Happy Mother's Day!

 

Flower Friday

 Happy Flower Friday!

Libby sent these photos from her garden:

Irises blooming by the lake:

Peonies all set to bloom!

But just look at her azaleas! 

This is her view from her sewing room--wowsa!

Everyone's azaleas seem much farther than mine!

Sue sent this photo.  Several years ago she stopped by a friend's house who was weeding and complimented her friend on her beautiful azaleas.  Her friend said, "do you want one?"  And plucked a 4 inch baby to share.

This is that azalea now!  It's so nice to have plants that remind of us friends!

Close-up:

Sue also has this German Iris blooming.  Another Pass-along Plant, it was from her sister's garden in Maine:

We are supposed to have a good soaking rain for the next two days.  I'm hoping it will help our gardens.  We have been very dry and the flowers are all in holding pattern right now!

Wishing you a safe and happy weekend!

Azalea Patterns

 Breaking News...

Remi Joanna was born at 5:21 p.m..  She is 8 lbs just as I predicted.  It was a tough and long birth and we are so proud of our Maggie!

We thought they would have done a C-section but Maggie had to  do it naturally.  In a new switch, her mother was allowed to be in the room during the birth with Maggie's husband Matt.  I was pretty surprised by that but relieved.  The epidural had failed and I am sure she needed her Mom as well as Matt.  

Rema, Maggie's Mom holding Remi.

Back to our originally scheduled post...

Spring is azalea season and often while I'm puttering through my day, I wonder--is there a quilt pattern for this or that?

In our neighborhood, there is one pinky purple azalea that blooms in early spring.  

The other colored bushes don't display their flowers until much later.  In fact, my white and red ones only have small buds on them.  So of course I wondered, was there ever an azalea quilt pattern?

I only found two examples to share with you, this one which was published in the late 1930s by Nancy Cabot; I also found this to be the only in Brackman's applique encyclopedia:

The other was an embroidered quilt pattern offered by kit quilt company named Mayfair.

I don't see any examples of these patterns on the internet but if you need some azalea inspiration, stay tuned tomorrow on Flower Friday!

If you have anything to share for Flower/Friendship Friday, please email me photos at allentownquilter@gmail.com!

Have a safe and happy day!

Break Day

 I'm having some trouble concentrating this morning.  My niece Maggie has been in labor since Monday and our poor girl is still at it.  The epidural has failed, the pain is terrible, and the baby was in some distress overnight although she (the baby) is doing better.   I've already written tomorrow's post so I think I am just going to take a hiatus today. 

I'm going to putter around the house to keep myself occupied.

Have a safe and happy day!

Tuesday's This and That: May 3, 2022

 Happy Tuesday!

This week's "This and That" features conversations with Sue!

On Monday, Sue emailed me and pointed out something really important.  

Note the colors of the children's clothing:

The boys ware donned in pink, the girls in blue as was the style.  I know I've written about this before but this is such a great example!  Sue pointed out that the boys are donned in pink, the girls in blue as was the fashion in the 19-teens and 1920s.  In fact, a 1917 Ladies Home Article article pointed out that pink was appropriate for boys because it was such a strong color while blue was more "delicate and dainty" and suitable for girls.

The embroidered pieces I originally featured are from the 1930s and feature opposite colors:

By the 1940s, most manufacturers were marketing blue for boys and pink for girls.  

As Sue rightly pointed out, earlier in the 19th century and very early 20th century babies and toddlers were dressed in white.  White was perfect and bleachable when the children messed their clothing.  Her example was this photo of FDR:

When I received this email from Sue, I laughed so much.  It reminded me of this family photo:

I told my aunt who gave me the photo that I loved this picture of Nana Elsie (seated in front).  She looked so much as she did later in life.  My aunt responded, "That's my father."

😂😂😂

Have a safe and happy day!

Good Questions

 After I posted the Pictorial Review post (here), Nann asked some good questions!

"Have you ever tried transferring those really old transfers?"

Yes I grew up using old transfers that had been my grandmothers' and even my great-grandmother.  But for experimental use, I thought I would do an example for you.

Okay the results are not perfect but well enough that I can fill in the gaps with a frixion pen.  Not bad for a 100 years old.  You may or may not be able to tell that the image is created from a series of little dots of ink that were pressed through a stencil.  I suspected this one would transfer because the dots (which you can feel) were still raised.

Of course, it all depends on how well the transfers were stored.  Patterns that had already been used rarely left a decent image.

Nann also asked:

"I wonder, what is the technology/chemistry of the ink that makes the transfers?"

I never found an article on this but I know why.  This was proprietary information because the process was patented.  In fact, in the U.K. where the technology was developed, there was a huge patent war between Briggs and Company--the company that was most successfully marketed in North America and Deighton Company.  Although Briggs won the battle, Deighton one the war.  Deighton's company lived on much longer than Briggs' and in fact, Deighton Needleworks is still in business.

Now about those toddlers that I shared from Pictorial Review--I found an actual coverlet that used them on Etsy (here):

Wishing you a safe and happy day!

Happy May Day!

 Why yes, it's unusual for me to post on a Sunday but I wanted to wish you a Happy May Day!

I'm going to guess that many of you remember growing up during the Cold War when May Day wasn't celebrated because it was considered a communistic holiday.  Although it was celebrated as  "the International Workers Day" in communistic countries, the actual holiday has been celebrated--and still is-- for centuries in most cultures as the first day of spring.  I have elderly neighbors who remember dancing around the May Pole when they were young.

May Day is often featured in early 20th century textiles.  I don't own a single piece that features this holiday but found some on Pinterest and online auctions to share with you:

   

Tablecloths include this beauty found via pinterest on another blog.

It's my favorite season and favorite month and I hope you get to enjoy a wonderful warm day to celebrate!