Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework
Ellen Miller was in declining health; the trained stitchers were getting old and could not continue; Margaret C. Whiting's sight was fading; and, the design and quality of commercially produced items was increasing.
[3]: 35 The founders of the Society, Margaret C. Whiting and Ellen Miller, were descended from Colonial families, though they were not originally from Deerfield.
There was a focused interest amongst those who stayed on in Deerfield's history, and this was reflected in the establishment in 1870 of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, which actively collected local artifacts.
This local interest in heritage served as the setting for the founding of the Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework.
[4]: 69 Whiting and Miller carefully examined historical crewel embroidery of the area as found in the possession of residents[2]: 69 and in Memorial Hall Museum.
[5]: 104 Whiting had read John Ruskin's work, and was influenced by his ideas of design and social reform, yet made certain the Society maintained an emphasis on producing a quality product.
The most frequently used stitch was New England Laid (also known as Romanian), which conserved thread, which would have been a precious commodity during the Colonial period.
Ellen Miller was the expert dyer, who tried out different dyes and mordants, kept extensive records of her efforts, and kept swatches in sunlight to check lightfastness over a six-month period.
Whiting and Miller used vegetable dyes in order to create the colors of the wool threads,[5]: 104 and handwoven linen fabric was bought for use as the background from Berea College and weavers in Vermont and Georgia.
Stearns, who wrote the book Homespun and Blue about New England needlework, organized the Saffron and Indigo Society as an offshoot of the League of New Hampshire Arts and Crafts.
There were multiple reasons for this: Miller was in poor health; Whiting was losing her eyesight; and the embroiderers contributing the finished items were aging.
