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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2016-07-14, Page 15THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2016. PAGE 15. Blyth women aim to recreate historic needlework Uncovering the past Irene Kellins, left, and Sharlene Bolen want to find out how the needlework of yesteryear was made and are inviting people in the Blyth area and beyond to share their family heirloom and antique craft items with them to be reverse engineered and hopefully recreated. The duo, shown here in Kellins' Blyth shop `Stitches With A Twist' stumbled on a love for solving the puzzles of the past when combing through the Huron County Museum's extensive collection of textile works. (Denny Scott photo) By Denny Scott The Citizen Two Blyth women are delving into the past in hopes of recreating some of the craftworks of Huron County's history. Irene Kellins, owner of Stitches with a Twist, alongside writer Sharlene Bolen, recently turned to the archives of the Huron County Museum to see how textiles were handled throughout the history of the area and found an abundance of images and hands-on experience that has led them to recreate some of the knitting and crotcheting that was common in the past. The duo first connected when Bolen, who wanted to do a story for PieceWork magazine, found the wealth of handcrafted textiles at the museum and needed to find someone who really understood them. "It all started with an interview," Bolen said. "I expected there was some kind of collection in the museum and I thought that doing a story on it would be interesting and that the magazine would be interested in it" While Bolen was initially looking for historical knitting patterns, what she found was a collection of at least 1,000 different pieces of hand- crafted examples of needlework, some centuries old. She added that while she is a knitter, she classifies herself as an "intermediate -level practitioner" and couldn't have figured out the pattern herself, which is what led her to seek out Kellins. "I brought Irene in to see because, when we were working with the early items, there was no history, no information on them, so I needed someone who could figure out the patterns," Bolen said. Kellins explained that reverse engineering the creations is called "reading" the work and said she enjoyed figuring out exactly how the pieces that she was seeing were created. The two were welcomed to the museum by Registrar Patti Lamb who invited the textile historians to examine the works the museum have, which, due to their fragility and the complexity of displaying them, don't typically get viewed by many. "It's an experience," Bolen said. "You have to wear the white gloves and only get to see them with someone supervising you." Kellins said that she was allowed to examine the textile artifacts, but not use any tools that have a hook on them on the off -chance that the items were somehow damaged. "They're there, looking over your shoulder, making sure you're not doing anything you shouldn't," she said. Both Kellins and Bolen -Young commented on how amazing some of the pieces were, especially when they got "hands-on" with the artifacts. "Looking at one artifact, you could see that some of the seams are faultless, while others are ragged," Bolen said. "It's as if one person was working on it and someone else helped or finished it." Both women said they felt that, by unravelling the mystery of how the needlework artifacts were made, they felt closer to the people making them. From there, Kellins started her decoding of the artifacts and, after some test patterns, some reworking and a lot of trial and error, she had recreated one of the pieces that the duo saw — a "Tidy Chair Back." The piece, which is to be draped over the back of a chair, can also be known as an antimacassar, and, while many of the artifacts had little to no information about their origins, the particular piece that inspired Kellins was traced back to its creator. The piece was made by an East Wawanosh Township resident by the name of Ann Rath, who was six years old at the time. Bolen recreated part of a counterpane crib blanket and turned it into a pin cushion with hopes of one day making an entire counterpane. Counterpanes are blankets made of panels that consist of multiple shapes put together. They're prominent in the collection of textile artifacts at the museum. Typically, they are created by having identical shapes meet to make panels. Good examples include triangles that meet at a middle point or squares, creating symmetrical panels. The entire experience has led to three new developments for the duo. The first of which was that PieceWork did pick up the story that Bolen proposed and, alongside the story, also printed two instructional pieces on how to create the square in the counterpane by Bolen and how to create the tidy chair back by Kellins. All three pieces are in the July/August issue of the magazine. Secondly, the duo is now looking at creating a leaflet for the Huron County Museum to tell people about the wealth of textile artifacts that are available at the museum as well as some instructions on how to create them. Lastly, the two want to start looking at artifacts that people may have in their own homes and are inviting people to come to Kellins' shop with the antique pieces to have them reverse engineered so the art won't be lost. "We want that to be Blyth - themed," Kellins explained. "We want to put something together where people can come and participate and expand our journey into historical needle work. We're going to start looking at counterpanes." While Kellins has long been interested in everything to do with needlework and has since turned that into her career, Bolen has come to the project thanks to her passion for history. "I've always been interested in things from the past," she said, pointing to a hand -made rug in her grandmother's home as well as mats made from plastic straps. "This opportunity ties in that interest with Irene's skills and we get to see how things are made. We are definitely looking forward to the next stage." Bolen explained the duo is planning on working on the leaflet next and will be choosing pieces from the museum's collection to reverse engineer in an attempt to show people they can make things just like their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents did. Obituaries Papier-mache As part of the Blyth Christian Reformed Church's Vacation Bible School, which is being held this week at the main street church, students participate in all sorts of events including outdoor activities, story time and crafts, like the papier-mache one being completed above by Carter Buffinga, back, and Hayden DeVos, front. (Denny Scott photo) JOELLE MARIE HEFFER Joelle Heffer of Teeswater, and formerly of Wingham, passed away at Wingham and District Hospital on Wednesday, July 6, 2016. She was 30. Joelle was the dearly loved daughter of Paul and Gail (Grant) Heffer, Wingham and cherished sister of Rachel and Dan Rajagopalan and their expected child, and Ashley and Matthew Snow and their children Sebastian and Grant. She was the niece of Karen and Dale Wardley, Doug and Judy Heffer, Robert and Shannon Heffer, Dave and Susan Heffer, Tim and Jilda Heffer, Jamie and Lori Heffer and Judy Heffer. Joelle is also survived by several cousins and special friends the van Engen family and Jamie Greenaway. She was predeceased by her grandparents Cliff and Jean Heller, Stewart and Shirley Grant and Mervin McAllister and by her uncle Barry Heffer. Visitation was held at McBurney Funeral Home Ltd., Wingham on Friday, July 8. The funeral service was held at the funeral home chapel on Saturday. Harry Reid officiated. Interment was in Wingham Cemetery. Memorial donations to Hillcrest Home, Teeswater, Community Living Wingham and District or Gideons International would be appreciated as expressions of sympathy. Online condolences may be left at www.mcburneyfuneralhome.com