Little Quilts

On Monday I visited a  quilting friend to see her quilt collection. I met Dianne on the Flickr board for Barbara Brackman's Austen Album Quilt. We both had quilts in the 2013 American Quilt Society show in Grand Rapids. She entered a hand pieced and hand embroidered quilt which included the Gettysburg Address.

Dianne Little's interest in all things fiber was evident throughout her home with her collection of antique samplers, needlework, quilts, and woven coverlets. Spinning wheels and 1830s grandfather clocks, a rope bed, and porcelain headed dolls were part of the decor.

Dianne's collection of 19th c quilt tops was delightful to see. I will share photos from her collection over the next days.

This hexagon quilt top was full of wonderful fabrics, lots of madder browns, pinks and reds, Prussian blues, and some Chrome Yellow. I am sorry I did not get a better photo of the pieced triangle border. You can just see it on the right and left sides of the quilt in the first photograph.

 Burgundy and Turkey reds pop up, as does a grayed lilac.

 There are lots of stripped fabrics, two colored and multi-colored.

 The lovely pale aqua shade in the center hexagon is unexpected.

 So wonderful that polka dots were prevalent in the mid-1800s!

 Another lovely pale aqua fabric.

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I have been reading books from NetGalley, but as they are not being published until next year I can't post my reviews yet! Coming up in 2015 will be reviews on:

• West of Sunset by Stewart O'Nan is fiction about F. Scott Fitzgerald's last years in Hollywood
• How To Be A Heroine by Samantha Ellis explores how literary heroines influenced the author
• Madison's Gift: Five Partnerships that Made America by David O. Stewart considers Madison's political partnerships with Washington, Jefferson, Monroe, Hamilton and his wife Dolley
• Amhurst by William Nicholson is a novel about Alice Dickinson who is writing a screenplay about Austin Dickinson, the brother of poet Emily Dickinson.
• The Children's Crusade by Ann Packer, author of The Dive From Clausen's Pier
• Behind Every Great Man: Forgotten Women Behind the World's Famous and Infamous by Marlene Wagman-Geller

Meantime I am reading Zelda by Nancy Mitford and some short stories by Michigan writer Pete Wurdock who I met at Leon & Lulu's authors fest.

Decorating Ideas from Colonial Williamsburg: 1962 Inspirations

The August 1962 Family Circle magazine offered 18th c. decor to inspire 20th c. homes.

Restored homes in Colonial Williamsburg showcased Revolutionary era decorating.

"The interiors of the four houses are shown here for the first time in a national publication."

The first house photographed was not open to the public but was rented privately and furnished with antiques and reproductions.

Scenic wallpaper like in the room above was very popular in mid-century homes. In the back of the magazine is an ad for Oriental themed wallpaper scenes.

An embroidered linen bed hanging appears in the bedroom of the Brush-Everard House.

Above is a child's room. The jigsaw puzzle is from about 1787. It turns out that Venetian blinds were popular in Colonial times!  I am sure they were made of wood slats.

The Everard-Brush House parlor includes a desk and a teatime grouping. The "Tavern Green" wall paint was one of six Colonial Williamsburg colors. The color on my computer is not very close to the photograph in the magazine. The color is much deeper and greener.

The following two rooms are from the George Wythe House. Note the fire screen with needlework panel. This parlor includes a desk, card table, piano, reading nook, and conversation groupings.

 

This bedroom has interior shutters and a canopy bed. A crewelwork chair has a detachable candle arm.

The following photograph is the dining room from the Coke-Garrett House West. 

The dining room in the Carter-Saunders House includes an Oriental runner and replica wallpaper. Don't you love the turquoise painted corner hutch?

The drawing room of Dr. David Y. Paschall, president of the College of William and Mary, features an imposing 1780s Chippendale style bookcase.

We have inherited a few Colonial inspired pieces. A Windsor chair. A secretary. A pie-crust table. We have a winged arm chair similar to the yellow one pictured above. The homes in my family were not as high traditional as the ones in this article, but they were ALL Colonial reproductions or Colonial inspired. Magazine articles like this must have informed their choices.

Mom and Dad had a huge bronze eagle.  Sadly, Mom did not notice she had positioned me right under it when she took this photo! I had a great deal of fun showing it to the kids at school!

The eagle is still in the family.

Big Changes In Small Kitchens

The August 1962 Family Circle magazine included an article "Big Changes for Small Kitchens."I really liked this photo because it reminds me of the cabinets in our 1966 ranch.

Our original cabinets have copper hardware added by my folks in the 1970s, and the cabinets were refinished by my brother in the 1980s. I am told they are in wonderful shape. Otherwise the kitchen is all original.

Here is the kitchen 'work space' when we inherited it:

No dishwasher. The 'hood' over the range is just for lighting, there is no exhaust fan. The hanging light was made by Dad in the 1970s.

Ideas for making better use of a small kitchen in 1962:

This kitchen was made into an "L" shape with everything easily reachable for one person, obviously the lady of the house ruled the roost in this department. NO ONE ELSE was allowed in! I mean, where would they fit?

I lived in a house with this arrangement: corner sink with dishwasher and range flanking it, fridge next to the dishwasher. It was horrible to work in! Thankfully the parsonage underwent a remodel.

The next kitchen added a free standing range behind the half wall partition behind the seating area.

The next kitchen, the one I showed first in my post, has a U-shape. Note the cool hanging ceiling lamp over the breakfast bar and the wall oven. It even has pot lights!In the first photo you see the electric range top.

Gee, what is old is new again. These features are very popular today.

Except for the curtains. I don't see these little geometric prints right now. But I do have four or five pieces in my stash!

Yesterday we met with a contractor. We are going to gut the kitchen. No more carpeted floor. We will have a dishwasher. Good by soffits, hello 48" cabinets. We will have a real venting hood and under counter lighting. A new range. Drawers instead of deep cabinets that require kneeling to get to. A backsplash. A place for trash and recycling. A kitchen we can age in.

We will move the sink to the side where the stove is. The refrigerator has already been replaced and is against another wall. The new range will go in it's place. The pantry will go, and the cabinets will run the length of the wall. Here is that wall as it was a few years ago:

Retro Renovation fans would hate me for tearing out this original kitchen. We will have slab doors and Formica counter tops, keeping to a "retro" feel.

We have made many upgrades and repairs and improvements over the last six years, but now the best part comes: major remodeling for our needs!

Lucy Bloss's Sunbonnet Sue Pyrogrphic Box

Today at the Royal Oak Flea Market I found a little pyrographic box with Sunbonnet Sue images. It was so cute, and only $5, so I bought it.

Pyrography became popular in the late 1800s and kits were available. This box was likely made from a kit.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/194528789/vintage-1907-pyrography-kit

In my day we called it "wood burning" and oddly our moms did not think we'd mutilate the cat or burn the house down!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/179667833/vintage-wood-burning-kit-with-wonder-pen?ref=market

To learn more about this past pastime see:
https://blog.etsy.com/en/2013/history-pyrography/
http://carverscompanion.com/Ezine/Vol2Issue1/Menendez/Antiquep1.html
http://pyromuse.org/flemish_art_factory.html

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 Penciled on the back was "Lucy Bloss, Crystal Michigan."

I put that information into ancestry.com and was shocked to find Lucy on several trees! I even found her photograph!

Lucy was born in 1898 in Crystal, Moncalm MI. Her Bloss family lived near several other Bloss households. She married Clyde Dayton Hafer (born August 25, 1893) on March 25, 1916 at age 20. She died on March 8, 1952 in Carson City, Montcalm, MI.

The 1900 Crystal, Montcalm, MI census shows Lucy, age 5, living with her father Day B(Melvin) loss (35, born in October 1864) and mother Lana (35, born in Sept. 1864)  and siblings Frederic (7), Silvia (5), and Dewey (1). Their neighbors included the Charles and Elphins Bloss family and the John and Mary Bloss family.

The 1910 Census for Evergreen Township in Montcalm, MI shows Lucy (14) living with parents David (45) and Luella (31) Bloss and her siblings Fred (17), Sylvia(15), Dewy(11),and  Nellie(1), and her step sister Clara D(12) and step brother Roy E. (10) Briggs.David was a farmer, born in Ohio.
The 1920 Evergreen, Montcalm census shows Day M. and Lewella, Nellie (16), Alva (9), Earl D. (4) and Marge (0).

Lucy and Clyde Dayton Hafer were married and living in Carson City when Clyde filled out his draft card . He was 48 years old, born in St. Joseph, MI, and worked for Hummell Hager Oil Co. in Carson City, Montcalm, MI.

The 1920 Iona Co., Ronald Twsp., Michigan census shows Lucy, Clyde working as a farmer on leased land, and their daughter Lena.

The 1930 Bloomer, Montcalm census shows Clyde was manager of a Texaco filling station. He and Lucy had children Lena (10), Richard D.(4), and Doris L. (1).

The 1940 census shows Lucy in Carson City, Montcalm, MI at age 44 living with her husband Clyde D, Hafer (46) and children Richard (14) and Doras (11). Lucy had completed the second year of high school.was a wholesaler with an 8th grade education.

Her step sister was Clara D Briggs, two years younger than Lucy.

Lucy Bloss and Clara Belle Briggs

Clyde and Lucy are buried in the Carson City Cemetery.

Family trees trace Lucy's ancestors back many generations to Richard Bloss born in 1623 in Ipwich, Suffolk, England and died in Watertown, Middlesex, MA in 1665. Richard's father was Edmund Blosee, born 1587 in Ipwich and died April 5, 1681 in Watertown MA. A Bloss genealogy shows that in 1634 a Blosse/Bloyce arrived on the ship Francis. A 1663 "Worthies of England" shows a Thomas Blosse as sheriff during the reign of Charles I.

Clyde also has a  family tree on ancestry.com going back to 1824.

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Of course the reason I bought the box was Sunbonnet Sue! The top shows a girl pushing another on a swing. The sides show a girl walking towards two other bonnet babies.

Well, golly, my little box has a history. I wish I knew what treasure Lucy kept in her box and how it came to a Royal Oak flea market.

"Pies Men Like" and Heirloom Apples

Searching my cookbooks I came upon this 1953 pamphlet published by the "Personnel and Employe [sic] Relations Staff" for "General Motors Men and Women." Mom had this as long as I remember, and I assume my grandfather gave it to her when he worked for GM as an engineer.

The 17 recipes include the most iconic pies of Mid-Century America.

We are approaching the two holidays most associated with pies: Thanksgiving and Christmas. So I thought I would share "Pies Men Like."

Hopefully the ladies will like them too.

Pumpkin Pie
Pastry for a 1-crust 9" pie
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ginger
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk

Line 9 inch pie pan with pastry.
Mix sugar, flour, salt and spices together in a large bowl. Add pumpkin, molasses and melted butter; blend thoroughly. Beat eggs slightly; add with milk to pumpkin. Pour into pie pan. Bake in hot over, 425 degrees for 40 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

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My mother-in-law was a queen of pie making. She always made two pies, including Pecan Pie, her husband's favorite. Everyone looked forward to her pies.

Pecan Pie
1 unbaked 9 inch pie shell
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 slightly beaten eggs
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
whole pecan pieces

Chill pie shell thoroughly. Cream butter. Add sugar gradually and continue beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, syrup, salt, vanilla, and chopped nuts. Pour into pie shell. Bake in a moderate over, 375 degrees, for 40 to 45 minutes. Garnish with whole nuts. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.

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My mother-in-law used the No Fail Pie Crust recipes used in the school kitchen where she worked. It is the only recipe I have ever used. It 'mends' easily. 

Laura's No-Fail Pie Crust
3 cups flour
1 1/4 cup shortening
1 tsp salt
1 egg
1 tablespoon vinegar
5 tablespoons water
Cut shortening into flour and salt. Add egg, water and vinegar. Mix. Divide into five sections. Makes five pie crusts. 

I would roll extra crusts out and put them in a pie tin, wrap it in wax paper and tin foil and freeze. The dough can stay in the refrigerator for several days or can freeze for a month.

What is more American than Apple Pie?

Old-Fashioned Apple Pie

6 to 8 large tart apples
Pastry for 2 crust 9" pie
1 cup sugar
2 tsp flour
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter

Pare apples and cut into quarters. Remove cores. Slice thin. Line 9" pie pan with half the pastry. Roll out remaining pastry for top crust.

Mix sugar, flour, and spices. Sprinkle a little of the mixture over the bottmn of the pastry-lined pan. Arrange apples in pan and sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture. Dot with butter. Adjust top ctust over apples. Cut slits in pastry. Seal edges and trim and flute. Bake in hot over, 400 degrees, for 50 to 60 minutes, or until apples are tender.

Best Apples for Pies: Tart, crisp winter apples such as Greenings, Rome Beauties, and Baldwins make the best pies. For more mellow apples, such as Red Delicious, McIntosh, Winesap, etc. cut down on sugar about 1/4 to 1/3 cup and add a little lemon juice.

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Greenings? Rome Beauties? Baldwins? These are some of the "heirloom" apples that have disappeared. Some times I find an orchard that has Northern Spy or Rome apples. But I have never heard of Greenings or Baldwins. I wanted to find out more. It turns out these were the most popular apples in the Northeast.

Greening

The Rhode Island Greening Apple was "the" apple of Colonial America, reigning for 200 years until the 1960s when they were supplanted by the Granny Smith. They are believed to have originated near Newport, Rhode Island at a location "near Mr. Green's tavern." They keep well and were one of the best pie apples. They have green skin and a tart acidic flavor, with "a hint of green grape and lemon" according to Yankee Magazine at
http://www.yankeemagazine.com/article/10things-interact-2-3/favorite-apples

Baldwin

The Baldwin apple, originally called a Woodpecker apple,  was discovered in 1740 in Wilmington, Massachusetts on the farm of John Ball. It was named for Colonel Loammi Baldwin who championed the apple. It has a yellow-orange skin with red stripes, is aromatic with "flavors of spice and ripe apricots", and is tart with sweetness. It holds its shape when cooked. In 1934 a frost wiped out half of the Baldwins, and McIntosh and Cortland apples took over the market.

Read more about these heritage apples at: http://newenglandorchards.org/2011/10/13/classic-cookers-northern-spy-baldwin-rhode-island-greeni

Here are some more recipes that "men like."

What pies will you have for the holidays?

Remember This? The Early 1960s

I learned to knit as a girl and made several head bands like the blue and white stripped one on the left. 

And I knit slippers like the ones below.

Pom Pom slippers like I knit as a girl

The patterns were in a green and white book of basic instructions on all kinds of needlework. Mom and Grandma were great knitters. I was awful.

"You can defer wrinkles, defend your chin line, and firm your facial muscles with these simple exercises." The October 1962 Family Circle magazine has an article on "face-saving" exercises.

In junior high we had to create a dance routine to Chicken Fat, a song for exercising that came out of the Kennedy administration. At age fourteen I did jumping jacks, sit ups, and push ups. But I never considered I needed to exercise my face!

Here is Marie Claire's yoga version of facial exercises: http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/blogs/544896/5-anti-ageing-facial-exercises-you-can-try-at-home.html

Do they work? LA Times says no. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jan/31/health/la-he-face-exercise-wrinkles-20110131

Hush Puppies were popular. I was perfectly glad to wear them. Mom had me in Saddle Shoes in elementary school, but I got penny loafers and Hush Puppies in junior high.

My mother-in-law was asked by her granddaughter how she kept her skin looking so young. "I never used soap" she replied. But she did always have a jar of Noxema.

Ivory had a promotion with two women who looked to be sisters but were actually mother and daughter. We were supposed to know by the hands who had spent eighteen years up to her elbows in suds. 

I miss the old phones. I truly do miss them. The wireless ones give me a headache, so I always have them on speaker phone and hold them a good 6 inches away from my ear. I'm so old I remember party lines and having to hang up when someone else was talking on the joint line.

When I went to school my sandwiches were in Waxtex sandwich bags, not plastic zip lock bags. 

Mom ordered some of these prints for my room. Now the Big Eyed kids are being rediscovered, and a movie about the artist Margaret Keane is coming out. I was embarrassed by go-go boots and Mod stuff then. I was twelve and not ready for teen stuff. I still preferred Bach, Books and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

See the posters in color here

 http://www.bigeyesart.com/Lee/Lee.php 

http://artskooldamage.blogspot.com/2011/09/kitsch-supreme-1960s-big-eyed-mods.html

How racy were these ads? Long before Victoria's Secret there was Maidenform.

Are you feeling old? Or are you thinking I am the one who is OLD!