tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4549238541889791242011-12-31T14:55:47.513-07:00Everyday life in American history and today.Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comBlogger331100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-72441886480154925932011-09-25T13:34:00.004-07:002011-09-25T13:47:35.720-07:00

We know that quilting sustained our ancestors in many ways.  For some it was a way to express creativity, others to show their fine needlework skills.  A quilt could add color and beauty to even the humblest of homes.  Quilts were a way to help others through raising money for a cause or helping someone in need. We’ve all heard of women gathering and quilting together.  In town it was another

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-82112771046303956502011-04-28T19:30:00.003-07:002011-04-28T19:34:25.259-07:00

With our all day TV and messages flying across the Internet we might be inclined to think this interest in the royal wedding is a result of modern communications. But this is far from true. The fact we fought the Revolutionary War to gain freedom from the British Empire appeared to be soon forgotten. Queen Victoria's wedding in 1840 wasn't just the talk of the town, it was the talk of the

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-47511389132256403602010-12-11T16:22:00.012-07:002010-12-11T23:15:18.726-07:00

It's that time of year when it's fun to have some hot chocolate after coming in from the cold.  But you may not know that you are following a tradition that began in Colonial America. In fact chocolate as a drink was so important to early Americans that it was considered a necessary supply for soldiers. Unlike modern cocoa the chocolate used for these drinks still had the cocoa butter in it.

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-65697660240021949622010-08-18T16:14:00.016-07:002010-09-13T23:35:42.732-07:00

It’s always fascinating to look at antique fashion photos taking note of the styles and the details embellishing the garments. These two ladies demonstrate the latest fashion worn in the latter part of the 1870s. The dresses had some fullness overall but the bustle in the back gave the dresses the typical shape of the day. Note that not only is the back of the dress fuller but that added

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-48240012571350470762010-07-29T14:05:00.006-07:002010-09-13T23:36:10.387-07:00

Most often when we visit a small town museum we see an iron cook stove. So we are inclined to imagine that folks had them since the first European settlers arrived in America. But the truth of it is that people cooked in their fireplace long before cook stoves came along. Cooking and heating fireplaces had been used since the middle ages. It was a few centuries before any improvements were

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-49193004339053170922010-07-17T23:26:00.008-07:002010-09-13T23:35:12.426-07:00

I've been reading about early textiles and clothing in the book "Women's Work: The first 20.000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times" by Elizabeth Wayland Barber. I found it fascinating that the "string skirt" may well be the earliest form of textile clothing. The evidence is found in carved figures of women wearing decorative skirts made of string. One bone figure of a plump women

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-21817531823370605002009-06-25T10:48:00.005-07:002009-06-25T20:49:18.088-07:00

We've just discovered that the book "North America Wisconsin Hints for Immigrants" by Carl De Haas is online at the Wisconsin Historical Society website.What makes this so special is that Carl De Haas is my great-great-grandfather. He wrote this information to help friends from Germany who might wish to immigrate to America. He begins with advice on passage to America and warnings on packing

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-56269594621141430842009-05-15T17:31:00.010-07:002009-05-15T18:27:30.755-07:00

I love this photo of my aunt and mother. The picture was taken around 1940 when my dad was dating my mom. He and his twin brother must have done some urging to get their sister and dad's girlfriend to climb that tree. Just click on the picture above to look at a larger version and you will see they don't seem all that sure about the whole thing. :)The picture shows casual fashion of the time.

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-1186859274064468892009-05-04T08:00:00.031-07:002010-11-25T12:27:13.466-07:00

We spent yesterday in paradise. Paradise, Arizona is officially a ghost town but there are a few residences still there. At one time it was a booming mining town with stores, school and the usual saloons. George Walker founded the town in the late 1800s. His historic house built in 1902 is a lovely place to stay when visiting the area. That is, if you don't mind driving 5 miles of narrow dirt

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-46714896153329108912009-01-20T13:40:00.014-07:002009-01-20T15:02:05.445-07:00

As I watched Obama ride the train on the route that Abraham Lincoln took to his inauguration it struck me how different were the circumstances of the two rides. I remembered reading about how distraught Mrs. Lincoln was when this happened. Lincoln had many enemies as it was well known he did not support slavery. A plot to assassinate him had been discovered in Baltimore. For fear of

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-88055516311106163872009-01-04T14:20:00.013-07:002009-01-04T19:54:42.932-07:00

The Bible has been reflected in quilts through much of America’s past. Perhaps best known are the many quilt blocks that have been given Biblical names. Read their history at Bible Quilts in History.I just finished a quilt made of Bible blocks that I started when I set up a website to share patterns with others. This series was made possible because Charlotte Bull shared her Bible patterns with

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-91940985216234537432008-12-14T21:14:00.011-07:002008-12-25T08:09:48.783-07:00

When early Americans observed Christmas it was in a far simpler way than we do today. Though they honored the day as Christ’s birthday most of them neither decorated their homes nor gave gifts. There were regional variations though. Southerners celebrated by gathering their extended families for a time of feasting and dancing. The Pennsylvania Dutch decorated a tree as they had done in Germany.

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-27567107329417223962008-11-21T13:48:00.016-07:002008-12-14T22:20:46.653-07:00

Having a business related to quilting is nothing new. Women have likely made or finished quilts to earn income ever since quilts became a desirable bedcovering.During the late 1800s and into the 1900s women marked items for redwork embroidery as a home business. Others hand quilted for those who preferred not doing their own quilting. Sometimes a barter system was used, for example a woman

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-46997058796092550522008-11-02T16:03:00.034-07:002008-12-14T22:21:27.289-07:00

Before they could vote one of the ways a woman could show her support for a political candidate was by making a quilt.There are wonderful examples of antique political quilts in museums and from November 6, 2008 to March 29, 2009 there will be a special exhibit, “Partisan Pieces: Quilts of Political and Patriotic Persuasion”, at Women's Museum in Dallas, Texas. Alyssa Gardina, a member of the

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-78873552950113870752008-10-15T09:06:00.012-07:002008-12-14T22:20:05.605-07:00

My quilty friends and I have been joking about making a Rob Peter to Pay Paul(son) quilt in honor of the current economic mess. This saying is an old one. It is commonly thought the phrase came from when King Edward VI ordered St. Peter's church in Westminster to sell some of its land in order to pay for the repair of St. Paul's in London. But it may have been much earlier as it's mentioned in

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-22557099484168259592008-10-10T20:24:00.014-07:002009-06-05T09:13:15.844-07:00

During the 1840s in the prosperous seaport of Baltimore a unique quilt style was born, The Baltimore Album Quilt. The quilt blocks consisted of varied motifs including elaborate floral applique and making them was a popular pastime among the well-to-do.Over a century and a half later Joan Shay created a three dimensional Baltimore album quilt and offers the pattern at her site, Petal Play. In

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-28190913828799691112008-09-24T08:28:00.034-07:002009-01-20T12:10:51.950-07:00

Historic novels are a great way to learn about what life was like in the past but you always wonder what of the story is true and what is filled in by the author’s imagination. In the case of the “Change and Cherish” series by Jane Kirkpatrick I had a unique opportunity to find out.My curiosity led me to visit the Aurora Colony Museum near Portland, Oregon this summer. There I learned that Jane

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-27072886490096374062008-09-09T17:06:00.022-07:002008-10-15T09:50:36.928-07:00

I was just going through my pictures and noticed the contrast between a wholecloth quilt made about 1801 and a quilt I made a couple of years ago. What a difference!The beautiful hand quilted whole cloth quilt shown above is typical of those made by the well-to-do in early America. “What about the poor?” you might ask. "Didn’t they patch together scraps for quilts for bedding?" The answer is

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-20629858246974530992008-08-12T23:32:00.011-07:002008-10-10T21:35:13.936-07:00

I’ve been reading a great book telling the experiences of a girl who was born in New Mexico in 1874 and grew up on a remote ranch in that territory. Angus Morley Cleaveland wrote this book, No Life for a Lady, about her own life and what a life it was! She describes a world where children were depended on to run many an errand both near and far. When something needed to be done the answer was,

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-50866702769489890802008-07-21T13:18:00.015-07:002008-09-24T10:54:45.669-07:00

We have all heard the story that in the old days women made quilts using scraps because they were poor and had to make do with what they had. It makes it sound like quilt making was a drudgery. Perhaps it was for a few, but most found quiltmaking to be a creative outlet. Following are examples of how much quilting meant to two pioneer women."The Quilters: Women and Domestic Art, an Oral History

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-63207419402493201702008-07-15T09:05:00.019-07:002008-10-03T23:18:21.562-07:00

This Saturday I had the joy of going to the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show in Sisters, Oregon. It's the largest outdoor quilt show in the world featuring well over a thousand quilts. This little town of less than 2,000 residents draws several thousand visitors to it's quilt show. The show covers 4 long blocks by 8 blocks which is pretty much the whole town. The Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show started in

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-31535804927729417552008-07-08T19:14:00.018-07:002008-09-09T18:24:05.096-07:00

"The wind was rising and wildly screaming. Thousands of birds flew before the fire, thousands of rabbits were running ... Laura wanted to do something, but inside her head was a roaring and whirling like the fire. Her middle shook, and tears poured out of her stinging eyes."from Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls WilderThankfully we are safe far enough away from the fires in northern

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-8669701592205766312008-06-29T09:31:00.012-07:002008-09-09T18:20:41.900-07:00

We are traveling in the southwest in our RV right now and when we arrived at the RV park today our air-conditioning just couldn’t get the trailer below 95 degrees until the sun went down. We got by mind you, and it was noting like the time it couldn’t get below 105 but that time it was 117 outside. But this really got me to thinking about how miserable the heat must have been for Arizona’s

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-11782376993225909482008-06-22T22:23:00.014-07:002008-09-09T18:36:10.922-07:00

You could impress everyone with how many tiny squares you can sew together. Or better yet you might make a charm quilt with every square a different fabricBy the Victorian Era inexpensive mass produced cotton made such quilts quite affordable to make. Scraps could be used and in the case of charm quilts women could trade bits of fabric with one another to increase the variety in their stash.The

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-73785233528541588522008-06-17T20:31:00.043-07:002008-11-21T15:24:18.864-07:00

Imagine what excitement the announcement of a grand quilt contest with $7500 in prizes would have stirred during America’s Great Depression! Sears devised just such a contest as a part of the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair.Prizes were awarded at the local level, regional level and national level. Sears had encouraged contestants to make quilts that reflected the theme of the fair, "A Century of

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-58147549310677442022008-06-13T15:15:00.031-07:002008-09-09T18:26:54.595-07:00

We all hear how children in the “old days” went barefoot all summer then got mail order shoes for school. But in early America not only children but many adults of little means went barefoot except in cold weather. Around 1825 shoe manufacturing increased and prices dropped to the point that most adults could wear shoes the year round But don’t assume these shoes were anything like the ones we

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-35846464091609778362008-06-10T15:01:00.015-07:002008-09-09T18:27:50.296-07:00

Today women enjoy the freedom of being able to wear pants on just about any occasion. It wasn’t so when I went to college. The school I was going to in the 1960s didn’t allow women to wear pants until it was zero degrees! That meant it was COLD walking to class much of the winter. Just a few years later the culture changed dramatically and everyone wore jeans to class. Life can be so unfair

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-55351220747186315872008-06-07T12:34:00.014-07:002008-09-09T18:43:54.806-07:00

As I was browsing through the book, Pioneer Women I ran across a page titled "A Home on Wheels" showing a family standing in front of their prairie schooner. It brought to mind how I call our fifth wheel trailer our "home on wheels".We recently returned from a birding trip around southeast Arizona and we felt like we had really gone back in time at one RV park with no cell phone service or TV.

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-8459318593547656822008-06-03T18:40:00.010-07:002008-09-09T18:55:30.321-07:00

When we think of 18th and 19th century women's fashion we envision tightly laced corsets and cumbersome petticoats or hoops. But for a brief time at the end of the 1700s and beginning of the 1800s women enjoyed freedom from these constraints.Although corsets were worn they were more to ensure erect posture and were less confining than in later years. But the big difference was in the dresses.

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-33243827452374635312008-05-31T20:54:00.010-07:002008-09-09T18:48:17.834-07:00

I'm finally beginning to understand the apparent chaos we see in things Victorian. Recently we visited The Amerind Foundation: A Museum of Native American Archaeology, Art, History, and Culture. It's in the middle of the desert in southeast Arizona and we found a treasure there.Among many other fascinating exhibits was a small room arranged like a museum would have done during Victorian times.

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-14917886466119713442008-05-29T17:38:00.005-07:002008-09-09T18:32:39.459-07:00

"Little girls often find amusement in making patchwork for their dolls and some even go so far as to make cradle-quilts for their infant brothers and sisters." Eliza Leslie, "The American Girl's Book" 1831A couple of summers ago my seven year old granddaughter was a bit bored on a camping trip. We went to the Ben Franklin general store in a small town nearby and she picked out a little doll quilt

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-24579850511726590452008-05-27T08:10:00.003-07:002008-09-09T18:31:06.133-07:00

Last night I had the opportunity to sit outside and gaze at a thick blanket of stars in the exceptionally dark skies of southwest New Mexico near the Arizona border. It came to mind how different the starry skies must have looked to our ancestors. Now we have to go well away from any populated areas to see the stars like this. We rarely go out to look at the pale skies and dim stars seen where

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-454923854188979124.post-53907591533587834632008-05-26T10:57:00.002-07:002010-07-18T00:12:22.484-07:00

Welcome to my blog. I'm so glad you dropped by. I am a quilt history enthusiast and have found that we can learn a great deal about the life of everyday women through their quilting. In the process I began to study everyday life and how ordinary people lived and dressed over the years. I am sharing what I've learned with you in this blog along with some of my musings on life today.Enjoy visiting

Judy Annehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05859245443545445293noreply@blogger.com