Re: Question about rolling quilts for storage

[Denise <dmigdail@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

To add yet another voice to the matter, I largely agree with both Meg and Patricia.  I don't think that it is so much a case of quilts can not or should not ever be rolled, but there are certainly candidates out there that do not benefit from being stored in this manner.  Any layered textile, no matter how flat or how well lined, poses difficulties when being rolled.  If ever addressing a group of textile enthusiasts, collectors, dealers, and/or museum professionals, I always find myself commenting on how difficult it is to properly roll a piece.  It seems like child's play, but damage can occur both when it is improperly executed, or a poorly chosen storage solution.

 

 

Denise Migdail

Textile Conservator

Asian Art Museum

200 Larkin Street

San Francisco, CA  94102

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Patricia C Crews
Sent: Feb 14, 2007 11:32 AM
To: TEXCONS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Question about rolling quilts for storage

The following question was posed on the Quilt History list. I thought it would be helpful to secure the input of the Textile Conservation community. I would appreciate your comments and will share them with the other list.

For the reasons mentioned below, we store most of the International Quilt Study Center's collection of quilts in boxes -- folded, with the folds padded with tissue 'sausages.'

Patricia Cox Crews
Willa Cather Professor of Textiles &
Director, International Quilt Study Center
Dept. of Textiles, Clothing & Design
234 HE Building, P.O. Box 830838
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, NE 68583-0838
PHONE: 402/472-6342
FAX: 402/472-0640
pcrews1@xxxxxxx
----- Forwarded by Patricia C Crews/tcd/IANR/UNEBR on 02/14/2007 01:25 PM -----

"Lynne Z. Bassett" <lzbassett@xxxxxxxxxxx>

02/14/2007 09:16 AM

Please respond to
"Quilt History List" <qhl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

To	"Quilt History List" <qhl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
cc
Subject	[qhl] Question about rolling quilts for storage

Dear All,

As a museum collections consultant, I am often responsible for redesigning
storage for costume and textile collections.  Many museums roll their quilts
for storage, as recommended by many in the conservation community.  Personally, I
have never favored rolled quilt storage, mainly because the layer that is
rolled to the inside inevitably gets squished.  Recently, I was working with
a collection that had rolled its silk quilts, and there was significant
damage to the silks, which had become very distorted by being rolled on a
tube; in some cases, the silks were actually broken across the crease lines.
Even the cotton quilts looked awful because of all the wrinkling due to the
rolled storage.  My other complaint about rolled storage is that it almost
always takes two people to move a quilt on and off the storage rack--and I
mostly work with small organizations that are lucky to have ONE person to
care for the collections.

My questions are:  Is the conservation community still recommending rolled
storage for quilts and, if so, why?  Are there any new techniques that are
now being recommended?  

Thank you for your thoughts on this subject.

Best,
Lynne


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