This and That Tuesday!

 Diane sent a photo of her sewing companion, Fancy Pants!  I mean what a perfect name for this little love!  Diane adopted Fancy Pants and her two siblings, Penny and Honey Bear, from a feral cat.  Isn't she just adorable?  She's 14 1/2 and just a perfect fuzzy wuzzy you want to snuggle!

Sue sent a post for our Men Who Quilt series with this sentence which cracked me up:  "Hey girl, if you want to talk about men, here ya go!  Yahoo!"

You can read the article and see some of Dale's quilts and also his creative process here.  It's a neat read to learn about his process!

For inspiration and ideas, check out Stashify.  This site has a page of free patterns you might want to check out here.  

To submit your photo of your sewing companion, email me at allentownquilter@gmail.com

Have a happy and safe day!

The Royals and Sewing

 The internet and news is buzzing about Meghan and Harry's interview last night on Oprah.  It seemed like a good time to post these articles.

Nobility of all sorts were expected to help the common folk.  The idea of noblisse oblige meant that people of privilege were expected to help the less fortunate.  In 1872, the Royal Society of Needlework was founded to help teach impoverished women a skill (usually embroidery).  Queen Victoria was the first patron of the society which is why the name royal was added to the society.  Women in the late 19th century had few career choices and one of the aspects of this was that women would be paid for their work instead of being forced to pursue less moral work.  The Royal Society of Needlework was featured at the 1976 Centennial here in Philadelphia and Americans were greatly enamored with the concept.  Candace Wheeler founded the New York Exchange for Women's Work and the Society of Decorative Arts.

Sue reminded me early this morning that Queen Victoria received a quilt from former slave Martha Ricks!!  Read the article here!

In 1927, Princess Mary (later Queen Mary and mother of Elizabeth) was charmed by quilts that miners' wives made:

In 1929, another quilt was begun for Queen Mary, wife of George V and mother-in-law to Princess Mary:

Both of the Queen Mary's of the 20th century where involved in a sewing guild that made clothing for ophaned children which is now referred to as the Queen Mother's Clothing Guild. 

Yes, many of these guilds still are alive and well.

Some royals did sew.  One of my favorite pieces was the quilt made by Queen Lili'uokalani.  She sewed a crazy quilt while imprisoned.  You can explore her lovely work here.

Another imprisoned royal, Mary Queen of Scots, did needlework while incarcerated.  The V & A has a great article and photos here.

Have a safe and happy day!

Flower Friday: March 5, 2021

 Happy Flower Friday!

There are 15 days until Spring!

And in case you don't believe me, here's the first herald of spring:

The snowdrops are blooming!!!

Many of us are feeling spring fever!  Lorraine purchased these daffodils to brighten up her world:

Sue also sent this photo of a vase of zinnias which will cheer you up as well!  Love those vases too!

Have a safe and happy day!

Canines and Comfort!

 Sam sent a photo of her dog Damien.  He's not just a good companion, Damien models her quilts!!

Damien is sporting what appears to be a canine themed quilt, beautifully crafted with machine quilting.  Note how the stunning blue binding highlights Damien's eyes!  Donning a quilt like this is a sure way to appeal to girl dogs and quilters!  

*****

This week I bid adieu to a comfort in my collection and thought I would post about it today.

My youngest son asked if I had something really warm for his bed.  His new apartment apparently is a bit chilly at night.  Yes indeed I did.

I've had this tied comfort for years but could never use it in a lecture because it is so big and thick that it requires it's own suitcase.

I'm a sucker for tied quilts especially when the Pennsylvania Germans used red wool to anchor the thread.

I also liked that the backing is all one grey and brown print, perfect for a masculine bed.

The next morning our boy texted to say thank you and the comfort had done the trick!  I think the quilter who made it would be delighted that over a 100 years later, it was still providing warmth and comfort!

This reminded me of this article I clipped that was syndicated in 1885:

Tomorrow is Flower Friday and if you have a floral image to share (or a pet photo or textile), email me at allentownquilter@gmail.com

Have a safe and happy day!

Men Who Quilt #12

 There are a few reasons why I became interested in men who quilt.  A number of years ago, a local auctioneer advertised that they had quilts made by a local man.  When I attended the preview, the quilts weren't there.  It was then explained to me that the quilts weren't in good enough condition for the high end auction but that they would contact me when they came up for auction.  I never heard from them again.  

Years later, we had a woman attend our Quilt Study group and she brought a quilt embroidered by a local man and quilted by her grandmother.  We will talk about him next week in our last and final quilting post.

If you have found this series interesting to you, you might want to purchase Joe Cunningham's and Jean Burk's book, Man-Made Quilts: Civil War to the Present.  I just found out about the book recently and it was published in conjunction with the Shelburne Museum's exhibit of man-made quilts.  I bought the book on Amazon.

In this article, Earl Paules is celebrated for making yo-yo quilts.  I wondered if this piece had a red cross in the center.  I also wonder how many letters to the editors the newspaper received informing the writer that an afghan is knitted or crocheted and that a quilt or coverlet is sewn!  From 1964:

Milton Bartholomew also made quilt tops.  Among the fascinating aspects of these articles is the length the writers go in order to explain the process the men used.

Milton was a retired carpenter and cement plant worker that took up sewing quilt tops.  He took up sewing when he was 70 and even had his own sewing room:

1942

William Bauer also made a quilt top for his son's wedding.  Like Bartholomew, he sent his tops out to be quilted.  In this article we learn more about the women quilters who organized at a local church to earn revenue for the church by quilting tops.  

1941

As an aside, remember if you would like to have your pet or an animal themed textile featured in our Constant Companion series, email photos to me at allentownquilter@gmail.com.  We got lots of great comments about Sue's calico cats!

Have a safe and happy day!

This and That Tuesday

 A number of features and answers today which is why it is This and That Tuesday!

Our celebration of our furry and feathered friends continues!  Sue sent us two photos:

Sue wrote "Vlad the Impaler is fond of the quilting hoop!"  When I asked how he got his name she wrote:  "When I adopted him at a year old, he hunkered down in the basement for a month.  Then he would sneak up at night and became Vlad the Prince of Darkness.  Carolyn remarked, yes until he scratches you then he's Vlad the Impaler.  He's a sweet boy but dumb as a box of rocks!"

Sue's sense of humor continues to crack me up!  She wrote, "This is my chair that I reupholstered in calico."

Diann sent us photos of her bird quilt.  She and her husband have not had a pet in a long time but they really enjoy watching the birds.  "We spend a lot of money for birds in our yard and enjoy their company a lot" she wrote.  She made this quilt for her husband.  I know a lot of quilters that are birders and I love this piece!

I noticed that the quilt had a lot of penguins and we know Diann loves penguins, her blog is called Little Penguin Quilts!

For some eye candy, you might want to check out the winners of Quilt Con 2021: you can peruse here.

One new follower emailed and asked why wasn't I celebrating women during Women's History month.  As I explained to her, that is pretty much every day here.  But in that vein, I want to share with you some redwork patterns I found recently on Etsy.  The patterns celebrate women suffragists and I think you would enjoy looking at the store.  It's by April Songstress and you can see the patterns here.  If I had known about these patterns earlier, I would have definately worked on a piece for our Suffrage Centennial Celebration!

Have a safe and happy day!

Celebrating our Constant Companions

 Today is Scout's birthday!!!

Our puppy is 4 years old today!

Scout with her siblings.  She is the one with the purple collar!

Baby Scout!

All grown-up!

Where would we be without our constant companions these days?  On many of the blogs I follow, people make mention of their pets at least once a week.  Some even have special days when their pets have a special blog post!

This theme is so popular that two of my best selling (and copyrighted) greeting cards feature the importance of our furried friends:

In celebration of Scout's birthday and because it is the last month of winter, I thought it would be fun to celebrate our furry or feathered friends!  Do you have a photo of your pet or a pet themed quilt that you would like to share?  Why not share with the group and cheer us all up?  You can send me a photo at allentownquilter@gmail.com

Here are a few examples:

Scout always has to oversee anything I do, especially when I am marking fabric! 

My niece has a similar situation with her cats:

Here's a top that's going off to the quilter soon.  It was a quick quilt I did last winter.   It features poodles in Paris!

What do your pets do to help you sew?

Can't wait to hear from you!

Have a safe and happy day!