Today’s Quilter – September 2019

Left,Embroidered

portraitofRudi

Schmidt,theson

offounderRudolf

Schmidt;Below,

Samplesfromthe

Madeira’sarchiveand

currentproducts:

Burmitz100%cotton

shownin mid20th

centuryboxalongside

largecurrent

packagesof100%

cottonandsmaller

retail spools

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T

heMadeiralogowithitsendearing

butterflyis instantlyrecognisable,but

I wonderhowmanyof usknowhowthis

iconicthreadbrandderiveditsname.Originally

namedafteritsfoundersBurkhardt& Schmidt

in 1919 - Burkhardt& SchmidtGarnfabrik– the

companychangeditsnamein1975,takingitscue

fromthePortugueseislandof Madeira,justothe

northwestcoastof Africa,which is famous for its

exquisite hand embroidery.

Evolution

Ofcourse,Madeirais alsofamousforitswarm,

tropicalclimate,lushgardensandnativebirds

andbutterflies.Adoptingthebutterflymotifin

thelogooereda myriadof opportunitiesto

berecreatedinthread,notjustbecauseof the

colourpossibilities,butbecauseitsdelicatewing

shapesechothedistinctivecutworkandfinesatin

stitchingassociatedwithMadeiraembroidery.

Theirrebrandingwasintrinsictothecompany’s

marketingshiftinthe70s- “asa butterfly

transformsoutof itsgreypupa,embroiderersand

quilterscreatecolourfulandlivelymasterpieces

out of a simple spool of thread”.

Gamechanger

Havingstartedoutmakingcottonsewingthreads

andlatercottonembroiderythreads,it was

MadeiraNo. 40 threadmadefromviscosethat

wasthegamechanger.RudiSchmidt,thesonof

founder,RudolfSchmidt,startedresearchingand

developingthetechnologytocreatea threadmade

fromviscoseinthe1960s.Viscoseis a typeof

rayonwhichcombinesnaturalandmanmadefibres

tocreatean“artificialsilk”.MadeiraNo.40,made

entirelyfromviscosewasthefirsthighquality

embroiderythreadtobelaunchedworldwide.It’s

highlylikelythataswegoaboutourlives,webrush

pastthefruitsof Rudi’slaboursona dailybasis,

a neonsafetyvest,a sparklingcompanylogoora

bespokeembroideredgarmentonthecatwalk.

Upuntilthe1980s,Madeirawasknownfor

itsextensiverangeof industrialthreads,butin

1987,a newproductionsitewasbuiltnexttothe

existingsiteinFreiburgmakingsmallerthread

spoolsfortheconsumermarket.Theyintroduced

newspecialeectthreadssuchasMetallic40,

SupertwistandHauteCouture'ssparklingthread,

aswellasFrostedMattwitha mattfinish,Lana 12

(madefrom50%wooltogivea soft,fluy texture)

andGoldenSilverthreadwitha puresilvercoating.

Interestingly,theirrangeof specialistdomestic

threadswasgrowinginparalleltotheincreasing

availabilityof coursesat City& Guilds,ledby

textilepractitionerswitha backgroundinartand

design.AsI discoveredwhentalkingtoMadeira’s

BrandAmbassadors,textiledesignerClaireMuir

andtextileartistsLindaandLauraKemshall,it

wasduringtheirexplorationof textiletechniques

thattheydiscoveredMadeiraproducts.“I’dfirst

usedMadeirathreadsbackintheearlynineties

whenI wasstudyingPatchworkandQuiltingwith

City & Guilds – I’ve loved the threads ever since

TEXTILE HERITAGE l th r e a d c o u nt s

Right,

Theiconic

Volkswagon

vanusedby

Madeirafor

deliveriesin the

1960s

Below,

Madeira’s

stateofthe

artproduction

facilityin

Freiburg,in

southwest

Germany’s

Back Forest