We had some late arrivals for our Hitty 4 Haiti auction, so after a brief (although probably not brief enough) break, I am proud to share with you the final items that have been donated to raise money to help the people of Haiti.
For this auction we have two items. The first is a lovely Victorian dress donated by Elizabeth Rollins. It was made from a very delicate and fine cream colored cotton voile and has been embellished with beautiful embroidered roses and tiny pintucks.
The back features tiny buttons and hand crocheted buttonholes for the sleekest of fits!
The second item included in this auction is a gorgeous hand stitched crazy quilt donated by Dr. Maggie.
She obviously spent many hours and much love adding each little detail.
She has asked me to add this artist's statement. Please read on, but be sure to see the included photos at the end of the statement!
ARTISTS STATEMENT
I've been doing crazy quilting for about 15
years. Now I work mostly on commission and have a few pieces in museums
around the country. The concept of a miniature Hitty-sized Crazy Quilt to
be included with this Auction for Haiti Relief appealed to me greatly, and I'd
like to tell you about the making and the meaning of some of the completed
piece. It was made to be included in the HittyGirls Auction to raise money
for the relief efforts in Haiti in February, 2010.
All ribbons used and all flosses used for stitching
are pure silk and were hand-dyed by me for the project. The front of the quilt has pieces of silks, in a color range of red - fuchsia - orange - yellow,
with black trim. The backing fabric is a 100% pure cotton quilting
fabric and was what kept drawing my eye for the color theme used here.
While what we think of today as Victorian colors are drab, true Victorian colors
are bright and vibrant. Victorians used silk ribbon sparingly, mainly as
accents, because it had to be imported from China and was thus very
expensive. To be able to use so MUCH black ribbon to use it for ruched
edgings instead of the more common embroidered seam treatments was a mark of
opulence, and signified a prosperous household. The buttons used in
the centers of the flowers are genuine mother-of-pearl and came from my
grandmother's button box. The heart in the lower right corner has beads of
what the Victorians called "French Coral". These are glass and made in
France.
In making this piece, I considered not only the
colors themselves -- bright, cherry, happy colors, filled with sunshine and
smiles, much like the people of Haiti, but also the meanings of the symbols
included. The heart -- means not only the form of romantic love that
we think of at this time of year, but also the open love between people in
different parts of the world. The sun in the upper right hand corner is
happy and beams down his warmth and affection to all of us, a symbol that while
we are in different parts of the world, we're all in this together. The
small bouquet of flowers would mean one person extending out love and affection
to another openly and freely.
The piece was made by using a piece of unbleached
muslin as a foundation and all pieces were attached and embellished by
hand. There is NO machine stitching in it at all. Finished size is 5
x 7, so it will either be an accent piece for your favorite doll's house, or
could be placed into a standard sized mat and frame, or could be used on the
cover of a scrapbook or journal. As in real life, the possibilities are
endless.
It was my joy to make this piece for the
auction. May it bring smiles to all who see it, and love to those involved
with the project, and peace and healing to the land and people of Haiti..
In fact, both pieces are exquisite and would make nice additions to your treasured Hitty collections!
This auction will be listed to run for three days and will start tomorrow night at 7 pm PST. Please stay tuned for links and updates!
If you like Victoriana...please take a gander at the post just below!
