I find so much enjoyment in sharing my quilting experiences and research with others, reading from my book, displaying my quilt collection and telling about my Trails End quilting heritage. One fun time consisted of participating as a guest speaker at a local historical society. They asked me to talk about quilting history and my book, The Magic of Patchwork.
Since I’m also a school teacher, I’ve found that “show and tell” will hold your audience’s attention rather than simply reading or talking…unless you can give a dramatic performance. So I brought along several of the quilts from my collection, along with quilt patches and pieces.
I particularly like to show the quilt I made with my grandmother when I was 8 years old. I recall sitting beside the woodstove in the kitchen hand sewing the pieces together. Nanny made one of these quilts for each of her four grandchildren and embroidered our initials on a corner.
Imagine my delight when my mom found this quilt with my initials and gave it to me when I was making quilts during the Bicentennial years. Showing this quilt often brings memories to mind for my audience about quilts in their heritage or collections.
©2005
(If you have any questions or memories to share, leave me a note in the comments section.)
Friday, October 14, 2005
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Trails End Quilters of the 1870s
As I read my grandfather’s writings, Fifty Years Ago, Rural Life from 1876, I was delighted to realize he’d included information about his mother’s quilting at Trails End Farm, in Dutchess County, NY. I knew, from this, that my quilting heritage definitely traced back to my great grandmother, Mary Barker Coon, and earlier.
Papa Coon, as our family referred to Burton Barker Coon, writer and farmer, mentioned the women getting together for afternoon tea and cutting out pieces for quilt blocks. “They would take their sewing along and have a very pleasant time. All the girls were brought up to piece quilts, bake bread and do all kinds of housework….,” he related.
Then he mentioned “quilting bees” that were common in his childhood. “The quilting frames would be brought down from the garret, the middle of the sitting room cleared, the frames put together with clamps, and the corners laid on the backs of four chairs. Then the quilt, pieced perhaps by a daughter in the family, would be stretched on the frame, the cotton batting inserted, and all would be ready for the bee.”
He told how four or five neighborhood ladies came to help. “Needles and tongues would vie with each other in making bed spreads and history,” he wrote.
Papa Coon called each quilt a “sort of souvenir piece.”
“I used to like to hear my mother tell, ‘Now I had a dress like that, and an apron like that, and you had a little green sun bonnet, and a dress like that, and grandma a dress like that, and Aunt Susie one like that.”
He described the quilts: “ I could see them all in stately array. There were no loud patterns. The figures were small and the colors very bright and lasting.”
From my mother’s tales of sewing get-togethers when she was a child and Mary Barker Coon an elderly lady, I imagined my great grandmother stitching quilts in her younger days. Her son’s description of quilting when he was growing up substantiates that quilting occurred at Trails End Farm in the 1800s. He also indicated that his mother learned to sew quilts when she was a young girl, before she married and came to live at Trails End.
As you research your ancestry, you may find that you have a fascinating quilting heritage, too.
©2005
(If you have any questions or information to share, e-mail me at: me.allen@juno.com. Include the words “Quilting Blog” in the subject line.)
Papa Coon, as our family referred to Burton Barker Coon, writer and farmer, mentioned the women getting together for afternoon tea and cutting out pieces for quilt blocks. “They would take their sewing along and have a very pleasant time. All the girls were brought up to piece quilts, bake bread and do all kinds of housework….,” he related.
Then he mentioned “quilting bees” that were common in his childhood. “The quilting frames would be brought down from the garret, the middle of the sitting room cleared, the frames put together with clamps, and the corners laid on the backs of four chairs. Then the quilt, pieced perhaps by a daughter in the family, would be stretched on the frame, the cotton batting inserted, and all would be ready for the bee.”
He told how four or five neighborhood ladies came to help. “Needles and tongues would vie with each other in making bed spreads and history,” he wrote.
Papa Coon called each quilt a “sort of souvenir piece.”
“I used to like to hear my mother tell, ‘Now I had a dress like that, and an apron like that, and you had a little green sun bonnet, and a dress like that, and grandma a dress like that, and Aunt Susie one like that.”
He described the quilts: “ I could see them all in stately array. There were no loud patterns. The figures were small and the colors very bright and lasting.”
From my mother’s tales of sewing get-togethers when she was a child and Mary Barker Coon an elderly lady, I imagined my great grandmother stitching quilts in her younger days. Her son’s description of quilting when he was growing up substantiates that quilting occurred at Trails End Farm in the 1800s. He also indicated that his mother learned to sew quilts when she was a young girl, before she married and came to live at Trails End.
As you research your ancestry, you may find that you have a fascinating quilting heritage, too.
©2005
(If you have any questions or information to share, e-mail me at: me.allen@juno.com. Include the words “Quilting Blog” in the subject line.)
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Daughters Quilting
Watching your daughter excel in quilting becomes exciting for a mom. When mine is invited to participate in quilting exhibits and teach classes, it’s enjoyable to realize our Trails End family tradition of quiltmaking will continue.
Recently Beth participated in an exhibit of the Fiber Arts Friends at their annual Art Quilt Show in Plymouth, NH. Their display fascinated viewers with quilts and hangings that take quilting beyond the traditional forms. They blend the new with the old and incorporate a variety of materials.
These ranged from king-sized quilts and large wall hangings to postcard and playing card size pieces. Fabrics made up the basic material, but they also used beads, netting, scarves, threads and non-traditional items to create work that reflected their various styles.
From this exhibit, their art will be displayed in a nearby gallery during the coming month.
©2005
Recently Beth participated in an exhibit of the Fiber Arts Friends at their annual Art Quilt Show in Plymouth, NH. Their display fascinated viewers with quilts and hangings that take quilting beyond the traditional forms. They blend the new with the old and incorporate a variety of materials.
These ranged from king-sized quilts and large wall hangings to postcard and playing card size pieces. Fabrics made up the basic material, but they also used beads, netting, scarves, threads and non-traditional items to create work that reflected their various styles.
From this exhibit, their art will be displayed in a nearby gallery during the coming month.
©2005
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