Just a note to say that my mother is home after a close call last week. She's on blood thinners and moving around a little bit better. She requires a lot of care and a ton of doctor appointments which is why I haven't been posting much. My brother is also ill (it's not covid or flu). I'm grateful my husband is home and helping out.
I'll be posting more regularly next week. I just have too much on my plate.
Stay well and safe!
It must be a good microclimate. We hadn't gotten around to putting these pots away (because the snapdragon was still blooming) and now the pansy looks like it's coming back.
Hi! So as many of you know, my mother had a hip transplant 6 weeks ago but unfortunately developed many complications. She's back in the hospital with blood clots in her lungs and legs now. I'm going to post this puzzle today because I also have her dog at our house and it's a bit chaotic today. If you have anything for Friendship Friday, please email me at allentownquilter@gmail.com.
From 1933, The Missing Squares puzzle:
For decades, my love for vintage and antique children's books and quilt patterns has never waned. I was delighted a number of years ago when a younger generation of quilters and embroiders became entranced with the images too. A number of websites like Flickr celebrated vintage embroidery transfers and images from children's books. Blogs featured the designs too--most notably Martha Gray's Q is For Quilter which you can still explore although Martha has retired from blogging--and is still popular.
The trend was noticed by fabric manufacturers. 1930s reproduction fabrics had already became fashionable. A number of designers (most notably Amy Barickman and Michael Miller) shared their passion for illustrations found in antique and vintage children's books.
The Sew-It Book Things to Make With Needle and Thread and Odds and Ends:
Happy Tuesday!
Happy Hanukkah!
I've learned more about Hubert Ver Mehren because the Uncoverings book I ordered arrived last week. Susan Price Miller wrote a very interesting article on the Home Art Studios. First off, she spells the family name Ver Mehren which I'll respect and assume is the correct spelling versus the VerMehren I found in the newspaper.
Another insight was that the family did not publish all the patterns offered in Needle Art Novelties. The author does not think that the name Nancy Lee was an alias of the Ver Mehrens but a name used by a Needleart Company.
So who drew our Romper Babies? We may never know and I'm going to just refer to the patterns as simply "The Romper Babies". It's easier for us all to remember as well.
This week's Romper Babies:
Happy Friendship Friday!
Today's feature:
I made the Tortellini Soup for mom, a neighbor home from the hospital, and another who also had a hip replacement.
Mom's Tortellini Soup doesn't call for salt. I recommend you add some to enhance the flavor. All the ladies I cooked for last week were supposed to be on low-salt diets so this recipe was perfect for them.
Ma's Chicken Tortellini Soup:
I'm taking a one week break from Story Time Stitches. There is too much going on and my husband and I are still recovering from our Moderna booster shots.
Instead, here is a nice quilt that you can enjoy. It's an early 20th century quilt in a Bow Tie pattern. I like that it is predominately plaids and the solids are chambray. It's indicative of the time period when calico prints weren't as popular because they didn't wear as well.
I have a whole folder of children's puzzles that I collected from a local paper. Published in the 1940s and 1950s, they just tickle me and make me laugh. The reason I collected these puzzles was because often the headline for the puzzle was "Help Grandma plan her quilt." Maybe you will have children visiting over the holiday and here is a fun activity for them. You'll have to repair the puzzle a little, some newspaper copies are just too faint for me to correct:
Here's one that I tried to repair and make the lines darker:
"Using only 3 colors of crayons, color each area of this design for an old fashioned quilt so that the same color does not adjoin in any segments. You must study diagram carefully to achieve this effect successfully."
By the way, Emma C. McKean was the illustrator who made most of the puzzles I have in my collection. She's also credited as the first woman to have her original material accepted by comic books. You can read about her here. She also illustrated many children's books, games, coloring books, etc.
The solution for the puzzle is here and it's faint. Good luck with that 😀
This week folks in the U.S. will be celebrating Thanksgiving.
In some cases, it appears that the quilts were made as fund raisers. In 1924, The Kentucky Advocate had an article that talked about the First Baptist Church. Apparently exterior repairs were more costly than expected and members were encouraged to help out:
"...the congregation will piece out a 'Thanksgiving Quilt' with the number of dollar bills, one for each member. The unique service will be held Sunday morning, and every member is earnestly urged to be present. " It sounds as if there was no actual fabric piecing involved but a quilt made of dollar bills which was called the "Thousand Dollar Quilt".
Wishing you a safe and happy day!
