Quilting lesson, part 5 plus a birthday

"February 3, 2002:  Eleven cards (I think).  A wonderful time here in the party room at Pioneer House.  All the family here, especially Jayme and his girlfriend.  Had wonderful meal, birthday cake and ice cream.
February 4, 2002:  Nine cards today.  Played cards - "Seven Up" -- in party room this evening.  Six to eight people came.  Afterward played Cribbage at Delorous's apartment.
February 5, 2002:  Seventeen cards today.  Listened to tapes from Lester.
I remember the party and Grandma was right, it was wonderful.  The littler kids had a grand time running around (kinda anyway) in the lobby and back to the party room and back to the lobby again.

Speaking of running, I'm running late with this and will just hit the quilting lesson now.

A unique modern day quilt was made by Mary A. Lundy of Joplin, Missouri.  She wanted to enter an original quilt in the Kansas State Fair.  She used an 8" x 11" cross stitch embroidery sampler for her pattern.  Searched through stores in many cities for just the right color coordination.  Cut more than 18,000 one-inch squares for the quilt and 14 months later the quilt was completed in time to enter the fair.  It is a magnificent king-sized, mosaic-type picture, made entirely by hand. 

"Christ in Gethsemane".

World's largest quilt is in Columbia, South Carolina.  Director of Adult and Community education half-jokingly asked Hazel Ross to make the world's largest quilt to depict what goes on in community education. 
Measured 25 feet square.
397 blocks -- 396 were 12-inch square -- center block 24" square.
184 of these were log cabin, rest were represented house styles, churches, other buildings of interest in Columbia, park scenes, community education courses and recreational activities.
92 houses -- many representing the homes of quilters -- blocks worked in applique, piecing, cross stitch and shadow embroidery -- each block was lap quilted, then joined to others.
8,000 hours of labor
9 months of which 3 months taken to decide on design, fabrics, etc.
Husband very understanding at first -- his clean underwear -- buy new ones -- murmured "I'll be glad when that quilt is finished."

During the last weeks the workers were there every day and many in the evening, too.  After the quilt was unveiled, the man who started the idea gave a reception to pay tribute to the 150 workers and their long-suffering husbands.

Grandma's notes aren't quite clear as to whether the Mary Lundy quilt was a representation of "Christ in Gethsemane" but one might conclude that.  I tried looking online but after a quick search did not find information on this quilt.  I wonder why a Missouri resident was entering a quilt in the Kansas State Fair.  Maybe that's why I can't find any information -- it has been hushed up.

I've used the photo a couple of times already, but had to use it for this post since it was taken during the birthday party in question.  What a happy bunch.

Quilting lesson, part 4

"January 31, 2002:  Received 18 birthday cards.  Snowed lightly all day.  I baked six loaves of banana bread.  Have received 66 cards.
February 1, 2002:  Clear this morning.  19 cards today.
February 2, 2002:  18 cards today.  Took banana bread to Evena S., Zoya, and my neighbors Bernice and Dale A.  Helen called for my birthday -- so did Raymond and Arlene P., also Jean and Marjorie.  Nancy came the middle of the afternoon.  Brought groceries and then washed floors, vacuumed, etc.  I took my shower."

The total cards would be over 100 at this point and spoiler alert -- she got more after February 2.

How nice to make gifts and deliver them around the time of your own birthday. 

On to more quilt information.

Quilts have had a place in history.  I found these stories in quilt magazines. 

One quilt in history concerns an Irish family by the name of O'Hara.  The father, Thomas, came to America first.  After two years and three months he was able to send for his wife and two daughters, Jenny and Patty.  The grandmother had given each of the little girls a fine handmade quilt to wrap up in on their sea voyage.  When they arrived at Ellis Island, Jenny had a bad cold and was kept there until she as over it.  After two weeks she rejoined her family but with new clothes and no quilt.  The law was to destroy the clothing of anyone held because of sickness.  The family was very upset over the loss of the quilt as the grandmother was very frail and died before she could make another quilt for her granddaughter.  Girls became involved in school and new friends and soon forgot the disappointment.  Several months later a woman came to the door -- had written description of pattern and materials -- searched stores for similar material, etc.  Quilt not too different from the original -- made Jenny realize the kindness in the new country.

Another quilt story involves an 8 year old girl who had difficulty with multiplication tables (no calculator then!) [teacher to home, etc.]

This quilt story is told by Mary Louise Kitsen whose ancestors were from Arnsdorf in Austria.  People used quilts more as robes than covers.  As a child Mary's grandmother had a favorite "church" robe which had bright red material that was "soft" to the touch.  (churches not heated).  She used this robe on the Christmas Eve in 1881 when the Pastor, Josef Mohr first sang "Silent Night" to the accompaniment of a guitar-like instrument.  The church organ had been damaged by mice gnawing at the organ bellows.  The lady likes to imagine the little congregation, sitting in the cold church, with snow falling outside, many wearing "quilted robes" listening to the new song and then singing with the pastor.

Oh, phooey.  Apparently Grandma didn't need more notes for the multiplication story and so all we have are these bare notes.  I am curious as to what that story is.  Maybe I can find it.

Here is a photo of the Baby Blocks quilt that was given to Tom and Merilyn.  I like Nancy's quilt-modeling pose.

Quilting lesson, part 3

"January 28, 2002:  Received six birthday cards.  Went to a general meeting for all residents in the lobby this evening.  Had dessert and coffee.  Then Delorous U. came here and we played Scrabble.  I'm really rusty -- she beat me three games.
January 29, 2002:  Seven birthday cards came today.  Mary took me for my weekly hair-do.  Tom came about 5:00.  I made creamed dried beef on toast and we played Rummikub.
January 30, 2002:  Had pills delivered from the pharmacy.  Received 17 birthday cards.  An azalea plant from the Winside WELCA was delivered by Mary Ann S.'s brother Bill and his wife who works for the floral shop.  Went to Book Club -- afterward Delorous U. called -- wanted to play Scrabble. She came and this time I won all the games.  We're going to play Cribbage sometime.  Started to snow this p.m."

Until I kept reading/typing, I was going to suggest that if Grandma was rusty at Scrabble she and Tom should have skipped Rummikub and played Scrabble instead.  But, she apparently did just fine the second time with her new and worthy opponent.  It is fun to read her first mentions of some of these ladies that became good friends.

Creamed dried beef on toast!!  Best made with Ray Jacobsen's dried beef to be sure.  But passable even with store-bought.  I should find out if the store where Anna works has locker-made dried beef.

On to the quilting lesson, which is really a speech not a lesson on how to quilt, but you know what I mean.

Quite often quilting bees were held.  The ladies quilted during the day and then after the chores were done the men joined them for supper and then dancing.  Some quilts were named for the square dancing -- Hands Around, Swing in the Center, and Virginia Reel. 

Colonial kitchen quilting frame an article of furniture -- four rings set in the ceiling to raise quilt out of the way -- then lowered to quilt again.  Rooms small. [Looks like Grandma was using a bit of shorthand here, but that is word-for-word what she typed.]

The time the whaling vessels sailed form New England ports was just a short time in our history.  The whaling vessels would be out to sea for weeks at a time. The sailors spent time carving knife handles, kitchen utensils and decorative items  from whalebone.  For the women at home, quilt making was popular and also necessary.  Quilts were needed during the long, cold winters for covers and also as hangings over drafty windows and along a wall where a bed might be.  The wives also made quilts for their sailor husbands.  The men took great pride in their quilts, took good care of them and often took a new quilt on the next trip to show off to the others.  When they stopped at other ports, the men bought cloth for their wives.  This handsome cloth was popular with the women to make clothing for the family and then there were the leftovers to use in their quilts.  Some of these quilts can be seen in museums in Connecticut and other New England states.

Here is a photo of what I think is the Dresden Plate pattern, but I will welcome a correction on that if I am incorrect.  Photo is dated 1991 but there is no indication of who may have gotten this quilt or even if Grandma pieced it.

Quilting lesson, part 2

"January 25, 2002:  Received 14 birthday cards and a package from Helen -- contained homemade candy "turtles".
January 26, 2002:  Called Helen to thank her for the candy.  Received a birthday card.  Greta had placed a request in The Wayne Herald and others for a card shower for my 90th birthday.  Joan N. called this evening explaining why she wasn't at my farewell party.
January 27, 2002:  Called Greta in a.m.  Received three birthday cards.  Nancy brought supper -- I showered and then we played Rummikub."

I certainly hope I sent or delivered a birthday card to Grandma.  I think I am ranked nationally in the bad-about-sending-cards category.

Here's more of the quilt speech:

A missionary from Boston to the Hawaiian Islands gave the native women scraps of material to make quilts because she thought "idle hands do the devil's work".  The native women gradually substituted their own material to display their much-loved motifs -- grape vines, shadows of the bread fruit tree, or taro leaves.  The swirling, curved stitching instead of the diagonal or parallel is indicative of the Hawaiian gentle nature.  Families made their own patterns and shared them with no one else.  These patterns were treasured by the family.

Amish quilts have strong design and striking colors.  [believe only God is perfect, the quilts have plenty of imperfections]  The quilts are composed of three primary shapes -- the square, triangle and rectangle.  Often the square is placed on its corners to make a diamond.  Small triangles may be placed along these edges to form a saw tooth diamond.  The Amish felt it was sinful to have excess pride in wordly possessions, so the early quilts were constructed of large, simple pieces.  In the early 1900's they began to use more intricate designs being influenced by English neighbors.

Many books have been written about quilting in America.  Among the early colonists, cloth was too scarce and expensive to waste, so homespun and worn calico dresses were cut and sewed into crazy patch quilts.  In time the European motifs were replaced by traditional American designs still used today.  Colonial ladies in Boston and Philadelphia, others on southern plantations, and the pioneer women of Kentucky or Kansas made many quilts.  New designs were created and they were named after the new land -- the Ohio Rose, Arizona Cactus, and the Rocky Road to Kansas.

The famous Lemoyne Star was the forerunner of the Lone Star, Twin Star, California Star, Star of Bethlehem, Morning Star and Broken Star and many more.  The Log Cabin with its many variations was one of the most popular of all.  (Quilt at Pioneer Village).

And to illustrate Grandma's point about the log cabin pattern, here is one variation.  The writing on the back of the photo would indicate this was given to Uncle Raymond and Aunt Marina.

Quilting lesson

"January 22, 2002:  Foot still hurts some.  Warm today -- high of 59 degrees.
January 23, 2002:  Mary came at noon and ate lunch -- I showered.  In evening to Book Club.
January 24, 2002:  Myrtle's birthday -- Also Mary's.  Called Myrtle in a.m.  Helen Jones called in p.m.

I found a speech Grandma typed out and most likely gave somewhere, sometime.  There is nothing I've found so far to indicate an audience or a date.  But, I haven't read through it all so maybe there will be hints along the way.  Since Grandma was a prolific quilter, it is only appropriate to put here what she knew and researched and liked about quilts.  It will take a few posts to get it all, but that's fine with me.  Here we go.  Oh, I am going to include her notes to herself that aren't complete sentences just because.

[Glad to be here]
[Miss Ramsey]
["fruited plane"]
[Not a professional orator]

Little is known of the early history of quilting.  The noun quilt is derived from the Latin word "culcita" meaning a sack, mattress or cushion filled with feathers, wool, or hair used to lie upon or as a cover.

From ancient statuary it has been learned that quilted clothing was used 3,000 years ago.  At the time of William the Conqueror and the Crusades at the end of the 11th century, quilted jackets were worn under the knight's armor.

Explorers in India, Egypt and other eastern countries discovered patchwork and it was brought back to the Mediterranean countries and then across Europe and into northern England.

In the 1200's quilting was a cottage industry in Wales and northern England.  In the 1700's fashionable women in the British Isles enjoyed the warmth and beauty of quilted [bulky!] silk petticoats and coverlets.

French needlewomen are credited with introducing the art of applique [Dresden Plate, Mary's butterfly] and the Italians gave us trapunto [have read about trapunto, haven't seen any, looks like a lot of work] , which is outlining a design and then stuffing it to give a 3-dimensional effect.

Well, a granddaughter who stayed the night is requesting muffins for breakfast, so I better go make some.  More quilt information tomorrow.  But before I go, a photo that cracks me up.  I don't think he was truly angry, but it certainly looks like Grandpa is not enjoying Aunt Marina's turn at cards.  He wasn't playing so she isn't beating him, but he does look dissatisfied. 

Bum foot, continued

"January 19, 2002:  Foot still sore.  Mitch and Anna didn't come tonight.
January 20, 2002:  Talked to Greta in a.m.  Nancy here for dinner.  I showered and then we played Rummikub.
January 21, 2002:  Have been taking Tylenol.  My foot doesn't hurt as much."

I don't have much to work with here, so I will mention some events from January 2002, just for giggles.

Unemployment report for December was 5.8%.
The movie Black Hawk Down was released. 
Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's restaurant chain died at age 69.
Kenneth Lay, CEO of Enron resigned and hearing on Enron began the next day.

Well, ladies and gents, that is truly all I have for right now.  Since it is Sunday and I missed posting on Saturday, I will poke around a bit to see if I can find something of interest and post again today.

Here's a photo of the old Winside High School.  Which is a bit of a misnomer since all grades were taught in there.  I can still remember a few things about the school, especially the fire escape.

Bum foot and a history lesson

"January 15, 2002:  Tom came from work and we visited and played several games of Rummikub.
January 16, 2002:  Tom came and washed my clothes.  No Book Club tonite.
January 17, 2002:  My right foot was very sore.  Got into the doctor's office at 1:15.  Nancy took me.  I'm to take the water pills again.
January 18, 2002:  At 8:15 a.m. went to Bryan Hospital for an ultrasound on my right leg.  Everything looked ok."

I never heard Grandma complain about it, but I bet she wasn't thrilled about taking water pills.  I've not talked to anyone that liked jumping up and going to bathroom constantly.

Although there is a hospital named for him in Lincoln, I would imagine some man-on-the-street interviews would reveal a lack of knowledge about William Jennings Bryan.  Nebraska is quite proud of him, but I found out he was not born and did not die in this state.  He did not move here until he was 27 and lived here less than half of his life.  He was the Democratic nominee for president three times, was appointed Secretary of State, and invented the stump tour.  He gave 500 speeches in one year at a time when politicians largely stayed home during campaigns.  Wikipedia reports a typical speaking day would include four one-hour speeches plus other talks to reach six hours of speaking a day.  This would equate to a daily output of 52 columns of a newspaper.

He, of course, is well known for his part in the Scopes trial.  I was not aware that he died (aged 65 years) only five days after that trial ended.

And that's it for our history lesson today.

Since Tom was at Grandma's two days running, he gets star billing in the photo for today.  Here he is with Satch in 1962.  Such a fun and funny cat he was -- Satch, that is.