Back after my brief absence

"February 22, 2002:  Wrote some more thank you notes.
February 23, 2002:  Nancy came in p.m.  She took me shopping.  We ate at the Village Inn.  I bought a necklace with my birthday money -- also a new house coat.
February 24, 2002:  Tom brought my laundry in a.m.  I talked to Greta in a.m.  Nancy came in late afternoon.  We played Rummikub.  I watched the closing ceremonies of the Olympics -- really spectacular."

I have been having to work at work lately and it is a real drag.  I am just kidding -- glad to have a job and work that is interesting when it shows up, preferably not all at once.  I actually sat through a meeting yesterday and didn't scream or claw my face.  As some know, I would rather take a beating than sit through meetings.  In my experience frequently a lot of nothing gets accomplished at most meetings.  Thankfully the one yesterday was productive with good attention and good questions and not a lot of talking just to talk.

But back to 2002 -- pretty normal stuff here for Grandma.  Does Nancy remember if they at at "the" Village Inn -- the one close to Mom and Nancy now? 

I wonder how many people use the term "house coat" anymore. . .

Since I am longing for Spring and hoping for a good garden this year, here's a photo for inspiration.

Noodles!

"February 19, 2002:  Mary took me for my weekly shampoo and set.
February 20, 2002:  Helen's birthday is tomorrow but I called her today.  Mary came at noon for lunch.  I took my shower.  Went to Book Club this evening.  Brought back book "Rivers of the Heart" by George deBord.
February 21, 2002:  Worked on sorting cards, clippings, etc.  Made noodles for chicken soup.  Tom came in late afternoon.  We played Rummikub.  He took my laundry home with him.  He didn't come last night because he and Merilyn went to a special ball game.  Myrtle called after supper.  I forgot it was my turn to call -- I was so concerned about getting the noodles made!!!  I'll call her two Thursdays in a row now."

I love how I find out things Grandma did (or didn't do in this case) that remind me of me.  I can certainly see myself forgetting to do something because I was wrapped up in doing something else.  In fact, I most likely do that several times a week.

Speaking of Aunt Myrtle, here's a replay of our wonderful photo together from back in my less inhibited days.

Tired kids and some new checks

"February 15, 2002:  Mailed five thank-you notes.  Talked to Bill.
February 16, 2002:  Received new check blanks.  Mitch and Anna here in evening.  Soon after we ate they "conked out" and were practically asleep by 8:30!!
February 17, 2002:  I called Greta in a.m.  Nancy came in late afternoon.  We had supper and while I showered she vacuumed, etc.  We played some Rummikub before she went home.
February 18, 2002:  Bill came in afternoon -- he had been to the dentist.  We played Rummikub.  Bernice, my neighbor, called to offer me a bowl of bean soup.  It was very good -- different from what I make.  I went to the Party Room in evening to play Seven-Up."

Well, if anyone was hoping to re-live some excitement from 2002, this isn't the blog post for it.  Other than the check blanks, of course.  I even added an extra day to my normal three per post and all we got out of it was bean soup.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think Grandma was hiding anything from us, but a suspense novel this is not.

The photo is of a very cheerful Grandma Anna, Grandma, Uncle Ray and Bumps.  It's kinda cute of everyone, I think.

Quilting lesson, part 8 (the end)

"February 12, 2002:  Mary came at noon to take me for my "hair-do".
February 13, 2002:  Mary came and had lunch.  I showered and then visited with her.  Went to Book Club in evening.  Herb Schuessler died suddenly today.
February 14, 2002:  Mary and Mitch and Anna came in the evening with Chinese food.  That was my Valentine present.  We played Rummikub.  Myrtle called in a.m."

I don't recall taking Chinese food on Valentine's Day but I am certainly glad I/we did. 

Quilting, already since I am drawing a blank.

Nebraska windmill -- designed by E. S. "Bud" Dunklau of Lincoln in bicentennial year -- won $100 prize in a statewide contest -- named by the Legislature as the official state quilt block.  Cathedral Window -- 50 yards of muslin.  Star of Bethlehem -- almost 4,000 pieces.

I'll conclude with my favorite "quilts in history" story.  In pre-Civil War days a sea captain, Capt. Wm. Driver lived in Salem, Mass. -- one of the kindest and most dependable -- to show their love and respect the ladies of Salem made a large flag for him.  As the flag was hoisted and unfurled, the captain -- impressed by the gift and the occasion -- shouted, "I'll call her Old Glory, boys, Old Glory!"  Back from a journey -- wife had been seriously ill -- advised to move to a milder climate -- chose Nashville, Tenn.  Very happy there -- displayed "Old Glory" often.  Then Civil War Confederate officer came to confiscate flag, etc.  Flag counted as a quilt.  Flew over the state capital at end of war.  Flag now is in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

Thank you for the opportunity to ramble on about my favorite past time.  I've enjoyed this very much.

I am guessing from her shortened notes that the Confederate officer was not allowed to take the flag since it was considered a quilt.  I was sort of correct -- I looked up Capt. Driver and found this; close enough:

Captain Driver quit the sea in 1837. He settled in Nashville, Tennessee, where he had relatives living. On patriotic days he displayed Old Glory proudly from a rope extending from his house to a tree across the street. As the Civil War began, after Tennessee seceded from the Union in 1861, Driver feared that Old Glory might be confiscated or destroyed by the Confederate authorities. He hid the flag, having it sewn inside a comforter. When Union soldiers entered Nashville on February 25, 1862, Driver removed Old Glory from its hiding place. He carried the flag to the Tennessee State Capitol and raised it on the capitol flagpole. He is said to have remained on watch all that night to ensure that the flag came to no harm.

Shortly before his death, the old sea captain placed a small bundle into the arms of his daughter. He said to her, "Mary Jane, this is my ship flag, Old Glory. It has been my constant companion. I love it as a mother loves her child. Cherish it as I have cherished it." Captain Driver is buried in Nashville's historic City Cemetery, under an unusual marker of his own design—a ship's anchor leaning against a vine-covered tree. By a special act of Congress, Driver's gravesite is one of several places in the United States, including the grave of Francis Scott Key, where a flag is flown twenty four hours a day. His house, where Old Glory so often flew, no longer exists, but a historical plaque near its location on Fifth Avenue South commemorates him.

Mary Jane took the flag with her as she married and moved, first to Nevada and then to California, occasionally displaying it at or near her home. In the early 1900s, she sewed the deteriorating flag to a bedsheet in order to stabilize it.

The flag remained as a precious heirloom in the Driver family until 1922. Then it was sent to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., where it is carefully preserved under glass today. It and the flag which flew over Fort McHenry during the British bombardment of 1814, inspiring Francis Scott Key to write the The Star-Spangled Banner, are considered the two most historically significant flags in the country and two of the greatest treasures of the Smithsonian.

[I hope the photo I copied over from wikipedia make the transfer and is visible.]

Quilting lesson, part 7

"February 9, 2002:  Two cards came today.  Nancy came in p.m. and ironed while I showered.  Mary, Mitch and Anna brought our meal from Boston market.  We played a game of Rummikub after our meal.  Then Nancy went home -- it was blowing and snowing.  Mary came after the kids about midnight.
February 10, 2002:  Sunny today -- not much snow.  Greta called in a.m.
February 11, 2002:  Mailed five thank you notes.  In evening went to Party Room and played Seven-Up with some of the residents."

I don't recall playing Seven-Up while growing up (snicker, snicker).  I wonder if that is a game Grandma learned at the Pioneer House or if we just didn't play much of that particular game during my childhood.  In any event, I like it.  It's easy to learn and the strategy is straightforward and you can talk and visit and do not have to concentrate too awfully much.  My kind of game exactly.

On to the quilting:

Interested in quilt making since before I was married -- pieced a Broken Star and Grandmother's Flower Garden.  Started again after retirement 12 years ago.  [a clue as to when this was written - MJS]  Really ten years ago [now she is just confusing us for her own entertainment - MJS].

Have made 20 some quilts, doesn't seem like very many after reading in magazines, lady in Pilger, over 200 quilts -- 12 pieced tops waiting to be quilted and I'm reluctant to say how many I've started cutting pieces for.  Boxes in closet of sewing room labeled - Starry Path, Spider Web, Nosegay, Log Cabin, etc.  Prefer patchwork quilts.  Use old treadle machine.  Everyday quilts -- long stitch.  Admire applique -- have made just two -- the Colonial Lady and Yellow Rose of Texas.  Enjoy studying quilt magazines -- so many encourage creating your own -- I'm not creative -- too afraid of wasting time and material.

Lap Quilting with Georgia Bonesteel -- gorgeous quilts -- made mine seem very inferior.  Blizzardy days are my favorite -- no interruptions, scatter quilt pieces all over.  Must live to be over 100 to finish all I've started and more I want to make.  Would like to make sampler quilts based on 9-patch and 4-patch, use new quilting patterns.

Besides working on my own quilts, I'm chairman of our LCW Quilting Circle.  We've quilted about 80 quilts since the fall of 1983.  I don't have a record of the previous years.  I suppose I've marked practically all of them and bound half of them.  I'm keeping a scrapbook of the pictures of these quilts.

Oh, pish posh.  I know Georgia Bonesteel makes great quilts, but Grandma should not have said they made hers seem inferior.  She would have loved to have seen the reactions of the great-grandkids upon opening their quilts (made by her) at this last Christmas.  Only one swap was made -- due to girl v. boy color preferences, I think.  The others seemed to have been directed to the best kid to have them.  Not inferior by any stretch of the imagination.

I am guessing this is the Colonial Lady quilt Grandma referenced, but I'll take the hit if that is not the case.  I like how some of the flowers are different, depending on the fabric of the lady's dress.

Oopsies, tune in tomorrow

I had the journal home with me this weekend, but didn't get anything posted.  I didn't go to work Monday due to snow drifts, but was busy cleaning for company and didn't get anything posted.  All ready to get back to business today, but . . . the journal is at home and not at work where I am.

On a positive note, the grumpy grandma pictures got hung on the wall yesterday -- in the stairwell going upstairs.  They look pretty good and should keep the grandkids in line.

Quilting lesson, part 6

"February 6, 2002:  Six cards today.  Mary here for lunch while I showered.  Tom here in evening -- he took care of laundry and we played Rummikub.
February 7, 2002:  Three cards today.  I called Myrtle.  Joan N. broke her leg and is in a Lincoln hospital.  Called Arlene B. for Vicki's address.  Entered names of all I received birthday cards from in the guest book from my farewell party in Winside.
February 8, 2002:  Finished organizing the cards.  Two cards came today -- that makes 160 cards.  Nice, newsy letter from Bonnie F."

I should have known Grandma would provide a card count -- I wouldn't have needed to tally them up in my earlier post.  I wonder how she organized them.  I also wonder if I get my need to sort and resort and re-categorize things from her.  I definitely wouldn't call myself organized, but there is a seed of something there hiding.  Quit laughing, Mom.  On to quilting.

NO TIME ON MY HANDS as told by Grace Snyder to her daughter Nellie Snyder Yost.

1885 - 3 years old - moved form Missouri to Custer County, Nebraska.

As early as 6 years of age she wanted to make quilts.  Watched mother -- mother said too small, must sew small stitches and not waste thread.  Before she was 10 she pieced a 4-square doll quilt while sitting by a hay stack and herding cattle.  From the time she was 10 her Aunt Bell gave her lovely scraps from her dressmaking to use for quilts.
  First teaching job -- in the home -- two young boys -- bought $1.00 of material to make quilt top.  She had been helping her mother make quilt tops.

She had three wishes:  above clouds, marry a cowboy and make a really beautiful quilt.  Married and moved to a ranch -- always had three quilts going -- cutting one, piecing another and quilting the third -- as hands became tired or sore she worked on another.

Took her work box along in the car when she went with Bert fishing, checking wells, etc.

Most of her big "show" collection were pieced during the long snowbound winters on the ranch.  During the WWII years she pieced most of her finest quilts -- Mosaic Hexagon with over 50,000 dime-sized pieces and the Basket Petit Point with 87,789 pieces and 5,400 yards of thread.  Eight triangle-shaped pieces sewed together made a block no larger than a two-cent stamp.  The effect is more like needlepoint than patchwork quilting.  Sixteen months to make.  Copied the design from a plate.  Wrote to company that made plates, etc.  One year at Nebraska State Fair, 18 of her quilts hung in a long row -- the 19th, an original grapevine design was in a showcase under the purple sweepstakes ribbon.  Called Nebraska First Lady of Quilting.

Daughter selected 12 outstanding quilts and exhibited all over the country -- didn't put them in the baggage -- paid for extra fare and kept them beside her on the plane.

Grandma doesn't say so in her notes, but the lady met at least two of her life goals.  Her daughter flew above the clouds, but we don't know about the quilter herself.  I would like to think she got to do that.

The notes also do not indicate what she wrote the plate company about and what their response was, if any.  Bummer.

I can imagine not letting quilts loose in the baggage compartment.  The daughter was a smart lady to keep them in sight, me thinks.

And here's a photo of a quilt comprised of hexagons.