Roses in the Garden and Quilts

 

The days are getting cooler.  It's that time of year when we decide what we want to keep and rearrange our garden before the first frost of the season.  This fall, I'm removing two more rose bushes.  One tea rose is diseased.   Another is blooming very little because it doesn't get enough sun anymore; the Pee Gee Hydrangea tree has grown so large that it shades the bush too much.

There was a time when I had a whole collection of tea roses in the garden and babied them all through the summer.  One by one they each faded or got diseased and I'm now too old to be messing with them.  The only roses I'll have left are the climbing ones on our front arbor.  Climbing roses seem to resist disease more than any other type (in my experience).

Do you have roses in your garden?

Roses have always been represented in quilts.  Here are a few  patterns from the 1930s that I've collected:

1934

Radiant Rosebuds, 1933:

An interesting take on yo-yo's in 1932:

1934

1933

Are you rearranging your garden this season as well?

Tomorrow is Flower Friday.  Please email me photos you would like to share (allentownquilter@gmail.com).  

Have a safe and happy day!

Batiks 2

 

Yesterday I talked about my batik project.  While I was working last week, I tried to remember when batik fabric became so popular for quilting.  I think perhaps in the early 2000s.  

But then I found some interesting tidbits--and we all know how I can't resist trivia about fabric.

Batiks were popular during the roaring 20s and perhaps even a few years before.  

1920s dress made of batik

1929

1924

Oh duh.  Suddenly all of the clothes from the early seasons of Downton Abbey make sense.  Some clothes were embroidered and beaded to resemble batiks during that era.  

Batiks were also used for home decorative items like lamp shades and pillows.

There was even a book on how to create batik fabrics.  You can read it here.  It was published in 1920.

Once the Depression hit, batiks were sometimes advertised for home goods but seemed to fade for women.  After World War 2, batik ties were advertised a few places for men.

The fabric became more popular during the wild days of the 1960s but as far as use in quilts, there were only a few articles about quilters using batiks in the 1970s and 1980s--and mostly those were what we would categorize as art quilters.

Wishing you a safe and happy day!

Batiks

 

Happy Tuesday!

My husband travelled the world for his job before the pandemic.  About 15 years ago, he was sent to Indonesia.  I don't normally ask my husband to bring anything back but I thought some batik fabric might actually be interesting.   I didn't have any in my stash and even wrote post-it notes in his luggage to remind him of the word batik.  

Surprisingly, he did bring me home some fabric.  One piece of cotton that was printed to resemble batik and a lot of thin fabric.  "The lady at the kiosk said you would love this.  It's actual silk!"

I never told him it was polyester.  I thanked him profusely.  Effort counts especially when he normally hates shopping.

I personally was never a big fan of batiks but the younger generation loved those fabrics so I have some in my stash.  Recently, I used some bigger scraps for this quilt.

Last week I wanted a new project and found a pattern I had purchased a while ago called Winterbound.  The pattern is here.  I think I had purchased it for some of my snow fabric but forgot about it.  😕 So I decided it would be a good pattern for batik scraps.  The pattern is paper pieced.  I'm going to make mine scrappy and using up a lot of autumn colored scraps.  I figured I would make this for one of the young secretaries at my husband's office who is always looking out for him when he is on the road.

I'm wondering if you enjoy batiks.  Beth has said to me that she doesn't buy batiks because she doesn't like the feel of the fabric.  Another woman told me the prints are too wild for her and too expensive.

What are your preferences?

Have a safe and happy day!

With thanks...

 

Thank you friends for all the kind emails and comments about Kerry.  She was a great dog and we miss her so much!

To say last week was a tough week is an understatement.  We lost Kerry on Monday.  On Thursday, we lost a family member in a horrible car accident (if you are local, you heard about it on the news).  And one of my closest friend's daughter is in the hospital fighting for her life.

Brad and a bunch of family members came home and I'm grateful to have my husband here.  I'm also grateful for my neighbors; some are bringing their dogs up for a visit like Yogi and Zora below.

Zora and Yogi

I am returning to blog writing if only to get my mind off things so I'll have posts this week.

Thank you again for your kind thoughts!

Have a safe and happy day!

Kerry

 

Kerry crossed the rainbow bridge on Monday.

She had been slowing down by the end of last week and on Sunday she became more ill.  She was not in pain but couldn't keep food down and it was clear that the prednisone was no longer working.

She did see all her friends and loved ones on Sunday and on Monday we took her to the vet.  He did say he was surprised she had made it this long.

We all really miss her and it is so sad that this puppy had to leave us at only 3 years old.

I think you will understand that I just need a few days to grieve.  I'll be back next week and wish you a safe and happy week.

Thursday's This and That: September 7, 2023

 

If you read my post yesterday, I bet you know I'm a bit confused these days.  After I posted, I panicked and added the usual blurb about Flower Friday.  I've got a lot on my plate and confuse my days right now and that's okay.

Kerry is actually doing well right now, all things considered.  She still wants to go to the park in the morning and even though we don't walk for very long, she gets to see her dog friends.  This could be because she is tired more but also the heat has been awful even early in the morning.  But each day we have her is a gift and she is getting lots of loving.  She is very happy to be living with us.

I've brought the sewing machine down to the dining room.  Last week I bound two quilts and am very happy with the way they look:

My friend Lizzie quilted them and even included bees on this quilt which is for my neighbor Molly who is a beekeeper:

My husband returned home from working in Oklahoma and I'm hoping he will be here through the weekend.  Our guild is having basket bingo and I would really like to go if he is here to care for the puppy.  Fingers crossed he doesn't get sent out!🤞

Even though it's not officially autumn, the garden has that "tired" look these days.  I'm behind on my chores out there and well other things are the priority.

My question for Flower Friday is:  Now that the season is beginning to close, is there anything you wish you had included in your garden?  A color or a plant?  Anything you learned that you loved?  Just wondering....

Tomorrow is Flower Friday so if you want to share thoughts or photos, email me at allentownquilter@gmail.com.

Have a safe and happy day!

Girl Scout Quilts

 

Happy Monday!

Were you a Girl Scout?

I was.  I started in Brownies and grew up in the organization even becoming a senior.  After I got married, I was even a G.S. leader for a short time until my husband and I moved out of state.

This Baxter/McDonnell motif made me wonder if there were Girl Scout quilt patterns.  There was no explanation with the design in the feature of the above design.

Although I didn't find quilt patterns, there were tons of Girl Scout quilts, mostly done for charity or service:

(1942)

**A 1939 quilt provided funds for children-sized tables and chairs for the story-telling part of the local library.

**A quilt with tulip flower designs was given to a Children's Home in Fort Worth in 1947.

Some quilts were entered into local fairs:

Above:  These Girl Scouts in Oklahoma won first place in their state fair in 1954.

Some troops made autograph quilts.  The 1945 one below included the autograph of Harry Truman.  The actress Mary Martin not only sent an autograph but embroidered the quilt block for the Girl Scouts in Connecticut.

In 1930, another autograph quilt included the autograph of President Hoover for a troop in Dexter, NY.  The quilt was auctioned off and the proceeds went to help the local GS district. 

The reason that the quilts may have aided as a fundraiser for  the Girl Scouts in 1930 was that the cookies were not yet being sold on a national level.  And then when World War 2 broke out, often the cookies could not be made/sold because of war rationing:

During the war, the scouts switched to selling GS calendars which continued after the war.

1951:

My mother said when she moved to Bethlehem, PA, she joined the girl scouts (around 1950) and the sold not only cookies but candy (malted milk balls).

***

Strange things or the lack thereof:

I've never seen a Sunbonnet Sue in a G.S. uniform.  Wouldn't it be fun to see a Girl Scout Sunbonnet fulfilling different badges?

Have you seen a Girl Scout quilt?

I was never taught to quilt in G.S.  I don't think we did any kind of sewing at all which seems odd.  We could have at least learned to sew our badges on our sash.  Do you have experience in the Girl Scouts that included quilting or sewing?

Some vintage sewing badges:

Have a safe and happy day!

Once Upon A Time... A Tale for Tuesday

 Today's post is a story that was syndicated throughout the U.S. in 1905.  

There was a poor Russian immigrant that lived in Brooklyn. New York.  The man made his living as a quilt maker.  As the case often was in turn of the century NY, the man lived with his wife, 6 children, sister-in-law, and his in-laws.  He supported the family with his quilt making and earned $10/week.  There's even an illustration that was posted with the story:

The story focused on the fact that his parents in the old country had contacted him with legal documents.  Of course his parents were poor themselves.  But what they wanted was remarkable...

The man's uncle--who worked a a beggar--had left them an inheritance.  The Russian quilt maker was left a portion as well.  But how much could a beggar leave the man?

How about $400,000. in 1905.  My best inflation counter suggested that amount would be worth over 13 million today.

As it turns out, the beggar uncle was one shrewd cookie.

When the beggar uncle was a child, he was kidnapped and conscripted to the Army.  He escaped in Paris and began to develop his begging, investing...and hoarding.  He banked all his money with Rothschilds.  

He did most of his begging on the Riviera, particularly Monte Carlo and Nice.  And that is how the beggar uncle acquired a fortune which his family inherited.

The Russian quilt-maker told a reporter that he would buy a nice house, a silk dress for his wife, new clothes for his children.  Most importantly, he would bring his parents over from Russia; an important aspect since it was 1905 and before the Russian revolution.

This story was syndicated with the headline:  "Like a Fairy Tale."  I never could find out the name of the Russian quilt maker or what happened to him and his family.

Anyway, it's a good story to start the week!

Have a safe and happy day!

Happy Labor Day!

 

Have a safe and happy Labor Day!

Flower Friday: September 1, 2023

 

Happy Friday...and even better the Friday of a 4 day weekend!

Mary from Maine sent this lovely photo for Flower Friday.  I can't think of a better image for the first day of September:

Thank you so much Mary!

Have a safe and happy weekend everyone!