Flower Friday: March 14, 2025

 

5 days until spring!

The grass has not really greened up yet but the onion grass is showing (Lucky loves to smell it).  But there are signs of spring here!

Abundant snowdrops!

The crocuses are coming in!

And my neighbor's wee Dutch irses are blooming!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Tuesday's This and That: March 11, 2025

Grandmother's Flower Garden, circa 1940

Hi there!  The above quilt was one of two twin (matching) quilts and were made down the street where I live.  I was so happy to get them!  

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This week, there is an interesting article over at Barbara Brackman's Material Culture blog.  Great quilts, especially the Totten quilt which has long been a favorite with me.  You can read it here.

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I remember when we (women) couldn't receive a credit card without the signature of our husband.

I remember when a woman could lose her job because she was pregnant.

I remember when I had to wear a dress to school and choices about my body were dictated by men...including access to birth control if a woman was unmarried.

I remember when women could be excluded from jury duty.

We live in an age where the powers that be would like to rewrite history to focus only on white men.  There has been considerable controversy surrounding the U.S. Army (see here) and NSA (now rescinded) (here).  If there is a young woman you love in your life, you might want to read this report from the National Women's History Museum (here).  

Have a safe and happy day!

 

 

Hello and how are you?

We are recovering from a very busy weekend.  Because some of the family was coming in from out-of-state, we had a big ol' get together.  The highlight was Remi, my great niece--here with my brother Jim.  Two year old children really keep you busy!

Lucky is under the weather with another earache and will be heading to the vet asap.  Also my Pfaff machine broke down and that is in the repair shop.

So this week I'll be doing a deep clean and reorganization of the sewing room in between taking family members to doctors.

What are you up to this week?

Have a safe and happy day!

13 Days

 

13 Days Until Spring!

Have a safe and happy weekend!

Scrap Quilting

Circa 1950 scrap top

Hello friends!

Today's question is:  How do you define scraps and/or scrap quilting?  I was watching Sue at the From Small Things channel (here) and she asked how quilters define their scraps.

Her question and thoughts resonated with me.  As the new year has commenced, quilters have been reorganizing their fabric and looking at their scrap fabrics.  It always surprises me when folks consider fat quarters to be scraps.  I grew up thinking that the leftover pieces from projects could be considered "scraps" unless there was considerable yardage (rarely happened though).

Brown Goose Quilt, circa 1950

Sometimes when we look at older quilts we suggest that the quilt may be utilitarian.  Around here, that might mean the quilt was made for the cots of farm workers.  

One true scrap quilt that I own is this hexagon piece:

Hilda's Hexagons, circa 1930

We know the provenance of "Hilda's Hexagon Quilt" because she was able to relay the story of the quilt before she passed.  This quilt was truly a scrap quilt, comprised of many fabrics from dresses her mother made and some other household items.  She could go through the quilt and state where many of the fabrics derived.  

Some quilts appear to have been made from what we now refer to as a "deep scrap bag."  In other words, there appears to be a variety of decades in the one quilt.  Below a few of the dark pieces appear to be prints from the late 19th century in this 20th century quilt:

I'm wondering how you define scraps.

Have a safe and happy day!

 

March is National Quilting Month

 

Greetings!

March is considered National Quilting Month.  The third Saturday of the month is National Quilting Day.  This year that will fall on March 15.

Around 1991 is when the National Quilting Day or month was conceived by NQA--the National Quilting Association.  I was a member of that association and my guild was as well.  Unfortunately, the association dissolved in 2015.

Happily, we still have American Quilter's Society and you can check out the group's website here if you are unfamiliar with them.

This month, I hope to post many photos of the antique/vintage quilts from my collections.  The quilt above is a family quilt that I inherited and is from circa 1880.  I call it the Centennial Quilt because it features many fabrics that celebrated the 100 year anniversary of our country:

The unusual aqua fabric below is often referred to as "centennial green" because it was manufactured only around the time of the centennial.  We would have to wait another few decades until more pastels and bright colors were available in the 1920s and 30s.

Wishing you a safe and happy day!

Last Joann's Trip

 

Hello!

I promise, this will be my last post about Joann's fabrics.

First thing, a PSA:  There was an ad on Facebook about the sale at Joann's.  It had a big photo of -80 on it.  Here's the problem--the things on that website might be cheap $2.00 or so but it's not Joann Fabrics.  I have no idea who it is but I doubt you will ever receive anything.  The url address is jo-ann instead of joann.  I did report it to Facebook and I haven't seen it again.  Please be careful about your shopping!

On Thursday, we drove over to our local Joann's.  I don't really want to go over there when it gets really crowded.  So off we went.  Usually the one thing I buy at Joann's is batting.  But I figured I would see what I could find.  

I didn't find the batting I use for my quilts but I found a little something for everyone!

For my husband the fly fisherman, I got a few of these plastic containers for his flies and beads and stuff.  He loves this kind of container and I couldn't believe I found any left!

I have been wanting a rechargeable light for a long time.

Our house is small and pretty dark at night.  Like a lot of old houses, there aren't a lot of outlets.  This light recharges in a port like a cell phone.  It's working really well!

I like Sarah Homfray and watch her youtube channel a lot.  I saw a show on creating your own transfers and thought I would give it a whirl when I found this tracing paper:

I even managed to find a toy for Lucky!  I've never seen dog toys at Joann's before but there were a few at the check-out.  Lucky likes his elephant!

So that's our last trip to Joann's.

Have you gone to stock up on anything?

Have a safe and happy day!