Pussy Willows

 

Grandma went upstairs to her scrap drawer to find some pieces of bright calico.   "We will make a pussy willow quilt for our farmer's new baby boy," she said.

"Oh, oh, how lovely!" cried Anita with shining eyes:  "but tell me dear grandma, what is a pussy willow quilt?"

A pussy willow quilt, Anita is a quilt made out of pieces, sewed neatly together and here and there we will embroider tiny bunches of pussy willows on the patches."

Anita was, indeed, happy, and she helped her grandma with the sewing and by 5 o'clock the quilt was ready to embroider and then line.

The next day Anita learned how to embroider little gray down pussies in the patches, and she and her grandma had lots of fun both working on the same quilt at the same time...

From "Happy Days for Anita" syndicated in many newspapers as a child's tale, 1920.

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The magic of pussy willows is the appeal to the young and to those of us who are young at heart.  Nana Betty always had a bouquet of them in her home before Easter and I continue the tradition by adding branches to whatever floral arrangements I have in the house.

The story of the quilt that Anita and grandmother made makes me wonder if this was a new idea for a quilt or one that makers were doing before the Depression.  It seems like all of the pussy willow quilts I've seen were crib quilts.  Quilt kits in particular celebrated the idea of kitties on a branch.  Most of the kits were from the 1940s through the 1950s.  I have two of the same pattern in my collection:

The pink above is most likely from the 1940s batch of kits.  The mint green one from the later production of the kits in the 1950s.

Another style of quilt kit from the 1950s was found at an online auction:

There is a lot of folklore about how pussy willows got their name.  The tales usually focuses on kittens and water.  Be it flood or falling in a river, the willow trees magically bend their branches to save the kittens.  Each year afterwards, the willows showed soft furry buds in honor of the kittens they saved.

The magic of springtime is enhanced by these whimsical bushes.  There is even a poem for children written by Aileen Fisher that celebrates the advent of the little pussies:

"Close your eyes

And do not peek

And I'll rub Spring

Across your cheek.

Smooth as satin,

Soft and sleek.

Close your eyes

And do not peek."

Wishing you a happy and magical day!

Flower Friday: April 8, 2022

Happy Flower Friday!

I know "April Showers bring May flowers" and that is sure happening here!  We've had quite a lot of rain since April 1!  I hope you are getting whatever kind of weather you need right now.

Alice was surprised to find that her mosquito plant survived the winter in her unheated 3 season room!  It's coming back!

Talk about a spring surprise!

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Many of the daffodils are in full bloom here in our garden!

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One of my friends on facebook posted this photograph.  It is a mural in Kyiv, Ukraine and credited to the artist Sasha Korban.

Wishing you and yours a happy and healthy weekend!

Play Ball!

Good morning!  

Today marks the first official day of baseball season!

The above photo is from an embroidered coverlet in my collection.  There's no date on it but the maker sure went to great lengths to personalize the coverlet.

I haven't found many baseball themed vintage or antique quilts.  Still there was one way that quilters sometimes incorporated baseball themed blocks in their work--with tobacco silks or flannels that were a premium sold with tobacco.

Quite a few of them celebrated not only professional players (as above) but college teams as well:

These premiums could be sewn into a quilt or often a coverlet.  Here is a photo I found of one on Pinterest:

The flannel ones tend to age better than the silk ones.

Here's a fun article you may want to read on the tobacco.

The only free gift I remember our family received for buying something was free glassware and dishes in boxes of detergent.

Tomorrow is our Friendship/Flower Friday.  If you have anything to share, please email me at allentownquilter@gmail.com.

Have a safe and happy opening day!

The Bunny Post...

Currently we have two rabbits residing in our garden.  One is very large and plump.  The other is quite smaller and less afraid of us.  Scout is quite oblivious to them and they tend to startle her more than she does them.

Above is the small one eating my neighbor's peony shoots. 

I swear to you--as I was writing this, I saw him outside of my window. 

I love rabbits but am allergic to them so I enjoy them in our garden.  Currently they seem to be eating my hostas--right down to the ground.  

Today's silly post is about bunnies.   I finished another bunny block for my calendar quilt.

One of my fears about making this quilt is getting the faces to look benign and not frightening.  I've seen a lot of bunny textiles and believe me, some of them make even me uneasy.  For the most part, the images make me laugh.  I call them "bad bunnies."

Here are some of my favorites:

Not sure why, but this pattern for a bunny pillow creeps me out.  It's the smile of the rabbit--as if there is something not quite right going on in the animal's mind.  It somewhat reminds me of the Monty Python movies that my Dad and brothers loved to watch (there was one killer rabbit in one of the movies).

Here's a rabbit depicted on a child's bib.  The bunny looks quite annoyed or like he's part cat.   I think I would have been afraid of him as a child.

This one also looks ferocious to me:

I know, I know rabbits can have eyes that appear red/pink.  But I don't really want that around my great niece who will soon be born:

The very angry bunny:

Two different versions of the same pattern.  Just telling you that because the maker wasn't flawed in the execution.  I think this guy looks like he is saying, "Eat your vegetables, OR ELSE!"

Some just strike me as funny:

Fortunately, bad bunnies are not the norm.  Most bunnies appear adorable like this one that I found on pinterest:

Now if you have a sweet child in your life, you may want to celebrate spring by making them a pillow (free pattern and tutorial) and stuffed carrots.  Beth shared that she is going to be doing this with her granddaughter and you can see this tutorial as well as many others here at Shabby Fabrics.

Do you like Peeps?  They are made right here in the Lehigh Valley where I live.  It's mandatory to like them if you grew up here.  We are so crazy about Peeps that on New Year's Eve, we don't drop a ball, we drop a Peep!  See here.  When my great-niece finally arrives (in May), I'll be more inclined to make her a stuffed peep and there are lots of free patterns on line.

One last thing, I was thinking about "bad bunnies" and did a google search to see if anyone else talked about them.  Instead I found that there is a rapper named "Bad Bunny"---hilarious and not at all what I think of when I think of rap music.

Have a lovely and safe day!

Tuesday's This and That: April 5, 2022

 Happy Tuesday!

Last time I spoke with Beth, she told me she was about to make some new potholders.  Are you like us?  Both of our families have "favorite" potholders that everyone wants to use.  My husband disappears into his man cave frequently holding his hot bowl of this or that with my favorite potholder--a 1970s potholder from Woolworth's.  Beth and her family have the same kind of affinity.  Speaking of potholders, here are some fun vintage ones:

I suspect the first two are pre-WW 2.

The last two appear to be from the late 1950s-early 1960s--this is the backing:

Do you have a favorite potholder or a whimsical vintage one?

Have a safe and happy day!

No Fuss Embroidered Flowers

 Happy Monday!  

Did you have a nice weekend?

Life is funny.  Through the pandemic, I just didn't have the heart to embroider.  In January, I forced myself to start the bunny calendar quilt...and that was a struggle for me to even finish one block a month!  

Then the invasion of Ukraine happened and I can't seem to stop embroidering!!!  I have three projects going right now.  Today I want to show you a project I completed years ago.  It was a sample for programs I originally did as a challenge and then I used it for the embroidered quilts program I used to give at guilds.

It all started with some backing fabric I bought at my local fabric store.

I actually saw that the backing fabric is still available for sale (here).  I still have some in my stash but I am surprised this is still available.  Better yet, the fabric is from Santee Printworks so it's printed here in the USA.

The fabric inspired the project.  It is a light grey floral print on white.  

The whole inspiration was that I thought it could be embroidered--a no muss/no fuss type of project that didn't require iron-on transfers or special pens.

I kept one lone flower un-embroidered for the folks at quilt guilds to see (lower right corner).  

And then I made it into a table runner.  

As for the yo-yo--I'm not sure why I added that but I'm sure it was for a challenge (either online yahoo group or my own quilt guild).  Anyway, I probably should have ironed this before I photographed it--sorry for the fold lines!

Anyway, it's just an idea I wanted to share with you.

Have a safe and happy day!

Flower Friday for Friends!

 Happy Flower Friday friends!

So many wonderful things to share this week!

The pansy post sure struck a chord in many of you!  

Alice shared a pansy doily that her mother-in-law had crocheted year ago.  I had forgotten about these and they always bring a smile to me!  Thank you Alice!

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Nancy shared this wonderful apron of pansies.

She thinks that she bought it at an auction!

It even has pockets!

Thank you Nancy!

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Wendy shared a quilt she saw on an auctioneer site (Rafael Orsono Auctions at Live Auctioneers).  This maker's needlework is truly wonderful!  Thank you Wendy!

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Sue P. experienced the same crappy  weather we had this past week--including freezing temps and snow.  😒 Never to be deterred, she trimmed her philodendron and rooted cuttings and just look at the result!  She recycled a can and made something lovely!  Love that blue with the green!

There were many other comments and things I want to share with you but I will save those for Tuesday's This and That!

Have a safe and happy weekend!