Quilt Restoration -- A 4 DVD Set Nancy Kirk is dedicated to saving our quilting heritage one quilt at a time by training quilters and collectors in the art of quilt restoration.
News-Antique.com - Nov 30,-0001 - THE KIRK COLLECTION
P.O. Box 19266 Omaha, NE 68119 (800) 398-2542 FAX (402) 934-9970
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Quilts ~ Lectures ~ Workshops ~ Design ~ Appraisals
September 7, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For photos or additional information call Nancy Kirk (800) 398-2542
SAVING OUR QUILTING HERITAGE ONE QUILT AT A TIME
OMAHA, NE – Nancy Kirk is on a mission, to save the world’s quilts one quilt at a time. She has released a new DVD set on Quilt Restoration to train as many quilt restorers as possible to help in this effort and is teaching two Quilt Restoration Workshops in September in Omaha, NE.
The DVD can be ordered at www.kirkcollection.com, a website which also has free information on how to help preserve family quilts. The live workshops are detailed on-line at www.quiltrestoration.com. Interested stitchers can also contact Nancy Kirk in Omaha at 800-398-2542. The live workshops cover restoration techniques, fabric dating, quilt history and business practices. The Advanced Workshop looks at the special problems of restoring Victorian Crazy Quilts, a special quilt type which has complex embroidery and many types of fragile fabrics like silks and velvets.
The six-hours of lessons on the DVD set cover simple and complex repairs and issues in quilt history, fabric dating, cleaning, storage and safe display options for quilts. “Before you can restore an antique quilt you need a good idea of what it looked like when it was first made” according to Kirk. Restorers are generally most concerned with restoring the visual and structural integrity of a quilt that has been damaged.
“Restorers are different from conservators,” explained Kirk. “The job of the conservator is to maintain an historic artifact in its current condition for another 150 years. But if the quilt was damaged in a fire, they will usually leave evidence of the fire showing because that is part of the quilt’s history.” In the case of a museum piece, this can help document events the object survived.
Restorers on the other hand, are generally asked to make grandma’s quilt look good again after too much washing or too much love.
Professional restorers charge $25-$50 an hour in most parts of the country. “But there are an estimated 5 million quilts with damage and less than a few dozen restorers working professionally,” said Kirk. So it is a wide open field.
People who enter the field need good basic sewing skills and a passion for quilt history. “A good imagination helps too,” explained Kirk. “As a restorer, you have to be able to see what is no longer there – because every damaged quilt has lost something. It has lost fabric, lost stitching, lost batting, lost color. So a good imagination is a great asset to envision what the quilt used to look like.”
In addition to the 4-disc DVD set which is available from quilt shops, bookstores or on-line at www.kirkcollection.com, Kirk also offers in-person training. Upcoming workshops are scheduled for September 2005 and the spring of 2006. Workshop details
