Red, White and Green All Over: Traditions and Variations of 19th Century Appliqué . Holly Zemke, Option II Thesis Project

Red, White and Green All Over: Traditions and Variations of 19th Century Appliqué . Holly Zemke, Option II Thesis Project

Monday, November 23, 2015 to Friday, February 5, 2016

Note:  The Gallery will be closed November 26-29, 2015 (Thanksgiving); December 24, 2015 - January 3, 2016 (UNL closedown); and January 19, 2016 (Martin Luther King holiday).

A new exhibition opening on November 23, at the Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery will explore red and green quilts just in time for the holiday season. “Red, White, & Green All Over: Traditions and Variations of 19th-Century Red & Green Applique” features the elegant genre of red and green applique quilts that American quiltmakers made in large numbers between 1840 and 1880.

“The applique technique frees the maker to create overall designs using curved fabric pieces, which are perfect for naturalistic subjects like plants and flowers, people and animals,” said Holly Zemke, curator of the exhibition. “It is my hope that visitors will be as taken by the aesthetic beauty of these red and green applique quilts as I am, and will relate to the German, English, and Scotts-Irish people who made them.”

Beyond their stunning visual qualities, red and green applique quilts will intrigue inquisitive visitors with their mathematical design symmetry and the ancient science that enabled Turkey red-dyed cotton fabric to retain its color for more than 150 years.

Exhibition activities include a gallery talk by the exhibition curator and graduate student, Holly Zemke, at 12:30 p.m. November 23, and a free public lecture, “Part English, Part German, Fully American: Influences on Red & Green Applique Quilts,” by quilt scholar, author, and professor, Virginia Gunn on December 6 at 2:00 p.m. A special event on December 3, from 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m., will offer a kid-friendly gallery tour, and red and green activities. This family-focused event will highlight how traditions were--and still can be--passed down through generations, shared across cultures, and borrowed from one craft for use in another.

Holly Zemke is completing work toward a Master of Arts degree in textile history with emphasis in quilt studies, in the Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design. She chose these historical quilts from the permanent collections of the International Quilt Study Center & Museum. These red and green appliqued “best quilts” represent American middle-class women’s artistic aspirations.

This program was made possible with partial funding by Humanities Nebraska, a statewide, non-profit organization inspiring and enriching personal and public life by offering opportunities to thoughtfully engage with history and culture, and with support from the Friends of the Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery. T

he Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery is part of the Department of Textiles, Merchandising & Fashion Design in the College of Education and Human Sciences at UNL. The gallery is on the second floor of the Human Sciences Building on East Campus, on 35th Street north of East Campus Loop (map at http://go.unl.edu/j5v). Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday-Friday and by appointment. Admission is free. Guest parking is available near the building and metered stalls are located in the Nebraska East Union lot. For more information, call 402-472-2911 or visit http://textilegallery.unl.edu.

Free and Open to the Public
November 23, 2015 through February 5, 2016
  • Gallery Talk by exhibition curator November, 23, 12:30 p.m.
  • Family Event with kid-friendly gallery tour and red & green activities, December 3, 2015, 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
  • Lecture, “Part English, Part German, Fully American: Influences on Red & Green Applique Quilts,” by quilt scholar Virginia Gunn, Sunday, December 6, 2015, 2:00 p.m, HSB Room 31.



2009_044_0003 Princess Feather variation

Princess Feather variation, Circa 1860, Linda Giesler Carlson and Dr. John V. Carlson Collection, IQSCM #2009.044.0003

1997_007_0403_Peony
Peony variation, 1860-1880, Robert and Ardis James Collection, IQSCM #1997.007.0403