Morris Muse: Nellie Whichelo

 

Mary Eleanor "Nellie" Whichelo (1862-1959)

Head Designer at the Royal School of Needlework

Nellie Whichelo came from a family of professional artists including her father, grandfather and his brother. When 17 she and sister Georgiana (1856-1917) were hired by the Royal School of Art Needlework founded in 1872, a project of Queen Victoria's daughter Princess Helena (1846-1923).

Queen Victoria's daughters Louise on the left and  

Helena with what looks to be a needlework pattern

The school moved to ever impressive quarters over the decades.

1879

Late Victorian taste defined by the Royal School in their headquarters

the year the Whichelos joined the staff

The name was shortened in the 20th century.

The Royal School had two goals: Reviving "an almost lost art" (or at least producing designs to suit Arts & Crafts taste) and providing work for gentlewomen in reduced circumstances.

Queen Elizabeth II coronation embroidery

Designers and needlewomen there also served as official seamstresses for the Royal Family, still stitching for coronations, funerals and weddings.

The RSN was an important part of British public relations, entering work in international competitions such as America's 1876 Centennial Exposition.

Workroom 1912

Nellie quickly worked her way up in The Paint Room (the design department) becoming head designer there where she presided until 1939.

Many artists worked with the school to create a signature style, among them William Morris

and his good friend Walter Crane.

 

Portraits by Walter Crane (1845-1915) Photoshopped into a frame created from

 Crane's curtain border designed  for the Royal School

These two Whichelo sister never married, living together

 in the Putney area of London until Georgie died in 1917.

1911 Census

Edward VIII

Imagery contains symbols of

England and its territories

Nellie designed and supervised the embroidery on this coronation robe to be worn by King Edward VIII in 1937 but Mrs. Simpson disrupted those plans. Miss Whichelo was probably not a fan of "That Woman."

A small obituary in 1959 for an almost forgotten 97-year-old.

Lately Lynn Hulse who specializes in Arts & Crafts needlework recently has written a long-overdue

biography of Mary Eleanor Whichelo for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

PIECED DESIGN ROYAL STAR

Set on point in EQ8 using Morris Muse prints

Same set but two shading variations alternated

Eliminating the edge blocks for a different look.

https://collections.vam.ac.uk/search/?page=1&page_size=15&q=Morris+Co+embroidery+kit

Orange Tree

Embroidery pattern drawn from Walter Crane's sketch for a curtain border.

Embroider or applique this design to a square cut to 14-1/2" or larger.

Transposed Quilts

 

A Transposed Quilt???

The fair board in Buffalo, New York mid-19th century seem to have been rather innovative in their  categories for textiles. In 1857 and 1858 they included a category for a "transposed quilt."

Buffalo, New York

Two years later the New York state fair showed four "transposed quilts" worthy of prizes.

The popular Godey's mentioned a transposed quilt in 1861--- with no explanation of the term for its widespread readers---including me.

The "transposed quilt" idea remained for the rest of the century and into the next as

we can see in the fair results in Bel Air, Maryland in 1901. Despite new fashions such as Log Cabins and Crazy Quilts local women were still winning prizes for transposed quilts.

Did everyone know what a transposed quilt was???

I still don't.

I got a clue from Marie Webster's 1915 book where she alluded to what we call "counterchange" in design today. What's dark in one area is light in the adjacent area.

A word long used in describing heraldry and coats of arms.

And you do see it in mid-19th century patchwork as in these

sampler blocks. But one counterchange design in a sampler

is NOT a transposed quilt.

This idea might be a "transposed quilt"----turkey red and white---

but this style is late 1880 and into the 20th century.

Not what was happening in Buffalo fifty years earlier.

American Folk Art Museum Collection

Quilt signed & dated: Mary Grow, 1856

Maybe this would be considered a transposed quilt--- what we

might call a Feathered Star in Scraps,

The idea of changing the colors and fabric for each block is 

not that common in the 1850s. The style may have been considered

innovative.

Cowan's Auction

Album date-inscribed 1853-1859. Alabama & Georgia.

Mostly seen in album quilts. Wouldn't you call this an Album

Quilt?

I am always warning aspiring Quilt Detectives to avoid trying to

read minds. You cannot read the minds of your family today. You certainly

shouldn't attempt to mind read actions over a century and a half ago.

And here I am doing it.

With few conclusions to draw from the whole exercise.

Something to Say: Adding Words

 

Today everyone has something to say....

You might want to put a few words in your quilt (or a paragraph...)

I have been considering how to do this and have come up with several options.

Barb Vedder

Many needleworkers are using blocks of pieced letters, which they've

designed themselves or stitched from PDF alphabet patterns.

You'll find a variety on Etsy.

Design Your Own?

APPLIQUE

Myers-Lowe for a protest parade

Altered T-shirt

Crafty_badger 78

Does neatness count?

No!

PRINTING

It looks like Jamie Fingle stamped or printed these 

letters onto fabric.

I like the idea of printing using my desktop printer and

some treated cotton.

FUSSY-CUT FABRIC

Another option (perfect for the seamstress of my skills) is an alphabet print.

Just have to find the right scale. A new shopping goal.

EMBROIDERY

Needleworkers are altering vintage linens and creating new ones with basic 

embroidery stitches. See especially the Tiny Pricks project.

https://www.tinypricksproject.com/

Some artists are ambitious!

We can look to crazy quilts from about 1880-1920 for embroidery ideas.

One way to make a mark, a satin stitch.

A little more skillfully done

Studying crazy quilts and all the messages on them has led to the conclusion that the most skillful

embroidered words and dates were done with the aid of a commercially available tool, sometimes

called Skeleton Letters.

Stephanie has a set of "Tico Forms, for Padding & Stamping."

The stitcher bought these, attached them to the fabric background and

embroidered over them (again with a satin stitch) and produced

an elegant, graceful message---usually initials and a date.

"Padded Letters, Skeleton Letters, Embroidery Forms."

Nancy has a similar set.

They do not sell these anymore...

Too bad for us.

But you could make your own with a thick pellon or interfacing using stencil sets that are available now.

Either Plastic Stencils

Or Paper Patterns

QUILTING

PamDorra using white thread on a black background.....

Other ideas: Wearables

Shoulder loops at top corners, waist ties at bottom corners. 

Ties could be velcroed on or stitched.

I've had my red hat for years. Merikay gave me a vintage rhinestone Scottie

Dog which I added a couple of years ago. But you know---red hat---

I haven't worn it in quite a while. I decided to take back the red hat.

The Scottie now has an attitude.

I was going to

Embroider the speech bubble

Print it...

Then I realized I could just draw it onto fabric and sew it on.

My HAT

There's a lot of potential here...

A Little Photoshopping