Early 21st century quilting block with a machine embroidered depiction of a Japanese woman, The Netherlands (TRC 2020.2508).A few weeks ago we were contacted by Ms Carolien Evenhuis-Ruys, asking if we were interested in some quilt books. Sadly, this generous offer followed the death of her mother, Marieke Ruys, who was a fanatic quilter and who travelled to many countries in search of knowledge, skills and inspiration for her quilts.
A few weeks ago the first ten boxes of books were delivered at the TRC in Leiden and then a few days ago some more boxes arrived with embroidery books, as well as quilting equipment and many, many samples (mostly so-called 'fat quarters') of cloth suitable for making into quilts.
Beverley, our quilt specialist, went through the boxes and was very impressed by the quality and diversity of the books, declaring it a really good library and the basis for something bigger and even better. It turned out there are well over 350 quilt books, many of them classic forms by famous quilters.
So what should we do? We have had various discussions with specialists and other volunteers of the TRC, and we have decided to:
(a) Make a dedicated quilt library, so keeping these and other books together in one place rather than splitting the quilt and quilting technique for the historical section. Any duplicate books will be sold in the TRC shop.
(b) To make a reference collection of quilt cloth that can be used for identifying antique, vintage as well as reproductions, and to help with the dating of cloth. In many of the samples just given there are selvedge texts that identify the name and manufacturer of the cloth, and in some cases there is a date as well. These will be housed in a special ‘REF: Quilt cloth’ section.
(c) To make a reference collection of quilt and quilting tools (‘REF Quilting tools’), so that these items can be correctly identified and accurately described in both the TRC Catalogue/Database and elsewhere.
(d) Seriously consider how we can make a European quilt and quilting centre that reflects these and other quilt related donations over the last few years, as well as providing inspiration for current and future quilters and reflecting the diverse and long history of quilting with many different forms of quilting, not ‘just’ American quilts.
Of course all of this cannot be achieved in a few days or even weeks, but it opens up many possibilities and strengthens the role of the TRC Leiden as an international centre for textile and dress studies and a major port of call for anyone searching for inspiration!
Gillian Vogelsang, 24th July 2020
