Redwork pieces

Despite the fact that is the first full day of spring, we have a nice snow storm going on outside.  Scout enjoys playing "snowball":

My Nana Betty had hot flashes from the time she was a child until she was a senior.  As an artist, she said the one color she disliked was red--because to her it was a "hot color".  Despite Nana's considerable influence on me, I love the color red.

 I love the color -- a lot.

 Because of my passion for red, the family's Hall pottery was sent my way.

Because red is a "hot" color and it is snowing out, I thought I would post some redwork pieces.  None appear on quilts.  They are linens like splashers and shams.  The motifs are appealing to me.

 Above baby piece, not constructed as a bib but seems to be a piece of linen that could be used as one.  

Below:  Reminiscent of Kingsley's Water Babies.

Below:  I think this might be a sham.  The quote is from Longfellow's poem, "The Song of Hiawatha."  Hiawatha motifs were still popular in the early 20th century despite the fact that the poem was published in 1855.  I suspect it was a poem that children often had to memorize.

For those of you in the Northeast during this snowy day:  Stay safe and warm!

Memories of hand quilting

I belong to the Crazy Quilters Guild in Emmaus, PA.  Next week the guild has a drive for baby quilts to send to Puerto Rico.  I finished this baby quilt years ago.  It was the last piece I hand quilted.

My friend Linda commented at the time that she was watching my quilting demise.  Each piece I made had larger and less even stitches.  My workmanship was so bad that after this quilt was complete, I stopped hand quilting all together.

Like many quilters, I had to have surgery on my right hand and will eventually have the left hand done too.  It's funny because when I looked at this quilt, it all came back to me.  I could barely grasp my needle when I did this.

But I also remember the fun part of handquilting.  My granddaughter would stay here while her parents worked and I would quilt while she napped.  It was relaxing and soothing and I do miss the act of actually rocking my needle.

I hadn't even bothered to bind the quilts.  They ended up being completed when my husband was in a coma and I need something to keep do to keep sane while I sat in the hospital.  Husband is fine now; binding is mediocre (at best) but it is a finished piece.  I've had a few these quilts stored away and if I hadn't recently reorganized, I probably wouldn't have remember them at all.  

My friend Beth says that there just comes a time when one knows it is time to save the hands.  She has given up a lot of handwork she has done too.  We'd rather be able to continue sewing what we love. 

For me, I'd rather be able to embroider and have things machine quilted.  

Today we are recovering from a Nor'easter here in Pennsylvania and the wind continues to blow.  I hope you are safe and having a restful Sunday!

Lehigh Valley Quilt Study Group: 2-15-18

Themes of the meeting included feedsacks:

Towel feedsack and below feedsack pillowcases!

Quilts and Tops:

 Backing fabric had ombre stripe

Catasauqua Charm Quilt (with actual charms and added embellishments)  

A friendship quilt of sorts:

Multitudinous Quilts:

 "Calico Sunflower", a Paragon Quilt Kit introduced in 1956, based on an antique quilt in Florence Peto's collection:

Summer coverlet:

 top

Mountain Mist Nosegay:

 Border plaid is cotton not flannel:

 Baby:

Doll Quilts:

Happy Fastnacht Day! Happy Valentine's Day!

This redwork quilt is featured in my Storytime Stitches program.  The red and white quilt seems appropriate for the week of Valentine's Day!

But today is Fastnacht Day!

Jessica, my adorable daughter-in-law, came home to make fastnachts with her aunt last weekend.  Fastnacht Day is how the Pennsylvania Dutch refer to what most people call Fat Tuesday.  A fastnacht (Pennsylvania Dutch translation:  Fast Night)  are special donuts made especially for the Tuesday before Lent begins.  

Jessica and her aunt are determined to continue the family tradition and use Jessica's grandmother's recipe.  There are a variety of different recipes for the donuts; all I know is that Jessica's grandmother always made a yeast based donut that had to be risen two times before the dough is cut into squares and fried.  It takes them most of the day to make all the batches they want done.  

Unfortunately, my family ate all the ones she made already so I have to venture out today to pick up some more fastnachts--mostly for my elderly neighbors who like the celebration but don't venture out much.

The block is a rendition from a book illustrated by Margaret Evans Price.  Isn't it adorable?  There are many redwork blocks on this quilt that have storybook counterparts and I talk about that in my program.

Have a wonderful Fastnacht Day and great Valentine's Day!