A Stitch In Time–

Vern Knapp Quilt Acquired By International Quilt Study Center

By Nancy K. Crevier

There are many who remember Vern Knapp, who passed away November 3 in Lincoln, Nebraska, where she had moved in 2001 to be near her daughter, Karen Lyons. Mrs Knapp was a 70-year resident of Newtown, having moved here in 1930 at the age of 17.

Married to Al Knapp in 1935, Mrs Knapp had one of her first opportunities to become involved with the people of Newtown while her husband served in World War II and she staffed what is now the General Store, where Mr Knapp was a partner. Over the years, she became a familiar face around the village as assistant clerk in the probate office, as a secretary for a real estate agent, and as a member of the Newtown Woman’s Club, the Newtown Congregational Church, and as a blood bank volunteer. She was a Girl Scout leader and took part in the Newtown Remembered oral history project.

She is remembered by many around town for her skillful needlework and was the recipient of many awards through the Woman’s Club.

“She was most definitely a multipurpose needle worker,” said her daughter. “She tatted 13 ½ yards of lace for my wedding gown. She braided rugs, she sewed, did smocking, hooked rugs, latch hooked, made hairpin lace. She loved it,” said Ms Lyons.

Now, it is Mrs Knapp’s skill with needle and thread that will immortalize her, not only in the village that was so much a part of her life, but  worldwide, as well.

Although primarily interested in fine needlework, Mrs Knapp deviated into the world of quilting in the mid-1970s to create a complicated, folded-design coverlet known as a Cathedral Windows pattern. The quilt, comprised of fabric pieces from feed sacks and other bits and pieces saved, is a record of days gone by and an example of fine stitchery techniques, according to Carolyn Ducey, curator of collections for the International Quilt Study Center (IQSC) at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. The Cathedral Windows quilt was acquired in May of 2006 as a permanent part of the IQSC collection.

The IQSC was established in 1997 to study the aspects of quilting and preserve the tradition of quilting. The collection has grown to include over 2,000 quilts from 14 different countries. The IQSC has organized over 20 quilt exhibitions that have traveled to more than 50 locations in the United States and internationally.

Potential donations, said Ms Ducey, are presented to the IQSC Acquisition Committee. Decisions to accept a piece are based on documentation, historic value, how the quilt fits into the collection, the quilt’s condition, and the collecting goals of the collection, said Ms Ducey.

“We study the quilt itself, noting aesthetic styles and individual artistry, the quilt’s fabrics, which may tell us about the date of the quilt, the techniques used to create the quilt. This reflects trend and common sewing knowledge of the time, and sometimes we research the quilt makers,” Ms Ducey explained.

“Karen Lyons, [an assistant professor of English and Women’s Studies at UNL], came to us with her mother’s quilt and offered it as a donation. We accepted it because the quilt has a confirmed maker and date,” said Ms Ducey. “We did not have an example of a Cathedral Windows quilt in the collection and [the quilt] was in good condition.” The IQSC has very few quilts from the 1970s, said Ms Ducey, another reason that made this acquisition desirable. “The Cathedral Windows pattern was not a commonly made quilt,” added Ms Ducey, “because of the degree of difficulty.”

Ms Ducey met with Mrs Knapp’s daughter before sitting down with Mrs Knapp, who by then was at a very frail point in her life. In spending time with the two women, Ms Ducey learned the stories behind the scraps of fabric sewn into the quilt. “They could point out fabric from the old kitchen curtains, the gaudy bridesmaid dress, and the dress that Karen wore to Fenway Park on her first date with her soon-to-be husband,” she said.

“It is these stories that are fascinating to our audience,” said Ms Ducey. “I learned of the close relationship between Vern and her daughter, Karen.”

In September of 2006, Ms Ducey met with Mrs Knapp and Ms Lyons for the last time. “It was difficult for Vern to remember a quilt made 30 years earlier,” said Ms Ducey. “I brought the quilt and laid it across Vern’s lap. She began to smooth the fabric, to admire the tiny stitches and slowly, the quilt came back to her. It was as if it touched her even before she really remembered it.”

As with all of her work, the Cathedral Windows quilt exemplifies Mrs Knapp’s meticulous expertise. The tiny stitches, hand sewn, are at most 20 stitches to the inch, said Ms Lyons. “I know it sounds impossible, but they are minuscule.” The motifs of each material scrap that peek from behind the folds of the design are carefully centered.

What moved Ms Ducey most about that final visit with Mrs Knapp was the bond she observed between mother and daughter. “I kept thinking of how they epitomized the universal bond between women, as mother teaches the younger to sew.”

The Cathedral Window quilt could have ended up in an attic, stored in a trunk, or packed out of sight where its light would not have shone through to the benefit of all who appreciate fine quilt work. “Vern was an excellent needlewoman,” said Ms Ducey. “It is evident in the careful, rhythmic stitches of her quilt and in the tiny cross-stitched date and initials that she added to the back of the quilt.”

The quilt will be featured as a new acquisition at the IQSC at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, in January, 2007, and after that, whenever it fits into an exhibition theme.

 “Textiles, particularly quilts, are important records of human progress and achievement,” said Ms Ducey. The family’s decision to share the Cathedral Windows quilt made by Mrs Knapp is a legacy of one woman’s progress and achievement, a woman who once called Newtown, “Home.”