Hand embroidery and quilting silk-on-silk

[Roseanne M.]

You are so blessed with such a talented mama! Exquisite work, museum quality, I dare say!
She is such an inspiration. Am eagerly awaiting more photos.
Thanks for sharing this unique piece.

[Terry K.]

Wow, Reneta, that silk quilt is amazing! How cool to have the document/journal about it too! You should also take a photo of the quilt and your mom! What a treasure both of them are!

[Renata L.]

Thanks for even more great comments to pass on to my mom. I know she will be surprised and appreciative! I took a photo of the quilt and some more vignettes. There are two problems: (1) the quilt is too big for any space I have to take a good photo; and (2) I'm a lousy photo taker. In fact, I took some more of the individual vignette shots but most of them came out badly so I'll have to figure something else out. In the meantime, the few that I was able to somewhat recover I'm posting.

[Renata L.]

A few more (bad) shots of beautiful work:

[Nancy R.]

Hi Renata - Each vignette is more beautiful than the last! And I love how she set the blocks!! Since I know how much better my quilts look in person than in my pictures, I imagine that these vignettes are even more beautiful in person, although I can't figure out how since they are so incredible in the photos!! Thank you so much for sharing your treasure with us!!

Nancy

[E.M. T.]

Prob'ly is difficult to photograph ! But ...Renata ! the beauty shines thru ! Such stitches..and original
designs ! Amazing !

[E.M. T.]

They look spectacular. I love to see such workmanship, it is very satisfying to the soul.

[Lois B.]

Renata, What more can I say? The word that bears repeating is "Treasure". Has the quilt been documented in any way? Has your mother done one of those recorded interviews as part of that project Alex and Ricky have talked about on the show. I can't remember its name. I just googled quilt documentation and learned that many states have quilt documentation projects. I wish I could remember the name of the one they've talked about on TQS. Has the quilt been displayed publicly? Has it been appraised for insurance purposes? - not that it would be possible to insure it properly. It is so incredibly beautiful.

[Roseanne M.]

Lois, yes, have been meaning to mention the link you're thinking about. It's http://www.allianceforamericanquilts.org/qsos/
It's the Quilters' Save Our Stories project. Amy Milne is terrific to work with. I volunteered at Houston last year and did
some of the interviews. It was a wonderful experience.
Renata, if this is something of interest to you, send Amy an email and she will let you know about the process. You will probably be able to interview your mother using the Alliance questions.

[Renata L.]

Thank you, Lois and Roseanne, for the info on the Quilters' Save Our Stories project--I was not aware of it. This quilt has never been displayed publicly--I've only shared with you here and a few people who have visited with me who have an appreciation for these kinds of things.

[Lotti D.]

Wow, what a fabulous, fabulous quilt... You're mom is a true artist. And you really should think about getting it 'recorded' if only to ensure it lives on - no matter what might happen to it in person! Love, love, love these fabulous panels.

[Renata L.]

Thank you, Lotti! and would you believe, my photos just don't do the quilt justice? It is even more fabulous when you get up close to it. I wish I could do half the job my mom does... even a quarter... What I did not mention is that she did this without any stabilizer or fused interfacing.

[Betty J.]

Renata, I don't know how I missed this subject earlier, but your mom's quilt is fabulous. Have you thought of having it professionally photographed? It is surely a treasure.

[Betty J.]

Thank you, Lotti! and would you believe, my photos just don't do the quilt justice? It is even more fabulous when you get up close to it. I wish I could do half the job my mom does... even a quarter... What I did not mention is that she did this without any stabilizer or fused interfacing.

I am very pleased to hear that she didn't use an fused interfacing - the adhesives break down over time and at the RSN I was infused with a serious avoidence to using glues or adhesives near any embroidery (still have trouble with the idea of glue sticks for 'tacking/basting')

[Renata L.]

Thanks, BJ! My mom has already had it photographed in its entirety plus each vignette prior to giving it to me.

I believe my mom gets around the issue of raveling by cutting her pieces larger than required and later trims, but I will be happy to ask. She has been embroidering since the 1930s continuously and I am sure that many of the classical techniques of embroidery have carried her through to this day. Therefore, her techniques are quite refined and devoid of the more contemporary contraptions that, on the surface, make the job easier (fusing and glue), but avoid the issues of conservation over time. Like you, Rosemary, my mom's the real deal! I'm glad to see the RSN hold the same view about working with embroidery of any kind.