Saturday,
October 15th, 2016 - Textile Tour,
Lunch &/or Bargello Balls
"Textile Treasures" Tour
We have an exciting opportunity for a private textile tour at the
Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum in Wethersfield. Textile
Treasures is being offered to the public on select Saturdays in
June, August and October, but they are willing to let us come on Saturday,
October 15th to get a rare behind-the-scenes view of this historic and
well-preserved collection at 10 am on that date.
When textile and costume expert Lynne Bassett was invited to consult on a
new textile tour at the Webb-Deane-Stevens (WDS) Museum, she was genuinely
surprised at the quality of the collection. There, among the brilliantly
colored and richly detailed clothing, shoes, and linens dating from the 1690s
to mid-1800s, lay several Sarah Noyes Chester crewelwork pieces. To
put that into perspective, Chesters crewelwork bed cover, part of the
same set, is at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Among the favorites of curators Lynne Bassett and Richard Malley are an
exquisitely detailed mans crewel purse dated 1759; a luxurious crewel
christening robe; whole-cloth worsted quilts; a quilted red petticoat; and
18th century mens clothing attributed to Jeremiah Wadsworth.
While costumed guides show off some of the museums most prized possessions,
they will discuss the home as a source of textile production, domestic labor,
and textiles as an indicator of wealth/social status.
You may sign up for the tour at 10 am, and/or lunch at a nearby restaurant
at about 12:30 pm, and/or Creating Bargello Balls
at Thistle Needleworks at around 2 pm.
If you do plan to join us for the tour, please be there several minutes
before 10 as the tour begins at 10 am.
Creating Bargello Balls
Meet at Thistle Needleworks at 2 pm
Create a beautiful Christmas ornament, or just a happy hanging for the chandelier
or a window. Have you seen the balls that are all the rage by home
decorators that are placed strategically on a table or mantle? You
can make a very special one that will be the highlight of a grouping in your
home.
Workshop participants will provide five full skeins of cotton embroidery
floss in the color of their choice -- four values of the same color, very
dark to very light; two skeins of the darkest value and one skein
each of the others -- one card of FyreWerks or 10 meters of Balger
1/8" ribbon to coordinate, 7" x 12" stretcher bars, embroidery scissors,
a laying tool, and magnification and/or light, if needed. Your kit
will include a 7" x 12" piece of 18-mesh canvas, a #22 tapestry needle, a
Styrofoam ball for the finishing, and full instructions for both the stitching
and finishing.
Directions to Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum
211 Main Street
Wethersfield, CT
From Hartford and Points North: Take Interstate 91 south to
Exit 26 (Old Wethersfield). It is four miles south of the intersection
of Interstates 84 and 91 in downtown Hartford. Follow the prominent
brown signs for the Webb and Deane Houses. When you arrive at the
intersection in the center of Old Wethersfield, take a left on Main
Street. The museum is one block on the right side of the street.
From New Haven and Points South: Take Interstate 91 North to
Exit 26 and follow the signs to the houses in the center of Old
Wethersfield.
From the West: Take Interstate 84 east past Waterbury to 691
east. From the left lane, exit to Interstate 91 north.
From the East: Take Interstate 84 west to Interstate 91 south.
Parking: Car parking is available at no charge on Main Street in front
of the museum or in the parking lot behind the Keeney Memorial Center directly
across the street.
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