Weaving Pillow Tops in Cupids

Yesterday I was invited out to Cupids to instruct a pillow top workshop. Dale came along and we had a great time at The Cupids Legacy Centre teaching a lovely group how to weave this interesting textile. 

Pillow tops are square-shaped textiles woven from wool using a wooden frame, made by Newfoundland women and men. Women would make these in various sizes and used them around the house as pillow covers, table toppers, and backs for chairs. Pillow tops were also made by men working in the lumber camps. Cutting and collecting lumber was arduous work and the only day the men in the camps had off was Sunday. To pass the time some men would make pillow tops to give to girlfriends, wives and mothers.

For more information on pillow tops check out the Intangible Cultural Heritage Pillow Top Collection on Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative. 

And here's some of the finished pillow tops. One thing I love about these is they all look different, I've yet to see two pillow tops that look the same. 

For more information on the tradition of Newfoundland lumber camp workers weaving pillow tops, check out this issue of the ICH newsletter. 

If you're interested in making your own pillow top frame, check out this blog entry which includes instructions and lots of pictures.

And if you'd like to have us out to your community to teach a pillow top workshop, you can reach Nicole Penney at 1-888-739-1892 ex.6 or via email at nicole@heritagefoundation.ca. 

Happy Weaving! 

The heritage of craft and traditional art

In the April-May edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Update for Newfoundland and Labrador, we pay tribute to our traditional craftspeople, artisans, and trades workers. We give an introduction to our "Talking Shop: Metalworking" presentation organized in cooperation with The Rooms; Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador board member Doug Wells shares his father's memories of tanning nets in Muddy Hole; Amanda-Marie Hillyard brings us news on the Deer Lake Heritage Project and the work they are doing to collect local oral histories; Lisa Wilson interviews the 106-year-old carpenter Cecil Greenland in Spaniard's Bay, and Nicole Penney writes about the tradition of lumberwoods carving in Newfoundland.

Contributors: Dale Jarvis, Doug Wells, Amanda-Marie Hillyard, Lisa Wilson, and Nicole Penney.

You can download the newsletter in pdf format from:

https://archive.org/details/Ichupdate043 

(look for the PDF link on the left side of the page)

Photo: Mr. Cecil Greenland, by Lisa Wilson

Lumber Woods Carvings from Botwood

I recently came across these hand carved, wooden, lumbering figures at the C.L.B Sunday Market. I was told by the seller they were carved many years ago by a man from Botwood who had worked in the lumber woods. If you happen to know anything about these figures or have any carved lumbering figures of your own, I'd love to hear from you.

                               

You can reach Nicole via email at nicole@heritagefoundation.ca  or call (709) 739-1892 ex.6.