Trails End Quilters Book Nearing Publication

In order to get my Trails End Quilters book finished, I've changed the idea for the first one and simplified.  My sister is anxious to see a copy for one of her poetry/family story presentations at the assisted living home where she resides.

So I've decided to simplify.  This will be a fun book for the family, and I'll proceed with the more detailed one incorporating more character interaction and story, publishing it later.  Perhaps publicity from the current book will enlist more interest in a follow-up.

At any rate, I'm having an enjoyable time putting the current book together, using some scrapbooking and mixed media techniques with it.

Too often, as writers, we put off what we can do today by aiming for a large project that might be beyond our scope to finish at the time.

Trails End Quilters Book

A friend has been encouraging me to get more done with my Tales of the Trails End Quilters book.  I've been working on a cover design and have made up postcards using the cover illustration.  So I'm planning to use these to promote the book.

Next, I've been making an outline of who and what I want to include, along with photos of the quilters and their work when any of this is available.

Putting the book together will involve more research about the first quilter (my great grandmother, Mary Barker Coon).  I do have photos of her and my grandfather's description of her quilting in one of his journals. 

• Do I need drama? 
• Should this be mainly a book for my family heritage?
• Will other quilters be interested in reading it?
• Should I include patterns for some of the quilts described and pictured?

So many decisions to make in deciding what to include and what direction a book should take.

Postcards to Promote the Elm Creek Quilters and Trails End Quilters

I've used postcard promotion for a number of my books, including The Magic of Patchwork.  I sent out the postcards to announce the new release, even printing an order blank on the card. I've also had extra cards printed without order blanks and use them when I correspond with fans, family and friends.


However, I'm very impressed with the use of postcards to announce Jennifer Chiaverini's new Elm Creek Quilts novel, The Union Quilters. Jennifer mentioned on Facebook that she had 20 postcards and a Union Quilters' pin, to send to the first 100 people who responded with an e-mail. She would appreciate their distributing the cards, which announced her new book and listed her upcoming appearances.

I responded in time to receive the cards and have been handing them out to my daughter's quilt group, the local library and a local bookstore where I teach workshops. I'm also mailing them to friends who read the Elm Creek Quilts books and/or are involved in quilting.

I must think about utilzing postcard PR when I write my book about my Trails End Quilters' Heritage.  Perhaps it could be a book of tales of the quilters of various generations.

Do you have unique ways of using postcards to publicize your books?

Updating Trails End Quilters

I must get back to writing about my Trails End Quilting heritage and discover more about these ladies. Also, in the present, my daughter and granddaughter have continued with their fabric art.

Granddaughter Kara was home from college for three weeks. She has two fabric art pieces in her dorm room. While home, she went through her mom's collection and selected some more to display. It's fun to have a college age gal desiring fabric art rather than pop posters for her room. I guess her rommate doesn't mind either.

My daughter Beth continues to explore all types of new fabric art techniques. She was involved in a two-month long exhibit at the Gilmanton Public Library here in NH.

Happy Quilting in the New Year!

Baking Bread with Auntie

One of my favorite Trails End memories, in addition to quilting, was baking bread with Auntie. The Trails End kitchen always was redolent with fabulous cooking and baking aromas since Auntie loved to cook. Nanny had, too, when she was younger, I was told. However, my memories of her were from her more invalid days.

One of my favorite of Auntie's foods was fresh baked bread. She let me cut the crust, or "heel" from the warm loaf and spread it with her home churned butter. What a delicious treat.

Mother know how to bake bread, but didn't have much time with her work on our dairy and chicken farm. So I learned how to bake bread from Auntie.

Some of those memories:

• the scent of yeast dissolving in warm scalded milk
• watching the yellow butter melt and float over the top of the milk
• the fun of kneading the spongy dough before shaping it into loaves
• checking to see if had risen in the pans enough to bake
• the smell of the bread as it baked in the woodstove oven

I have a photo of me, standing on the south porch of our farmhouse, holding a loaf of freshly made bread. Mother and I were so pleased I'd made it all on my own that she took photos, with her Brownie box camera.

I recently used that photo when I taught a class to young writers (ages 6-14) on writing stories about their lives. I wrote my memories about baking bread.

What are some of your favorite younger recipes? Are any connected with quiltmaking or cooking?

Recipes of the Trails End Quilters

In addition to memories of quilting, when I visited my mom's home, Trails End Farm, I recall with fondness those of cooking and delicious meals. My aunt and grandmother lived in one end of the farmhouse. My uncle and his wife in an apartment added onto the west end.

Auntie, who lived with Grandmother or Nanny, cooked such tasty meals and allowed me to cook with her. From Auntie, I learned to bake bread, churn butter, make cottage cheese (called pot cheese in those days), stir up desserts and other items.

My mom cooked, but she also worked on our farm and took care of raising chickens and getting eggs ready for market. So, when she found I liked to cook, she let me do all I wanted, as well as prepare the family meals. Tidbits I picked up from Auntie came in handy.

I realized that this blog should encompass some of those Trails End memories, too.

Researching Mother's Wedding Quilt

Today the Trails End Quilters came to mind as I pulled my mom and dad's Wedding Quilt from hiding. (Actually it consists of pieces of a well worn quilt.)

My daughter Beth and I have been trying to find old fabrics or reproduction fabrics to match it. There are very few pieces that aren't worn, so we'll have to "start from scratch." However, finding matching fabrics is a challenge, especially the sashing.

When the Hancock's of Paducah catalog came in the mail today, I thought some of the fabrics looked similar to that in the Wedding Quilt. So that inspired me to get out a few of the quilt pieces.

Nothing seemed to match, nor even be a near match. So, we'll have to keep searching.

History of the Wedding Quilt

My dad and mom were married in November of 1934, so fabrics would have been of that year or earlier. If Mother ever told me who made it and gave to them, I don't recall, although I keep hoping the name will come from the recesses of my mind. There are no signatures that we can find.

A quilting friend is taking a picture of some of the quilt pieces to a quilt shop where she works and will see if she can match any there.

Do you have old quilts in your family?

This seems to be a popular topic on my Quilting and Patchwork blog.

The Delights of Blogging About Quilting
Kristen's Teddy Bear Quilt from Granny
Photo of Kristen's Teddy Bear Quilt

(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen

Researching the History of Trails End

Since my quiltmaking began with my grandmother, Nanny, at Trails End Farm, I wanted to learn more about it's history. I have many fond memories of visits to this place where my mom grew up. She also shared stories of those younger years.

Some of them involved quiltmaking. As I thought about this, I realized my quilting heritage was connected with this farmstead. My daughter, granddaughter, and I are carrying on this tradition.

So....why not research the history of the farm and its inhabitants...and write about them? That also will tie in with the family genealogy research I continually do.

You can imagine my excitement when I discovered the old deeds to the farm, tracing it's family history back to around 1800! My grandfather's aunt and her husband, the Niles, owned it for many years. Then they sold it to Grandfather's father, William Coons. Over the years, William purchased neighboring land to add to the original farm.

When he died, his son Burton B. Coon inherited. (Burton changed his name from Coons to Coon, maintaining he was only one person!) Burton was my grandfather, whom we called Papa Coon.

Here my mother grew up with her sister and two brothers. Here we (her four children) visited often. Sometimes my sister and I spent a week at a time at Trails End during school vacations. By that time, Papa Coon had died and his son Webster now owned the farm. He, his wife Bessie, Nanny, and her daughter Esther (or Auntie) lived there.

As I research and learn more about the people who resided there over the decades and write down my memories, Trails End and it's quilting heritage take on new meaning.

(c)2007 Mary Emma Allen

Preserve Your Quilt Memories Through Journaling

I've been discussing at my b5media blog, Quilting and Patchwork, preserving your family memories, including those of families involved in quilting. My quiltmaking began with my grandmother when I was 8-years old. It was revived during the Bicentennial years of 1975-76.

You may want to read some of the articles at Quilting and Patchwork about family memories and quilting, including the responses I've received from readers.

What are your thoughts on preserving your quilting memories? Do you do this?

Researching Susie

Since my grandmother's friend, Susie, played a role in our quiltmaking, attending the tying sessions at the dining table, I decided to find out more about her. She was a figure in my childhood, too, often at Nanny's home when I visited. Susie also helped care for Nanny when she was ill and helped Auntie with housework and did sewing. Even though Susie probably was paid for housework, she was a friend.

It was many years before I realized that Susie had Negro blood she was so fair skinned. As we children got older, Mother mentioned this, perhaps realizing we'd hear something or notice that her hair was tightly curled or her skin was dark, not tanned, in winter time.

Checking the Census

Where is the first place one goes when trying to find more information about a person who lived years ago? Those involved in genealogy know the census is very helpful. Ancestry.com usually has many of these.

I did learn from the census that Susie was unmarried in 1920, the last census where I found her, but I know she must have lived until the 1940s because I remember her. I knew there were men in her life, but these were her brothers. Her mother was living with them in the 1910 census.

Then I traced her mother in earlier census and learned whom she married. I traced his genealogy and found his family. Since I don't know the mother's maiden name, it's difficult to know much about her family.

Although I'd been told Susie was Negro or black, on all the census except one, Susie and her family members were listed as mulatto. So that would account for Susie being so light skinned.

By tracing Susie's background, I'm trying to give her a place in history. (As far as I can tell, she has no descendants. Susie and her brothers were unmarried.)

Susie has a place in my Trails End memories, as a lovely, dignified lady who cared for my grandmother, attended our quilting sessions, and was a friend of the family.

Quilters' Tea Time Traditions

As I read my grandfather's journal, I discovered that he, Burton Barker Coon, discussed tea time and his mother's group of quilters. When the neighboring ladies gathered to work on their quilts, they might serve tea, he said.

His mother, Mary Barker Coon, was one of my ancestors, part of the group I call the Trails End Quilters. My daughter, granddaughter, and I continue their tradition of making and enjoying quilts.

To learn more about tea time traditions, some that evolved in my family and others I've discovered around the world, visit my blog, Tea Time News & Notes at http://tea-time-notes.blogspot.com .

More Quilting News & Information

If you'd like to read my other blogs/web sites with information about quilting and patchwork in addition to that involving the Trails End Quilters, check out:

Quilting and Patchwork at: www.quiltingandpatchwork.com

Quilter's Potpourri at: http://quilterspotpourri.blogspot.com

Here you'll find a variety of postings and stories about quilting past and present.

Mom, Write Down Your Memories

"Mom, you spend time researching our family history and telling me stories about Grandma and Great Grandma. But you need to write down your memories for me and your grandchildren," my daughter said.

So often we think other people's memories and stories are more interesting and important than our own. However, to our families, as Beth reminded me, ours are a part of our family heritage as well. (This also includes our quilting memories and journaling about what we're doing today. Involved in this would be research and writing about us as Trails End Quilters.)

I began relating some of my childhood memories, as well as those of later years, so they would become part of my daughter's and my grandchildren's background.

Perhaps in the future, they will be as excited to learn about my life as I am about my great grandmother's letters telling of homesteading in the Midwest. Your journals, your stories, and your memorabilia are part of the heritage that binds your family together.

The Favorite "Blankie"

Most children have a favorite blanket or toy that follows them through their early years. Some only feel the need for a few years. Others will have it on their bed, at least, into teen years.

This is something familiar to comfort them when the challenges of being a child seem overwhelming. This helps them fall asleep, overcome fears, and simply make them feel good.

I made small patchwork quilts for each of my grandchildren at their births. These were of the Rail Fence Design…blue, white, and yellow for Kara and green, white, and yellow for Alex. (Kara was four years old when Alex was born; we have photos of her helping me finish it.)

Kara used hers for many years and now has it packed away. Alex’s has become very worn, so that their mom has patched and re-patched it, front and back. Finally the back couldn’t be patched any more, so she put on a completely new one, using fabric that matched his pajamas.

(Read about this blankie and see pictures at her blog: http://meanderingthreads.blogspot.com )

I never imagined when I made these crib quilts for my grandchildren that they’d become so treasured. It seems I was carrying on a tradition. My grandmother made my brothers, my sister, and I bed-sized patchwork quilts (with me, at 8-years old) helping her. I was so pleased when I discovered my mother had saved mine.

©2006 Mary Emma Allen

(Mary Emma Allen lives with her family in a multigenerational household in New Hampshire. Visit her other quilting web site: www.quiltingandpatchwork.com )

Quilting with Susie at Trails End

When I think of my grandmother’s friend Susie, tying quilts around the dining table at Trails End comes to mind. I’d helped cut and stitch pieces for quilts Nanny made for us four grandchildren. Now I felt so grown up as she, Aunt Esther (or Auntie as we children called her) and Susie invited me, a mere eight-year old, to help tie the quilt spread out on the large table.

Susie also assisted my grandmother, Nanny, and Auntie at canning time, spring cleaning time, harvesting season, and other occasions. She was between Nanny and Auntie in age, as near as I recall. At family gatherings, Susie often attended, helping with the meal, joining the activities. She attended Christmas festivities. We gave her gifts and she made some for us. In later years, when Nanny was an invalid, Susie became her companion.

It was years before we children realized Susie was more than deeply tanned. One evening, we stayed overnight at her cozy home because all of Nanny’s guest rooms were filled with other relatives. Perhaps one of us children asked a question; perhaps Mother thought we’d see some family pictures; perhaps someone had made a remark.

Mother mentioned that Susie and her brother, who lived with her, were Negroes. Their parents had come to the community many years before; Susie and her brother had grown up there.

The fact that Susie was of a different race made no difference to us; she was still “our” Susie and a friend who was considered part of the family. So I never thought to ask her about her heritage and why her family came to settle in the small town where Trails End Farm was located.

I wonder now, if her parents or grandparents had any association with the Underground Railroad. Did quilts play a role in their escaping from the South? Since my prominent memory of Susie consisted of her chatting and laughing with Nanny and Auntie as we tied quilts, I wonder if they were part of her heritage.

When I research, reminisce, and write about the Trails End Quilters, Susie stands out as one of those ladies who contributed to my quilting and patchwork heritage.

(c)2006 Mary Emma Allen

Christmas Cookie Exchanges

An exchange of cookies among friends or family is another way of sharing our baking.

Did the Trails End Quilters have cookie exchanges as a way to share cookies for the holidays? Or did they simply take gifts of cookies when they visited one another? I guess you might say they did because I've been involved in a few and consider myself one of a long line of Trails End Quilters.

Cookie exchanges can be organized in several ways. Keep the number to about 6, with each person bringing a dozen cookies. Then the hostess will divide them up, so each person receives an equal number of each type.

If you have the group much larger, the distribution can become rather unwieldy. However, there are many variations on this. Also, if you’re meeting at the friend’s home for refreshments, as well as exchanging, bring some extra cookies to share with tea, coffee, or holiday punch.

When a friend organized a cookie exchange, she had 12 people participating. We all dropped our cookies at her home at a specified time. She then made the exchange and packaged each on a party plate, and we picked our goodies up later in the day. It had proved difficult to get all the participants together in an evening as it approached Christmas, so this way worked well.

(c)2005 Mary Emma Allen

(If you'd like to share stories about your cookie exchanges, e-mail me: me.allen@juno.com. Type "Trails End Quilters blog" in the subject line.)

Quilting Bees & Teas

My grandfather, Burton Barker Coon, writer and farmer, mentioned in his memories his mother’s quilting, the fact that the ladies might together for afternoon tea and cut 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.

I wondered what they served with their afternoon tea. Then I browsed through my aunt’s cooking notebook, in which she jotted down favorite family recipes. There were several for cookies and cakes. Perhaps the ladies in the neighborhood enjoyed these as they chatted, cut pieces, and quilted.

(c)2005

(If you have questions about quilts and quiltmaking, e-mail me: me.allen@juno.com. Type the words "quilt blog" in the subject line.)

Sharing Quilting Knowledge

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.)

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.)

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