Castine woman finds a crewel world is grand

For Carolyn Ulrich of Castine it’s a crewel world. Ulrich’s passion for the art and craft of crewel spans more than 20 years.

Ulrich’s introduction to needlework began with her mother, Grace Bastey of Bangor, who was an accomplished needlepointer. Mrs. Bastey completed needlepoint pieces, including several portraits of her grandchildren, that are painterly in effect, the color shadings intricate and subtle. Mrs. Bastey also enjoyed doing crewel embroidery. Ulrich still has many of the pillows her mother worked from Elsa Williams kits.

Crewel designs are frequently floral in nature. Crewel embroidery is done with two-ply wool yarn using a variety of looped, straight and knotted stitches.

Ulrich’s pieces, which she uses to enhance the decor of her home, are for the most part large, including drapery valences at the living room’s wide windows. Her projects are so large and intricate they may take years to complete. Her current project, one she has been working on for several years, is panels that will become upholstery for two wing chairs. The panels match the floral design of the living room valences and include peonies, lilacs, wisteria, iris and some of Ulrich’s other favorite flowers. The pieces also feature hummingbirds.

Ulrich does not create her own designs, preferring instead to use those created by artist Betsy Leiper of North Sandwich, N.H. Leiper conducts “crewel camps” eight times a year, some of which Ulrich has attended. To obtain information about them, e-mail bleiper@juno.com, or call (603) 284-7785.

Several years ago, Ulrich went on an embroidery tour to England, where she spent time viewing the Victoria and Albert Museum embroidery collection. A highlight of the trip, she said, was when she saw the Jane Bostocke sampler, dated 1598. At the museum, researchers are allowed to remove pieces to a special table to be studied and photographed without a flash.

Crewel embroidery was a staple of decoration in colonial America, when women wrought bed hangings, pockets and petticoats adorned with crewel embroidery.

A famous set of crewel bed hangings, circa 1745-51, made by Mary Swett Bulman is part of the Old York Historical Society collection in York. The bed hangings are the only complete set of 18th century crewel bed hangings known to exist. They are so rare and important that the Victoria and Albert Museum in London exhibited them during its American Bicentennial exhibition in 1976.

Bulman made the bed hangings when she was grieving the death of her husband, Dr. Alexander Bulman.

The Bulman bed hangings are on display in the Long Parlor Gallery of the Emerson-Wilcox House this summer. Gallery hours are Monday-Saturday, noon-2 p.m. Call 363-4974, or visit www.old

york.org to see a photo of the bed hangings posted at the Emerson-Wilcox House home page.

Snippets

. “A Place to Take Root: The History of Flower Pots and Garden Containers in America” opened Aug. 14 and will run through Sept. 18 at the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor. The show features more than 50 works including Tuscan terra-cotta urns and British 18th century horticultural ware. Drawings, letters, photographs and other artifacts round out the exhibit. Accompanying the exhibit is text written by garden historian Susan Tamulevich and landscape gardener Patrick Chasse.

To learn more about the exhibit, call 288-5015, ext. 291.

. The Fiber Floozies, a spinners’ group, will meet at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 18, at Purple Fleece, 103 School St., Stockton Springs. The meeting will focus on making drop spindles. Those wishing to attend the meeting should call 323-1871 so that enough supplies can be on hand.

. The Waldo County YMCA is seeking craftspeople interested in displaying their wares at a craft fair Nov. 16. Call Cyndi or Sue at 338-4598 for details.

Ardeana Hamlin welcomes suggestions. Call 990-8153, or e-mail ahamlin@bangordailynews.net.