Happy Birthday, Barbie

I remember when I first met Barbie.

I was visiting my grandparents in Michigan. I always played with the girl next door. It was 1959, and she had a marvelous new doll, a Barbie doll. I wanted, I needed a Barbie. She had all those great clothes!


I had no love for my Tiny Tears, baby dolls left me uninterested, and the Madame Alexander dolls were not to be played with. I liked the cheap dolls Mom got at the supermarket, but they were brittle plastic and broke, and you could not change their dresses.

Some months passed, but Mom did buy me that first Barbie, a dark ponytailed gal with heavy eye makeup. I always thought she looked snobbish. Why not, when she had all those wonderful CLOTHES!

I loved those dresses. I amassed enough to fill a large wardrobe case. Then Mom bought me a Bubble Cut Barbie. Mom and I had Bubble Cuts. (and those cat-eyed glasses that looked so silly later). Then came Ken, and my beloved Midge (who became a boy from Mars, lol), Allen and Skipper.

And then I decided I was too old to play with dolls. Rather, the girls in seventh grade said we were way over dolls. Mom put them away in the attic, and several years later I came home to find she had given them away to the girls down the street.

I was horrified, offended, outraged. But who could break those little girl's hearts? I dealt with change.

Over the years I missed my Barbies. I missed the 60s and the elegant clothes, the sophistication. Mini skirts, polyester, jeans and Ts took the place of New Look frocks and picture hats and pearls.

When I was forty years old I decided I was old enough to play with dolls. I bought some reproduction Barbies that looked like mine. And I made some quilts to celebrate her.

I also was given a Tyler Wentworth doll by Robert Tonner, and for some years my hubby and son gave me a doll for special gifts.

And sometimes I let little girls play with my dolls, just so the dolls know the joy of a girl's imagination and the power of make-believe.

Barbie Portraits by Nancy A Bekofske

Downsizing Means Quilts Must Go

In a little over a year my husband will retire and we will leave off parsonage living and settle into our retirement home. I inherited my family home, a 1969 ranch, and we have been fixing it up for several years. It is much smaller than the housing we have lived in. SO we have to be very thoughtful about what we can keep.

Which means I have had to carefully consider which of my many quilts I can keep and which must find new homes. I have been quiltmaking since 1991 and over the years had to try many new techniques and patterns, resulting in small quilts. I have given away or donated a hundred quilts over the years. But my closet is still full.

Today I listed quilts on my etsy store, Rosemont Needle Arts. There are quite a few handkerchief quilt wall hangings. I started collecting hankies in 1993 and have 800 in my collection.

Radiant Orchid is the Pantene color of the year, and it appears in this mid-century handkerchief. It is machine quilted.

 



A 1940s pin-up girl hanky is featured in Lady Eve, surrounded by vintage clothes choices. The hand quilting patterns are traditional Japanese Shashiko.

 

 

 

I later used the vintage handkerchiefs in a different way, bringing the motifs out into the borders. This 1970s handkerchief is surrounded by borders and appliqued sunflowers, and embellished with silk flowers, buttons and a bumblebee pin.

 

One of my earliest finds, and most favorite handkerchief, is this mid-century linen hanky with Franz List's Liebestraume, which I learned to play on the piano as a girl. I used some vintage fabrics in the piecing and for the backing.

 

 

This old hanky pictures Indian head pennies! I used 1930s reproduction fabric. It is hand quilted.

 

50s Christmas handkerchiefs and a pattern from Sharon Newman's book Handkerchief Quilts were often on my table during Holiday season. It is hand quilted.

 

I also have listed some original quilts such as my Barbie Portraits. The third in a series of Barbie quilts I made, this one is young and fun.

 

 

My Morning Glory Flower Fairy image was from a 1920s book which I blogged about a few weeks ago. It uses crayon tinting, embroidery, silk flowers, beading, and has a sheet net overlay, all on silk fabric.

 There are even more quilts listed for sale. I am ready to let these children go as a part of moving on to the next stage of my life.