Trunk Show

My sewing machine is waiting for repair. My sewing room is in turmoil after our move. I am the worst blogger ever, LOL.

But here is a trunk show of quilts from the closet: My Barbie Quilts.

Growing up in the 1950s, I of course had a love affair with Barbie. Or rather, Barbie CLOTHES. Dressing Barbie in those great outfits was most of the fun. The rest was the adventures we made up.

My first ponytail Barbie had those slanted eyes, and I thought they made her look villainous. She was NOT a heroine in our play. But the Bubble Cut Barbie was okay.

My Midge became 'The Boy From Mars', wearing the Gone Fishin' jeans and plaid shirt. Ken was a Dobbie Gillis clone, and Alan had plastic hair--ugh. My last doll was Skipper, so cute. Then I felt I was too old for dolls and they went into the attic. So I never got Twist n Turn Barbie or American Girl..

Horror of horrors, one day I came home from high school to learn that Mom had GIVEN AWAY all my dolls to the girls down the street!!!!! I was heart sick. No way could I ask for them back. After all, the family was large and the girls were sweet.

Years past and I was into my 40s when I made the decision I could play with dolls again. I made the first shown quilt by scanning Barbie, printing her on fabric, and dressing her. It is a small wall hanging. I later made another larger dressing Barbie quilt for a quilt guild ugly fabric challenge.

Once again I scanned Barbie and printed her on fabric. I fused he onto ugly fabric backgrounds. I used a collectors guild book to make clothes styled on her original fashions, but using more ugly fabrics. I kept to the ugly fabric scheme in the loud daisy border. Then I appliqued real Barbie clothes and accessories.

My Barbie Quilt won second place in the Capital City Quilt Guild Ugly Fabric Challenge. It went on to be juried into a major quilt show!

It is great to play with dolls, at any age.

Independence Day

My quilt life has been put on hold for quite a few months as we packed, moved, unpacked and settled into our new home. Next week I hope to finally start to set up my quilt studio!

In 1976 we were living near Philadelphia. It was a wonderful time to be there! We spent all summer taking the train to downtown Philly, and walking from one historical sight to another. We saw the musical 1776 performed for free on Independence Mall. We wore buttons saying "Ask Me", declaring to the tourist that we knew our way around.


When several years ago I saw Bicentennial era embroidery patterns on eBay, I had to buy them. And I made my quilt, Bicentennial Memories.

The images include George Washington cutting down a cherry tree; Independence Hall, a George Washington medallion, the Liberty Bell, and  Betsy Ross sewing the flag. Thomas Jefferson was adapted from clip art. Martha Washington is a vintage Redwork pattern. The last two blocks are the American eagle and the flag of 1776. The red and white fabrics have a small cherry print on them.

In my collection is a hanky and scarf from the Bicentennial.

One of my favorite hanky designers was Tammis Keefe, and I have collected the Philadelphia souvenir handkerchiefs she designed in the 1960s. They feature famous landmarks. Here is her Liberty Bell, and Independence Hall.

Another souvenir hanky of Independence Hall:

I had always an interest in early American history, but being in Philadelphia during the Bicentennial really increased my interest. I have read such books as David McCullough's 1776, which details all the battles of that year...something I would never have considered previous to living so close to history!

Happy Birthday, America. And best wishes for many more to come.

The Helen Korngold Quilt

Helen Korngold Quilt

Close to 10 years ago I found a 1919 diary in a little flea market shop in south Lansing. It was a pricey $15, but it was completely filled and the first entry compelled me to read more.

“Rise 11:30 AM! Oh, such a spiffy time last night: a regular N.Y. Eve. All dolled up in stain clown suit. E.E. proposed—tough luck! Fellows came at 3 AM today—Sam, Dewey, Morris and Sumner Shapiro. Dewey’s Bostonian friend called. We had lots of fun. All good fellows. I’m sleepy—too much champagne!”

The diary was written by Helen Korngold of St Louis, MO.

Helen's photo as a teacher in a school yearbook

Helen was studying to be a teacher. Her history professor offered a Helen fellowship and a position as his private secretary. Helen was a student teacher at the Wellston School and at Maplewood High. She did not like teaching at Wellston. After teaching there as a substitute she regretted not accepting the position at Maplewood High. “Wells came out he said I made a successful teacher, said I understood children.” After graduation she taught at the Wellston School.

Helen wrote about WWI solders, including Dewey Pierre Flambert who won the Distinguished Cross and Legion of Honor, and in 1920 was listed on the census as a Private First Class in the U. S. Army General Hospital in Colorado. She was quite smitten with Dewey while he visited St. Louis, and sought after information about him after he left for Kansas City, then New Mexico, on his way to the coast. “Dewey certainly caused a sensation,” she wrote, “Beat it with $20 gloves and overcoat –I should worry. He was best company I ever had!”

Her special friend was Sumner Shapiro. “He’s lots of fun,” she wrote. She shared several favorite books with him, “Without Benefit of Clergy” (which he did not care for) and “Return of the Native”.  They visited the War Exposition. “He’s a nice fellow! A good teaser. He’s a Bostonian propagandist. I love St. Louis!”

Helen went to chop suey joints, ‘slummed it’ by visiting ‘low class cafes’ like Hop Alley, and danced at the Arcadia. She was up late, rose late, and took afternoon naps to keep up. One night found Helen ‘joy riding’ with Morris Block, her brother Karol, and Sumner, “Morris with his feet hanging out of the machine once or twice & Sumner behaving like a postman and Karol speeding.” 

Along with her music studies and band participation, Helen enjoyed basketball, swimming and canoeing—but most of all loved to dance. She enjoyed going to the amusement park at Forest Park Highlands, once home to the largest roller coaster, The Comet.

Clothes were important. At the Union Masked Ball with Sumner, Helen dressed as Cleopatra in a ‘wicked’ beaded dress in lavender and yellow with black and white. She describes buying a dark blue beaded georgette dress, a peach blow evening dress, black jersey silk petticoats, silk stockings, a green silk dress with silver lace, a blue suit trimmed in fur, suede pumps, dresses in black tricolate and blue velvet, and white georgette plainly embroidered.

On December 31 she climbed the Statue of Liberty That evening she heard ‘La Forza del Destino’ performed by Enrico Caruso and Rosa Ponselle. She had to visit "Lord & Taylor, Altman’s, Macys, etc.” and bought a seal ‘cootie’ hat.

“This certainly has been a most exciting and pleasant year for me. If grandpa had only lived it would have been perfect. Wishing myself and all those I love happiness—Helen Korngold

I researched about Helen's life, using ancestry.com and St. Louis genealogy website. In 1920 Helen was living in St. Louis, MO with her family. Jacob B. Korngold was 56 and a manufacturer who was born in Austria. His work took him on many travels. Helen's beloved brother was Karol Abraham, who became a lawyer after his service in WWI.

I decided to make a make a quilt for Helen. I scanned diary pages and printed them on fabric. The quilt is made to look like pages of a book. The diary page scans are surrounded by a crazy quilt border incorporating old handkerchiefs, lace, old buttons, and scans of postcards of Helen's Alma Mater,  Central High, and other St. Louis scenes. The pages are hung together by strips of lace. And empty ‘frame’ is missing Helen’s picture as I did not find one until recently.

The quilt appeared at the Women’s Historical Museum in Lansing, MI as part of a juried show created by the Capital City Quit Guild.

Pride and Prejudice story book quilt

My first semester at Temple University I took a course on literary criticism. The professor told the class we should be sure to take three courses. Each was an honors course: John Milton, James Joyce's Ulysses, and a year-long, two semester course on Jane Austen. I took them all before my graduation in 1978. 

Joyce was not my favorite course. I was the only female in the class. The guys all liked to puzzle out Joyce. The professor was a Freudian. Still, I managed to get an A based on my 50 page paper on Bloom in Nighttown, with a Jungian interpretation. 

I came to really enjoy John Milton. I think I bored many a person with my yammering on about him. 

But Jane Austen I loved. I have read all of her books, complete or not, many times since then. And it is great that she has become so well known thanks to the many movies and television mini-series on her books.


                                                          Little Women quilt

After I made Marian Cheever Newton Whiteside's 1952 Storybook pattern of Little Women I was inspired to try my own Storybook quilt. I chose Pride and Prejudice. I researched images for inspiration: art, fashion plates, dance instruction books, and 19th c book illustrations. I turned the images into line drawings to base my patterns on. 

Each block shows an important scene from the novel. The sisters Jane and Lizzie; Darcy telling Bingly that 'she's tolerable enough' as Lizzie overhears; Rev Collins brashly introducing himself to Darcy; Lizzie visiting Charlotte Collins; Darcy's cousin telling Lizzie how Darcy saved Bingly from an unhappy marriage; Darcy rushing off to intervene between Willoughby and Lydia; Darcy handing Lizzie his letter of explanation that reveals how Willoughby seduced his sister Gerogiana; Lizzie realizing she loved Darcy and would never see him again; a triumphant married Lydia returns home; Darcy's aunt confronting Lizzie about being engaged to Darcy; and Darcy proposing to Lizzie.

I was uncertain if I liked the pink background and blue border on this quilt. So I did another version, all in Redwork!

Here is Lydia with Willoughby and another soldier.

And here is Darcy flanked by Bingly and Bingly's sister.

Some day I hope to make another Storybook quilt. I have Pinocchio and two other Whiteside patterns. Or I may make my own favorite book again!

Update: Patterns for the Pride and Prejudice quilts are now available at my etsy store Rosemont Needle Arts found here.

Handkerchiefs and Old Lace

Some years ago I started making collages with vintage hankys and other handwork items. I embellish with buttons, pins, tatted gloves, ribbons and trim--- anything I can find. I love making these small quilts.

A Year in Review

I have not added to this blog for over a year. But I did accomplish a lot during this time. I moved. I adopted a dog. Our son graduated from college. And we are preparing for another move this summer!
I also took up decorative painting and joined a book club.
Catch up on quilts: I designed a quilt for a wedding, based on their invitation graphics. It has a floral vine in applique and embroidery and is beaded.I designed and appliqued and am quilting a Princess Feather quilt. I used bright colors as requested. I made a kitten baby quilt. I learned to make purses and did about 12.I completed a quilt hop quilt. I also started several quilts that are sitting around as tops or blocks, waiting completion.