Tonight, I wrote a new article for the website. The title of the article is,
Temperance Quilt Top and Oak Leaf Block – From Rags to Words, Or – How I Began Writing About Quilt History.
The photos shared in the file are of my first two projects that were published in Traditional Quilter magazine.
Have a good week!
Patricia
As I was always told, while growing up, “practice makes perfect.” Yesterday, I was determined that I was going to set up a new website file AND add a nice photo that had arrived via e-mail. I have watched Jim add photos to the web, dozens of time. I knew that I had to upload the photo to the photo editor, crop the photo, if needed, re-size the image, adjust for resolution and contrast, and re-file the image to the appropriate spot to publish to the web.
I was able to get to the point that the photo appeared on the unpublished file, and I kept trying to upload the picture, but when I’d look at what was on the web, the photo wasn’t. I kept trying, and I kept getting the same result.
Then, I had a solution! Go for a walk! When I came home, I decided to attempt this process again, from scratch. This time was different! It worked!
Just click on the link, to see a grand photo of two mothers-in-waiting.
Still smiling at my success!
Patricia
We are friends, so can I ask you a question? Do you suffer from CMS syndrome? What’s that? Compulsive Magazine Saver Syndrome! If you save magazines until every flat service in your home is covered, if you’ve stacked them in notebooks, using those little gadgets for storing magazines, or if you have cardboard cartons full of magazines to look at again…someday, then you suffer from this non-fatal but bothersome ailment.
This behavior can happen to the best of us, and it is sneaky. The magazines seem to multiple exponentially overnight, or else they call all their buddies and say, “Come on down! You won’t go to the landfill if you live here!”
Now, saving magazines and other ephemera can be a good thing, particularly if you plan to live until you are more than one hundred years old. By that time, your new item will be “old” and potentially…”valuable.” At the very least, you could always pull out a magazine to show your great grandchildren or great, great grands, how life was in another time.
Life changes more quickly than we realize by living every day, one at a time. The 1950s…ah…I remember them well. All those baby boomers going to school in their pigtails, white blouses, and skirts. Alas! That was Catholic school. The downside of that experience was that the only way the Sisters of Mercy knew how to discipline children was to hit them with rulers, really, really hard. They showed no mercy to those who couldn’t remember their times tables. And God help the little boy who incessantly drew pictures of Superman, flying through the air, with nothing on but a Cape. Very graphic was his depiction.
His talent for art was not appreciated by the ladies in Black and White, with their rosary beads and strap, both at the ready. One got the impression that they’d either pray for you, or kill you, or maybe even pray over your dead body.
Ah, but I digress. There is much to learn from looking at nineteenth century journals for women, like Peterson’s or Godey’s Lady’s Book. We can ascertain what people ate, what kinds of literature and poetry they read, what kinds of needlework projects they did, and more. Moreover, we can “read” their value systems.
Yes, ephemera of all kinds has its place. I feel guilty throwing out quilt product and fabric catalogs that have beautiful and inspiring projects, thinking that sometime, someone might be happy I saved it. My challenge is to get rid of some of my collection of magazines, or I shall simply not be able to purchase more.
Unfortunately, there is no pill available yet for CMS syndrome, so I know that one of these days, I shall have to bite the bullet and make hard choices about what to save and what to discard. Wish me luck! I wish you the same!
Pat
By happenstance, when Jim and I were attending a meeting at the New Hampshire Historical Society last week, it was announced that Mark Foynes, NHHS Education Director, was recently appointed Director of the Wright Museum in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. Foynes is a published author who wrote a book about his home town of Plaistow, NH. He attended St. Anselm College and the University of New Hampshire. We certainly wish him well in his new endeavor.
In 2004, we visited the Wright Museum, and there is a lengthy report that is still on our website. Wolfeboro, NH is a lovely place to visit, particularly during summer months. The museum opens its doors daily from May 1 until the end of October. If you are anywhere near the area, the Wright Museum (which features artifacts from World War II) would be a worthwhile stop.
I am fascinated by Sweetheart pillow tops. During WWII, these items were purchased by GIs to send home to their mothers or sweethearts.
From time to time, I have seen ragged examples of them in antique shops. The pillow shown here is one that I collected. An example of others are shown in a photo in our Wright Museum file.
Please scroll to the end of this post to see the pillow.
Words on the pillow say this:
Sweetheart
Dear friends,
Spring will not be here until March 21. Funny, about two weeks ago, I saw the first robins of spring in Dover, NH. Did you know that, according to ornithologists, many robins now overwinter, here in New Hampshire? They hang out in the deep woods.
Robin eggs are so beautiful! One year, a robin decided to build a nest on our front porch where there is a shelf. She actually put the nest in a potted plant! A little while later, there were three eggs.
With the help of a “committee,” I finally finished a little quilt that I am calling, “Touch of Spring.” The quilt features an Iris that grew in our garden last year. Jim took the photo. My friend, Beth, send me some great photo transfer paper. I chose the borders and did the finishing. It is not my greatest effort, nor my finest piece of work. The operative word for it is that it is “done,” and I enjoyed the process!
SNOW LIKE MARSHMALLOW
Today, we were out and “a-boot.” I could not help but notice how much the snow reminds of marshmallow because it is so shiny. We had thirteen inches of snow before it was “glazed” with a topping of freezing rain.
The idea of marshmallow made me think of my mother and her penchant for Hot Butterscotch sundaes, with marshmallow topping. She would always ask for pistachio ice cream, then inquire as to whether there were real pistachios in it. The waitress usually had to check. Then she would assure my mother that the nuts were the real “McCoy,” and Mum would say, “Oh, I only like pistachio ice cream with walnuts!” She was an impossible, but predictable woman! I chuckle to think of her antics.
NEW FILES
Over the weekend, I added new files. We have published, “The Virtuous Woman” passage, in its entirety, from the Bible, and added an appropriate graphic: the silhouette of a woman spinning, in cross stitch.
We also finished adding in all the photos for an article about the Billings Farm and Museum in Woodstock, Vermont, one of our favorite destinations, and one that has a yearly quilt show.
Don’t forget to listen to “Mending Wall,” in the poetry section, if you have mp3 file capabilities.
Have a great week!
Patricia
