Friday, October 14, 2011

Home, Home on the Plains...

I love a good quilt history book, and this one is no exception:

It's a fascinating look at the lives (and quilts!) of women pioneers in late 19th century Nebraska, written by 2 quilt historians, Kathy Moore and Stephanie Grace Whitson.
The book is illustrated with many photos of Nebraska families and their sod houses.  The sepia tone photo on the book's cover gives you an idea of  the kind of photography you'll find inside. 
One of the featured quilters is Grace McCance Snyder:

You may have heard of her well known Flower Basket Petit Point quilt.  Grace made her first quilt out on the plains while herding her father's cattle.  Details of her life are recounted in the book, but you can spend 3 short minutes to learn more about her online here.
Another highlighted quilter from the book is Luna Sanford Kellie.  What a hearty soul she was! 
She and her husband, JT,  had 13 children, and Luna worked the farm right up to each birth.  Let me share this quote from a 9 months pregnant Luna that  left me awestruck:

      "... started in to help JT cut the broom corn, but we only worked 2 or 3 days when I got sick in the night.  JT made a hurried run a mile east for a neighbor woman who hurried back and about daylight Friday we had another lovely little boy .... I got dinner on Monday and then being so worried about the broom corn went out and helped cut some ... Tuesday morning I wrapped the new baby in a quilt and took it to the field and worked all day ..."
Yikes!  Those pioneer women were made of strong stuff!
The book includes patterns for some of the quilts highlighted in the book.  One of the patterns is for a signature quilt called "Wedge and Circle"


Another is called by the whimsical name "Laws O Massey". 
 
I imagine that "Laws o Massie" was a local version of "Lord 'a Mercy!" 
All in all, a very enjoyable and interesting read. 
I love this book!

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like a good book. Like you, I love to read quilt history stories. I'll have to check it out.
    Quiltluver

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  2. I read a book once called No Time on My Hands. Was that book about Grace Snyder? I read it a long time ago and that name sounds familiar. I think she made that Flower Basket Petit Point quilt. Not sure. A very interesting book. I felt lazy after reading it!

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