Quilt Show at the Garden

Yesterday, I stopped by the Fine Art of Fiber Quilt Show at the Chicago Botanic Garden, sponsored by Illinois Quilters, Inc., North Suburban NeedleArts Guild and Weavers Guild of the North Shore. It was a gorgeous, sunny day, if a bit on the chilly side. But I didn't mind because it was a chance for me to get back to the Chicago Botanic Garden and walk around - the first time I was able to do that since my surgery. AND see some unique quilts while I was at it.

With a few exceptions, most of the quilts on display were contemporary designs and it's always fun to see what "the other side" is creating, LOL.

Made by Iva Freeman

Made by Faye Stickler

Made by Diana Burrows

I told you it was chilly. There was a bit of a frost overnight, which made everything glisten in the sun.

The bottom of the waterfall.

Still some beautiful fall colors.

Outside the English Garden

It was much warmer inside the greenhouses!

Reminded me of my floor after I've been sewing . . .

I was sort of  "pooped" afterwards and so, back at home, we took a nice long nap  . . .

Feeling a Little Patriotic About Quilts

I'm feeling patriotic, or at least I was yesterday when I took advantage of my right to vote. Someone commented on the blog about the small part of my Lincoln's Platform quilt I showed and asked to see the whole quilt. It's one of my favorite quilts from Remembering Adelia.

Lincoln's political platform during the 1860 presidential election (and also his bid for re-election in 1864) called for an end to slavery and a reuniting of the country that was torn apart at the time. 

Next year marks the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War in the United States. Adelia's diary portrays some of the thoughts that were going through women's minds at that time and I tried to include some quilts in the book that may have been popular around the time of the war. I wrote my next book, The Civil War Sewing Circle, with that in the back of my mind and it was fun to immerse myself in some of the research about women and the impact that their quilting had on the war. I've been influenced by Lincoln's legacy  in making a few of my little quilts before and though I am not a quilt historian, it's always fascinating to find out more about the connection between quilt pattern names and the history behind them.

From the Library of Congress

Most of you know that there has been an abundance of stories written about quilting and the Civil War, and for years we loved to imagine women frantically sewing quilts with secrets hidden within, helping slaves escape. Truth is, we  now know that these stories are considered myths that have been for the most part disputed by historians.

From the Library of Congress

   

For instance, according to myths, the Underground Railroad or Jacob's Ladder quilt pattern, with its light and dark contrasting squares set in an ascending formation, was said to point slaves to a safe path to freedom.

From my book  American Doll Quilts

The Log Cabin quilt has its own mystique surrounding it. According to stories, safe houses for escaping slaves were supposedly those that displayed a Log Cabin quilt with a black center and when these quilts were hung in a window or on a clothesline, slaves could be assured of a hiding place on their journey. Quilt historians say that the first documented Log Cabin quilt was dated after the Civil War and could not have been used during the time of the conflict and was probably named as a tribute to President Lincoln's boyhood home (a log cabin) or as a symbol of the Union's loyalty to him.  

From Prairie Children & Their Quilts

Thus, while our imaginations love these stories of quilts and slaves, historians tell us that there is simply no evidence that quilts played a role in helping slaves escape to freedom. We now know that the stories are probably fiction and many of the blocks were renamed later, after the war. In actuality, instead of sewing codes into cloth, thousands of women were sewing frantically in their sewing circles to make bedding and clothing for the many soldiers who desperately needed these items.

  From American Doll Quilts

Whatever history tells us,  and whatever disappointment we might feel at finding out the truth about the actual role that quilts played, it shouldn't discourage us from making quilts like these with names associated with the war as a tribute to Lincoln, the war, or the men and women who played such an important role in this stage of American history. 

 

A Little Bit of Fall Around the House

I've never  been into decorating for Halloween much except when the kids were little and I especially wasn't eager to put up ANY Fall decorations this year. No energy.

When I said I was too tired, my daughter decided to get out some of the things and forced me into it, LOL.  She even put those clingy Halloween things on the windows. Hey, I put the wreath on the door, isn't that enough?

 Okay, okay, just a few.

And just to show you (and my daughter) that YES, even though I have no energy to speak of, I can still do some very fine decorating for Fall. First, you take a pumpkin or two . . .

Can you guess which one is really the little pumpkin?

And there you have it - my house decorated for Fall! Martha, look out . . .

My yahoo group Smallquilttalk recently did a Maple Leaf Block Exchange. I cut out some of the pieces and was getting ready to make and swap the blocks when WHAM, I had to have surgery and had to drop out. Oh  well, maybe next year. This is the block they used which you can find here. I made mine last year and put a few together into a little runner. Still haven't quilted it yet but this is the binding I'm thinking of using after I do that. Aren't  you just wild about that setting print??!!

Here are a couple of my little quilts you don't see very often - both  from Prairie Children & Their Quilts. Who knew that they fit in perfectly with my "Fall Around the House" theme?

The Civil War Sewing Circle

The new Martingale & Co. catalog came in the mail last week and it was fun to see my book included in the lineup with so many other great books that are being published next year. Here's what it says: "The popular author of Prairie Children & Their Quilts and Remembering Adelia has outdone herself with this combination of lovely projects and fascinating historical tidbits."

Unless you're only looking at the pictures on my blog and not reading any of it - you've likely heard that my next book, The Civil War Sewing Circle, is coming out in January. I know it's still a little early, but, in response to requests, I am taking pre-orders of  signed  books on my website.  I'll buy a few cases right away to make sure they're available for you to purchase and then get them out shortly after they arrive. Sometimes my books arrive early, so keep a good thought.

When you order, there's a link on the shopping cart page under the item description that says "send info to seller."  Click on it to let me know how you would like your copy signed, that is, if you would like me to personalize it. Please don't tell me to write: "To my BFF (your name) - thanks for the inspiration!" or something silly like that, okay? Some people buy them as gifts for friends and I have written Happy Birthday! or Happy Retirement! more than a few times and included a little card on occasion.

I will not be traveling to Fall Quilt Market this year. If any of you are going to be there, I hear that the Martingale & Co. booth will have a "mock up" (sample, spiral-bound version) of the book so you can look through the pages and see it before the books are actually printed up. They'll also have a display of some of the quilts. So stop by the booth if you're in Houston and let me know what you think.

These photos are not that good, and were taken with my camera when I was working on the page proofs last summer, but you still get an idea of how well the staff at Martingale arranged the props and designed the layout of the pages with my quilts. I'm so excited to see it in book form and wish it were here already!

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Pattern # 4 for The American Schoolgirl Club is going to the printer tomorrow and will be mailed out to you by the end of the week.

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Nostalgic for Fall

I don't think I could ever live in a place where the seasons didn't change - I get so nostalgic for Fall every year and usually can't wait for the crisp, cool air. It's my favorite season. Being basically homebound this past month has made me feel like I missed it altogether. No trips to the forest preserve or Botanic Garden to see the beautiful leaves, too much walking for me for now. No visits to the park, also too far to walk. No outdoor flea markets or visits to pumpkin patches or apple orchards. Heck, no more "walks" period for a few more weeks at least. Methinks there won't be any signs of Fall left by then, sigh.

When I went to the doctor last week, I showed him my little list with some of the things I wanted to be able to do again (simple things like laundry, grocery shopping and lightly mopping the kitchen floor). He took one look at it and said: "Nope, nope, nope, and nope." He said I need to wait a few more weeks. I asked for a written note exempting me from housework to show my husband, who I can tell is getting tired of carrying the whole load, even though he doesn't mention it.

Every day I do a set of gentle stretches the Physical Therapist showed me, but I'm getting antsy about exercising, just a little, please, but he said all I should do for now is take slow and easy little walks. So I took the little dog for a little walk today - up and down and halfway around the block, YAY! At least I'm able to get out.

As we were walking, I noticed that I must have missed a lot of the trees changing color in my neighborhood in the past few weeks. There are a few leaves in our yard but that's it. What's Fall without a lot of colorful leaves? There weren't many at all and that made me sad because I always loved tromping with the dogs (or kids at one time) through whatever leaves we could find.

How beautiful are fallen leaves?

(Last year's leaves, blown off our lawn.)

Around here, the neighbors' landscapers scoop up the leaves faster than you can sneeze, as if they're somehow unsightly. So there are never any crunchy leaf piles to run through or dive into except in our yard. I love seeing leaves piled on the lawn, and watching them blow and swirl  into the street on a windy day. My husband enjoys raking leaves and even though it is still a chore, he says at least it's a little exercise he might not have gotten otherwise. Whatta great guy with an even greater attitude, huh? Looks like he's got his work cut out for him this weekend . . . Oh yeah, there's laundry and mopping and grocery shopping too, don't forget, Hon.

It was a perfectly beautiful day for a dog walk -

A few pretty trees, but see, no leaves to stomp through. Picture perfect.

There's one . . .

Ooohhh, wait, I think we spotted some more!

One more good sniff and then it's time to head for home. Too soon, I know, puppy. But there's always the backyard to play in - where Mom can sit and relax.

Isn't This the Cutest Little Thing?

I opened my mail yesterday and, oh my! Isn't this the cutest little thing you've ever seen? Karan from Iowa sent it to me to cheer me up. I will be traveling to Iowa in November for a lecture/workshop and will get to meet her in person to thank her properly!

And my wonderful, thoughtful, husband never fails to come through for me too. One of his clients is Kraft Foods, which owns Oscar Mayer.

Yes, people, he brought me home an Oscar Mayer Weiner Whistle! When was the last time you saw one of these? I had one when I was 10 and over the last 40-odd years, it somehow got lost, can't imagine. Thank goodness now I finally have a replacement and I can whistle the song. That will thrill the dogs . . . Thanks a bunch, Honey! I remember seeing the Weinermobile cruising through our neighborhood in the '60s. Reconnect with your childhood and buy one of your own here on eBay  (Chicken not included). You're welcome.

I know it's sort of late notice, but I also wanted to let you know that I am getting back into the swing of things a little by presenting a lecture to the Itasca Quilters Guild in Itasca, Illinois, tomorrow, Wednesday, Oct 20. If I had gotten my act together I would have announced it a little sooner in case any of you wanted to stop by. If you find you are in the area, stop by the Itasca library or e-mail me for more info. Consider stopping by even if you're not really in the area. Listen to this - last year a fan from Minnesota drove the 9 hours to come to the Chicago area to see me and my quilts and when the lecture was over, promptly turned around and drove back. Now that's a FAN, LOL. Hope I didn't disapppoint.

Nervously waiting to be introduced . . .

Hmmm, they don't look so scary . . . Everybody looks alert, nobody's sleeping yet,  so far so good.

Yes, I make BIG quilts too!

Tomorrow's lecture was scheduled over a year ago and the doctor said it was ok to do it if my husband drove and I made a point of sitting for part of the presentation and did not stand the whole time. So if you don't see me at first, look up front for someone sitting on a pillow, waving a microphone around with head to the floor, looking for her notes that likely dropped on the floor. Wringing my hands too, because I get really nervous speaking in public. I'm much more comfortable talking to fans one by one after the "show."

The lecture/workshop in Cedar Falls, Iowa, will be on November 15. Let's hope the Midwest doesn't get an early snow. I'll be looking for some of you!