Anyone with an appreciation for the fine art of hand embroidery is invited to the Vachel Lindsay Home State Historic Site on Saturday, October 20 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to watch some of the Midwest's most talented embroiderers stitch hundreds of names onto the Vachel Lindsay Home Centennial Quilt.
Members of the Prairie Arts Chapter of the Embroiderers' Guild of America will add names to the reproduction 1912 signature spider web pattern quilt modeled after an original from the Vachel Lindsay Home's collection. The names are among 510 purchased by modern residents for $5 per name as part of the site's Centennial Quilt project. Coffee, tea, and light dessert furnished. Visitors may bring a sack lunch if they wish.
“If you would like to try your hand at the embroidery, fabric and thread for you to make a bookmark will be available. Come observe and discuss embroidery even if you don’t want to make a bookmark,” said Hope Wright, president of the Prairie Arts Chapter, Embroiderers' Guild of America.
The Vachel Lindsay Home and the Vachel Lindsay Association are reproducing a 1912 signature spider web pattern quilt from the site’s collection. The original quilt contains 510 embroidered signatures from 1912 Springfield area residents, and organizers are offering 510 modern residents the same opportunity with the reproduction quilt, which is being made by members of the Springfield QUILTS Guild, the Prairie Arts Chapter of the Embroiderers Guild of America, and the Douglas Avenue United Methodist Church Quilters.
Names can be embroidered on the 2012 quilt for $5, and there is no limit on the number of names that can be purchased. Forms may be picked up at the Vachel Lindsay Home or on-line at www.vachellindsay.org. For more information, call (217) 524-0901.
The original June 1912 quilt was made for Vachel’s sister Olive and her husband, Dr. Paul Wakefield, who were medical missionaries in China from 1905-1928. It was presented to the newly restored Vachel Lindsay Home in 2002 by the Vachel Lindsay Association on behalf of Olive’s daughters, Catharine Ward and Martha Falcone.
The Vachel Lindsay Home State Historic Site at 603 S. Fifth Street, Springfield, is the birthplace and longtime residence of poet, author and artist Nicholas Vachel Lindsay, 1879-1931. It is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for free public tours.
