For Immediate Release:
Contact: Lois Frankenberger, publicist
978.470.0040
lfrankenberger@comcast.net
LOWELL, Mass. - Twelve winning entries will be the centerpiece of a juried exhibition of over 25 quilts opening at the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts on August 11, 2002. The exhibit, titled From the Mills: Contemporary Quilters, Historic Designs, will be among the seven sites of the August 15 - 18 Lowell Quilt Festival, and celebrates a new collection of historically accurate reproduction printed fabrics by P&B Textiles of Burlingame, California. The new line, called From the Mills, is based on fabric designs from the Museum's textile collection of historic mill sample books.
Wild Goose Variation
made by Mabeth Oxenreider
of P&B Textiles' From the Mills collection.
The show runs through October 20, 2002, and will be the result of a contest sponsored by the Museum and P&B Textiles which began last Fall and ends July 5, 2002. Over $3,500 in cash and other prizes will be awarded to first, second and third place winners, and three honorable mentions in bed quilt and wall hanging categories. All entries must use From the Mills fabrics for 75 percent of the quilt top design.
The new From the Mills collection features eight late nineteenth-century patterns in 30 colorways from four New England mills: Cocheco Manufacturing Company, Arnold Print Works, Allen Print Works, and Merrimack Manufacturing Company. Each design is produced in one original colorway as well as in coordinating colors.
According to the Museum's curator Karen Herbaugh, the eight original designs date from 1876 to 1899 and come from the Museum's collection of five million textile samples which are in nearly perfect condition. "These fabric designs, combined with a palette of historic and contemporary colors, should enable quilters to achieve exciting new and vibrant interpretations of late nineteenth century designs. The intricacy is made possible by the roller printing process, which is in keeping with how the fabrics were originally produced over 100 years ago," she said.
Exhibition support for From the Mills: Contemporary Quilters, Historic Designs has been provided by P&B Textiles, Bernina of America, and Fairfield Processing Company. Special programs relating to the exhibition will feature children's activities in the Textile Learning Center, as well as lectures and workshops for adults. Program highlights include:
August 17, 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Gallery Walk. Karen Herbaugh, curator of From the Mills: Contemporary Quilters, Historic Designs will take visitors through the exhibition explaining the collaboration between the Museum and P&B Textiles that evolved into the contest and exhibition, and highlighting some of the craftsmanship and personal stories depicted in the quilts on display. Free with Museum admission.
Sunday, August 18, 2 p.m. Quizzing The Quilt Historian. Kimberly Wulfert, Ph.D Oak View, California, guest curator, teacher, and columnist for Traditional Quiltworks Magazine, invites the audience to bring-in their older quilts for informal appraisals. Refreshments will be served. Free with Museum admission.
From the Mills fabric is available at independent quilt stores nationally. For further information on the exhibit and special programs, call 978.441.0400. Website www.athm.org. For information on The Lowell Quilt Festival events and activities, call 978. 452.4207. Website www.nequiltmuseum.org.
The American Textile History Museum is home to an unparalleled collection of textiles and decorative arts, tools, machinery and workplace artifacts relating to American textile history from the 1700s to the present. Founded by the Stevens family, the Museum opened in 1960 in North Andover, Massachusetts, and re-opened in Lowell in 1997 to better serve the public. The Lowell facility is an 1860 textile machine factory renovated by the Museum. Public attractions include the Textiles in America ongoing exhibition where fabric is woven on vintage looms for the Museum's heirLOOMS™ collection of products, the Special Exhibition Gallery, the Textile Learning Center, and the Seasoned Chef Gazebo Cafe. The Museum also supports the interests of visitors, collectors, and researchers by appointment with a function facilities program, the Museum Collections, the Textile Conservation Center, the Osborne Library, and the Webster Education Center. The Museum receives funding for its programs from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Museum hours are: Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Thursday, to 8 p.m. (from Labor Day through Memorial Day); weekends and holidays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults; $6 for students, seniors, and groups; free for children under 6 and Museum members. Museum parking is free, and the building is wheelchair accessible.
The Museum is located at 491 Dutton Street adjacent to Lowell's National Historical Park. Take Route I-495 North or South to the Lowell Connector (exit 35C). Take exit 5B to Thorndike Street. Go through four sets of traffic lights, and turn left into Museum parking lot.
