Stars, Stripes, & Stitches: Textiles & American Identity

March 20-21, 2026 Winston-Salem, NC

Stars, Stripes, & Stitches: Textiles & American Identity
March 20-21, 2026
Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Textiles function as utilitarian, decorative, and documentary objects, often sharing the maker’s values and personal history. As we commemorate America’s sesquicentennial, this seminar will explore the ways that women in the colonial and early American periods created textiles—particularly quilts, needlework, and woven baskets—to reflect and create a burgeoning American identity.

Please plan to join us in Winston-Salem or online for this two day seminar. Participants will engage in two days of lectures, including a keynote address by Alden O’Brien, as well as opportunities to engage in pre-conference workshops and an open house of textiles in MESDA’s study galleries.

REGISTRATION (Opening in September–More information to be provided soon.)

ADD-ONS AND WORKSHOPS: Friday, March 20, 2026

Pictured: Sampler, Ann Clair Tinges, Baltimore, Maryland, 1798, Gift of Mr. Philip Hanes, et al in memory of Mrs. Howard Gray.	Join Jenny Garwood, Adjunct Curator of Textiles, for an hour long tour of key pieces and new acquistions in MESDA’s needlework collection.

Pictured: Album quilt, E.C. Deckel, Baltimore, Maryland, 1848, Gift of Bridget and Al Ritter.	Join Jenny Garwood, Adjunct Curator of Textiles, and Lea Lane, Curator of the MESDA Collection, for an hour long quilt turning in the MESDA collection.

Pictured: Coverlet, Possibly Salem, North Carolina, 1820-1860, Gift of Mrs. Blevins Vogler Baldwin.	Join Cassie Dickson, Traditional Pattern Coverlet Weaver, for a fascinating workshop on coverlet patterns. The four-harness overshot coverlet has a limitless number of ways to create patterns. By understanding the individual motifs that group together within any given pattern, you can train your eye to identify what makes up the overall design. This workshop is an opportunity for weavers and non-weavers alike to gain a deeper understanding of the overshot coverlet.

Pictured: Sampler, Margaret Mutter, Granville County, North Carolina, 1793, Nancy James Purchase Fund.	Join Cissy Bailey Smith of Gentle Pursuit Designs for a two and a half hour needlework workshop. During the workshop, participants will receive a kit, and Cissy will teach the sampler, as well as a pin wheel and needlebook. The kit will be 40 count linen.

SPEAKERS

Alden O’Brien, Curator of Costume and Textiles, DAR Museum

Johanna Brown, Chief Curator, Old Salem Museums & Gardens

Jenny Garwood, Adjunct Curator of Textiles, Old Salem Museums & Gardens

Martha Hartley, Director of Moravian Research, Old Salem Museums & Gardens

Lea Lane, Curator of the MESDA Collection, Old Salem Museums & Gardens

Matthew Monk, Linda Eaton Associate Curator of Textiles, Winterthur Museum

Tessa Payer, Assistant Curator of Textiles and Historic Dress, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Dr. Hayley Salo, Senior Lecturer, University of Louisville

Kathy Staples, Independent Scholar

Alicia Thomas, Executive Director, Virginia Quilt Museum

Emily Wells, PhD Candidate, College of William and Mary

SCHEDULE

Friday, March 20

10:00 am	Needlework Tour with Jenny Garwood at MESDA
1-2:00 pm	Quilt turning with Lea Lane and Jenny Garwood at MESDA
2:30-3:30 pm	Finding the Pattern Coverlet Workshop with Cassie Dickson at MESDA
2:30-5:00 pm	Margaret Mutter Needlework Workshop with Cissy Bailey Smith in the Wachovia Room
5:15 pm	Opening Reception
6:30 pm	Keynote: Alden O’Brien

Saturday, March 21

8:30 am	Breakfast
9:15 am	Johanna Brown, Welcome & New to the Collection
9:35 am	Alicia Thomas, Stitching Together History: The Virginia Quilt Museum’s Commemoration of the Semiquincentennial
10:10 am	Tessa Payer, “1876 pieces of calico”: Commemoration and Centennial Quilts
10:35 am	Break
11:00 am	Lea Lane, Southern Comforters: Quilts and Coverlets from the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts
11:25 am	Emily Wells, “We sat at our works and each read out by turn”: Sewing, Sociability, and Sisterhood in Nineteenth-Century Delaware
11:50 am	Lunch
1:00 pm	Hayley Salo: Tense Threads: The Culture and Labour of Embroidery at Valley Town Mission School
1:25 pm	Johanna Brown, Cherokee Girls at Salem and Their Needlework
2:00 pm	Martha Hartley, Cherokee Baskets in the Old Salem Collection
2:20 pm	Matthew Monk, Cherokee Rivercane Basket Construction and Collection
2:55 pm	Break
3:15 pm	Jenny Garwood, Louisa H. Roger’s 1824 Asheville Sampler
3:45 pm	Kathy Staples, Needlework as Proof for Revolutionary War Pensions
4:25 pm	MESDA Open House

NOTE: This program and schedule is subject to amendment.

GENEROUS SUPPORT PROVIDED BY

TRAVEL DETAILS

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The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts is one of the museums at Old Salem Museums & Gardens. MESDA is located in the Frank L. Horton Museum Center at 924 S. Main Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101. Seminar lectures will take place in the James A. Gray Auditorium at the Old Salem Visitor Center at 900 Old Salem Road, Winston-Salem, NC 27101.

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Seminar Hotels:

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Fairfield Inn & Suites Winston-Salem Downtown
125 South Main St Winston-Salem, NC 27101 1-336-714-2800
Group Name: MESDA Textiles Seminar March 2026
Last day to book: February 17
– Other recommended hotels:
The Zevely Inn Bed and Breakfast 803 South Main Street Winston-Salem, NC 27101 1-336-748-9299

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CANCELLATION POLICY

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Registrants who cancel at least two weeks prior to a program will receive a full refund minus a $50 handling fee. No refunds will be given for cancellations that occur less than two weeks prior to the event.

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INCLEMENT WEATHER

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The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts follows the inclement weather policies of Old Salem Museums & Gardens. When OSMG is closed, the museum is closed as well. Should this occur, the seminar will be cancelled and refunds will be issued. For your own protection, please consider travel insurance to cover fees involved with cancelling hotel reservations.