4 In Sackville, N.B., Shink found a white cotton apron stitched with green thread and the logo that had been made to celebrate Canadas centennial: it features 11 equilateral s to represent the shape of a maple leaf and the 10 provinces. An 11th , at the top, represents the Canadian North, according to the Beatty Centennial Quilt Patch booklet of 1967. Centennial 1867-1967 is hand-embroidered on one side, near the hem.
Thousands of Egyptians gathered in Cairos Tahrir Square on Wednesday to mark the first anniversary of the revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak with some...
Aprons: Icons of the American Home, by Joyce Cheney, Running Press, 2000
9 A hand-woven half-apron has a coloured drawstring inserted through the open weave for a waistband effect. Shink has four aprons like it - and said she believes they were woven by a friends uncle at a veterans afirs hospital as part of an occupational therapy program.
Diane MacLeod Shink, a retired high-school teacher, has been quilting since she was a schoolgirl in Nova Scotia; she was certified in 2000 by the American Quilters Society as an Appraiser of Quilted Textiles.
WHERE TO FIND MORE
To read about the aprons featured in Aprons: My Grandmother Always Wore One, is to travel through time: the agenda is as much a history of textiles as of womens shion and, indeed, womens lives, through much of the 20th century.
2 A bib apron, made of recycled sugar bags or lower-grade muslin, with green frill, ties and pockets of a weave bric known as diaper cloth. The straps form an X in the back; an appliqud shamrock means the apron was worn for St. Patricks Day celebrations. It is featured in the March section of the agenda. Shink found it at an estate sale in N.D.G., along with another like it trimmed in yellow.
8 A wraparound apron in an orange and blue lightweight cotton print dates from the 1920s, the era of the summer kitchen - a time before air conditioning, electric stoves or refrigeration. Still, the wood fire in the cook stove had to be kept burning to process the preserves and pickles - and to prepare three meals a day, as Shink explains. In large rmhouses, the stove, which was also the main source of heat, was moved to the summer kitchen to keep the house cooler.
She has curated quilt exhibitions in Quebec and elsewhere and, as a quilt scholar, has done research and presented s on a range of topics. Two of her collaborative quilts, quilts made by a group, have been in national shows of the Canadian Quilters Association, which are juried.
Here are brief descriptions of some of the aprons featured:
At university, she studied textiles and garment construction, among other things, and she has attended textile seminars with top quilt historians. She has also travelled widely, visiting many museums that house quilt collections in North America and Europe.
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Aprons of the mid-20th century: To Serve and Protect, by Judy Florence, Schiffer Publishing, 2001
As one of five Canadian quilt appraisers, she works at museums, quilt shops and guild shows throughout eastern Canada; she spends summers in Nova Scotia. She started a quilting guild in Montreal West in 1988, the West End Quilters Guild, and in the 1990s she served two terms as board member for Quebec of the CQA. Since 1999, Shink has contributed to the Canadian Quilter
A LIFE OF TEXTILES AND TEACHING
Diane MacLeod Shink designed and made this red and black waist apron three years ago for her work as a quilt appraiser. The pockets are large enough to accommodate a clipboard, camera and measuring tape.
For interested DIY types, sewing lounges operate in at least two Montreal locations: Effiloch, 6260 St Hubert St., com; and Emeline & Annabelle Couture Caf, 6050 Monkland Ave.,
embroidery on paper patterns The bric of time - and womens lives,Diane MacLeod Shink designed and made this red and black waist apron three years ago for her work as a quilt appraiser. The pockets are large enough to accommodate a clipboard, camera and measuring tape.
6 A brown and white gingham apron with smocking, in a pattern created by stitching through the corners of the squares, was the teaching sample Shink used in the first sewing class the Nova Scotia native taught in 1963, to a Grade 7 class of girls. She taught garment construction as part of high-school home economics classes for five years in Nova Scotia in the 1960s; after moving to Montreal, she taught at Howard S. Billings High School in Châteauguay and at John Grant High School before retiring about 15 years ago.
5 An apron of batiste cotton in the February section features a heart-shaped bib over a heart-shaped skirt dating to the second quarter of the 20th century. Possibly worn by a hostess, Shink writes, while entertaining after having company in for a game of cards, as the embroidery echoes not only the heart shape but also that of the symbols for clubs, spades and diamonds. Tea aprons, as they are known, were usually made from lighter brics than those used in the kitchen while cooking or baking.
The 63 colour photos featured in Diane MacLeod Shinks new agenda are laid out according to the seasons: there are heart-shaped motifs for the February section, for instance, green aprons for March, which includes St. Patricks Day, and floral brics and patterns for April.
A Is for Apron: 25 Fresh & Flirty Designs by Nathalie Mornu, Lark Books, 2008.
10 The oldest apron in Shinks collection is from the 19thcentury Victorian era. It is black, and embroidery on paper patternsmarked in ink on a bric label on the waistband is the French notation modeste souvenir de Georgiana, 10 fvrier 1882. Black was worn by people in mourning, following the example set by Queen Victoria after the death of Prince Albert. The silk and wool blend tea apron, made by hand, features floral embroidery in variegated red and green thread and black lace trim attached by hand. Shink suggests that Georgiana might have died young and the apron was kept in her memory.
The Apron Book: Making, Wearing, and Sharing a Bit of Cloth and Comfort, by EllynAnne Geisel, Andrew McMeel Publishing, 2006. Geisels website, memories.com, celebrates aprons.
3 A waist apron featuring embroidered red roses and the ces and names of the Dionne quintuplets, born in 1934 on an Ontario rm, removed from the mily home to become wards of the government and cared for by nurses in a cility built for them, Quintland Hospital, where they became tourist attractions. The apron, probably made from a kit, was purchased in the Eastern Townships.
1 A long red waist apron in a lovely red cotton floral print was found at a vintage textile store in Provence. Aprons used to reflect the styles of clothing they were worn over - and the Art Nouveau design of the early 20th century was styled so the wearers waist was highlighted and her ankles could be seen, something that would have been considered very risqu at that time, she writes.
Newsletter with articles on quilts, and she is co-author with Karen Neary of Canadian Heritage Quilting: Quick Creative Designs, published in 2008.
7 A pretty waist apron of white polyester-cotton no-iron bric, trimmed in pale green twill weave at the waistband, hem and the band of the pocket, dates from the mid-1960s. A red lobster is painted onto the bric using a pattern or a stencil and a technique known as liquid embroidery. Shink bought the apron in Pictou, Nova Scotia, during the annual lobster carnival.
Some books about aprons, both vintage and modern, websites with photographs of todays aprons - and a couple of Montreal DIY destinations.
