Dressing Downton

 

My friend Mary and I had the absolutely best day at the Dressing Downton exhibit.  We saw costumes from the series on display at the Driehaus Museum.  The Driehaus is in a huge stone mansion just off the Magnificent Mile in Chicago.  It provided the wonderful, wonderful clothing with the perfect setting - an American counterpart of the upper-upper crust life that was showcased on the series.  Mary and I treated ourselves to the scrumptious high tea served in a most amazing hall within the mansion.  I just can't find enough superlative adjectives for the day we had!  Honestly, I just can't stop looking at these photos.  Wooooo!!

The gowns on the left and right in this photo were worn when the Downton ladies went to court and curtsied to the King.  There were strict rules about what was to be worn, such a headdress with three white Prince of Wales plumes and a short train.

Favorite Quotes #12 - Essence and Limitation

 

"Objectivity is of the very essence of photography, its contribution and at the same time its
limitation...."

I found this quote in the description of the current retrospective of photographer Paul Strand's work at the V&A Museum in London, and love the connection he drew between essence and limitation.

I consider this to be a very magical photo.  I took it for the marvelous sunset sky.  Only later did I see that in that little triangle of light between the bushes at the center there is a man sitting on a park bench, also enjoying the view.  The objectivity of the camera lens created its own essence!

For me, I really enjoy the challenge of working within limits.  I know some artists don't do commission work because of the size or design limits that customers can require.  Not me.  And I always love a great collection of challenge quilts or a show requiring a clear theme - the amazing variation within limits is a real testament to creativity.

History Comes to Life on a Quilt - Part 6 - Delving Deeper

The amazing saga of this quilt continues.  My research into the names inscribed on this quilt showed that it was made between 1897 and 1898 in Melrose, MA.  Reading between the lines of the census records has built up a fascinating glimpse into the era.

The first five chapters of the saga are:
Part 1 - background and start of my search for the details of its history.
Part 2 - how I narrowed down the dates, and some of the interesting family stories. 
Part 3 - the story of the Phinney, Dyer, and Hersey families. 
Part 4 - general observations on life in the late 1890s. 
Part 5  - research summary.
I've written a little aside about the fun of being able to look at original records online.
And, since the quilt did initially come to me for repair, and I did eventually stop reading census forms and do the repair work, and wrote up the techniques and choices involved.
And then I went back to the research, and continued to find lots of great information.
And also, a summary on the occasion of the exhibit about the quilt, December 2018, in Melrose.
After the events, I described the homecoming experience and the exhibits, and wrote about the little quilt I made that was inspired by the historical quilt.  And a set of summaries of the data and stories that brought the quilt to life.  And a very astonishing coincidence with another quilt and a family tree.  I was given a photo of one of the people named on the quilt. 

During the height of my research process, I received an order for my quilt repair book (link to the book is on the right, by the way) from a woman who lives in Melrose!

I sent a surprise note tucked into her copy of the book, and we have since talked about the quilt.  She sent me a link to book about Melrose that was written just a few years after the quilt was made - The History of Melrose, County of Middlesex, Massachusetts, by Elbridge H. Goss, published 1902.

Not Too Shabby

From my last couple of weeks of sewing!  

I ended up by chance using lots of nearly empty spools, so my little collection here looks super good!

A couple of these indicate quilt repair quantity and progress.  Also, I will soon be unveiling some new Something From Nothing quilts, once a couple more are done and we have a photo session. 

What do you do with your empty spools?  I always think they could build a nice futuristic city model. 

Vintage 1950s Fabrics

Every now and then, the most exciting thing about a quilt is on the back!  This collection of fabric prints and colors could be considered iconic of the era.

A 1950s string quilt came to me for repairs.  The back was also pieced, using rectangles of many sizes and shapes.  Some of the fabrics are totally iconic of the 1950s.

Here's the full shot of what I'm calling "The Liberace Print":

Hands All Around

Something like 10 or 12 years ago, I cleared out lots of my old creations with a giveaway to friends and family.  One friend took a pillow, one of the first I made way back when.

She has used that pillow so much, even taking it along in her camper on a cross-country trip, that it has faded away until the navy print is a super pale grey.  Time for a new pillow, I figured.  (The block on this one is Single Wedding Ring.  And in case you're curious, the semi-circles quilted around the border were traced around the inside of a roll of masking tape.)

Here's the new pillow I made for her.

Rose Baskets

Oh, my!  The design and technique on this quilt is amazing! 

The quilt was made in the mid to late 1800s, maybe 1860s or 1870s.  It sustained some damage at some point in its life that faded out the center block but left the fabrics mostly intact. 

Fabric Choices for Quilt Repair

Just in case anyone is curious, here are photos of the individual fabrics that I auditioned for repairing the Lone Star quilt I recently wrote about.

Two greens:

Four tans:

Here are all six.  They are in the same order left to right as the photos above.  Which would you have chosen?

Lovely Laces and Buttons

Here's a lovely little chiffon blouse from the Basya Berkman Vintage collection.  The only mending help it needed from me was re-attaching loose snaps.  I'm sharing it here because the laces and buttons are so delightful.

The buttons, which are decorative only, are sweet little crocheted covers over solid bases. (The front placket snaps closed.)

 

Glowing Lone Star Quilt

Here's a quilt that's definitely "one to write home about", or in this case, ha-ha, one to write a blog post about.

This 1930s beauty was sent to me for repairs.  The ring of green diamonds was pretty much totally in shreds, and the ring of tan diamonds was not far behind.  In the end, the owner and I decided to have me replace all the greens and just the tans that were in the worst shape.

That decision hinged on finding fabrics that blended well with the originals.  I ordered swatches from my favorite on-line source, Reproduction Fabrics, and took photos to compare them and pick the best match.

Cozy Log Cabin and Woven Gingham

This cozy log cabin / straight furrow quilt dates to around the 1920s or early 1930s.

That first photo isn't cropped badly.  This quilt actually has just one border.  And that one border was a pretty bold color choice, given the main colors used in the blocks.  The red border fabric was the only one that had started to give out, along with the gingham binding which was the back fabric brought around front.  I used a red reproduction print replacement, and also re-bound the edge with a vintage woven gingham.

Little Cat Quilt

A repair customer brought me some of her other quilts to look at, just for fun.  Here's one of them.

I like it because I like cats.  I also like it because it's signed and dated - 1997 - another quilt that can help document and date fabric colors and styles.  I'm quite fond of finding these and adding them to the online "data base".

Two Quilts

I spent last week visiting the Seattle area.  What a lovely part of the world! 

To make the experience even more fun, there were two quilts with some great conversation prints at my friend's house.  Both are signed and dated.

This quilt is called "Gypsy Wife Bicycling" made by Durlyn Finnie of Seattle in 2015.  The combination of patchwork blocks and strips and bright colors make for quite a cheery quilt.  I got to sleep with this one!

Durlyn collected absolute gobs of fabrics with cyclists and bicycles of all sorts and colors.

Sailing Ships

I repaired a very, very worn basket quilt made in the 1880s or 90s.  It was so tattered that all I could do was put on a new back and stitch what was left to the new backing for support. 

The background and alternate blocks fabric was wonderful.  It's a conversation print with detailed masted sailing ships and anchors.  The designs are about 3/4" tall.  Here's one of the alternate blocks that was still intact.

Such a fun fabric!  I'm getting more and more into collecting conversation prints.

Button Heaven

For those of you, who are like me, totally addicted to Buttons, the Warther Museum is a must-see.  At the very least, it's an idea for what to do with all the button jars and boxes that I can't help myself from buying!

Here's the intro to the Button House section of the museum from the website:

"Freida Warther spent her life button collecting and amassed over 100,000 while creating a unique display of 73,282 buttons on the walls and ceilings of her button house in Dover, OH.

Freida began button collecting at the age of 10 and collected for the next 83 years. She collected about every type of button including: hand-painted ceramic buttons, Goodyear rubber buttons, pearl buttons, brass military buttons, celluloid buttons, calico buttons and even a button from Mrs. Lincoln's Inaugural Dress.

After her children were grown, Freida started laying her buttons out in her own unique designs and quilt patterns. Once the buttons were laid out, she sewed all the buttons onto the boards by hand."

The actual focus of the museum seems to be wood carving:

"The Warther wood carving musuem is the home to over 64 model trains all carved to exacting detail. Mooney Warther loved the steam engine and at the age of 28 he began carving the history of the steam engine. In addition there are numerous smaller wood carvings including, walking canes, plaques, and "whittlings" on display at the wood carving museum."

These two were certainly a creative and interesting couple!  The gallery has photos of both the carved trains and Frieda with her buttons.  I do love buttons!

Family History

Today marks what would be my mother's 100th birthday.  In honor of her and my dad, whose 100th I missed a few years ago, I'm posting these photos.

These portraits, taken shortly after their marriage in 1946, stood on my mom's dresser.

My mom was born and raised in Chicago.  I love this photo of my infant mom and my grandma, 1916.  Isn't my grandma's hat perfectly huge?

Hugs and Kisses Crib Quilt

One of my best friends just became a Grandma!  I've known her son, the new papa, since before he was born, as the saying goes.  So a crib quilt was in order.

I saw this quilt on Pinterest.  Such a cute idea for a baby quilt, and also fun with lots of scraps, which I have aplenty.  The pattern and instructions can be found at Moda Bake Shop. 

These are 4 16" blocks plus sashing and borders, ending up with a 40" square quilt.

And here's the handsome little fellow at a week and a half old, already knowing exactly what to do with his quilt!

And by the way, if you are interested in following this family saga, the happy parents were the recipients of the wedding quilt I wrote about a few years ago.

Paintings by Ella Gardner

My friend's grandmother Ella Gardner was a prolific painter.  And she also made quilts.  She painted lovely scenes of rural Wisconsin life, her Amish neighbors, and my favorites of course, quilters doing what we do best - making and loving our quilts.

There is an exhibit of Ella Gardner's paintings up now through  March 12 at the Steenbock Gallery in Madison, WI.  The Wisconsin Regional Arts Program has created a lovely page about Ella Gardner and her art. 

Quilting Party

Rescuing a Double 9-Patch

Here's a nice old quilt with two large, dog-chewed holes.  Needless to say, this is never a happy circumstance....

The first step was adding new cotton batting, basting down the raw edges of the holes on both front and back.  After that, I patched the back with a solid blue. 

    

   

Mushrooms!

I found this delightful fabric on the back of a cotton crazy quilt.  The top was probably pieced in the 1950s, but I think this backing was applied a little later.  The color palette says 1970s to me.

It's really silly and happy, isn't it?

The cluster of mushrooms measures 1 1/2" tall.

The quilt was very, very damaged.  The backing and batting were mostly torn and gaping in many places, and lots of the top had barely a single piece of intact fabric.  I did manage to salvage and mend a few corner areas for keepsakes.   And I found enough fabric intact on the back to take a couple of photos for my (and I hope your) enjoyment!

1934 Sock Top Quilt

A short while ago, I repaired a late 19th century baby-sized crazy quilt.  The quilt's owner shared her family photos to add to my blog post about her little quilt.  As I keep saying, I meet the nicest people when I work on their quilts!

Well, her kindness didn't stop there.  She oh-so kindly sent me this photo of a quilt she saw on exhibit at the Mingei Museum in San Diego.  It is labeled "Sock Top Quilt", made by Ada Jones in 1934.

 

"What's a sock top?" you ask.  I certainly had no idea. 

A 9-Patch Quilt with Many Stories

Some quilts are repositories of stories, memories, and love.  This is one such quilt.  It was made c. 1950 by the owner's mother.  She can relate the stories of all the fabrics in it.

The quilt is still used by its owner and her husband as a lap quilt on the couch.  The original binding was tattered, there was a hole, and and some of the fabrics were starting to wear.  Her husband found my website, and sent the quilt to me for a fix-up.  A loving gift indeed!

Denim and Flannel

This quilt was made about 10 years ago, and has a sweet story.  It's been much loved because it was made by a father for his daughter.  I always like to give kudos to a guy who makes quilts!  I love the subtlety of all the shades of denim blue.