Anna Coit passed away this morning. She was a great supporter of all things historical. She was well over 104 and I knew her when I worked at Mystic Seaport in CT and when I went back to do research on the weaving trade in Stonnington she was a great supporter of all the efforts. There are few left who make the connection between centuries so poignant. She will be missed and so will her past knowledge and the world she grew up in. Her stories were wonderful touchstones. Rest in peace and thank you for all you have shared with us.
Anna Coit passed away this morning.
Ester Lippitt Blanket
Yesterday Vicky and I went to the storage facility at the Farmers’ Museum to document an interesting blanket.
This simple blanket with the initials of Ester Lippitt is dated 1829. From my perspective, I think the blanket is at least a decade or 2 earlier and is very similar in style to “Compass Rose” blankets, a style that appears early in the 18th century. We will be reproducing this blanket both for use in Lippitt House and also for sale.
Pattern Drafting for Handloom Weavers at Thistle Hill Weavers
Saturday, March 29, 2014 – Sunday, March 30, 2014
Taught by Rabbit Goody, this two day class is a theory and practical workshop for understanding how weave structures and pattern drafting work to create woven design. Once you are able to draft and thread patterns, you can create your own designs in structures that will work for their intended purpose. The goal of the class is to help weavers feel comfortable designing woven patterns of their own.
The class is primarily a theory class but we will be weaving some patterns and structures on a variety of hand looms. Beginners through practiced weavers are welcome. This should be a fun and energizing class to get you excited about all the wonderful aspects of textile design.
As always, lunch is included both days and the studio will be open Saturday evening and early Sunday morning for extra time. The class fee is $185.00, with all materials included. Class begins at 9 am on Saturday and ends on Sunday at 4:30.
Click here to register or or call us at 518.284.2729.
Reproduction Blanket
This blanket is a reproduction of one in the collection of Historic Huguenot Street, New Paltz, NY. It is unusual in some ways but a very good example of an 18th century blanket. Here is is on a bed in the Stanley-Whitman House in Farmington, CT.
Whole cloth glazed worsted quilt for the Henry Ford Museum
We just finished this whole cloth glazed worsted quilt for the Henry Ford Museum for the Noah Webster House. We put it on our bed in our show room just for fun. I guess we are stuck in a colorway! But it looks really good. The underside is glazed strie hemp linen. We quilted this with the same worsted thread as the top fabric. Its dated for future reference.
Special Sale on Blankets and Coverlets
It’s gonna be very cold in the Northeast in the next few days and oh my goodness Thistle Hill Weavers has its machine washable all wool blankets and throws on special sale! Throws $150. Queen sized blankets $375.
Chenille Weekend Weaving Workshop at Thistle Hill Weavers
Taught by Rabbit Goody, this workshop is open to beginner through practiced weavers. We will be weaving luxurious rayon chenille in beautiful colors for scarves, shawls, and garments. The workshop will take you through warping, threading, sleying and weaving chenille scarves or yardage. We will finish the chenille and learn the trick of making it bloom!
Dates: February 8 – 9, 2014 9:30am to 4:30pm.
Tuition: $185.00, includes lunch both days and all materials.
Click here to register or call us at 518.284.2729.
Textile History…To Have Or Not: How Available Were Interior Furnishing Fabrics in Post-Revolutionary Rural America, 1790-1825?
August 23-25, 2013 (A 3-day workshop)
Fee:$195.00
Looking at the wealth and commerce of rural New York in 1800, we’ll establish some context for examining this period of textile production and consumption:
- What were considered middle class furnishing textiles for rural areas?
- Where did they come from? And how did they get there?
- Who was making them in rural America, and on what equipment?
To answer these questions we will start with a short session on How do we identify textiles and how do we know what we know?
Discussions will include working with these sources: probate inventories, auction records, bills of lading, account books, draft books, city directories, tax records, gazetteers, fair premiums, newspapers and court and patent records.
We will look at historic interiors and interior décor illustrations – the Vogue versus the reality, and then we’ll examine historic documented textiles.
Instructors will include: Rabbit Goody, Textile Historian, Founder & Owner of Thistle Hill Weavers, Jill Maney, Independent Scholar & Business Manager, Thistle Hill Weavers and Jon Maney, directer of Hyde Hall, Cooperstown, NY
There will be a period dinner served as part of the program in the Briggs Tavern on the evening of Saturday, August 24 at a charge of $25.00 per person.
To register for this program, please CALL 518-284-2729 or email rabbitgoodythw@gmail.com
Now Available: Pattern Weaving Basics for the Hand Loom by Rabbit Goody
- Basic steps needed to weave luxurious fabrics on a foot-treadle handloom
- Tips and variations for exploring creative weaving ideas
- Step-by-step color photos show the process
- Projects for scarves, throws, table sets, runners, and blankets
Register for the Textile History Forum 2012
You can register two ways: click here to pay through our online store or give us a call us (518) 284-2729
Please click here to view or download the schedule for the 2012 Textile History Forum in PDF format.
About The Textile History Forum:
Historic Hyde Hall will be the setting for this year’s Textile History Forum, which will take place June 8-10. Anyone with a serious interest in textiles is encouraged to attend. The Forum is an eclectic gathering of textile enthusiasts: collectors, curators, scholars, weavers, spinners, knitters, quilters -amateurs and professionals – who get together to share current research, exchange information, tour area museums, and participate in workshops. They also enjoy networking opportunities and a banquet on Saturday evening, a tradition established by the Forum’s founder and director, Rabbit Goody. Goody is a textile historian and owner of Thistle Hill Weavers, a commercial mill producing accurate historic reproductions of interior furnishing textiles for museums, the film industry, designers, and
home owners.
This year’s Textile History Forum will feature presentations on Hand Loom weaving in Scotland, 1750-1825; Quilt Making during WWII; Textiles in the New Netherlands; Early Calico Production in New York State; Paisleys in Portsmouth, NH; Textile Production by African American Women on Plantations from 1750-1830; Decorated Hetchels; an original film on Cotton Fiber Art in Ecuador; a comparison of Architecture and Textile Technology; investigations of historic Mitten Patterns in New York and New England; early Spinning Mills in New York, and more.
Friday, June 8th and Saturday, June 9th are devoted to paper presentations, discussions of works in progress, textile collection tours, and workshops. Participants are encouraged to bring textiles to share and discuss. On Sunday the Forum will host an "Antiques Roadshow" style Textile I.D. day at Hyde Hall, which is open to the public and helps raise funds for the restoration of Hyde Hall. Bring your textile treasure to Hyde Hall, and for $7 the Forum’s textile experts will identify and date it.
Hyde Hall, a 50-plus room stone mansion at the north end of Otsego Lake, is an outstanding representation of romantic classicism in America, one of the "two or three greatest houses in America," according to Brendan Gill, architecture critic for the New Yorker. Designed by Philip Hooker and built by George Hyde Clarke between 1817 and 1835, Hyde Hall is a National Historic Landmark, on the National Register of Historic Places, and is a New York State Historic Site. The mansion sits inside Glimmerglass State Park, a lake front park with 42 campsites, beach, showers, boating, and picnicking facilities on Otsego Lake.
Registration is $150 and includes lunch both days. There is an optional banquet on Saturday evening as well. For registration information and questions, please contact us.
