in den USA sehr bald schon kommerzielle Stickvorlagen kaufen und für wenig Geld auch Muslin-Stoffstücke, die bereits mit kleinen Stickmotiven bedruckt waren. So genannte „Pennysquares“ die zur Popularität von Redwork vor allem auch bei Kindern beitrug. Die bestickten Stoffstücke wurden zu größeren und großen Decken zusammengenäht. Einfach nur Rot auf Weiß oft mit Hexenstichen in rot um die Nähte zu verzieren bzw. zu verstärken.

In Deutschland ist Redwork heute nicht mehr sehr bekannt. Man trifft allenfalls noch auf Spruchtücher mit den antiquierten „Heimchen am Herd Weisheiten“ auf Flohmärkten oder in Heimatmuseen. Redwork Quilts aus alter Zeit hat es bei uns (meines Wissens) leider nie gegeben und fast alle Quellen über Redwork von heute und dessen Geschichte sind in englischer Sprache. was es deutschsprachigen „Craftspeople“ nicht immer einfach macht den Weg zu Redwork zu finden.