Folklife on this earth is rich and varied, including traditional stories, festivities, cooking, music, and things that people make. There’s a term that describes, in general, the practice and results of folks making things. That term is “material culture.”
In the early 1980s, I demonstrated knitting and crochet at the Texas Folklife Festival in San Antonio, on my own or with the Knitters and Crocheters Guild of Austin. Later, after learning more about folklore and folklife, I was pretty sure that needlework was definitely an aspect of folklife, with plenty of lore mixed in for good measure. I mean, why else would the Texas Folklife Festival invite us, year after year, to demonstrate our knitting and crochet skills?
It’s the same for quilting and other needlework. These skills were and still are practiced mostly by women and girls, teaching and learning from each other. Some worked in solitude, and some in groups that build their own collections of stories. The weekly Dublin Rippers Quilting Bee is a group like that. I’ve been a member since about 2010.
When the Texas Folklore Society called for articles for an upcoming book about gatherings, I talked at length to my quilting friends about the history and activities of the Dublin Rippers. The result was a story titled, “The Dublin Rippers Quilting Bee, Est. 2000.”
We were pleased when we found out the story was accepted for the book, Gather ‘Round: Gatherings in Texas and the Southwest, edited by Kristina Downs, pp. 232-242, 2025, Texas Folklore Society, Stephenville, Texas.
Now I’m waiting for a Texas Folklore Society call for articles, that seems right for a story about crochet!
Gather ‘Round is available for purchase at amazon.com.
