Take 2: Optical Illusion With Plaid (complete and with photos this time!)

(I inadvertently posted this a few days ago, long before I was done writing it.  Here it is in it's final form!)

"It just looked like a happy quilt that needed a home!"

That's what the owner of this quilt told me when she sent it to me for repairs.  I think that's a lovely reason to buy a quilt, don't you?

What makes this quilt especially fun for me are the blocks that were pieced with a large red and white plaid.  Piecing that plaid next to a plain white made the seam lines of the patchwork pretty much disappear, creating a syncopated, modernistic pattern in the midst of this otherwise very quaint, old-fashioned quilt!

A 1920s Beaded Velvet Gown - An Absolute Work of Art

Welcome to vintage clothing heaven!

The pedigree of this dress is:
- dates to the 1920s
- made by the Nemser Original Model label, a super high-end designer in New York City
- silk velvet
- heavily, heavily beaded with glass beads
- in near perfect condition, significantly better condition than some of the other Nemser dresses that have appeared online

Edwardian Bodice, Embroidery and Fine Detailing - Addendum

A short while ago, I posted photos and described a wonderful piece of vintage clothing.  You can see more photos and my description of the bodice there.

My friend Martha Spark responded with more info about the embroidered panels.  She wrote:

Buckeye Beauty - A Quilt and A Story

Quilt blocks with this geometry combining half-square triangles and 4-patches go by many names depending on the placement of the colors and the arrangement of the blocks.  This arrangement is called Buckeye Beauty.  (The quilt is way too big (13 x 13 blocks) for me photograph the whole thing!)

The quilt's owner tells this story:

Buttons! Oh, Boy! Oh, Boy!

 

Well, for the last couple of weeks I've been pretty much sedentary due to a broken bone in my foot.  I have found the silver lining!  I resorted all my buttons!

Nineteenth Century Handwriting

Yesterday, I got back to researching the history of this inscribed quilt.  (Enlarge photo to see the names.  The ink is fading away....)  You can read the results of my research so far in a series of posts called History Comes to Life on a Quilt (see links below). 

I've gotten most of my information via the ancestry.com website.  Being able to look at all the original census documents is such a treat!  Well, during my sleuthing yesterday, I came across the most gorgeous handwriting I've ever seen.

Favorite Quotes #14 - Martha Graham

Inspiration for the New Year of living and creating:

Martha Graham gave this advice to Agnes de Mille shortly after she choreographed Oklahoma! in 1943.  The story is that de Mille was curious as to why this work had captured the critics' attention even though she thought much of her other work was much more complete and valuable.

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open.”

Here's to all of you and your very own vitality, the light of your life!

Signature on a Victorian crazy quilt