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!

The Farmer Takes a Wife

I got an unexpected gift for Mother’s Day.  My lovely friend Gwen, sent me a copy of the book, The Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt by  Laurie Aaron Hird.  It’s a collection of letters from farm wives of the 1920’s who entered a contest where they had to answer the question: “Would you want your daughter to marry a farmer?”
More than 50 of the women’s letters are transcribed in the book, and each is paired with 2 quit blocks which were inspired by their words.

Gwen had wrapped the book in a country blue fat quarter which suits the book perfectly.  It was such an unexpected and wonderful gift to receive! 

Gwen had also included the perfect-for-me card with a hilarious dog photo that reminded me of Toby:

On the inside of the card it says:

i was just…uh…

getting you

something to drink

for mother’s day.

yeah…that’s it…

I know that Gwen pops in and reads my blog, so “Thanks, Gwen”!  I’m looking forward to reading the book and am already thinking about making some blocks.

Oddly enough, there was another farm related quilt book that I heard about recently.  It’s from Eleanor Burns and it is called Quilt Blocks on American Barns .  Eleanor’s sister Patricia visited our quilt guild and did a presentation of quilts from the book.  You can see Patricia’s version of her quilt here.  All I can say is that once again I was absolutely floored by the clever people at Quilt in a Day.  They come up with the most creative shortcuts for easy piecing.

Looks like this city girl might be heading to the country for a future quilt.  I never know where this quilting journey will take me next.

That 70's Show: the fashion episode

I'm at a crossroads right now with my quilting.  I can't decide what I want to work on next.  There are so many possibilities, I can't seem to get started on anything.  I've been flipping through the books on my shelf and I came across an old pattern book that someone (who shall literally remain nameless)  gave me when she heard that I had taken up crochet.  It's the Woman's Day "Crochet Showcase", from 1979.  


With the word "showcase" in the title, one expects some cutting edge fashions, and this book did not disappoint.

A gladiator inspired vest with capped sleeves that resemble battle attire.


Katrina thought this funky vest was great fun, until she tried to put her coat on over it.

A stylin' bikini with cute matching ruffled bonnet to show that a girl can be sexy and innocent at the same time.

Louise wondered why all of a sudden all the boys wanted to take her swimming.

I've always wondered what you were supposed to wear underneath these lacy camisole tops.

I'm so rich and sophisticated that no one dares to tell me that my top has lots of little holes in it.



A little jumper that only Rainbow Brite would want to wear.

Even at  3 years old,  Bonnie knew that all the kids were going to make fun of her when she wore this to preschool.

The crocheted wedding gown was a lovely idea, and the finished product might have been beautiful in the right surroundings, but who paired it with the alien headdress?

Sweet Sara was so very  touched by her Nana's grand gesture, but when it came time to wear it with the headpiece Nana picked to go with it, she couldn't bring herself to make eye contact with anyone in the wedding party.

Had to include this one, not because the fashion was funny but because I think this is an early example of supermodel Beverly Johnson's work.  Isn't that her?  Shows what talent she has that she can make patchwork pockets look chic.  I actually think this design has merit,(Hello! hand warmers!) but maybe that's just the quilter in me talking.

25 cents

There was a quilter's yard sale at the quilt show I attended yesterday.  I purchased several magazines and a few patterns for 25 cents each, and 3 pieces of fabric, including a Hoffman print, for 50 cents each.  My favorite find, however, has to be this book:

It's an undated book of crocheted doilies, but judging from the cover model's Toni Tennille haircut, I'm guessing it's from the late 70's.   I know styles change, so I'll forgive the hair and the goofy harem pant jumpsuit, but there are a few photos in this book that I really have to ponder.



First, there is this 2 page spread:

Simply gorgeous doily in the foreground, but, what photo stylist thought that a rifle with ammo and the recently dead pheasant would ever, EVER be allowed to sit on top of it?


How about this one?

What would dear, departed Great Aunt Madge think, if she knew that little Suzy was not only sitting this close to her lovingly handmade tablecloth with open paints in her hand, but that she even has the container for the brushes and her other art supplies right on the table? 

Here is our cover girl again, on an inside page this time:

Didn't ANYBODY notice that there was a dog walking across the table in the background?  Model?  Photographer? Editor?  Anybody?

And then there was this head scratcher:

Nothing says "elegance" to me quite like a beautiful handmade doily, some fancy cookies served on a cut glass plate and....a pink VW Bug?  What? You don't have one?

I  already got my 25 cents worth from this crochet book, even if I never follow any of the patterns.

How I spent my summer vacation

There wasn’t a lot of quilting done this summer, but there was a LOT of this:

Toby is approaching the 9 month mark now, and is starting to be just a little less puppy and a little more dog, but not by much.

Without much quiet time to break out the needle and thread, I have turned to the written word for entertainment.  Here’s a few books I read a this summer that I thought were worth mentioning.

 

The first is “A Single Thread”  by Marie Bostwick.  The story is centered around the happenings at a quilt shop, and is told from the point of view of two different characters.  I found it to be a really enjoyable read, with characters you could care about, and, of course, Quilting!

 

Next was “Hooked on Murder” by Betty Hechtman.   As you might guess from the title, this one is a murder mystery.  The “hooked” part is because it concerns a group of ladies who crochet.  It was a pleasant enough read, but it felt a little bit like the crochet part was an afterthought to the story.  A good one to borrow from the library, but I wouldn’t buy it.

 

I’m a big fan of Jane Austen, and have read her books, listened to them on tape, and of course watched the movies.   There are a lot of writers who are offering alternative books for Austen fans, many claiming to be written “in the style” of Jane Austen.  Some do a better job than others, and so I usually read the book reviews carefully on Amazon before I decide to buy any of them.  This one, called “Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict” by Laurie Viera Rigler is about a modern girl who wakes up one day and finds herself living in the time of Jane Austen.  I enjoyed it not so much because the story was particularly engaging, but because it was fun to realize just how different the lifestyle of a young woman was from our modern experience, and yet how much the same are our feelings.  (Probably why Austen fans still find her books appealing.)

 

And while on the subject of Jane Austen, I also read “The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen” by Syrie James.  The premise of this book is that Jane Austen’s memoirs turn up in an attic.   It’s written very well and loosely based on some of the things we know about Austen’s life.  The author makes connections between fictional events in the book to characters and events in Austen’s novels to try and show how Jane’s life may have inspired her writing.

 

Last, but certainly not least, is this series of “Monk” novels by Lee Goldberg.  They are like finding lost episodes of the “Monk” television series.  The author gets the tone of each character exactly right, and I read parts of them out loud to my family because I was enjoying them so much.  They are quick to read, and if you like the TV show, you are sure to like the books.

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Like so many, I can’t  look at the calendar today and not remember September 11th.  Toby and I recently visited the September 11th Memorial site in our town.  Very solemn.