Eye of the Needle: Quilt History Conversation From the Midwest

Collecting Tomorrow's Quilt Treasures Today

2011-10-05T08:30:00.000-07:00

1810s Eagle

Kathie Ratcliff

Virginia

Miniature Commissioned for the Parks-Wildemuth Collection

Some time back it occurred to me, as I was having my morning coffee, that the 1876 ladies/gents who admire quilts right up through those of us who love them today did not think, "I need to add this quilt to my collection because I KNOW some day in the future it is going to be prized as a collectible."

I want you to channel the Florence Peto or Ruth Finley in you and look about you in the quilt world today and REALLY Look at the quilts that studio quilt artists, machine quilters, long-arm quilters, and traditional quilt artists are creating. These are the quilts that will become tomorrow's collectible. Find one or several quilt artists whose work appeals to you and start collecting them or have them create a piece for you with your "quilt interest" in mind.

Along with supporting a quilt artist's work, you are collecting modern pieces that "speak" to you and fits into your collection. There is really no negative to this.

How do you find such ladies and gentlemen?

Etsy.com http://www.etsy.com/

Artfire.com http://www.artfire.com/

Google Images Search using your pattern interest as the search engine word

Google Search Search using your pattern interest as the search engine word

Organizations such as:
Studio Art Quilters Associates http://www.saqa.com/
International Quilt Festival in Houston http://www.quilts.com/newHome/index.php

Miniature Quilt Artists who specialize in historical quilt patterns such as:

Kate Adams Fine Miniatures http://www.kateadamsfineminiaturequilts.com/
Kathie Ratcliff's Nine Patch Studio http://www.ninepatchstudio.com/

The original antique quilt that this piece was inspired by can be found on page 12 of the hardback edition of the book All Flags Flying: American Patriotic Quilts As Expressions of Liberty by Robert Bishop and Carter Houck

I Can See Clearly Now - Jennifer Myers

2011-09-23T12:02:00.001-07:00

I Can See Clearly Now
Jennifer Myers
Ohio
Designer and Quilt Artist
September 2011
33" x 36"
Commissioned for the Parks-Wildemuth Collection

Sue here..... sometimes I take day trips with family, one of my friends, or sometimes by myself. This one was to Iowa City, Iowa which is about an 1 1/2 to 2 hours from where I live in Illinois. Like walking, I use these trips to do some thinkin' on things.

Really good insights come to me when I am on these long drives or taking a walk in nature so I always keep a journal handy as I don't want to lose these "whispers" of inspiration.

An idea came to me that day on the drive back home...about a vision quilt. A quilt, on first glance, that would go into a Eye Doctor's office, but also reflect a deeper meaning of those defining moments we have in our life, when our entire way of thinking or "seeing" things is changed and we see the world from a whole new perspective or one could say through a different pair of eyeglasses.

I knew I was not capable of making this quilt happen so I went to someone who was capable of bringing this idea to life. Her name is Jennifer Myers of Ohio and Art Quilts by Jen http://artquiltsbyjen.com/index.html.

I shared my idea with Jennifer and asked her if she was interested in the commission and she took it on. One or two e-mails is all we did and then I let her be to create. It is important when you commission a piece to have faith in your artist so let go of the need to control THEIR creative effort and just let them do their thing. I am a firm believer things always unfold as they are meant to be.

I Can See Clearly Now is the quilt Jennifer created. It is an original design which came directly from this creative young woman's imagination and what a creative soul she is.

In Jennifer's own words:

"At first glance, this quilt appears to be something that belongs in an eye doctor's office. But in fact, it goes much deeper than that. In reality, it is a quilt about the life changing experience of seeing things differently. About realization, understanding, and awakening.

The background of the quilt was hand painted by myself. Since purple is the color of spirituality, it is a subtle reminder of what this quilt is really about. Additionally the light source down the center of the quilt is meant to start guiding the viewer into the deeper meaning of this quilt. The light is on, look harder!! The light also represents the way we see things in a new light and gain new understanding.

The eyeballs throughout the quilt were drawn myself in an art class back in 1998. I discovered them while searching for the ideas for this quilt and realized that they would be perfect. They represent all of the different ways we can see things and come to new understanding. The eyeballs were laser printed on the fabric. The word puzzle contains 22 words that reflect seeing, discovery, and life changing events. Here is a listing of the words you will find in the puzzle: baby blues, peeper, ocular, see, view, enlighten, wiser, stronger, smarter, reform, awaken, find, discover, detect, observer, notice, realize, visualize, experience, crystal clear, reconsider, life changing.

As you inspect the central part of the quilt, hopefully your eye will catch the stars glowing on the outer corners of the quilt. Since this is a study in seeing things differently, there are actually 4 constellations set into these two clusters of stars. You should be able to locate the big dipper, the little dipper, Orion and Sagittarius. The constellation represents the way we need to put pieces of information together to get the whole picture.

Finally, after your eye discovers the constellations, maybe new understanding will come, as you notice the "handwriting on the wall" beneath the constellations. I found many quotes by famous people about seeing and vision, and decided that they would be perfect to secure ones understanding of the work...if you have gotten far enough to notice. The purpose of this quilt is to bring the viewer below the surface. Hopefully all who view this quilt will "see" the vision!!"

***********************

Meaning of the Eagle Motif

Jennifer put in the eagle motif (eagle with the tear) in this piece for me because she knows I collect eagle quilts. To me, it also represents the idea of the "eagle eye" which is defined in the dictionary as 1. Keen eyesight, 2. The ability or tendency to observe closely or pay attention to detail, and 3. One that observes with close attention. The eagle with the tear in his eye also reflects how we feel about "change" or "transformation" in our life. Here is a quote that says it better than I can, "When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not SEE the one which has opened for us.”

Well done Jennifer, really well done!!!

Newspaper Searches and The Needlecraft, Fancy Work, and Household Editors of National Magazines in 1929

2011-02-26T07:58:00.000-08:00

Women Editors At Luncheon
Date: September 19, 1929
Paper: Springfield Republican (Masschusetts)

Every once in awhile I find a cool piece of information on my search for something else. I usually copy them off and put them in a file for use at a later date for me or for someone else. This is a 1929 newspaper clipping I found on a search for another piece of information. This newspaper clipping shares the names of the "movers and shakers" in the needlecraft, fancy work, and household editors departments of various national magazines geared towards women who love to "create" like us in the year 1929.

All of these ladies would make wonderful research projects. I know this piece is hard to read and I know that it looks like Ethel of Needlecraft is Bethel so check spellings on all of them.

All these ladies walked before us -- let's honor them and tell their stories!

Side Note:

There are other jewels like this hidden in newspaper archives waiting to be discovered.

Here are ways to do that:

Your local library's local newspaper access is usually free and sometimes they or a college in your area has access to pay services for historical databases for some of the largest newspapers in the United States such as the Historical Chicago Tribune Database which is free to patrons and people who stop into a library for a visit.

Try Google Newspaper and Google Newspaper Archives. This is a good resource for locating articles, but there are some restrictions as to what you can print off and what you can't and what you can access with a fee and without a fee. Try this out and you will see what I mean, but don't let me scare you off from this option - I use it all the time so try it.

The online databases that have a fee with them are: genealogybank.com, newspaperarchives.com, ancestry.com (which was associated with newspaperadrchives.com at one time, but I'm not sure if it still is), newsbank.com, and Proquest whch is usually only available through a public, private, or college/university library.

You can literally spend HOURS pouring through these newspapers - using names or keyword searches and yes there is buried treasure in all of them waiting just for you and your project.

The Ladies of Farm Journal Magazine 1920s-1940s

2011-02-25T14:36:00.000-08:00

There were random quilt articles in the early years of the magazine, but a winter quilt article, with and without a byline, began appearing on an annual basis in Farm Journal magazine in January 1921. Well received by the quiltmaking world, this once a year tradition continued until 1947. The byline Mabel Hoffecker Collins or Mabel H. Collins appeared in Farm Journal magazine in January 1934 and continued on when the publication absorbed The Farmer’s Wife and was renamed Farm Journal and Farmer’s Wife around 1939-40. The publication reverted back to its old name with Farm Journal with the August 1945 issue of the magazine.

With Mabel at the helm, quilt features appeared in the Farm Journal January issues from 1934-1938, changing to the February issue in 1939 and in the Farm Journal and Farmer’s Wife February issues from 1940-1947 when a regular annual quilt feature seems to end. It should be noted that an occasional unsigned rogue quilt article would be thrown into other issues for information or ad purposes, but not on a consistent basis like the Collins pieces. The name Mabel Hoffecker Collins or Mabel H. Collins only appeared in these very brief magazine articles, some might even call them ads, debuting quilt patterns and some of these same brief pieces were reprinted in various editions of Farm Journal and Farmer’s Wife Quilt Patterns Old and New quilt pattern service catalogs and help date the different editions of these booklets.

There are still lots of questions that need to be answered concerning Ms. Collins. Was Mabel Hoffecker Collins a real person who was brought in as a free-lancer for quilt articles or a regular part of the staff? Was she a “consumer friendly” name for a variety of people within the company who filled mail-order request for quilt patterns in the tradition of Virginia Snow of Elgin, Illinois or Grandmother Clark of St. Louis, Missouri?

Was Collins a pen name for the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania magazine’s Household Editor Mary Ross Reynolds whose personal papers can be found in the Michigan State Library Special Collections Department and with the Florence Hollis and Bethany Ross Reynolds Papers at the Five College Archive and Manuscript Collections? Along with Florence LaGanke Harris and Mrs. Ellen E. Webster, Reynolds was asked to be a judge in the Second National Patchwork Quilt Contest conducted by the Eastern States Exposition home department in September 1933. Mrs. Reynolds retired from Farm Journal Magazine in 1947, which was the last year for the annual quilt feature in the magazine. Rogue quilt articles appeared after that date, but never with the byline Mabel Hoffecker Collins.

The name Jane Moreland was also featured with fashion articles and patterns during this time period in myriad issues of this same farm magazine and at least one quilt article (January 1932 – page 11) prior to Mabel’s appearance on the scene in 1934. Could Jane have done double duty in the fashion and quilt departments?

Real person or pen name, Mabel Hoffecker Collins remains a bit of a mystery. Mabel’s story is a project-in-the-making for a researcher who specializes in Pennsylvania (Farm Journal and Farm Journal and Farmer’s Wife) quilt history or has an interest in quilt designers who appeared in farm related publications.

T. Buettner and Company Quilt Kit Garden of Flowers No. 3323

2011-02-02T08:16:00.001-08:00

The nice thing about having a blog and a web site is hearing from people especially when they share stories and photos about “their treasures” and then agree to allow me to share them with you.

An e-mail came to me from Barbara Hofrichter about a completed T. Buettner and Company of Chicago, Illinois quilt kit.

Barbara shares, “I have a quilt that says copyrighted 1933 TBandCo Chicago on the label. It is named Garden of Flowers and it asked for NUNs thread. My grandmother was German and English and she might have ordered the kit from a magazine or paper. I am trying to find out more. The quilt kit number is 3323.”

The original quilter’s name was Harriet Borman Luth and Barbara is in the beginning stages of her research on this project. Barbara welcomes e-mails with any additional information about Harriet Borman Luth or T. Buettner and Company of Chicago, Illinois. Her e-mail contact information is Barbara Hofrichter bjhof@live.com

About T. Buettner and Co., Inc.
Chicago, Illinois, New York, New York, and Hamburg, Germany

My two articles on this company can be found at my Illinois Quilt History Web Site:

“T. Buettner and Co., Inc.”

http://www.illinoisquilthistory.com/Buettner.html

“T. Buettner and Co., Inc. Catalogs and Instruction Books”

http://www.illinoisquilthistory.com/buettnercatalogandinstructionbooks.html

Eleanor Roosevelt 1935 Thank You Letter for a Quilt

2011-01-23T17:06:00.001-08:00

Eleanor Roosevelt

Circa 1950

Author's Collection

Thought you all might like to see my latest vintage quilt ephemera find - it is a thank you note signed by Eleanor Roosevelt and written on official White House Stationary, dated February 9, 1935 while FDR was president.

It's a thank you note to a Mrs. Jules Joseph Fischer, Mrs. McGrath, and "the rest of the ladies" for a quilt they made and sent to her.

February 9, 1935

Author's Collection

Transcription:

"THE WHITE HOUSE

WASHINGTON

February 9, 1935

My dear Mrs. Fischer:

I was very much delighted to receive from Mrs. McGrath the quilt which you and all the other women so generously made for me. It is very lovely, and I greatly appreciate the work and thought which you have all put into it.

With many thanks and all good wishes, I am

Very sincerely yours, Eleanor Roosevelt"

Now if a person could only find the quilt this note was intended for.... it's not at the FDR Presidential Library and Museum - already checked.

The most helpful lead is the envelope that came with this letter, it was addressed to Mrs. Jules Joseph Fischer, who lived in Mountain View, California in 1935. I have Ancestry.com and I am running down leads that way, but if anyone recognizes Mrs. Fischer as one of their ancestors, please contact me at quiltingbee73@yahoo.com.

This just goes to show those of us who love quilt paper items there is still neat antique and vintage quilt ephemera out there waiting to find their way to us.

Quilt Research -- Uncovering Buried Treasure

2011-01-18T08:03:00.001-08:00

Eagle Motif Embroidered on 1931 Quilt

(No Affliation to Either of the Ladies Mentioned Below)

I was iced in for a spell and once I finished my chores I got on the computer and did some "looking around" on the topics that interest me in quilt history. I found a couple of interesting people I want to know more about, both are 1930s quiltmakers from opposite sides of the United States.

Mrs. Mary J. Lockard

New Port Richey, Florida

West Pasco County

Wife of Warren Lockard

**She earned her living as a professional quilter in the 1930s -- all hand work - no machine.

and

Mary Ellen Herbert

Burley, Washington (state of)

Kitsap County

Wife of Otto Herbert

Mother of Frank Herbert

Grandma of Frank Herbert (author of Dune)

Great Grandma of Brian Herbert

**She entered her quilts in many many county fairs and eventually they (must be the fair board) had to tell her she could not enter her quilts anymore to compete (only to show) because her quilts always won.

I have Ancestry.com and I have "done that thing."

FYI for those of you who do quilt research - Ancestry.com is one of the most helpful tools out there, but it is a paid service. Start with Rootsweb.com first (it is free) and then decide (with a free trial) if Ancestry.com is for you.

Why am I looking for these two talented ladies? It has something to do with locating the whereabouts of two eagle quilts.

Anyone surfing the net that finds this site through Google -- if you have any information and/or photos of either of these ladies I would appreciate it if you would contact me.

quiltingbee73@yahoo.com

wildemuthsew@gmail.com

Linda Carlson's Baby Geniuses Eaglet 2000s

2011-01-14T08:39:00.000-08:00

Baby Geniuses Eaglet
Linda Carlson Quiltmaker/Designer
Decade 2000s

I was familar with Linda Carlson's work long before I contacted her about this project. I love the antique, vintage, and new large four block quilts. I also have all the books (with patterns) that she has created on the subject. She is the authority - the go-to girl - for information about these traditional types of quilt.

Linda's four-block books published with the American Quilter's Society are: Roots, Feathers & Blooms: Four-Block Quilts, Their History & Patterns, Four-Blocks Continued ..., and The Best of Four-Blocks and More!.

Besides being a quilt lecturer, author, and designer, Linda is an educater, a schoolteacher, by profession in her non-quilting life. So it was a given that she would combine her quilting and teaching lives and design three lines of fabric with young people in mind. Working with Benartex, Inc. since 2006 - Linda's fabric line includes "Grammie & Mimi's Baby Geniuses!", "Grammie & Mimi's Baby Geniuses Grow Up!", and "Grammie & Mimi's Baby Geniuses Speak Up!"

Linda choose the 2000s decade and what a decade that was - so much change.

When I looked at Linda's piece she calls "Baby Geniuses Eaglet" with it's rich and spicy colors - I think of hope.

In Linda's own words, "Baby Genius Eaglet": approximately 15 1/2 inches square, 4-block background with hand applique', reverse applique', hand quilted with metallic thread, and hand embellished with sparkling stars and French Knots. All fabrics are from my fabric lines with Benartex, Inc. since 2006 including "Grammie & Mimi's Baby Geniuses!", "Grammie & Mimi's Baby Geniuses Grow Up!", and "Grammie & Mimi's Baby Geniuses Speak Up!" The eagle pattern is my re-interpretaion of "Liberty" by Dinah Jefferies."

If you want to learn more about Linda's work:

Linda Carlson
Author, Workshop Leader, Baby Geniuses Fabric Designer
www.lindacarlsonquilts.com
http://babygeniusesfabric.blogspot.com
Become a fan on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Linda-Carlson-Quilts/110305422368689

Finishing Orphan Quilt Tops: A Virginia Snow Studios Pattern

2011-01-08T07:59:00.000-08:00

New Years Day brought an email from Jan Jaqua who found my research on Virginia Snow Studios of Elgin, Illinois on my http://www.illinoisquilthistory.com/ web site and contacted me. about a same pattern grouping of finished 1930s Virginia Snow Studios quilt squares.

Here is the original pattern as it appeared in a 1933 Virginia Snow Studios catalog:

242 Unnamed Flower - Virginia Snow Studios - Elgin,, Illinois

Here is Jan's story in her own words:

"This project came about after I told a good friend of mine that I like to find vintage quilts tops on Ebay and finish them. Handquilting is the part of the project I enjoy most. She replied that there was a metal container in her mother's attic that had been there for many years and came by way of HER mother's home - so this is third generation (Grandma to daughter to granddaughter). She said, "I'll have to go up there and see what's in the container-maybe something of interest.' The next day or two she brought these blocks, two other quilt tops, and some assorted bow-tie and dresden plate blocks.

I thought the blocks were so well done and offered to put them together for her into a quilt."

Jan Jaqua

Here is a picture of this new quilt being made from old blocks with modern Moda marble sashing called Chambray:
Beautiful isn't it - a new quilt is born from utilizing vintage quilt squares and modern fabric!

Side Note:

I admire people who do this - find an abandoned quilt top and finish it for the creator and a new quilt is born - I call this a two generation quilt.

There is a rule of thumb here that some who enjoy doing this share with me -- they finish quilt tops created 1930 and forward, they do a reproduction quilt of a top when the original was created before 1930s. The cut off date seems to be 1930 because of the fragile nature of some of the pre-1930s fabrics -- did you know thread can actually cut fabric and that beautiful 1880s quilt top you are finishing might actually be damaged by quilting it? I didn't until someone shared this with me and I'm passing it along to you.

In the end though -- as with all things in this world -- it is your decision whether you finish a quilt top or not, but you are usually safe to finish the ones that were created after 1930. So if this is your thing -- you like to save orphan tops -- then I say -- bravo!

Remember as you are scouring your favorite fabric store, antique malls, flea markets, or auctions in 2011 looking for things to add to your quilt stash that fills up the spare bedroom, "No guilt, but lots of quilts."

Don Beld's 1880s Eagle Miniature Quilt

2010-12-26T09:07:00.001-08:00

1880s Eagle Quilt
Don Beld
Quilt Artist, Designer, and Author
Bernice Foster
Machine Embroidery

Don Beld choose the 1880s and created this beautiful work of art for my decade by decade project. Notice the Indigo and pink used in this piece, the 8-pointed star, and the way he finished the binding in a traditional straight edge "rounded corner" -- all popular in quilts from this time period. The hand-pieced, hand-quilted workmanship in this reproduction piece is wonderful.

Bernice Foster - Machine Embroidery Eagle

Many of you know Don and are familar with his work, but let's revisit Don's quilt biography:

A quilt artist and historian, Don Beld is the founder and guiding force behind the Home of the Brave Quilt Project which delivers replica Civil War soldiers quilts to the families of the Fallen Heroes from Iraq and Afghanistan which is an on-going project.

In 2010 Don was featured in one of the chapters in a book written by Joe Cunningham entitled Men and the Art of Quiltmaking. Mr. Beld and his co-author Pam Weeks have co-authored a book of their own entitled Quilts for Union Soldiers which will be available for purchase in late 2011.

Don is available for lectures and workshops by contacting donbeld@pacbell. An exhibit of his Civil War soldiers quilts will be featured at the International Quilt Study Center in Nebraska in 2012 and 2014.

Merry Christmas from Illinois and Summer Spread Defined

2010-12-12T04:50:00.000-08:00

Besides quilting, I like to cook - hate to do dishes (even with a dishwasher), but I love to cook. So every year at Christmas in my regular and online Christmas cards, I send a Recipe Newsletter, instead of a Newsie Newsletter.

Before I share my recipe, here is an idea I'd like to share that is not exactly quilt related, but it is one that I have been doing for about the last ten years - maybe you'll like it to.

I started a file on my computer with our family recipes. I divided them up in sections in the file -- just like they do in the regular cookbook and then when anyone in our family or friend circle gets married (or graduates from HS - if there is an interest in cooking). I copy it off and put it in a three ring binder with those subject dividers (remember them from high school - English, Math, etc. etc. ) only I write in the different food groups.

I buy the three ring binders with the paper insert ability on the front and I make up a sheet which reflects the person(s) receiving the cookbook - insert that in the front. It is all recipes that are tried and true. This is an easy and very USEFUL gift for kids heading off to college, getting married, or starting their life away from home for the first time.

Now my online Christmas card to you....

Christmas 2010

Fresh Apple Cake Preheat oven: 350 Grease: 9 x 13 cake pan

In a large bowl combine:

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Add:

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 ¼ cups canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
3 medium Granny Smith Apples – peeled, cored, and chopped (3 cups)

Spoon Stir batter only until it is moist (batter will be thick) – Do not use a mixer.

Spread batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in cake comes out clean.

Special Note: If you do decide to substitute another kind of apple make sure you use another type of baking apple.

Centennial Eagle Summer Spread 1870-1910

Parks Wildemuth Collection

Summer Spread Defined: A summer spread has the look of a quilt and/or a quilt top, but is not a quilt for a very simple reason - it is not quilted. Like the piece above it is usually a single layer with the edges finished (quilt top has unfinished edges - summer spread's are finished). Summer spreads are usually applique.

What did they use summer spreads for?

When I was a sophomore in HS we (my grandpa and I) visited my Aunt Frances in North Carolina on an airplane --it was my grandpa's first airplane ride and I was to help him get through the airport at O'Hare. On that trip we visited my aunt's mother on her farm - little did I know back then that there would be a farm in my future. It must have been foreshadowing of what was to come because I fell in love with this big two story farmhouse next to a creek filled with antiques. It was the kind of place an author would live in and that lady could cook to - you have not lived until you had a slice of one of her pies.

My cousin and I were wandering about the place and went upstairs because she wanted to show me her grandmother's quilts. In one bedroom there was a four postered bed stacked with quilts laid flat and all were covered with a "summer spread." Aunt's mom used one her of her summer spreads to protect her stash of quilts from the sun and dust.

BUT...I believe the more common use for them was as a bedspread during the summer.

Merry Christmas everyone and all the best with all your projects.

Terry Clothier Thompson’s “A New Nation”

2010-12-03T15:01:00.000-08:00

“A New Nation”
Decade: 1770s
Terry Clothier Thompson 2010

I know you have seen her books, patterns, attended a class/lecture, or maybe attended/hosted one of her quilt history FabriCamps....her name is Terry Clothier Thompson and she is a designer, quilt artist, and historian from Kansas.

Terry agreed to participate in my eagle motif project and was the first one to tackle the 18th century – her decade was the 1770s. If you have seen or own her book Made in America 1776-1830: Quilts of the Daughters of Liberty you will know that this time period of American history is one of her favorites.

Her inspiration for this wallhanging was an image of the Daughter of Liberty. She added the design of a baby eagle to represent a brand new nation. Next, Terry appliquéd her Daughter of Liberty and baby eagle on a reproduction (fabric) of what could have been a design of an early American textile printer after the Revolutionary War.

I love the detail the embroidery brings to the piece.

Terry calls her eagle motif wallhanging… “A New Nation.”

I call this beautiful piece…a work of art!

Visit Terry at her Web Site and go to her FabriCamp Heading and see if that is something that would work for your quilt history group, quilt guild, or your sit and sew group. It looks like fun!

Contact

Terry Clothier Thompson
425 Pasadena Drive
Lawrence, KS 66049
Phone & Fax# (785) 865-2587
Web Site: http://www.terrythompson.com/
Email: terrythompson@sunflower.com

Debby Rake’s “Eagle in the New Century”

2010-12-03T13:25:00.000-08:00

“Eagle in the New Century”
Decade: 1900s
Deborah S. Rake 2010

A designer, artist, and quilt historian with a Master of Arts in Textile History/Quilt Studies, she is known in some circles as Deborah S. Rake but those of us who live in the Midwest (and these days in Texas), know this nice lady by the name Debby.

I first met her at a meeting of the Iowa Illinois Quilt Study Group in Kalona, Iowa back in early to mid 2000s. Back then she lived in small Iowa community and had a tie to the University of Nebraska quilt center and the study of Kit Quilts. These days Debby resides in Texas with her family and serves as the Secretary on the Executive Board of the Quilters’ Guild of Arlington, Inc. (Arlington, Texas).

Debby does not know this, but I contacted her about being part of this eagle motif project back in September because of a redwork square she did a few years back that I have NEVER forgotten She embroidered, in redwork, a copy of the State of Illinois county map, in what I would term as miniature. The Illinois quilt square was part of a fundraising project and what would, along with other redwork squares from other IIQSG members, become a part of a permanent redwork artifact at the Kalona Quilt and Textile Museum in Kalona, Iowa.

I saw this piece first because she sent it to my home to take to the next meeting. I can’t embroider to save my soul, but Debby can and she did an amazing job on that square. I’ll be honest – I did what I was supposed to do and passed the piece on to the proper person at the next IIQSG meeting, but I don’t mind telling you I didn’t want to. That is one piece I fell in love with and I am happy to report it has a good home at the quilt museum in Kalona, if you ever want to see it.

I approached Debby and asked her would you consider being part of my eagle motif decade by decade project and she said “sure.” She picked the 1900s and what you see above is her interpretation called “Eagle in the New Century” and she did a fine thing she utilized the crazy quilt format and her amazing embroidery skills to create the piece of me.

And I love it!

Deborah Fell's "Coming Together or Falling Apart?"

2010-12-03T10:07:00.000-08:00

"Coming Together or Falling Apart?"

Decade: 2010s

Deborah Fell - 2010

Deborah Fell is an Urbana, Illinois quilt artist who took on the challenge of the decade 2010s for my eagle motif decade by decade project. Not an easy task when you consider the decade of her choice is just beginning and there is nothing that has "already taken place" to draw on for inspiration.

That takes creativity and vision. Deborah has both of those qualities.

Here is Deborah's biography - taken directly from her web site http://www.deborahfell.com/

"Deborah Fell is a studio artist committed to the art quilt medium. She is a professional member of the Studio Art Quilt Associates, the Surface Design Association and has had over twenty years of education at the Quilt/Surface Design Symposium in Columbus , Ohio . Deborah focuses on abstract, organic shapes using surface treatment such as dyeing and painting fabric. Deborah has obtained national recognition for her work. Her art has been exhibited in venues such as the United Nations Building in New York City; the Moscone in San Francisco; Art Quilt Elements at the Wayne Art Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; The Works Gallery in Newark, New Jersey which is a Smithsonian Institution Affiliate Museum; in Pakistan through the U.S. State Department Arts in Embassies Program; and the premier international exhibit Quilt National. One of Deborah’s art quilts appeared on the front cover for the American Journal of Nursing; another art quilt is a part of the former Ground Zero Headquarters— St. Paul Trinity Chapel—collection. Most recently, Deborah was asked to collaborate with ABC TV Host Ty Pennington to create the special art project for Extreme Home Makeover, Season 7, Montgomery House. In 2010, Deborah will have an art piece part of an Obama art exhibit; this exhibit opened in Tokyo in 2009. Deborah says, “Art allows us to move from one place to the next. I do art because I believe art makes a difference in our world; it is a gift we give ourselves and it is a celebration of our very souls.” Deborah continues to be a studio artist committed to the art quilt medium."

Stop by and visit her web site when you get a chance - she is an amazing artist (and teacher), who creates one-of-a kind pieces of art.

Special Note: Scroll back up to the full view picture of her wallhanging -- do you notice "the flag" look of the piece? I love those kinds of details.

Remembering Grant and the 1870s

2010-11-22T16:08:00.001-08:00

By now you all know about my Eagle Motif Decade by Decade Project (if not scroll down through my old blogs and you’ll find the information about it). I have been commissioning other quilt artists and /or historians to create 24” x 24” wallhangings that have an eagle motif in them and reflect a certain decade.

Side note: The 1980s and the 1830s (and any decade before 1830s) are still open, if anyone is interested in creating one of these wallhangings for me.

Back to business……. I wasn’t going to do one of these wallhangings myself – then I was – then I wasn’t, but then I decided I really should – how can I expect someone else to do something I would not do myself. I waited until most of the decades were spoken for before I made a choice. I choose the 1870s and I choose to honor President U.S. Grant with my eagle motif piece.

My inspiration for the piece came from a trip we took to Galena, Illinois this summer for my family reunion – my brothers and their families drove in from various parts of Iowa and Illinois. Beautiful town Galena, Illinois – someone should write a time travel book about it because there are still spots in that town that haven’t changed since the time Grant walked the streets there. Grant’s home still exists - it is a historic site and if you decide to visit Galena a must-see on your trip to this neat city.

Most of my fabric came from reproductionfabrics.com. and Hancocks of Paducah online stores. Many of the fabrics used were from the Old Glory line – lots of fat quarters. This piece also utilizes some antique textiles and buttons (antique and new). I used fabric photo transfer sheets for the computer from Joann’s. The piece is hand-quilted and hand-pieced.

Here is my tribute to the 1870s and my eagle motif wallhanging “Remembering Grant:”

The Eagle

Left Upper Corner

Right Upper Corner

Left Lower Corner

Lower Right Corner

Centennial Side Left Side Piece

Chicago Fire Right Side Piece

Art Quilt with a Historical Twist

2010-11-10T10:59:00.000-08:00

I have been a traditional quilter (hand piecer - hand quilter) since 1985 when I took my first class at our local community center - my son was two and I was looking for a creative outlet and a way to meet other moms. I became hooked on quilting the first night of class -- the teacher even said -- you love this don't you? I did and still do. I put away my oil paints and brushes and have never looked back.

I never thought I would venture into the art quilt arena though, but I have always been drawn to pictorial quilts because they tell stories. I decided in 2010 to try my hand at creating an art quilt, but I knew the wall hanging would have to tell a story, incorporate my love of history, and of course it would need to have an eagle motif on it.

My Defining Moment Art Quilt Series was born.

My definition of a defining moment is a point at which the essential nature or character of a person is revealed or identified and because of this moment, event, or discovery their life is changed forever.

This piece entitled "The Eagle: Walter Carlin Parks, Jr." is the first wall hanging in my series. It honors my dad whose defining moment, like so many others of his generation, was WWII. If you want to know the whole story about my father go to my web site: http://www.illinoisquilthistory.com/, go to the community by community section, scroll down to Atkinson, click on "Earning the Eagle's Badge," and you'll find my dad's story is there.

The aircraft carrier on fire (in the Storm at Sea quilt pattern) was my dad's ship the St. Lo.

It was hit by enemy fire and sank in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

A "not so" final word about art quilts.....

I love the "no rules" aspect of art quilts - you can use ANYTHING in them from buttons to string to fabric to thread to ribbons to photographs (the list is endless) and it frees you up to create and tell a story the way you want to.

Hoffman 2011 Quilt Challenge

2010-11-08T09:26:00.000-08:00

"This year the Hoffman Challenge is celebrating its 23rd Anniversary. The Challenge started with 94 enthusiastic quilters, and in some years, the number of entries has grown to more than 700. In addition to the three quilt categories (pieced, appliqué and mixed technique), new categories include clothing (wearable art), accessories, and dolls."

If you are interested in participating in this challenge, here is the web site with all the information you will need to know:

http://www.hoffmanchallenge.com/challenge2011.html

If you'd like a glimpse at 2011 fabric and coordinating fabrics to be used on this challenge, they can also be found on this page. Each one is a beauty and perfect for a Broderie Perse quilt even if you decide not to participate in the contest.

Quilt Kit Identification – Rosie Werner’s Quilt Kit Research Web Site

2010-11-07T11:45:00.001-08:00

Cinderella Youth Quilt Kit

LeeWards - Elgin, Illinois

Mail Order Catalog

Researcher, lecturer, and collector Rosie Werner is an independent quilt historian who specializes in identifying 20th Century Quilt Designs that were sold as kits. She established her web site “Quilt Kit Identification” to help us date and identify appliqué, crib, cross-stitch, embroidered, and pieced quilts that were sold through art needle company retail stores and mail catalogs.

Her documentation includes:

Photo or Drawing of the Quilt
Name and Number of the design
Company or Designer
Sources
Materials in Kit
Size
Description
Quilting Designs
Original Price

Extras Include:
· Stories Behind the Quilt Kit Companies and Designers
· Reading List

This is a subscription-based web site.

For more information contact:

Rosie Werner
P.O. Box 18
Dundas, Minnesota 55019

Web Site: http://quiltkitid.com/index.shtml

Email: rwerner@quiltkitID.com

Telephone: 507-645-7995

Cell: 507-649-0171

Quilt Your Colors Quilt Contest 2010 - Joann Fabrics

2010-10-30T18:53:00.000-07:00

I went to Joann Fabrics this afternoon and discovered they are conducting a contest. There is not much time left to participate in the contest, but here is the information anyway.

Quilt Your Colors Quilt Contest 2010 Official Rules

HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS CONTEST:

(a) Entrants must make a quilt using all fabric purchased at a Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Store or from Joann.com®. Quilts must be at least 36"x36" (lap size), but no larger than 104"x93" (king size). Quilt kits are permitted, but entrant must make the quilt with little or no assistance from others. No groups or teams are allowed.
(b) Entrants must submit at least two color photographs of the quilt for a complete entry – one photograph showing the entire quilt in a hanging position and one close-up photograph showing detail. Each entrant may submit a maximum of five (5) photographs of the quilt.
(c) Each entrant may submit only one entry. All entries MUST include all of the following to be eligible:
1. Completed official entry form available online at www.joann.com/quiltcontest or at your local Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Store.
2. Photocopy of Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Store or Joann.com® receipt(s) showing proof of purchase of all fabrics used to make the quilt.
3. At least two color photographs (one of entire quilt hanging and one of detail), but no more than five (5) photographs, of the quilt. Photos should be no smaller than 4"x6" and no larger than 5"x7" and should list entrant’s name, address and telephone number on the back of each photograph. All photographs become the property of Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores® and will
not be returned. No professional photography allowed.
4. Each entrant must sign the Liability and Publicity Release and Consent (“Release”) at the bottom of the entry form.
5. Mail your complete entry to: Quilt Your Colors Quilt Contest 2010, Jo-Ann Stores, Inc., 5555 Darrow Rd., Hudson, Ohio 44236. Entries must be postmarked by December 18, 2010, and received no later than December 31, 2010. Hand-delivered entries will not be accepted and if left at our office will not be entered in the Contest. Incomplete or illegible entries will be disqualified. Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. is not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, mutilated or postage due mail.

ELIGIBILITY:

Contest is open to legal U.S. residents residing in the 50 United States (other than residents of the States of Maryland and Vermont) and the District of Columbia who are age 18 or older at the time of entry. Contest is void in Maryland and Vermont. Officers, directors, and employees of Jo-Ann Stores, Inc., AccuQuilt™, Fabric Traditions®, Gingher®, Gutermann®, OttLite®, Simplicity®, Singer®, Springs Creative, The Warm™ Company, Sew Essentials™ and their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, and immediate family members (parent, child, spouse, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister) and members of the households of such persons (whether or not related) are not eligible to participate in the Contest. By participating, entrants grant Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. permission to use entrants’ names, hometowns, and likenesses (including the photos submitted in the entries) for advertising and promotion purposes in any media, without limitation and without additional compensation (except where prohibited by law). Unaccepted prizes may not be awarded. By entering you agree to these Official Rules and to all decisions of the judges, which are final and binding.

SELECTION OF FINALISTS AND WINNERS:

A panel of sewing experts will judge all eligible entries and will select twenty (20) finalists based on the workmanship/skill level, originality, and level of detail shown in the photographs submitted with each entry and the information about the quilt provided on each entry form. The twenty finalists will be notified via e-mail and/or telephone on or about January 28, 2011, and must send the actual quilt that is the subject of the entry to Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. prior to February 11, 2011, for further judging. Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. will provide finalists with a self-addressed pre-paid label in order to ship quilts. Finalists must not include potpourri or scented items with shipment of their quilts, or quilts will be disqualified. All quilts will be returned after judging. Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. is not responsible for any loss or damage associated with shipping the quilts. Any finalists who do not provide the actual quilt for judging will be disqualified. Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. may decide to select another finalist to replace a disqualified finalist, or not, in its sole discretion, except that Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. will ensure that there are at least 15 finalists for purposes of the final judging. The judges will select one First Prize, one Second Prize, one Third Prize and seven Runner-Up winners based on the workmanship/skill level, originality, and level of detail demonstrated in the quilts themselves. No telephone calls or correspondence will be accepted from contestants inquiring on winners or judge’s selections. The ten winners will be notified of the final prize awards by e-mail and/or telephone on or about March 4, 2011, and will have 5 business days to contact Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. regarding their prizes. Judges include representatives from Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. Anyone not complying with all the Contest rules will automatically be disqualified. Limit one prize per person. Winners will be required to sign and return an affidavit of eligibility and liability/publicity release, and a W-9 form, if applicable, within 7 business days from the date sent. Failure to return these items in the time noted will result in disqualification of the entry and may result in the selection of an alternate winner from among the remaining eligible finalists according to the judging criteria above. Return of any prize or prize notification as “undeliverable” will result in disqualification and an alternate winner may be selected. If a potential winner cannot be reached after a reasonable effort has been made during 5 business days from the first notification attempt, such person will be disqualified. Because this is a contest of skill, odds of winning depend upon the quality and eligibility of submissions received and entrants’ final overall score, as determined by the judging criteria. Winners are solely responsible for all applicable federal, state and local taxes on prizes.

REDEMPTION:

Cash prizes will be awarded in the form of a check made payable to the winner. Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. will arrange for shipment of the checks and gift cards, as applicable, to each winner’s address provided in the declaration and forms via courier within 6 to 8 weeks after confirmation. Gift cards are subject to the terms and conditions generally applicable thereto. Merchandise prizes will be shipped to each applicable winner’s address within 8 to 10 weeks after confirmation. Prizes are non-transferable prior to award and no substitutions are allowed except by Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. in its sole discretion.

CONDITIONS:

By participating in the Quilt Your Colors Quilt Contest 2010, you agree to release and hold Jo-Ann Stores, Inc., its subsidiaries and affiliates, and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents harmless from any and all losses, damages, rights, claims, and actions of any kind in connection with the Contest or any product purchased, or resulting from acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any prize, including, without limitation, personal injuries, death, and property damage, including any damage or loss to any quilt submitted, and claims based on publicity rights, defamation, invasion of privacy, or breach of intellectual property rights whether suffered by you or a third party. The Contest is void in Maryland and Vermont, and wherever prohibited or restricted by law, and is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. By participating, entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. and waive any right to claim ambiguity in the Contest or these Official Rules.

LIST OF PRIZE WINNERS:

For a list of prize winners, mail a business-size, self-addressed stamped envelope, accompanied by a hand-printed request to Winners List Request, Quilt Your Colors Quilt Contest 2010, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores®, 5555 Darrow Rd., Hudson, Ohio 44236. All requests must be received from December 1, 2010, to January 31, 2011. Vermont residents may not participate in the Contest, but may omit return postage if they request a list of prize winners. Contest is governed by U.S. law. The names, logos, and icons identifying the products and services of Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. are proprietary marks of Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. Jo-Ann Stores Inc., 5555 Darrow Rd., Hudson, Ohio 44236 is the Sponsor.
311-

Eagle Scout Art Quilt

2010-10-29T05:48:00.000-07:00

I love quilt history and quilts that tell stories. It's no secret that I love eagle quilts, the history of that particular motif, and how it can appear and has evolved on quilts. I had been hunting for a Boy Scout quilt with the Eagle Scout quilt symbol on it for a spell to go into my collection of eagle quilts. You can't share the history of that particular motif in America and leave out the eagle scout symbol.

After about four years on the hunt, a light bulb went off in my head - why not commission someone to do an art quilt, one of those one of a kind pieces, that can only come from a truly gifted quilt artist's head. It is a win-win situation. The artist wins, you as the collector wins, and the world of quilt study wins - why not.

I went to quilt artist Jennifer Myers of Ohio (Google Art quilts by Jen) and she created this pictorial wallhanging for me which stirs up memories for this former den mother and summer camp mama and makes me smile. I loved that time in my life and learned many things - most of those boys are in the middle to late twenties now and I see them occasionally. Hard to believe, but a nice memory to be a part of.

I never guide a quilt artist - I let them have free reign -- I tell them I want this size, this theme, and the eagle motif in it and then I let them go. I guess it comes down to this -- to me, I feel too much imput on my part stifles creativity, I TRUST THEM to create a piece for me, and I have NEVER been disappointed.

This quilt came completely from Jennifer's imagination, but it is interesting that the boy scout camp she depicted looks amazingly similar to the one my son used to attend and I used to work at. Next spring if I can remember I will repost this blog and add a "spring" picture of my son's old scout camp. You will be surprised at how similar they are in appearence.

The boys in this piece look like they are having fun, don't they?

Thanks again Jennifer - as always a wonderful job.

Remember quilt history ladies and gents -- you can't find the quilt you're looking for then consider giving a quilt artist the opportunity to make it for you. Like I said earlier, it is a win/win situation.

Eagle Motif Wallhanging Decade by Decade Project

2010-10-10T15:11:00.000-07:00

I collect eagle quilts - antique, vintage, and new. I call my collection of eagle quilts the Parks-Wildemuth Collection to honor my parents and my husband.

Eagle Motif Wallhanging Decade by Decade Project

I was walking one day and an idea occurred to me to commission wallhangings – decade by decade traditional or art wallhangings with eagle motifs by quilt artists and/or historians whose work I admire to add to my collection of eagle quilts. The more I thought about that the more I loved the idea. I took a chance and approached my first quilt artist, designer, and historian and that dear soul said yes…..

And the rest is history.

I have a variety of quilt artists and/or quilt historians who have created these eagle motif wallhangings or are in the process of creating them for me.

I am looking for more quilt artists and/or historians to create more eagle motif wallhangings. The only decades that are open (and not spoken for) are 1830, 1870, and 1980 – if you’d like to do wallhanging utilizing the 1820s or an earlier decade we can talk about that too. If you decide you would like to participate, I will need you to contact me first and choose one of the decades not spoken for above and I will save that decade back for you.

Contact: Sue Email: quiltingbee73@yahoo.com and put the words Eagle Motif Decade by Decade Project in the subject line.

The Criteria

The wallhanging has to have an eagle motif in it.

It can be based on an antique eagle quilt or it can be an original design.

It has to represent, either by the eagle motif or the fabric or the design in the quilt - the decade it represents. In other words someone looks at it and they say ahhh - that's the 1970s or that's the 1970s version of the eagle motif.

The maximum size of the wallhanging is 24 inches by 24 inches but it can be smaller than that too.

The wallhanging should reflect the work of the designer who made it.

The piece can have a traditional interpretation or an artistic interpretation.

The wallhanging needs to be signed, dated, and named – a sleeve for hanging – if possible.

It does not matter whether it is hand pieced and hand quilted or machine pieced and machine quilted.

The person can use either period or reproduction fabrics. I get mine from reproductionfabrics.com (Margo)

I would like a photograph (scan) and a biography of the person who created the quilt.

The deadline for the piece is very open -- no hurry and no worry.

I pay a fair price for the commission and for shipping it to me.

What Will I Do with Them

The quilts are going into my eagle collection, but someday I will exhibit the wallhangings as a group - giving the artist who created them full credit in the exhibit for creating them -- I would simply be the owner of the commissioned piece.

Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button

2010-09-15T10:10:00.000-07:00

The neat thing about being involved in quilt and textile history and taking it one step further to write about it, have a web site devoted to it, and a blog (which is less formal than a web site, free to produce, and fun to participate in) on the same subject is you get the opportunity to:

meet lots of people from all over the United States and beyond
network and share information
alternate from being the student to the teacher in the comfort of your own home

Dorothy Krugner and I met each other through our love of NRA (National Recovery Administration) or the Blue Eagle Campaign information – me from an eagle quilt collector and her from a button collector perspective.

I think Dorothy is probably one of the go-to ladies about buttons, in fact, I know she lectures and might even write about them – she also has an interest in the 1930s – NRA period in history. Dorothy and I did some business together and this dear soul sent me this framed piece with three buttons on it and isn’t it neat! I love going to the mailbox sometimes and finding these unexpected treasures waiting for me.

In Dorothy’s words….”The NRA button is a stamping from an original die – the middle button is probably from the 1876 centennial, and the bottom button is a Danforth Pewter made in 1992.”

It makes sense that buttons, like quilts and textiles, have stories to tell!

Thanks Dorothy for sharing!

Teddy’s 1950s Eagle Has Landed at My Home

2010-09-08T15:31:00.000-07:00

"The Eisenhower Years" (or "Eagle Jumping Rope")

1950s Eagle Motif Wallhanging

Quilt Artist: Teddy Pruett

Commissioned for the Parks-Wildemuth Collection

Teddy Pruett created this wallhanging for me for my Eagle Motif Decade by Decade Wallhanging Project. Teddy took on the challenge of the 1950s and this piece is truly a one of a kind work of art by one of today’s most innovative quilt artists. Teddy calls this one “The Eisenhower Years” or by her “less formal” nickname “Eagle Jumping Rope.” It is an excellent example of Teddy’s work and I am so proud to own it.

I LOVE THIS PIECE!

I tried to get some close-up shots of the writing on the red and white striped border and of the eagle herself – love the elephant and donkey motif in the border. If you want to see more of Teddy Pruett’s amazing work, check out the quilt galleries on her web site: http://www.teddypruett.com/

*****

Special Note About My Photographs: My photographs don't do this piece justice. This is the first time I have EVER used a digital camera to take pictures so I want you to know that this beautiful piece was photographed by a very inexperienced newbie digital photographer (me) who loves her 35mm Canon Rebel camera and was drug kicking and screaming into the digital age by her son and the digital version of the same grade of Canon camera – my lenses for both my 35mm and digital interchange or Susie would still be in the dark ages toting around her tripod and going to Walgreens to have her film developed.

Vintage NRA (National Recovery Administration) Blue Eagle Quilt Photograph is Uncovered

2010-08-02T14:00:00.000-07:00

NRA Blue Eagle Quilt Photograph
1934
Ida (Hall) Moorer

This treasure was waiting for me when I walked down our lane to get our mail at noon today.

It is a photograph of a NRA Blue Eagle Quilt that has found its way to me all the way from Nacogdoches, Texas via some side-stops along the way. I’m just in the beginning stages of researching this quilt.

The things I do know:

• I know Ida (Hall) Moorer made it. (Yes that is Moorer not Moore)
• I know this photograph is dated 1934.
• I know this quilt was made to honor the NRA.
• The Blue Eagle Campaign was only in existence from 1933 to 1935 when it was declared unconstitutional.
• I know this quilt was sent to Franklin Roosevelt.
• I know this quilt was created in Nacogdoches, Texas.
• I know the quilt is not at the FDR Presidential Museum and Library.

The thing I don’t know:

• I do not know the “oral” history behind this quilt, but I’m working on that.
• I do not know where the quilt is today so……

If you recognize this quilt from a private collection, historical society, or a museum, PLEASE e-mail me and let me know where “she” is at. My e-mail address is quiltingbee73@yahoo.com

There are two NRA (National Recovery Administration) Blue Eagle quilts at the FDR Presidential Museum and Library, there is one, possibly two in private collections (still researching that one too), and there is one in a West Virginia Museum. I know there are more out there that have not surfaced. If anyone knows of any other NRA quilts in existence, please contact me with that information too.

Jennifer Myers Quilt Artist

2010-07-28T07:12:00.000-07:00

I commission and collect art quilts from various art quilters and/or quilt historians whose work I admire throughout the United States. For those of you who know me -- you know they usually HAVE to have an eagle motif on them and lean more towards patriotic and less towards wildlife, but I also like pieces that commemorate an historical event.

I met an amazing quilt artist (though we have never actually met in person) through a quilt I purchased from a third party. I would learn later that the quilt was designed and created by an Ohio quilt artist named Jennifer Myers. This quilt (wallhanging size) is the first piece I purchased from her -- it is called "9-11."

Author's Collection

This photo is good, but it does not do the piece justice -- I wish you could see it up close -- it is an eye popping design in person - musuem worthy in my book and I will send it to a musuem someday as it belongs there for a variety of reasons. This piece brings up emotions and isn't that what good art and music does -- makes you feel things, fires up memories, and touches that place deep within you - it's about beauty.

Well I commissioned another piece from Jennifer in 2010 - this one is part of a larger eagle motif project. I have been commissioning wallhangings from quilt artists and/or quilt historians - decade by decade which feature eagle motifs in them. Jennifer's decade was the 1960s.

Author's Collection

This one is called "To Everything There is a Season" and like "9-11" this is a masterpiece in my book and I am so proud to be the owner of it.

Jennifer Myers has a wonderful web site that has a gallery or archive of quilts she has created. It is Jennifer's Art Quilts - http://artquiltsbyjen.com/ Make yourself a cup of tea or coffee and treat yourself to a visit to Jennifer's archives and see her work.

I plan to commission another art quilt from Jennifer - I have the idea written in my journal and when the time is right I will approach her again. I like her work that much.

Eagle Quilting Stencil

2010-07-25T10:03:00.000-07:00

I am a hand-piecer and quilter. My sewing machine and I agree that I shouldn’t bother her unless I am making a Halloween costume, mending jeans, or creating a modern craft item. This relationship works for us because my machine and I realized early on that I am not a machine-piecer and quilter. I just don’t have the talent or inclination for it.

So that means…..When I am not doing a cross-hatch pattern with my one inch wide masking tape (cross-hatch is my favorite quilting design, but NEVER leave the masking tape on from one quilting session to another); I occasionally utilize a quilting stencil and a white pencil specially made for marking dark fabrics or a silver pencil made for marking light fabrics. I NEVER use a #2 pencil. I learned the hard way that does not work for me. I do not have a light touch with a pencil and I have not found a really good way to get pencil lines to fade. NEVER NEVER NEVER use an ink pen to mark fabric.

Above is my lone and only modern eagle stencil. Now I have not used him yet, but I intend to when the right eagle quilt project comes along, but I wanted all you other hand-piecers and quilters out there to know there is an eagle quilting stencil available.

Ida A. Suits Friendship Knot – A Pieced Quilt with 25 Signatures

2010-07-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

Can anyone help Arene Burgess - my quilt history friend and fellow Illinois researcher/historian with her research project --

Here is Arene's Story..........I'll let her tell it in her own words.

Who was Mrs. Ida A. Suits and what was the Hickory Grove Country Life Club? I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to learn the origins of this quilt and the maker since 1989 when it came into my possession.

I purchased this signature quilt from an Alton, Illinois woman who said she bought it at an estate sale of a Litchfield, Illinois doctor. Did the doctor take this quilt in payment for services? Did he or his wife win it in a raffle? Was it a retirement or appreciation gift?

The pattern is called Friendship Knot or Starry Crown (See the Collector’s Dictionary of Quilt Names and Patterns by Yvonne M. Khim, page 310.)

The names of the 25 people who signed this quilt are listed below. Mrs. Suits signed, dated, and identified herself as the maker. Did she make the top and quilt it alone or did she have help? A check through local telephone directories lists no Suits. This quilt has been displayed three times at local shows, but no one has come forward with any information.

Was the Hickory Grove Country Life Club one of a group of local clubs affiliated with an organization such as The Royal Neighbors, or the Modern Woodman? Did the Grange (a farmer’s organization founded in 1867) sponsor local clubs?

It is obvious that this quilt was made with a combination of purchased fabrics and scraps. This would indicate the quilt was planned as a raffle or fundraiser and the signatures were not just an afterthought.

I realize 74 years is a long time, but my hope is that someone will recognize all or one of these names and contact me with further information about the Hickory Grove Country Life Club or Mrs. Ida A. Suits or one of the following ladies/gentlemen listed below:

Names Embroidered on the Friendship Knot

Don Tipsword
Rosetta Tipsword
Ollie Roberson
Floy Roberson
Roy Bollman
Albert Jarvis
R.N. Suits
Mary Small
Mary Livingston
Julie Priddle
Agatha Jarvis
Evelyn Akerman
O.(?) L. Whitlock
Ella Whitlock
Mary Rosna Jett
John Priddle
John N. Suits
Luella Hill
Ida A. Suits (Maker of the quilt)
Lou Apiger
Thomas Priddle
Dennis (?) Priddle
Mrs. Guy
Byran Guy
Ed Priddle

Special Note:

If you have any additional information, recognize a name, or are related to anyone on this list, please contact me at my email address: Arene Burgess CBur305325@aol.com or contact Susan Wildemuth quiltingbee73@yahoo.com and she will put you in contact with me. Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated and would forward my research -- Thank you!

Team Dog or Team Cat

2010-06-19T06:46:00.000-07:00

I promise to make this quilt related, but first I want to share a word about dogs. I love them – especially beagles and/or beagle mixes - actually I gravitate towards all breeds of dogs. Here’s the thing…a dog does not care if your hair is done, your nails look good, if your face is scarred, or if you are wheelchair bound….none of that matters to them, they would adore you if you had one eye in the middle of your forehead that rotated all the time as long as you feed them, water them, give them shelter, and a head pat – it is that simple. You do those things and you will earn their loyalty for life.

I used to work part-time at a Humane Society and I was willing to do just about anything they asked of me – cleaning cages, potty pick-up, fur washing, feeding, walking, etc. etc. just to be with the dogs. That job was a real eye opener – it is amazing what people do to animals – simply put some people should never be allowed to have them.

Nicky Red Dog (Red Beagle Mix) - The first day at our home. I was told she had gained enough weight and was given the okay by the vet to be adopted out. Before us -- someone had left Red Dog on chain, dead of winter – no food, no water, she was infested with cooties which caused hair loss – actually they had almost starved her to death.

Nicky Red Dog Today – In quilt maker terms she is a rectangle with legs. Like me she has gotten a little robust as she matured – cheese will do that to you. She has a repartee of tricks – sit, sing to me, talk to me, bang your dead, high five, circle, circle, circle, lay down, fetch, and I want some cheese. She loves to go on walks. She loves to go for rides to Dairy Queen. She loves to work on the farm with my husband (actually she has become his dog). She helped my husband and I when we became empty nesters. She is a joy and her previous owners did not deserve her.

Our very first family dog was a beagle mix named Miss Spud – she was a sweet corn addict, absolutely adored our son – she was his dog, and we had her for 14 years. She passed away the winter before our son left for college. Spud had “street smarts.” She was quite a dog and faced off two coyotes in our backyard – and a skunk or two. Ewww! She was a brave little dog and protected our son with her life– loyalty like that, you have to love.

I promised to make this quilt related. There is a wonderful art quilter/designer from Illinois named Sharon Malec who has created a variety of animal patterns. She has a web site http://www.malec-designs.com/ If that url does not get you in just Google Sharon Malec the dog lady and you will be able to reach her site that way.

Here is the cover of the pattern I purchased and used for our son’s high school graduation sampler:

Beagle
Sharon Malec Design

It seems to me that most quilt makers I know have a pet, whether they are Team Dog or Team Cat or both. Do you agree?

Liberty Farm Journal and Farmer’s Wife Eagle Quilt

2010-06-14T07:59:00.000-07:00

Liberty

1940-1945

(Summer Spread)

Parks Wildemuth Collection

Why is my textile a Summer Spread and not a Quilt?

This pattern has been used in many a quilt, but the reason my textile is called a summer spread and not a quilt is because it is a single layer with no batting or backing. It is not quilted and the edges on this one are finished – similar to a modern day sheet.

Pattern Construction

This is a patriotic design. Three separate motifs are used in this quilt: #1 Eagle and Shield, #2 Bunting type border, #3 6-pointed Star. The blocks are 16 inch square, border is 14 inch wide.

It can be made into a quilt or a summer spread.

Pattern History

This is NOT a quilt kit.

The pattern Liberty appeared in Farm Journal and Farmer’s Wife Magazine in 1941. It was also featured in several vintage Farm Journal catalogs of patterns. The pattern was not included in the catalog, you had to send away for it. The buyer would then receive an envelope containing stapled sheets with instructions and pattern pieces commercially printed on them. In order to retain the integrity of the original pattern, some quilt makers made homemade templates from cereal boxes or other sturdy items because they would retain their shape after multiple uses and keep their original pattern safe from harm.

The Iowa Illinois Quilt Study Group

2010-06-09T16:49:00.000-07:00

The Iowa Illinois Quilt Study Group is a regional quilt and textile history study group which meets at the Kalona Quilt and Textile Museum in Kalona , Iowa and is open to everyone interested in studying quilts, quilt history, and textiles.

Meetings are the first Saturday in April and August of each year, the August meeting includes a silent auction. Items from the auction benefit IIQSG and a "speaker's fund" is being established with the proceeds from the auction.

"Attendees" come from Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota., Missouri, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Colorado with an occasional guest from Kansas – the meeting is open to everyone though - quilters, historians, and budding historians. IIQSG calls this an "attendee" group as each one pays $25.00 for the day and that includes a luncheon, display of 2 museum gallery shows (Amish and "English"), sharing of quilts of all attending, and a study with a group leader. (For those of you not involved a lot with Amish quilts, you probably need to know anyone not Amish are called "English" by the Amish). The Kalona Quilt and Textile Museum is pleased to have two galleries to recognize our large Amish community in Kalona. The other 14 buildings – on site – at the Kalona Historical Village are open for attendees also.

Pre-registration is highly recommended to IIQSG Secretary Juanita Seward of Wellman, Iowa. More information may be obtained from Juanita at masewsquilts@netins.net

Future Meeting Topics:

August 2010 Crazy Quilts

April 2011 Stars

If you are interested in more information about IIQSG, attending one of the their meetings, or would like to volunteer at meetings. Contact: Secretary, Juanita Seward of Wellman, Iowa. More information may be obtained from Juanita at masewsquilts@netins.net

Important News -- IIQSG has a publication

Pieces of Time – Quilt and Textile History Magazine

Attention Quilt and Textile History Researchers and Writers

The Iowa Illinois Quilt Study Group (IIQSG) publishes a quilt and textile history magazine entitled Pieces of Time. This magazine was begun to encourage beginning historians interested in writing of their research, as well as published historians and writers. Articles must be well researched and a bibliography attached. Writers interested in submitting articles for the publication should contact the editor Marilyn Woodin via e-mail at woodin@kctc.net for article length and other rules for submission.

Pieces of Time has been published for 5 years and is now subscribed to from coast to coast and sold only at meetings, or by subscription. Subscription rate is $30.00 per year and subscriptions go to Susan Mardock – email Susan for postal address information mardock@mchsi.com

LeeWard Mills and LeeWards Elgin, Illinois

2010-05-17T10:29:00.000-07:00

Do you remember LeeWards and those wonderful art needlework catalogs that used to arrive at your doorstep about four to six times a year?

Then go to my web site http://www.illinoisquilthistory.com and click on the Illinois Community by Community section, scroll down to Elgin, and then scroll down to LeeWard Mills and LeeWards, click on the underline quilt history stories and you will be taken right to my most recently finished Illinois quilt and textile history research project.

Enjoy learning the rest of the story about LeeWard Mills and LeeWards.....

Joan Kiplinger and Indian Head Fabric

2010-05-12T07:48:00.001-07:00

Joan Kiplinger was the "go to" lady for Indian Head fabric. She had done a large and extensive research project about that particular fabric. We got to know each other via e-mail (she lived in Ohio and I in Illinois) through her research with Indian Head fabric and my research with Collingbourne Mills, Inc. and LeeWards. In the 1930s Collingbourne Mills, Inc. offered their stamped quilts squares in four different fabrics - one was Indian Head.

I'm not sure who contacted who first, but I do remember we shipped a 1930s Sears catalog back and forth so many times that catalog spent more time on the road than a 1930s traveling salesman. I also sent her scans from some of my vintage quilt catalogs and fabrics. She shared her knowledge of scanners and photographs. Later we talked of more personal things, but fabric brought us together.

I asked her about her Indian Head fabrics and three days later I got two sheets with fabric samples and explanations attached to them. That was the kind of person she was - a good and gracious soul with the heart of a teacher. She was a brilliant lady and when Joan Kiplinger passed, it was like a library had burned to the ground.

A dear quilt friend e-mailed me about Joan a day or two ago -- like me, she thought a lot of Joan too and it reminded me that I had these two pages with information about Indian Head fabrics so I thought I would not keep the information "hidden away" and Joan, since she knew I belonged to a regional study group, gave me permission to share it with anyone who was interested in Indian Head fabric. She also encourage me to keep a fabric study notebook and to collect antique and vintage fabric sample books/catalogs/cards.

Here is what Joan sent me:

One

Indian Head Pre-1920s

Grey Good, original Indian Head before permanent finish added in 1922

(Joan Kiplinger)

Two

Indian Head 1950-70

All purpose cotton during Textron

Indian Head Mills and Indian Head Inc. Ownership

(Joan Kiplinger)

Three

Indian Head 1953-1966

(Joan Kiplinger)

Special Note: Two and Three shows the difference with permanent finish.

This gives you an idea of print and solid. Dates determined by selvage.

(Joan Kiplinger)

Four

Indian Head 1985

Also called Satinette at the time.

(Joan Kiplinger)

******************************

Jeans

Not the heavy jean of sailor pants and waist coats

Five

Medium Weight 2006

This jean took many rinses to overcome bleeding.

(Joan Kiplinger)

Six

Lighter Jean or Soft Drill 1970s

(Joan Kiplinger)

*****

If you want to learn more about Joan's work with all kinds of fabrics Google Joan Kiplinger - she wrote extensively on the subject in many venues.

Era of the Early Eagle Kit Quilts 1940 – 1970s

2010-05-10T09:31:00.000-07:00

Sea Wings to Glory (Mountain Mist) 1940-1945

Parks-Wildemuth Collection

and

Wings Over All (Mountain Mist) 1940-1945 (No Picture)

Sea Wings to Glory and Wings Over All are not really quilt kits though they are often mistake for them. They are actually quilt patterns offered by Mountain Mist in the 1940s.

Here are the Eagle Quilt Kits:

American Eagle (Paragon) 1956-1975 (Woman’s Day Kit Quilt)

Parks-Wildemuth Collection

***

American Glory (Paragon) 1960-1975 (Good Housekeeping Kit Quilt)

Parks-Wildemuth Collection

***

Golden Eagle (LeeWards) 1960s

Parks-Wildemuth Collection

***

Americana (Herrschners) American Eagle (Bucilla)

Eagle (LeeWards) Liberty (Bucilla) Cross-stitch Eagle (Kit Quilt) 1960-1975

Parks-Wildemuth Collection

***

Americana (Paragon) Cross-stitch Eagle (Kit Quilt) 1960-1975

Parks-Wildemuth Collection

Blue Eagle Coverlet Pattern – NRA Eagle - Nancy Cabot

2010-05-08T08:22:00.000-07:00

This Nancy Cabot pattern appeared in the Chicago Tribune on October 8, 1933. To quote the Cabot article, “Inspired by the NRA Emblem seen all over the country and known all over the world, The Tribune today offers an original quilt pattern called the “Blue Eagle.” The color choices were to use a strong blue against a white.

This eagle motif looks a little more like a frog to me than an eagle, but if you have a quilt that looks like this -- you have an NRA Blue eagle quilt.

Treasure Hunting: Needlecraft Supply Company Chicago, Illinois 1930s Find

2010-04-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

When I am not quilting, researching, or writing about quilts, I can be found roaming around auctions, antique malls, flea markets, and swap meets looking for quilt and textile treasures which pertains to eagle quilts and Illinois quilt and textile history. I don't just collect fabric items, I am also on the lookout for paper items to support my areas of quilt and textile interests.

My latest Illinois Quilt History find:

Lone Star Quilt Kit

Needlecraft Supply Company

Chicago, Illinois

Circa 1930s

See my web site: http://www.illinoisquilthistory.com and find out more information about Needlecraft Supply Company of Chicago, Illinois.

If anyone has any additional information about or a photograph of Ruth Ward or Bertha Secor, please feel free to e-mail me at quiltingbee73@yahoo.com.

Quilt Stories Exhibit at Western Illinois Museum Macomb, Illinois

2010-04-13T08:31:00.000-07:00

Western Illinois Museum
201 South Lafayette (at the corner of Washington Street)
Macomb, Illinois 61455
309-837-2750

The museum is open 10 - 4, Tuesday through Saturday.
Admission is free and donations are welcome.

Quilt Stories Quilt Exhibit
December 22, 2009 - April 24, 2010

"Quilt Stories is a historical look at quilts from the region. A quilt can be simply defined as two pieces of fabric with a filler layer joined together by quilting stitches or ties. Over time it has become a canvas for quilters to express what they think important and hold dear. Each of the quilts in the exhibit tells a unique story of families, influences, inventions, beliefs and political interests. The exhibit includes over twenty quilts that represent the rich history of over 100 years of quilt making in the region sewn by women from Carthage, Good Hope, Macomb, and Bushnell with examples from as early as 1848." Excerpt from the Western Illinois Museum's web site.

Herbert Hoover Musuem Exhibit - Patterns of the Past: A Century of American Quilting

2010-02-05T07:38:00.000-08:00

January 23-March 21, 2010

The Herbert Hoover Museum of West Branch, Iowa has a new exhibit which will highlight quilts (and patterns) from 1850 to 1940. Quilt collector Nancy Pfutzenreuter has "selected 24 favorite quilts from her outstanding collection of 100 quilts for display at the museum from January 23 – March 21, 2010."

According to the museum web site, "This exceptional exhibition will focus on three distinct quilt traditions: Amish and Mennonite designs; Classic Appliqué designs; and the Unique and Unusual quilts – these will round out the exhibit. Two examples of her unusual quilts are a handkerchief quilt and a quilt from the 1933 world’s fair."

Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum
210 Parkside Drive
West Branch, IA 52358
319-643-5301

The museum is open seven days a week from 9-5 and is located just off I-80 at Exit 254 in West Branch, Iowa.

Web Site:
http://hoover.archives.gov/

Feedsack Secrets: Fashion from Hard Times by Gloria Nixon

2010-02-04T10:27:00.000-08:00

I appreciate 19th century quilts, but my area of interest in quilt history has always been the 20th century. I am drawn over and over again to quilts created between the 1920s-1976 - a time span that takes in my grandmothers, my mother, and my generation of women because they touch something deep inside my soul.

I was DELIGHTED when I opened my mailbox and found Gloria Nixon's book Feedsack Secrets: Fashion from Hard Times inside. I grabbed a cup of tea, a few chocolate kisses, and settled down in my family room in my favorite rocker, near our woodburner, to read it.

Well researched and written in a voice and tone to please my Midwestern heart, there is a lot of feedsack information inside this gem. I have read it, I enjoyed it, learned a lot about feedsacks and their history that I did not know before, and I would recommend it to my fellow 20th Century quilt lovers.

This is the type of book presentation my group of quilt history friends love and hope to see more of in the future.

Well done Gloria Nixon for writing it and well done Kansas City Star Books for publishing it.

Interested in getting a copy for yourself:

Call:

StarInfo:
816-234-4636 (Say "Operator")
Kansas City Star Books

or

Order Online:

Web site:
http://www.pickledish.com/
Put: Feedsack Secrets: Fashion from Hard Times in the Search box.

Prairie Sky Barn Quilts - Support Home Businesses!

2009-11-14T12:46:00.000-08:00

If you drive through Iowa or Illinois on any of the country roads, U.S. Highways, or interstates there is a good chance you've seen them hanging on barns, silos, grain bins, garages, or displayed next to a lane/driveway welcoming visitors to a country home. These "eye-catchers" are called wooden "Barn Quilts" and they aren't just for barns (or farm people) anymore! These quilts would look great on your gardening shed, next to your front door, in your flower garden, on your garage, or "eye candy" at your place of business.

Check them out......

Prairie Sky Barn Quilts is located in Southeast Iowa and specializes in handcrafted wooden barn quilts made to your specifications. They handcraft their wooden barn quilts from the highest quality wood, paint with several coats of high quality exterior paint and seal with an excellent exterior sealant. They can handcraft any design you like or you may be interested in one of the designs they have already completed. There are also several sizes to choose from and they are reasonably priced.

The owners are two working mothers who have been friends for over 20 years. They love quilts and art and finally combined their talents to begin handcrafting wooden barn quilts. Each of the "wood" quilts are created in their studio, not in a factory. They paint each barn quilt individually and use only the highest quality wood, paints, and sealants. They do quality work!

I have one on order - they are personalizing it for me because I collect a specific type of quilt.

Contact Information:

Web Site: http://www.prairieskybarnquiltsco.com/

Prairie Sky Barn Quilts
33146 263rd Trail
Milton IA 52570
Phone: 641-680-0086
prairieskybarnquilts@yahoo.com

Support Home Businesses!!!! The Mom and Pop type places!!!

Cost of a Crazy Quilt

2009-10-29T16:32:00.000-07:00

Let's forgive them for they do not know of what they speak ... read on...

"Cost of a Crazy Quilt

A certain girl has pieced a crazy quilt containing 9,000 bits of ribbon. It must have taken at least three minutes' sewing to the piece. That would take 27,000 minutes - an hour a day for a year and nearly three months. In that time this foolish girl might have learned a modern language, became an accomplished cook and house-keeper, studied no end of history and science, or have done benevolent and educational work among the ignorant and poor that would have lasted to eternity - Exchange."

May 7, 1884
Newspaper Editorial Page

The fellow(s) that wrote the above never lived long enough to see the Aids Awareness quilts, the breast cancer quilts, the alzheimer quilts, the memory quilts moms make which keep their children warm years after she has passed, and the countless other quilts made to raise funds, awareness, or to honor a loved one.

Nothing "foolish" or "ignorant" about that.

Quilt Collections: Passing them On

2009-10-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

Sea Wings to Glory

Mountain Mist Quilt Kit

Author Collection

You are building a collection of antique, vintage, and new quilts in certain motifs or classifications. What will happen to them when you are gone if your family is not as interested in collecting quilts as you are?

On my online history list a topic recently surfaced about donating quilts to museums and how much “control” you have over the collection once it is donated to the museum. Do you have the right to make certain stipulations when you donate them? What happens when the museum decides to part with your item? Will they give it back to the family? Do you even have a right to ask them to do that? Also what if you can’t find a museum interested in taking your entire collection? Like you, I would like to see my quilts in a museum, but what if you are unable to find a home for them there.

It is hard to see a collection you built be taken apart because of the emotional investment we have in what we choose to collect.

But take heart – if you collected that “motif” or classification of quilt, there is someone down the road who is building their personal/private collection that will want that quilt, the provenance, and the story of how it came to you in their private collection. Let someone else experience the same joy you had in acquiring “that quilt.”

Choose a good quilt broker/dealer you have faith in – give her or him the provenance, sell the item through them and, if you are financially able, set up a scholarship fund at your local high school or college so generations of kids will have the opportunity to go to college on your collection – you can put a stipulation on that scholarship that if a family member related to you comes of college age that particular year, the scholarship goes to your family member.

Or give the money to one of the quilt museums to fund quilt related programs/storage or an organization like the American Quilt Study Group for an annual grant/scholarship?

Quilts are like our children, they are ours for awhile, but no matter how much we want to we are not allowed to keep them forever.

NRA Eagle Quilt Research

2009-10-21T08:59:00.001-07:00

Author's Collection

I am without a doubt an eagle quilt junkie and I am always collecting research information about eagle quilts. Those of you who are familiar with my web site Illinois Quilt History at http://www.illinoisquilthistory.com/ know that I am also interested in quilt and textile history research and I always like to share the ways in which I find information.

Yesterday I was on Ancestry.com in the newspaper portion of the search engine and in the keyword search I put in “eagle quilt” and then later “NRA Eagle Quilt.” More on the result of that search a little later.

I know of three NRA eagle quilts in existence - one is at the West Virginia State Museum, one is in private hands in Minnesota, and one is at the FDR Library at Hyde Park, New York. Personally, I am hoping there are more out there and if you do know of another one please share its whereabouts with me quiltingbee73@yahoo.com. There is a possibility of one in the Massachusetts area, if anyone knows anything about that NRA Quilt, please e-mail me, as I know someone with a special interest in that particular quilt.

It would also be interesting to know if there was an actual quilt pattern commercially produced with the blue eagle logo or if creative quilt makers created their own quilt pattern from scratch. If you have any information on that I welcome an e-mail on that too.

I love all the NRA Eagle quilts, they are as important as any historical document on that subject. Each tells a story about a time period in American history, why they came into being, and of course there is the story of the creative soul who made them. I love stories and I like endings to stories.

Back to the Ancestry.com newspaper search….The NRA Eagle Quilt search only netted two hits. The first was a dead end. The second wasn’t. It was the newspaper database for (The) San Antonio Light (San Antonio, Texas). A light bulb went off in my head and I said to myself (yes I said it out loud and scared my dog) that is where the FDR Library NRA quilt came from. I know this because I had requested a picture of that quilt from Michele at the FDR Library some time back.

Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library

Hyde Park, New York

NRA Quilt --FDR Library - Description

“Quilted white sateen bedspread, ca 1933, (MO 53.1091). It has six copies of the NRA Blue Eagle symbols embroidered in red, white, and blue. The background of the quilt is decorated with dollar signs. It comes with red, white, and blue fringe around the side and bottom edges. It was presented (sent) to FDR by Jaske Bros., San Antonio, Texas, date unknown, quilt maker unknown.”

That “quilt maker unknown” always haunts me whenever I see it. Please – Please – Please find an archival safe way to sign your quilts – attached a piece of muslin to the back of your quilts with the provenance information. Quilt Makers name, city, and state, date, who you make the quilt for, and why you made the quilt. Sorry – being haunted makes me a tad preachy, but please sign your quilts.

ALLRIGHT! Enough already – what did I find from the NRA Eagle Quilt search? A newspaper article and photograph of the quilt maker holding the FDR Library NRA quilt before it was sent to FDR.

The name of the article is "New Deal For Wintry Nights." The caption under the picture reads, “This NRA Quilt, made by Mrs. J. A. D. Robinson, 73, of 157 Burr Road, above is for President Franklin D. Roosevelt. When the quilt is sent to the president, it will have attached to it the names of persons who contribute to a fund for a new roof for the nursery of the San Antonio Mission Home and Training School which is operated at 223 South San Saba Street.

Citation:

“New Deal for Wintry Nights” (The) San Antonio Light (San Antonio, Texas)
September 10, 1933.

NRA Eagle Quilt at the FDR Library

Quilt maker: Mrs. J.A.D. Robinson (age 73)
Date: 1933
City and State: San Antonio, Texas
Quilt Made For: President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Quilt Type: Presentation Quilt

**********************************
Research information is out there – it is waiting for you. Researchers don’t give up hope of finding the answers you are looking for. It took me two years to find the name of an art needlework designer for a company, but once I found her all the rest came flowing in, including a photograph, but I’ll save that story for another time.

You can do this too! Press on and keep working towards your goals!

Exploring Women's Creativity - A MUST READ

2009-09-30T12:57:00.000-07:00

When I have down time between projects, I have been known to go online looking for treasure of the informational and/or textile variety. Well today I hit the mother lode on Judy Anne Breneman's web site Womenfolk.com in the form of a series of articles under the heading of "Exploring Women's Creativity."

The URL is http://www.womenfolk.com/creativity/whatis.htm

When you click on the URL, look to the left side of the web page at the table of contents for a series of articles which begins with "What is Creativity?" Start there and work your way down, reading through each section. It does not matter where you are at on the "creative path," I promise you will take away something from reading Judy's piece.

This is my latest textile acquistion from one of my treasure hunting trips on the web and a dear soul who loves quilts that tell a story as much as I do. Thanks Semper Fi - always faithful!

Twin Towers - September 11, 2001

This quilt, like all good quilts, tells a story and the creative soul (and mind) that came up with the idea for this quilt is a historian as well as a fiber artist. Bravo well done!

Andi Reynolds Tele-Interview on Women On Quilts

2009-09-15T13:39:00.000-07:00

You will want to mark Monday evening, November 11, 2009 down on your calendar and make a date to participate in an informative (and free) tele-interview event featuring Executive Book Editor of the American Quilter’s Society Andi Reynolds. Andi will be available to answer questions about writing how-to quilt books and articles, publishing, and being an AQS author.

Event Subject
Andi Reynolds
Executive Book Editor of the American Quilter’s Society
Paducah, Kentucky

Event Time
Monday, November 11, 2009
5 p.m. pacific, 7 p.m. central, 8 p.m. Eastern

Event Sponsor
Women On Quilts
Kim Wulfert, PhD

Event Information
http://www.womenonquilts.blogspot.com/

You don’t want to miss the opportunity to talk with this amazing editor in the comfort of your own home!

Collecting Quilt Motifs....Cowboy Quilts

2009-09-10T16:24:00.000-07:00

Cowboy Quilts

Well Pilgrim, glad you stopped by my blog for a visit, but before we begin I’d like to introduce you to my favorite cowboy. This former wrangler turned sodbuster is Keith Wildemuth (minus his horse Jackie) and he has been my husband and partner for over 28 years.

Keith and I are children of the 1950s and 1960s who grew up watching and loving westerns. We both have fond memories - him in the country and me in the city - of watching the Wonderful World of Disney and Bonanza on Sunday night and don’t even get us started about Saturday night and Gunsmoke. Did you know James Arness has a web site and that fans can e-mail him (www.jamesarness.com/)? Did we? Yes, we emailed Mr. Arness because we wanted him to know how much we enjoyed his show, his work, and how much Matt Dillon (my dad used to call him Matt Drill-em), Festus, Miss Kitty, and Doc were a part of our childhood memories. Gunsmoke, pizza from a box, Pepsi (our own bottle that we did not have to share with our siblings), and Saturday Night at the Movies with a John Wayne flick gives you an idea of what we considered fun in those days.

All right maybe your memories go back a little farther than Gunsmoke to guys like Gene Autry or Roger Rogers? Raise your hand if you remember going to see John Wayne at the movie drive-in or maybe Tom Mix at an early sit-down theater. Come on if you don’t remember anyone else you have to remember Rawhide and Rowdy Yates, whatever happened to that guy? Let’s ask Clint Eastwood, maybe he will know.

Well let’s get rolling rolling rolling and get this blog a movin’ on to the topic that you came to read about … quilts. I love cowboy quilts and I have a few of them. They are the one quilt motif that my husband will actually set down his newspaper for and take a real interest in even during a Packer vs. Bears game – now that is something.

LeeWard Mills and LeeWards (1950-1983) featured four different cowboy quilt kits in their catalogs. (Notice I say featured, not in-housed designed and produced.)

Ride ‘em Cowboy

LeeWards Mills
Catalog 15 1953
Catalog 16 1954
Catalog 17 1954-55
Catalog 18 1955
Catalog 20 1956

Round-Up Time (With the words Round-Up Time embroidered on the quilt)

LeeWards
Catalog 21 1956-1957
Catalog 22 1957
Catalog 23 1957-58
Catalog 24 1958
Catalog 31 F/W 1961-62

Round-Up Time (Same design, but without the words Round-Up Time embroidered on the quilt)

LeeWards
Catalog ?? Xmas Sale 1961
Catalog 32 S/S 1962
Catalog 32F S/S Sale 1962
Catalog 32F Spring 1962
(Yes, there are two 32F catalogs)
Catalog 33 F/W 1962
Catalog 33F Xmas Sale 1962
Catalog 35 F/W 1963
Catalog 35F Xmas Sale 1963
Catalog 36 S/S 1964
Catalog 37 S/S Sale 1964
Catalog 44 S/S 1966
Catalog 46 F/W 1966

Little Mavericks

LeeWards
Catalog 34 S/S 1963
Catalog 34F S/S Sale 1963

Side Note

Westerns were the most popular genre of TV show in the 1950s and 1960s. Remember these:

The Adventures of Jim Bowie
The Adventures of Kit Carson
The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin
Alias Smith and Jones
Annie Oakley
Bat Masterson
The Big Valley
Bonanza
Branded
Bret Maverick
Cheyenne
The Chisholms
The Cisco Kid
Custer
Death Valley Days
Destry
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater
F Troop
The Gene Autry Show
Guns of Paradise (originally, Paradise)
The Guns of Will Sonnett
Gunsmoke
Harts of the West
Have Gun – Will Travel
The High Chaparral
Hopalong Cassidy
How the West Was Won
Lancer
Laramie
Laredo
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
The Lone Ranger
Maverick
Paradise (later Guns of Paradise)
Rawhide
The Rifleman
The Roy Rogers Show
The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show
Stoney Burke
The Virginian
Wagon Train
Wanted: Dead or Alive
The Wild Wild West

Special Note: I would be interested in hearing from anyone who collects cowboy quilts. Contact Susan Wildemuth quiltingbee73@yahoo.com

Collecting Quilt Motifs..... Jack and Jill Quilts

2009-09-09T12:43:00.000-07:00

Jack and Jill Crib Quilts

Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water

Jack fell down and broke his crown

And Jill came tumbling after

It's hard to trace the exact date each childhood nursery rhyme came into existence as many of them were passed down word of mouth long before they ever reached print or to ascertain the exact meaning behind each rhyme without creating or perpetuating a myth. This much is true, sometime between 1760 and 1790 London publisher John Newberry and his employee Oliver Goldsmith gathered and created a collection of these childhood jewels in book form entitled Mother Goose's Melody: Sonnets for the Cradle - In Two Parts.

Nursery Rhyme quilts featuring a group of rhymes or narrowing the design field down to one particular rhyme are popular motifs with crib quilt collectors. It's no wonder we love them so, we cut our teeth on them nestled next to our mother, auntie, or grandmother listening to their comforting voices as they rocked us to sleep.

Each of us has a favorite nursery rhyme that speaks to us, mine is Jack and Jill. The Jack and Jill quilt motif must have been popular with quilt designers too because at the present time I have found 11 different crib quilts or summer spreads featuring this motif "standing alone" (not a part of a nursery rhyme sampler) and I know there are more out there.

Jack and Jill Summer Spread

Circa 1930s

Author's Collection

Wards Catalog of Stamped Needlework - "I Made it Myself"

Spring and Summer 1934 Catalog

Montgomery Ward and Co. Ad

Author Collection

I would be interested in hearing from anyone who collects Jack and Jill Quilts. Susan Wildemuth quiltingbee73@yahoo.com

Lynn Miller of Arizona sent me a scan of this Jack and Jill Quilt. Does anyone recognize the date for this quilt and the company that manufactured the quilt? If you do please e-mail me at quiltingbee73@yahoo.com

Counting Blessings and Quilt Care

2009-06-30T04:43:00.000-07:00

I wish you could meet my brothers, you'd want them for your brothers too. As some of you know our son got married, both of my brothers stepped up to the plate when I needed them. That is what family is all about -- it is easy to be there for someone when it is "easy," but it is another thing to be there when things "get challenging."

My youngest brother and his family faced a challenge yesterday. It is hard to say when you have lost everything you spent the last 18 years working for in a fire that you won, but my brother, his wife, their two girls, and their family pet won yesterday, because everyone is safe and they are here today to tell the tale. They do not have a home - their clothes, mementos, and household items are gone. They have the clothes on their back, their vehicles, each other, and their family(ies).

When my sister-in-law called me and later my brother, I asked how can I help? They are going to stay with her parents for a few days while they figure things out and I am taking care of their German Shepard mix named Hutch. I'd like to do more. Our oldest brother feels the same as me, he wants to help. We are being patient to find out how we may serve, youngest brother would do the same for us in a heartbeat. Did I tell you I got to hug my brother when he brought me the dog? I needed to do that for him and for myself. Hugs don't solve every woe, but they are healing and I am a firm believer in that kind of medicine.

So the next time you're having a bad day or you get "petty" over some real or imagined slight or you have to wait too long in the grocery store line or someone puts you on hold or you are sitting in rush hour traffic with your "undies in a bunch" or "your nose out of joint" -- use that time to reflect on the abundance in your life instead and make the conscious effort to count your blessings. Life can change in a moment.

Looking for information about Quilt and Textile Care after a fire? Here are some key phrases to Google:

Fire Restoration Specialists
Quilt Restoration
Smoke Damage to Textiles
Fire Damage to Textiles
Quilt and Textile Care
Quilt and Textile Care After a Fire

Something else to think about -- do you have your quilt collection appraised and insured?

Eagle Quilts: Antique, Vintage, and New Quilt History Study CD – The Rest of the Story…..

2009-06-28T10:42:00.000-07:00

Something new!

My Eagle Quilt History Study Cd is a mixture of photographs and descriptions. It is part quilt exhibit – part quilt history study – part visual timeline of the evolution of the eagle quilt motif in the United States. I hope you enjoy it.

The Rest of the Story......

QUILT HISTORY STUDY CD SERIES DEBUT

The first in a series of Quilt History Study CDs created by Susan Wildemuth is now available.

“Eagle Quilts – Antique, Vintage, and New” is a PowerPoint-formatted presentation of the eagle motif in U.S. quilting history. Utilizing photographs and descriptions, the study of quilts featured in the CD are from Susan’s own collection.

The other CDs in this series are still in development. Each focuses on a one-of-a-kind quilt history topic and will be uniquely different from the others. All are carefully researched and thoroughly documented.

Susan is an author, historian and quilting aficionada. Her research, writing and photographs have been published in national, regional and local quilt and textile history publications. Her web site Illinois Quilt History: Quilt History from the Midwest http://www.illinoisquilthistory.com/ was established in 2008, and her blog Eye of the Needle: Quilt History Conversation from the Midwest http://sew-eyeoftheneedlequilthistory.blogspot.com/ followed in 2009.

Eagle Quilts - Antique, Vintage, and New – The Parks-Wildemuth Collection

Order No: SEW-1

Cost: $9.99 plus shipping (Priority Mail – Flat Rate - $4.80 in U.S.)
Check or Money Order:

Susan Wildemuth
18621 US Highway 6
Atkinson, Illinois 61235
309-936-7455
quiltingbee73@yahoo.com or ksandbcw@geneseo.net

Wedding and Anniversary Quilts

2009-06-19T08:47:00.000-07:00

I would be interested in hearing if any of you collect Wedding and/or Anniversary quilts. I have been thinking of these motifs because our son got married this past weekend on June 13, 2009.

Meet Brian and Nicole "Nikki" Wildemuth

My best friend from high school Luanne Evans or as I like to call her the "camera kid" was the first person to get photographs to me. I want everyone to e-mail Louie and tell her "you need to become a professional photographer."

Do you recognized this? We, the Baber and Wildemuth ladies, love the movie Twilight --remember the gazebo scene at the end of the movie? Nikki's mom Sherry arranged for them to have a quiet moment at the reception - in the gazebo.

This picture goes to show you how amazing my daughter-from-love is. She got Brian's dad, her f-i-l, and my husband out on the dance floor to dance with her. How did she do that? I've been trying for 30 years to wrangle Keith Alan Wildemuth on to the dance floor and he always outmaneuvers me. He usually has it timed perfectly -- he asks me to dance, just about 3 seconds before the song is going to end. I plan to dance at Nikki and Brian's 50th wedding anniversary - maybe I can get some tips from Nikki on how she got her father-in-law up on that dance floor. I love this picture of them.

Do any of you collect Wedding or Anniversary quilts? They are out there and imagine what a wonderful uplifting "motif" to collect, especially if the interested party also collected "wedding/anniversary lore" to go with it or vintage wedding dresses. I'd go to that exhibit or lecture. Wouldn't you?

Here's one from Mark French's store to get you started

(Mark French - French72 - french72@antique-quilt.com)

It was a beautiful wedding thanks to Nikki and Brian, Sherry and Vic and all the people who stepped up to the plate to help make it a day to remember. This might be a "catholic" thing, but I found a quiet spot at the church before the wedding to take off my shoes, do my rosary, and count my blessings. I'm so grateful the "big guy" sent Nikki to Brian and us. Brian is lucky too -- he now has two families who love him. Life is good!

How May I Serve - The American Red Cross and Quilts

2009-06-10T18:32:00.000-07:00

I just drove passed it again; the American Red Cross billboard near the county fair grounds with the Red Cross Symbol and the words Equals Hope.

Every time I see the “Equals Hope” billboard, it takes me back to February 2007. My husband and I were on a trip – our first “big” trip together in years and through a series of interesting events, we wound up in a nearly deserted Puerto Rico airport in the middle of the night with about ten other people who, like us, had missed their connection. The next morning, in the same airport, waiting for “our ship to come in,” I spotted an American nun wearing the post Vatican II headgear and speaking fluent Spanish. I’m Catholic – a product of the parochial school system – we notice things like that. We would later learn, she was working with the Red Cross and was taking a plane load of novices to a remote island – some to teach and others to act as nurses. She was a person of action, living the message - the Red Cross equals hope.

My husband and I were coming home to Illinois, from this same trip in the aftermath of a nationwide ice storm which had caused some major delays for us in Miami. The storm had set about a chain reaction of events where we missed our successive flights, but we made it to O’Hare in the middle of the night – 1 ½ hours from home, but we had missed the connecting flight to take us that last leg home. . I am NOT complaining, this had been an amazing trip for us – one that I will cherish for a lifetime. After we landed at O’Hare that night and the plane was slowly making its’ way to our eventual departure ramp, I looked out my window and there between the rain and ice I spotted an American Red Cross airplane – my airport loving dad would have called it a cargo or a supply plane – getting ready to taxi - destination unknown. The Red Cross equals hope.

Have I shared that I randomly chose three vintage quilt history books to bring with me in my carry-on to read and one of those was a WWI pattern book which had a Red Cross Quilt in it with the instructions on how to create it?

To add more "wahoo" to this story, did I mention about a month after that trip this quilt top came to me?

Is it a quilt made to honor the American Red Cross? I’ll never know because there was no provenance with it, but I did feel like somebody was trying to tell me something – so I decided to read a little more about the American Red Cross and quilts! I began that journey by putting American Red Cross Quilts in the Google Search Engine and discovered quilts and the Red Cross have a long history together. If that is not enough to give you a fabric fix, check out the history of the Red Cross Uniforms themselves. Google Shirley Powers and Red Cross Uniforms.

Before I close the books on this day, I want to make one more comment. Does anyone else think the ARC “Equals Hope” billboards would make a nice center for a signature quilt – maybe even a fundraising quilt to benefit the American Red Cross efforts to help those who need it.

It could be the answer to "How May I Serve?"

Thinking Outside the Box: All the Good Research Projects are Taken

2009-06-06T12:35:00.000-07:00

When my brothers and I were kids we learned early on to never tell our mother or father “I’m bored” or “There’s nothing to do around here.” Before the last word was out of our mouth we would find ourselves transplanted in a flower bed with instructions to “weed” or loaned out to the widows in the neighborhood for chore duty. It was better to use our noggins and think outside the box for our own entertainment solutions than to use the B-O-R-E-D word in their presence. That’s the kind of parents we had; they were so “mean” to teach us responsibility and to use our imaginations to find ways to creatively entertain ourselves!

Which brings me to the quilt history portion of this entry – all the good research projects are taken, right? Wrong. Here is one of the hundreds of ideas still out there - what about utilizing the newspaper archives in the libraries located in your county and documenting your county’s quilt history? You might even be able to take one of those stories, research it deeper, and have an informative quilt history article for your efforts - a piece you could submit to a quilt history magazine or journal like the Iowa Illinois Quilt Study Group’s Pieces of Time or the American Quilt Study Group’s Blanket Statements.

Life is full of opportunities – think outside the box and remember the next time you drop by my home, do not use the B-O-R-E-D word, because the next thing you know you’ll be in my backyard picking up rocks out of the grass near the driveway for a penny-a-piece. Just ask my son, he’ll tell you his mother is mean that way.

Weathered Warriors - Quilts Only a Mother Could Love

2009-05-30T14:20:00.000-07:00

You know who you are – the thrift store tootsies, garage sale girlies, moving truck trailers, or dumpster diving divas who can be found carousing the curbs on clean-up days in your local communities – all because you saw a flash of fabric three lanes over in “going home” traffic which you know is a part of a quilt that dates back to the 19th century. You also know when you get there that this quilt you chased the garbage truck three miles on foot to get to is going to be far from perfect, it’s going to be one of those quilts only a mother could love, but there is something in your soul that makes you want to save it or if it is low on the “historical value scale” or “holier than your grandma’s hairnet” harvest the fabric to give your quilt history students the opportunity to touch a textile that “came to life” during the Lincoln administration.

I share this because I am the recent beneficiary, the “new momma” of a 1930s quilt. I like this quilt – it has value -- some dear soul, a quilt history sister or brother, took the time to create a quilt to honor an event that took place in Illinois in the 1930s. She is a beauty “to me,” but she is in “only a mother could love” condition. I also have a few other quilts that have been given to me as the caregiver in this shape that I just can't send on to their great reward. These quilts come to me like my doggies from the Humane Society – one look at these “weathered warriors” and I make room for them at my home.

One is a 1870s-80s signature quilt with "inked" signatures - again "sad" shape, but I can document the history of the quilt. I have to be honest though, I only keep the ones that I can document their history and the others I share with quilt friends who are interested in harvesting the vintage fabric. First thing I do when I get one of these quilts it to bag them up and freeze them, thaw them out and freeze them again. I collect quilts with two types of motifs and I NEVER put these "savers" with my good ones. I also put what documentation I have in a ziplock bag which I wrap the bag in aluminum foil. Then they are stored in a place “far far away” from my antique and vintage quilts.

One time -- I was so fond of the Eagle pattern in one of these “savers” that I made a reproduction of the quilt and kept the original inspiration -- now when I show them, I show both quilts together in a kind of before and after. I’d never seen this eagle pattern before so I am also proud to have saved the pattern for prosperity.

Do any of you have quilts like this tucked away that have seen brighter days, but you can't bring yourself to set them out on the curb? Or is it just me? If you have any savers to share, e-mail Susan Wildemuth at quiltingbee73@yahoo.com.