by Bella Erakko
Sometimes it just takes a moment to fall in love. For Suzette Krummel, Alliance Art Gallery’s featured artist for May, it happened at a church craft group. They handed her felt and a needle, and introduced her to the blanket stitch. She was hooked … passionately.
“I don’t like sewing machines,” Suzette admits. “I like needle and thread in my hand.” Coupled with a love of antiques and history, she has embarked on a many-year journey making “penny rugs” and wool appliques.
She explains a bit of history. “Nothing got wasted. Scraps garnered from old blankets and wool clothing were repurposed into table covers and bed rugs. That’s where ‘snug as a bug originated.’ During the Civil War, women stitched gold coins inside the popular circle motif to hide them.” Early coins, larger than todays, provided a template.
Eventually women tired of penny-style rugs and moved into folk art motifs: hearts, flowers, dogs, cats, barns. Suzette Krummel has amassed a substantial inventory of wool. “Almost all of my wool is old.” She haunts auction sales, Salvation Army outlets, thrift shops, and often gets calls from people “cleaning out grandma’s house.”
Well recognized for her craft and creativity, she annually is juried into the Early American Life magazine. But one of her most challenging experiences began when she visited an exhibit at the American Folk Life Museum in New York. There she saw a crib quilt consisting of 5-inch blocks with intricate applique so tiny it seemed almost impossible to create. Inspired, she began a two-year journey. “I had to stitch it using one strand of embroidery floss.” In a way, Suzette Krummel has snugged herself like a bug into her beloved art form—with only a needle, thread, and wool.
An opening reception will be held on Saturday, May 13, 2023 from 4:00 until 7:00.
