Meet Marinda Stewart! part one
Interview with Marinda Brown Stewart- Wait til you hear!!!
{click on pictures to see them larger) As most of you know, I am a crazy quilter, and that is how I found out about Punchneedle, and began to learn about it. About a week ago, I was looking through Carole Sample's book, 'Treasury of Crazy Quilt Stitches'. I thought I would look at the back of the book, and see if there are any books I don't have (ha ha). Well! Guess what???
There was listed in the back of the book 'Ideas and Inspirations/ A Punchneedle Technique Primer' by Marinda Stewart. HA! Who was this? I never heard of her!! So off I go, in search of Marinda! I found her, and what a treasure did I find! She has been doing Punchneedle embroidery since 1976- AND she met Judith Baker Montano in the summer of 1980. Judith recommends Marinda's book in her own 'The Crazy Quilt Handbook'- now why I never did see it, I don't know!
Do you believe that, as the Bible says, 'For every thing, there is a season'? I do.
Taking my courage in hand, with my heart beating a mile a minute, I called Marinda, and what a gentile lady! She is warm, and friendly, and did not mind sharing with me anything I asked about Punchneedle. She is a true artist, and a promoter of the Punchneedle technique, she is truly not just out to sell you something, but instead, she wants everyone to be enabled to use their punchneedles to express their own creativity.
The following article is composed of the conversation I had with her over the phone. She was gracious to share some pictures of her work with me, and they are scattered throughout this article, also.
For those of you who have the book 'Russian Punchneedle Embroidery' by Gail Bird, which was published by Dover and is still available through Dover, you can see some of Marinda's work- she did the bird on the cover of the book, also she did plates 3, 21, and 24.
This is a picture of the center panel of a Chinese skirt that Marinda made and was her first wearable art design at the Fairfield Garment Show in 1981. The panel uses Punchneedle and beading. It was machine pieced, and hand quilted.
Marinda uses the original Russian Punchneedles that the Old Believers used.
She told me a little about the history of the Punchneedle.
The Old Believers were a group of religious people who lived in Russia. They adhered to the old ways in their beliefs and in their habits and way of life. They were persecuted for their beliefs, so they left their homeland. Some moved to Manchurian China, and others to Brazil and the United States. There is a group of Old Believers that lives outside of Portland, Oregon; one in Astoria, Oregon; and there are some in Alaska. They dress in the old manners, with traditionally floral motifs on their clothing. They are basically a communal society, where all is shared equally. In the late 20th century the groups in Oregon have relocated in order to move away from the public eye, and to maintain the integrity of their beliefs, to remain untouched by the outside world.
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