Men Who Quilt: An Update

 

You might remember last year I ran a series called "Men Who Quilt" and featured some of the men that I had researched who made quilts.  Joseph Deibert was one of those men and I wrote about him here.  

Last week I received an email from Joseph's great-grandson Andrew!  It was a wonderful surprise and what was more exciting was that Andrew sent me two more photos of Joseph and Emma's quilts!  Thank you Andrew!  These are owned by Andrew's brother in Millersville, PA.

This quilt depicts the prayer, "Now I lay me down to sleep..."

The second quilt appeared to Andrew as being "unfinished."  It's hard to say what the makers' were imaging.  I suspect it was a wedding or anniversary quilt judging by two monograms at the top of the centerpiece:

Andrew continues to hunt for more of his grandfather's quilts and if I hear anymore, I will be sure to let you know!

💢💢💢

Please be sure to email for your free covid tests today at covidtests.gov!

Have a safe and happy day!

Tuesday's This and That: January 18, 2022

 

Happy Tuesday!  Yesterday we had a snow day.  There wasn't much snow but there was a layer of ice under the snow and I made an executive decision to stay indoors.  It was lovely!  I'm happy I finished my January block for the month and now will cut some fabric for the Romper Babies quilt.

Speaking of Romper Babies, here is another baby:

I'm beginning to get confused as to which babies I posted.  I'm thinking that I might put together a pdf and then (once it is done) I can let you know if you want a copy.  You can email me and just get the whole lot at once.  How does that sound to you?

Today we have a mystery and need to help our friend Libby.  She sent me a photo of a family crib quilt and wondered if I knew the pattern.  Although it looks familiar, I haven't been able to locate the name of the pattern.  It is adorable:

 

Isn't this charming?  Does this look familiar to you?  If you have any idea who published the pattern or when, please let us know!

Have a safe and happy day folks and stay warm!

26 Animals: Happy Birthday Betty White!

 

Happy Birthday Betty White!

Americans can't seem to agree on much these past years but it seems that everyone grieved the loss of Betty White.  

10 dogs that you can see in this 1930s quilt top.

I've been touched by all the people that have been donating to animal shelters in Betty's name for her 100th birthday.  Even folks in my neighborhood that don't have that much money have found ways to contribute to animal shelters.

1 Art Deco style giraffe

One elderly couple in my neighborhood cleaned out their closets and donated bedding and blankets to the shelter.  Another neighbor said she donated dog food.  My husband and I simply donated money.

1 sleeping kitten.

It shouldn't surprise us that there are even quilts that honor Betty White.  I found two on the internet:  here and here.  

When I read Betty's biography, I learned that her love of animals began as a child.  At one point, her family had adopted and cared for 26 dogs (at one time)!  So although I could have featured 26 dogs on this post,  I decided to feature 26 animals.  As we all know, Betty loved ALL animals!

Betty was particularly fond of tigers and was photographed with them all through her career.

8 dogs 

A dog and a horse

2 bunnies

The best quote regarding Betty's White that has been circulating around the internet is this one:  "Live your life so that when you die at 99, it is still too soon."

I like to think that somewhere in heaven, Betty is surrounded by her family and friends and the many animals she loved during her lifetime!

Have a safe and happy day!

Friendship Friday: January 13, 2022

 Howdy Do!

Sue found this piece in a drawer in her house.  She has a house that she describes is like Christmas morning: she never knows what she is going to find in a drawer when she opens it.  That sounds pretty magical to me!  

So this piece Sue thinks was probably made as a dresser cover for a nursery.  Sue, do you think it could be a layover pillow sham?  Not sure of the size but I've seen these kinds of shams for cribs before:

The dog is tipping his hat to the lady cat:

And the lady cat is pushing her baby carriage with the kitten:

🌳🌳🌳🌳

Half a Goose?

Nann wrote after the Brown Goose post this week and said that the block looked really familiar to her.  She finally realized that she had seen half a goose!  The pattern is featured here!  Thanks Nann!

🌳🌳🌳🌳

Also check out these blog posts (here and here) from Wendy who recently visited the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to attend the "Fabric Of A Nation" exhibit.  Fantastic photos!

🌳🌳🌳🌳

I added Collette's blog to the side bar (Readers' Blogs).  I know I might have overlooked some of you, please let me know as I am sure our friends from this blog would like to visit yours!

🌳🌳🌳🌳

I spent most of my childhood in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  One of the things we always loved to do was to collect horse chestnuts.  We always knew the trees weren't American chestnuts; those trees had become blighted earlier in the century and as far as we knew were extinct.  

But I bring you good news today!

This past month, more and more articles are surfacing that talk about the potential revival of the American chestnut tree.  A good article you may want to read is here.

🌳🌳🌳🌳

Anne Orr Crib Quilt

 

I might send this photo to Rose Marie Werner this weekend when the weather gets colder.  I found the quilt years ago and purchased it because I simply like it.

I was very surprised to find that Rose Marie attributed this pattern to Anne Orr.  There is no title or date for the quilt but the kit was apparently offered in a leaflet called Anne Orr's Quilts.

Anne Orr is better known for her geometric patterns that look more like cross stitching.  You can see some examples here at Pinterest.  But as I continued to research, I found some examples of traditional applique:

I love the gentle and charming children on this quilt and hope you enjoy the close-ups of the blocks:

Like Marion Cheever Whiteside Newton's applique patterns, the children's faces are not embroidered.  It's a sweet quilt and one of my favorites.

Tomorrow is Friendship Friday and if you would like to share anything, please email me at allentownquilter@gmail.com!

Have a safe and happy day!

Brown Goose

 No matter how cold it gets

Some wonderful old patterns are now revamped with easy tutorials that quilters can follow!  One of them is the Brown Goose pattern, offered by Missouri Star Quilt Company; you can watch the video here.  

I've had a quilt that used this pattern for many years.  It's up at Beth's house (where some of my quilts were being stored for future projects).  I liked it not because of the pattern but because it featured fabrics from the 1950s:

The block is tilted on point which is not the traditional setting.  An older quilt that used the block can be found here.

This particular quilt reminded me of the "picnic quilts" we used when I was a kid.  The back of the fabric was from a local sewing factory and had printing on different pieces of the muslin (sorry I don't have a photo of the back here).

Has a piece of music ever gone through your head when you see a quilt?  For me, each time I see this quilt, I start hearing "Grey Goose".  

"Grey Goose" is a folk song about a preacher who goes hunting and captures a goose.  No matter what he tries to do to kill the goose, it remains alive (another similar song is "The Cat Came Back").  

The preacher had hunted on a Sunday and I'm sure the moral was to honor the Sabbath.  Leadbelly recorded the song in the 1930s but some of you may be more familiar with the version by Sweet Honey In the Rock who recorded it in the 1980s on an album that was a tribute to Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie.  You can hear a version of it here.

Have a happy and safe day!

Tuesday's This and That: January 10, 2022 and Romper Babies

 Happy Tuesday friends!  The temps are terrible here today in eastern Pennsylvania.  Stay in and sew!!!

😊😊😊

Of course if you have to go anywhere, consider a trip to the Singer Cafe in Krakow Poland!  Here's a place I'd love to visit!

💓💓💓

Speaking of Singer, Smithsonian has an interesting article on sewing machine competitors in the 19th century.  You can read it here.

💢💢💢

Over at some of our friends' blogs, there is a Stay at Home Round Robin beginning this week.  You can read about it at Roseanne's or Wendy's blogs.  You pick a block or something you would like to use up in your project bin.  Each week you will add another border as per whoever is the hostess.  Check it out!  It's a fun way to finish up something you may have had in your sewing room for years!

😁😁😁

Here's another Romper Baby for our collection!  In case you want to embroider them, the others can be found here and here.  I'm very excited because I just realized I don't have to order any Kona white.  I didn't know I had any left!  Yippee!

Frock with Hat To Match No. 45

💓💓💓

Have a safe and happy day!