Ring Around the Rosie

 How did you make it through the storms?

Hoping you are all okay!

I have a child's coverlet that I love but the work is so faded, I can't get a good photo of it.  Fortunately, I found it in an old Bucilla catalog I have:

At one time, I began tracing the pattern with the hope of remaking it myself.  That way, I could omit the Ring Around the Rosie part.  It's never been a favorite nursery rhyme of mine.  Probably someone told me at an early age that it was written about the Black Plague.  

There is a copy of the pattern on Ebay here.  The ad says the coverlet derived in the 1930s.  My catalog hasn't got a date so I'm not sure.  Anyway... the faces are a bit different and I think I prefer the original.  Here's one I found online that is in better shape, not embroidered but it was clearly a tinted piece:

I stumbled upon a western themed Ring Around the Rosie:

1940s Aunt Martha quilt pattern

Another Bucilla offering from the late 1950s.  This one came with matching bibs.

It rained a lot over the weekend.  My head was clear enough that I could finally get upstairs and finish a quilt top that I was working on for a neighbor's grandson.  No picture as it was just too dark but it's my simple standard kid's quilt with four patches of novelty prints not unlike this one:

I still have a ton of novelty fabric left and decided to organize the patches that are already cut.  Today I'll put together more four patches.  This is an easy task but one that I am comfortable with for now.  Later this week I'm hoping to cut and assemble a Patience Corners baby quilt.  I've had the baby fabric for a long time and wasn't sure what I would do with it.  During the weekend I saw a Patience Corners quilt and thought it would work well with the fabric.  I haven't used that pattern for years so I think it will be fun.

I guess like all of us, I have kids on my brain right now.  Next week the kids in our neighborhood start school again and I'm so worried for them all.  The one thing I learned while I was in the hospital last week was that our local hospital is full of covid patients.  My husband and I never stopped wearing our masks and now if I do have to go somewhere (unlikely), I'll double mask again.

What is on your mind these days?

What are you working on?

Have a safe and happy day!

Flower Friday: August 20, 2021

 

Happy Flower Friday!

An article I read last weekend called this part of August the "lull" time in the garden.  Sue somewhat alluded to that when she wrote me and said "Not much in my garden.  Getting pretty ratty."  But still she could send me this lovely photo of rudbeckia and phlox:

Sue also sent this photo from her daughter's garden in Maryland...except that her daughter didn't plant anything this year.  But her compost is full of a river of volunteer butternut squash!  Wowza!

I usually try to prepare for this time of year by sticking annuals here and there but this year there is only one bed where the annuals filled out.  Pots also help too but the annuals this year are disappointing.  The gardeners in my neighborhood are all complaining about the spindly plants this year which is most likely due to the high heat and infrequent rains.  But at least I have this border:

One annual that was new to me was this pink salvia:

This plant blew seeds everywhere and I am pleased to say it is fast growing and about to bloom in the garden:

Another annual that self sows is the 4:00.  I grew these years ago but eventually tired of it.  I was having problems with this annual too.  The flowers open right before dusk but it took until nightfall for the flowers to open.  Duh!  I finally realized that I needed to move the pots to shade and these flowers began to reward me:

Actually because the flowers are so fragrant when they open, I thought they were the cause of the dizziness I experienced last week before the big vertigo episode.  I had dizziness from a flowering viburnum we had to remove and Linda gets the same symptom from lilacs.  

So these days I'm staying inside more although I can walk the dog around the block now.  The garden is a bit of a mess.  Before the vertigo on Monday afternoon, my husband decided to replace the posts that support our garden gate.  That sounds nice doesn't it?  Except that our home is like the island of unfinished projects (his not mine) and he is notorious for drama while doing home repairs (the kids nicknamed him "Dr. Doom").  The last thing I saw before the vertigo was my husband removing concrete from the garden this way:

Yup.  Redneck c-ment removal.

No wonder I got vertigo...

😁😁😁

Have a safe and happy weekend!

Good Article

 Years ago, my friend gave me a t-shirt that said "Quilting is My Therapy".  

When do you know you have become a true quilter?  Well I don't think it is when you become proficient, or when your points match, or anything like that.  I think it is when something else happens...

like when you really think about the person you are making the quilt for as you work...

or when the first thing you think about when you wake-up is how you will arrange a quilt...

or how you can't sleep at night without looking at photos of quilts for inspiration.

Here's a great article shared by Sue P.!  I'm so grateful she shared this and found it very interesting.  

Thanks Sue and all of you, enjoy.  Here it is:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/08/18/prison-quilt-sew-foster-kids/  or here.

Tomorrow is Flower Friday!  If you have photos to share, please email them to me at allentownquilter@gmail.com

Have a safe and happy day!

Story Time Stitches: Mary and Wallace Stover

Thanks for all the well wishes!  I'm doing okay today but still resting.  Fortunately I already had a couple of articles prepared.  The vertigo appears to be brought on by inner ear problems and I'm being treated for an ear infection as well (no, I didn't have any symptoms).  It was a severe enough case that I was sent to the ER after my husband took me to the outpatient clinic in our area.  Again, thanks for the sweet well wishes!

Here is a kit quilt designed by Mary ( 1903-1985) and Wallace Stover (1903-1983).  I found a vintage kit somewhere along the way:

The packaging is better:

Mary and Wallace Stover illustrated a variety of books.  Wallace also did illustrations for magazines and sold some art as well (here).  It doesn't appear that Mary did any illustration on her own but maybe I just haven't found any yet.

The couple were known for illustration of affordable children's books and coloring books.  Titles range included Raggedy Ann, Uncle Wiggly and even Winnie the Pooh.  But they were best known for their "Famous" books.

The "Famous" books are what are featured on the quilt.  Famous Kitten Stories, Famous Bible Stories, Famous Mouse Stories etc.  What I like about this piece is that the illustrators are given credit right on the piece; it's rare that the illustrators are notated:

As far as I know, this was the only quilt they designed and it dates from 1944.  The kits occasionally come up for sale on Etsy or Ebay if you like it.

The Stovers would eventually start their own ad agency which they closed when they retired in 1971.  There isn't much information about them but I've shared what I know.  

Have a good safe and happy day!

Vertigo

 Michele has vertigo and will take a break.  I'm sure she will be back as soon as she can.--B.

The Home Hand Embroidery Machine

Everything old is new again.

Here's a pamphlet from my collection for machine embroidery.  The pamphlet is from the 1890s.

"Saves money on Christmas presents," one ad boasted.

Actually I have a modern embroidery machine that my mother gave me.  She had bought and used it for a few months and then tired of it.  I used it to make some stuffed animals and bags for the kids and now it just sits in a closet.  The truth is I like my embroidery hand sewn.

But surprisingly the instructions from the Home Hand Embroidery Machine are very similar to today's modern versions, including the use of a frame for your fabric:

Here are more instructions:

The company also sold patterns that resemble those we know from Briggs Iron-On Transfers:

I haven't found much online for this product.  If memory serves me right, we've seen some 19th century embroidery that we realized was done by machine but I don't have any photographs.

I don't know when the company folded but I did find that they were in a directory in 1904.

Hope you find this little tidbit of interest.  If you know of any more information, please share it with us!

Have a safe and happy day!

Flower Friday: August 13, 2021

 

Happy Flower Friday!  

We have a nice selection of flowers to share this week!

Some lovelies and butterfly from Nann!

Diane P.'s daughter planted some marigold seeds in the strawberry bed and wowsa!  She has 34 plants!

Libby is experiencing critter problems!

She wanted to share photos of her lovely hanging plants which unfortunately were eaten up a bit!

Sue shared these lovelies!  Love the blue sky behind the sunflower!

From my garden:

Japanese anemones above and another round of foxgloves below:

Have a safe and happy weekend!