What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

My Fitbit is going to die from lack of use! In the last three days, I've walked less than I would in ONE day. I know -- it's not a big deal, and it might be good to take a break. But I can see that being inactive isn't good for me. And it's not even the walking -- I NEED something to do, and I can only visit for so long before I feel like I'm going crazy. And I feel tired from lack of doing anything! 

Oh well -- it too shall pass, and before I ...

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 So much to say, so little time! 

I'm going gangbusters with these community project quilts, and I have a goal in mind as to what I want to accomplish with my downtime. That sounds like a bit of an oxymoron, but you know what I mean. Then once those quilts are done, it'll be time to get back to customer quilts -- there are a "few" waiting to be done. 

Here are the two quilts from yesterday. I know -- some of these look like the same quilt, but they are NOT. 

Community project quilt - DONE

Community project quilt - DONE ...

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I have so many things I want to get done, and I'm motivated. I have no time to work! I mean teaching and stuff! It's exciting to get up in the morning, knowing there are things to do even though I have ZERO deadlines. I can't imagine how people can "live" without some form of motivation. Anyway, I could almost say that my days are like Groundhog Day. For the past week, I've been doing the SAME thing every day. And while I did that yesterday, there were a few differences. 

And I'm over the ...

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Thanks again for all your comments -- I'll get to answering them/commenting back, hopefully later today! While I write the blog for my sanity, I also enjoy sharing it, and if it inspires, motivates, or amuses others, that's a bonus. 

This story I'm about to tell you is disturbing, and I know that some of you will say, "I told you so!" Don't yell at me, and don't tell me NOT to shop there. Yes -- this is a story about Bulk Barn. The last time, I caught some teen girls helping themselves to candies or ...

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Here is why people treasure quilts.  This quilt holds so many loving memories, symbolizes such a great story, and inspired this beautiful essay.  (Notes and photos on the repair process follow the story.)

My paternal grandmother made this quilt in the mid-1990s.  It was born from love that went back one long lifetime, and love that she wanted to carry forward several more lifetimes.

Grandma was a proud, tough “Okie.”  Born in 1919, she came of age in the worst hard times:  on a homestead farm between Hough and Guymon, Oklahoma, during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression.  She ...

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 Wikipedia explains:   The Northeast Kingdom is the northeast corner Vermont comprising Essex, Orleans, and Caldedonia Counties. The population is about 65,000. . The term "Northeast Kingdom" is attributed to George D. Aiken, governor and senator.  He first used the term in a 1949 speech. The area is often referred to by Vermonters simply as "The Kingdom." 

 The Stevens and Woods families settled in and around St. Johnsbury, Vermont, in the early 19th century.   The Hilyard children spent every summer in their mother's hometown in the late 1940's and early 1950's.   We hadn't been there since 1998 ...

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A customer sent me a quilt for repair, and included photos of her collection of family quilts.  She gave me permission to share them with you here.  What a treat to have this many quilts passed down for so many generations!  And only one, the Grandmother's Flower Garden, was in need of repair.

The owner says:  

I have a quilt from every generation down through ones that my mother made for me and for her 9 grandchildren. My family tree goes back to the Mayflower as a direct descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullin; it also includes James ...

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Well, well, well.  The story continues.  The backstory for this post can be found in two previous posts:

Flexner Family Names on a Signature Quilt
...in which researching names on a 1910 quilt traced the relationship between those people and my ancestors.

Family Names on a Signature Quilt - Part 2
...in which I was contacted by relatives of the people whose names are on the quilt, and they confirmed that whole new (to me) branch of my family.  The discussion left many more unanswered questions of the exact ties between the two branches.

---------------

And now for Part 3.  This chapter ...

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I've just received a wonderful story in my email.  It comes from a woman whose family quilt I've just repaired.  If anyone ever asks why history is important and fun and how quilts can be a part of history, here is the best answer!

Good morning.  Last evening my grand daughters, Desmin 7 and Cecilia 3 were over for dinner and we were sitting in the dining room. Desmin was facing the quilt and Cecilia with her back to the quilt. The girls are usually very observant and notice anything different in our house but had said nothing ...

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This is a stand-out crazy quilt, isn't it?  

I generally think of Victorian crazies as having so many more blacks and maroons, browns and navies, with brighter fabrics and embroidery threads interspersed only now and then. 

So I looked back at photos of other crazies that have crossed my path, and well, was surprised to see how many are very colorful after all.  So what is it about this one that makes it feel so very different? 

This quilt is super joyful!  It is packed of a wide variety of embellishments, all heightened by beading and other creative and ...

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A few years ago, I did a lot of research on a quilt with many names inscribed.  It seems to be fund-raising quilt, and was made in Melrose, MA, in 1897 or 8.  The information and connections made via this quilt just keep on coming...

You can read about the quilt, the research process, and the results - there are 14 blog posts - starting here, if you want to read through the whole process step by step.  There also is a summary of the process, a description of my adventures taking the quilt "home" to Melrose, and downloadable sets of data ...

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 April 10 is Siblings Day.  (Here is the Wikipedia link.)  

Nancy and Lori, 1955 (I couldn't pronounced Valerie. When she was six she said she was Valerie. When I was 16 I said I wanted to be Nann.)

Valerie and Nann, 1968

1993

2002 2019

David and Carolyn Blaine, 1924

Carolyn and David, 1936

Marion and Bob Carothers, Dec., 1926.   Marion's first birthday, Bob's second.

Charlie and Marion, 1952.

Marion and Bob, January, 2002.  Bob came when Dave (Dad) died. Marion died that April and Bob died that July. It was quite a year.

The Hilyard siblings ...

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Yes, I'm a day late for the Solstice, but better late than never, I figure.  Let's slow down for a while and appreciate the cycles of time and the amazing Earth we all share.  Wishing everyone health and kindness. 

And so, let's talk about the quilts.  I've showcased two Snowflake quilts here on my blog made from a Paragon kit.  And now, here come numbers 3 and 4!!!  

The first quilt I wrote about was a repair job.  The quilt was made in the late 1930s.  There are two posts.  One tells about the quilt and ...

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I am really enjoying the Once Upon a Book Club boxes!  I read this one in a few days.  Normally I think Picoult is a bit to fluffy but this book had lots of info on Egypt, death dualas, etc.  I actually really enjoyed it and was not sure which couple to root for!
I am also really getting into solo gaming!  I have been playing Tiny Epic Zombies almost everyday.  I need to teach it to Kathy so we can play competitive or cooperatively, but so far I got my ten bucks out of this used game (which arrived ...

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I posted a few days ago about how about a quilt made in Iowa 1910 is connected to my ancestors and family members.  At one point in my writing, it occurred to me how many people whose names are on that quilt soon were to experience the 1918 pandemic.  In fact Etta Flexner, whose is one of the people I was researching, died in 1919.  I haven’t been able to find a death certificate for her (yet), but who knows - the timing is right for her to have been a flu victim.  She was 40 years old at her ...

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You'll find the full backstory to this post on a post from April, 2018.  Here's a short summary.

Back in the 1980s, I'd found three people with my mother's maiden name, Flexner, on a 1910 fundraiser quilt at the museum in Kalona, Iowa.  They were not included in the genealogy that my mom knew, so we went exploring.  And after a circuitous and long route, I finally unearthed the answer:

My great-great-grandmother and the mother of the man named on the quilt were cousins.  They both had married men from the Flexner family.  So this quilt ...

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