Saturday, September 27, 2014

The Quilts May Be Small, the Love is Big

I enjoy making small quilts, especially for presents or to donate to fundraisers.

This quilt was based on a couple's wedding invitation art. I used hand applique and embroidery, hand quilting, beading, and applied daisy trim.
A Christmas gift for a church secretary, machine applique, hand embroidery.
 Dad took a photo that I turned into an art quilt. It was donated to a fundraiser. Hand appliqued, machine quilted.
 I found the cat, dog and heart patterns free online. The Love Your Neighbor was all mine and cut without a template. Donated to a fundraiser.
 I bought this pattern from Heartstring Treasures and made several versions of this cute quilt. Machine applique, hand quilted, sequins. Donated to a fundraiser.
Two hand appliqued and quilter blocks, both original designs, donated to a fund raiser. I think I want that daisy one back!
Sometimes I just get an idea and try it. Hand appliqued and machine quilted. Kept it!
When my brother-in-law married his high school sweetheart I designed this quilt. I researched Japanese symbols to bless their marriage.
A collection of vintage embroidery transfers inspired Country Gardens. Given to a relative.
A Baltimore Album design by Jeanna Kimball, hand appliqued, was given to a church organist. Made early on, I still had a LOT to learn abour fabric.

A hand printed greeting card inspired this hand appliqued and hand quilted pansy. I used permanent fine line marker to add dots for shadowing.
Another small quilt with Jeanna Kimball patterns, this time using feedsacks for the borders. Hand appliqued and quilted. Donated to a fund raiser.

I made our Game Master son this dragon quilt, inspired by the great fabric in the border. I found an image and turned it into a fusible applique and used thread for details. Turns out a Dragon was the symbol of the college gamer's club!
A cute yo-yo flowers with button centers was from a magazine pattern. Donated.
Next time I will share some MORE small quilts!

Michigan 101: The Cider Mill

We have been having wonderful weather and so we took a ride to the cider mill where my family went when I was a girl. At least 52 years ago I visited Yates Cider Mill in Rochester Hills, MI. It was established in 1863 and in 1876 began pressing cider for the local apple farmers. They still make cider on the premises.
 

When I was a girl you could buy cider and donuts. Across the street was parking and train tracks were we'd poke around for interesting looking rocks.

Today there are pony rides and train rides and fudge and apple pies and apple butter and donuts and a lot more. It was teeming with families. Most of the folk there had been born way after my first visit 52 years ago! The traffic congestion rivaled rush hour in a major city. And the line for a glimpse of the press and to buy the goodies was long.

 The cider press.
 The goodies.
It is located on the Clinton River.

On the way home we found a huge thrift store and what do you think I found? A biography on John Quincy Adams--that I have not read yet.

I have my artists statement, and the John Quincy Adams quilt is complete, but I need a photograph of myself. The President Quilts will be included in a book on patriotic and political quilts written by Sue Reich. So I need a photo that 1) was taken in the last decade 2) does not make me look dorky and 3) is not a selfie in bad lighting. I sure don't want my quilt to be straddled with an awful artist's portrait.


Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Food Focus in 1962

Food ads predominate the color ads in the May 1962 Family Circle.This one with Daddy pouring Catsup for his daughter is adorable. I notice the celery and carrots on the plate. Better choice than the chips we would add today.


Margarine, or oleo, had become necessary during the war. How do you keep consumers buying it after butter is more available?

  What's for lunch? Soup and sandwich of course.


Dairy was prompted for all meals, including desert.

 Breakfast might use Prem or Treet if you don't buy Spam.

For those cooking from scratch the recipes included:

Golden Rice Bowl
Cook 1 cup rice, following directions. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons melted butter or margarine and 1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice over; toss lightly with a fork; cool to room temperature. Fold in 1 cup sliced celery; 1 can mandarin-orange segments, drained; 1 green onion, sliced; and 1/2 cup mayonnaise. Serve as is--no need to heat or chill. 6 Servings.

Sweet-Potato Packs
Scrub and dry 6 medium size sweet potatoes. Rub with shortening or salad oil; wrap tightly in squares of foil. Cook on grill, turning often, 1 hour, or until soft when pressed between fingers. (Protect fingers with a pot holder.) Make a criss-cross in top through foil, then squeeze potato firmly at both ends; fold foil back to form a serving dish. Top each potato wit a thick pat of butter or margarine.

Double Pear Salad
1 small head of lettuce broken into bite-size pieces, about 3 cups
1 sliced banana
1 small avocado pared and diced
1 can, about 1 pound, pear halves drained and diced
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons vinegar
3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
Combine lettuce, bananas, avocados, and pears in salad bowl. Blend mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar until smooth. Pour over lettuce and fruits, toss; sprinkle blue cheese over.

A pretty poodle enjoys a lovely dinner setting.
Coloring gray hair, losing weight, and clean toilets were sources of anxiety.


Tuesday, September 23, 2014

A New Tree Comes To The Yard

My brother gave my husband a gift card to the local garden center as a retirement gift. We bought a tree for the front yard. It will flower in the spring and we will plant bulbs around it as well.

My dad had planted a birch, a pine, and two arbor vitae in the front back in the early 1970s. The birch died, the pine was growing on the roof and into the neighbor's driveway, and the bushes covered the front windows. We had them all removed. Now we can finally landscape again.

I have the 'new' vintage china cabinet in my sewing area all filled with vintage fabrics, quilt tops and blocks, and linens and such.

You can see feedsacks and mid-century sheets in the photo above. I also have a nice collection of 50s/60s dress and cotton fabrics, some 70s/80s calicos, and some barkcloth and upholstery weight fabrics. I have smaller pieces of feedsack and vintage prints which I use for repairing vintage quilts.

Every week is a step further along, but so much is left to do! I really need the electric upgrade in the basement sewing area and a kitchen remodel. And new flooring in the family room. And...

The joys and challenges of home ownership. Now mine.

From Monetary Wealth to Spiritual Riches

September 16 was J. C. Penney's birthday. I was reminded that I had my grandfather's autographed copy of Penney's 1950 autobiography Fifty Years with the Golden Rule: A Spiritual Autobiography. I decided it was time to read it.



James Cash Penney was born in 1875 and died in 1971 at age 95. His father was a farmer and preacher, never financially successful, but a role model that inspired his son throughout his life. He taught his son to work hard, giving 110% to whatever job he was doing. He also taught him to follow the Golden Rule in all aspects of life. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."(Mathew 7:12)

When Penney turned 8 years old his father told him he had to earn for his own clothing. Penney badly needed shoes for school. He ran errands and earned the $2.50 for a cheap pair of shoes, the leather top held to the sole by wooden pegs. By 12 years of age he had progressed to buying pigs to fatten and sell.  The neighbors complained about the smell and Penney was instructed to sell the pigs before they were fattened. One must treat others as you would have them treat you after all. Penney put the $60 earned in two banks: in case one failed, he'd still have the other half of his money.

Penney's father was a supporter of the Sunday School movement, but their Missouri Primitive Baptist church members were not. He also believed that preachers should be educated and receive a stipend. The controversy lead to his father being brought up on charges and read out of the church. Although his father did not hold grudges, his son became alienated from the church.

Penney aspired to be a lawyer. There was no financial aid available in those days, and his father offered another opportunity--working with a merchant to learn business. In 1898 Penney was hired by the owners of The Golden Rule Store. He gave 110% and in 1902 he opened his own store and was made a partner. By 1907 he bought out the original owners and continued to open new Gold Rule Stores. His policy was to offer good products at a fair price, have stellar customer service, and accept cash only. The frugal, workaholic Penney's empire grew to 1,700 stores, plus model dairy farms, a home for retired ministers, and many non-profit charitable ventures.

But his life was far from idyllic. He was devastated by the loss of two wives, and he lost his fortune during the Depression. He was no longer the philanthropist tycoon and had to draw a salary from his stores earnings. The experience brought Penney to question his very existence.

My grandfather had marked these lines:

"A man must regard very soberly indeed the unheralded fact of being literally forced to start over again at the age of fifty-eight to provide for his family."

"I was flat broke, touching bottom."

"Suicide is not in my nature, or retreat. Through the burden was immense, the only thing possible was to find the way back to solid ground."

"No one had robbed me of the will and know-how to work hard and serve the public."

"First of all, I reminded myself, a man doesn't run. Neither does he squander time and strength in blaming everything and everyone in sight--excepting himself. When he has brought himself around to accepting the fact that possessing money will never be a guarantee of invulnerability and that whatever fortune he had has been lost, the way is opened to seeing that the only place left to go is--up. Powers remain.--and the power used to build with, in the first place. And so he fights." 

The triple underlining was my grandfather's, and next to the lines he wrote "N.B.", note bene, or "note well".


Penney was in failing health, suffering from shingles, and unable to sleep when a doctor friend checked him into the Kellogg Sanitarium in Kalamazoo for rest and treatment. Penney actually felt that his life was coming to an end.

He was given a sedative but awoke again at 10 pm feeling blue and alone and depressed. He walked the empty halls of the sanitarium until he heard the chapel organ playing the old hymn "God will take care of you...All you may need, He will provide/God will take care of you...Lonely and sad, from friends apart...No matter what may be the test...God will take care of you..."

He heard someone read the scripture verse "Come unto me, all ye that are heavy laden."

And he had his epiphany: he did not have to have all the answers and rely on only his own abilities.

"I had glimpsed God."

"Lord, I can do nothing. Will you take care of me?" 

Penney was reborn into a "right-thinking" man, aware that he had the power to cure himself by truly following God's way. He had followed The Golden Rule but still allowed business and the pursuit of money to lead his life. Humility became his greatest challenge. Giving money to charity was easy, but now he had learn to give of himself, to allow God control of his life. This realization brought him joy, peace, and assurance.

Within days he was well enough to be released. He changed the orientation of his life. Ten more years before he was baptized into the church and took communion for the first time. He became a noted inspirational public speaker.

From the viewpoint of 2014 Penney's business ethic would be untenable. Loyalty is passe', fair pricing has been supplanted by the all-mighty profit margin. Bosses have no business determining if a worker's spouse will be happy playing second fiddle to a career. Workers would not fight for a chance to work at half salary for a company they 'believed in.'

After the arresting climax of the book, Penney spirals into a long dissertation of men who succeeded at Penneys and about his later work.

Penney was from a world of several centuries ago. What would he think of today's business world, its practices and morality? Or of idle workers, an educated work force who wait for a job in their field. The excuses made about 'it's who you know' and what school you went to would not merit any compassion from Penney.
*                  *                   *                   *              *
I was intrigued by my grandfather's notations. I think he felt a kindred spirit to Penney, not in terms of material success but in having suffered tragic losses and rising again. Gramps was born to an unmarried woman. He lost his grandparents and mother by age nine. He worked himself through college and seminary. As a family man during the Depression he lost his job and had to move in with in-laws. Did Gramps underline those words because he also had hit rock bottom in his life and pulled himself together to fight on?

James Cash Penney had to have inspired many people in his day, not just because he had started an enterprise that is still around 100 years later but also by how he faced the great challenges of his life.

Monday, September 22, 2014

1962 Decorating and Fashions

The May 1962 Family Circle Magazine had an article on the latest decorating trends. This wallpaper is AMAZING. It could be a Modern Quilt design inspiration.

 Orange and black. Blue and green.
 Colonial was the alternative to Modern. Complete with a quilt of course.
Traditional looking but with an interesting combination of patterns that would look very contemporary today.
A plainer look, more masculine, simple and elegant.

Clothing styles were also featured. I would love to get my hands on the floral daisy print in this dress!


 Simplicity sewing patterns


 A name I recall from long ago, Ship N Shore.