What To Do With the Past

How many of us have doilies and linens that we have inherited from our mothers and grandmothers? I (Kara) have accumulated quite a few over the years. Whether they were given to me as gifts from my grandmother or whether I picked them up on my thrift/antique store adventures, my pile is quite large.

My collection

But the question is, what do I do with them all? My grandmother and great-grandmother, and even my great-great-grandmother spent a lot of time and energy on creating these beautiful works of art. Even if I used them in my home decor on a rotating basis, I would still not be able to adequately show them off in a way they deserve. So instead, they languish away in drawers, boxes, and cedar chests. 

A tablecloth my grandmother started

It's been on the back of my mind to do something with them all, but lack of time and energy has prevented that from happening. Recently, I became a member of the Facebook group, Quilting Vintage, and have been inspired by the amazing things that machine quilters and long-armers have been doing with vintage linens of all kinds. 

I have also searched through Pinterest for doily re-purposing ideas, and I was bit overwhelmed at all the creative options I found. 

Doily pillow from "Ode to Inspiration"

What a gorgeous use of color for these doilies by Sadie Seasongoods

This lovely quilt can be seen at "V and Co."and in the book Make It Sew Modern: Gather, Twist, Pleat, Texture

The above ideas are just a few creative ways that I've found to use doilies, but I think I will put my inherited doilies in a quilt. When I came across these inspirational quilts from Suziqu's Threadworks, I was in awe.

I love the use of velvet as a background

The neutral palette is beautiful

So many different types of needlework were used in this quilt

Now that I have some inspiration, I will need to sort through my collection and plan. I really like the idea of a neutral background in taupes, tans, and beiges. I think that this project will be one that has to be fluid and dictated by the doilies themselves, since they vary so much in size, color, and style.

What a variety!

The doily on the right is a classic pineapple design

My great-great grandmother made these adorable filet-crochet animals.

Handmade crocheted trim

A lovely cuff made by a friend

A sweet bib

Do you have vintage linens stashed away somewhere just waiting for new life? I love the idea of using these doilies, made by my grandmothers' hands, and giving them another story. Hopefully you will be inspired to create something with your collection and visit some of the pages we have linked here. If you have already re-purposed your doilies and vintage linens, please share your creativity. We'd love to see it!

Kitchen Stitching

A couple of weeks ago, my book club met for brunch at my friend's house. Linda has a lovely home surrounded by an incredible garden, so it is always a treat to visit. Her walls are covered with family photos and heirlooms, and I (Teri) find myself drawn to the stories on her walls. 

The Old Home Kitchen, 1864

One of the first things I noticed upon my arrival was this lovely framed stitching of a kitchen, dated 1864. It's no surprise that I asked her about it. Here is her story.

The Old Home Kitchen was stitched by Maria Hartlein Weller, wife of Gideon. Maria was Linda's grandfather's grandmother. Linda says she likes to imagine Maria sitting in her kitchen sketching and stitching the room. It is stitched on linen, primarily with an outline stitch. We think the color may have been added using chalk, for chalk appears to have been the medium for coloring the sketches in this fraktur, also from Maria and Gideon's home. 

Linda asked a friend to peruse the text for translation. Apparently, it is an old form of German, with the word for fire appearing repeatedly throughout the piece. Perhaps it was a prayer for protection from fire and was hung over the fireplace.

Linda surmised that Maria quite likely used the design in this fraktur as inspiration for the birds on her embroidery. The birds on the top of the kitchen piece and those at the bottom of the fraktur show strong similarities.

She changed the color of the birds in her embroidery, but the shape of the birds and even the leaves mirror those in the pictures on the left.

I'm fascinated by the date centered at the top of the embroidery. It is simultaneously subtle and bold. Maria chose a color that was almost as light as her background, yet it is rather large; at least as large as the title. The stitching itself is intriguing. Part of the numbers are stitched the same way as her letters, with a very close stem stitch. Yet she added more to the numbers; it almost appears as though there are random stitches scattered on some of the numbers, but I feel certain Maria had a plan. Perhaps she was trying to give the numbers more dimension. The date is clearly an important element in her design. I'd love to know what the red embroidered line above the 6 represents. And the scrolled design with the running stitch is a lovely way to separate the title from "the kitchen."

I don't know about you, but this picture draws me right into that room, 150 years ago. I want to sit down in that green rocking chair by the wood stove, drink a cup of tea, and have a chat with Maria. According to Linda, the crocks on the top shelf—also above the cabinet in the full picture above—were evidently filled with milk left to get sour. So I presume they must have made their own cheese, which she might share during my stay. Maybe I could help her to spin some wool on that spinning wheel. What a lovely visit that would be! 

Maria and Gideon Weller

While Linda and I were talking, she pulled out a notebook full of family history, including typed anecdotes and newspaper clippings. She told me that at one point Maria became quite ill, and her husband, Gideon, needed help to take care of her. Their son had died, so his wife moved in to help care for her mother-in-law. After Maria died, Gideon married his daughter-in-law, and they had a large family. 

Before I left Linda's house, a lovely framed quilt hanging on the wall in the hallway caught my eye. It was a baby quilt made for her grandfather, possibly made by his grandmother, Maria. It was such a joy to see so many stitched stories of Linda's family throughout her home! So many treasures.

Many thanks to my friend, Linda, for sharing her stories with me and allowing me to share with you. Isn't is inspiring to think that the works we stitch today can tell our stories to generations hundreds of years from now? Let's stitch our stories!

     

Linda's garden had this amazing hydrangea bush covered with blooms of various colors.

A Walk Through the Garden

Who doesn't love a beautiful garden? There is just something about the beauty of a flower that fills my heart with joy. One of my fondest childhood memories is visiting with my great-grandparents and spending time in their backyard, which was almost entirely a flower garden. My great-grandmother stitched this lovely piece, which hung at the top of the stairs in their home. It is almost as lovely as her flower garden was. Whenever we would visit when flowers were blooming, we always went home with a cut bouquet of fresh blooms from her garden. 

This photo of Grandma's garden was probably taken in the 1960s.
To this day, I plant portulacas along my front walk in memory of her.

Because I (Teri) have always loved my flower garden, it seems no surprise that I would be so drawn to stitching flowers as well. That was surely what pulled me so strongly to Baltimore Album style appliqué: there are so many flowers to stitch. And oh, the things one can do with ribbon! (See Another Baltimore Journey.) I thought it might be fun to dig through some of the photographs I've taken in my garden visits and compare them to some flowers I've stitched. So, put on your garden shoes, and let's take a walk through the garden!

I stitched this poppy about thirty years ago as part of a crewel kit—one of my first endeavors.
It was stitched with wool thread.

The real thing, in my garden.

Cherry blossoms, appliquéd with cotton fabric.
Yo-yos are gathered into petals, with embroidered pistils.

Cherry blossoms from the tree in my front yard.

This lovely yellow rose is made with wired silk ribbon. It hasn't found a home yet,
but I'm sure it will be stitched into a "garden" someday. 

I wish I could say that this is from my garden, but I must confess
that this one was taken at the Hershey Gardens in Pennsylvania.

This dimensional hydrangea is stitched with wool,
made of over a hundred squares cut into four petals.
Each blossom is attached with a bead.

These beauties are from the garden at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina.

I have always loved wisteria, another remembrance of my great-grandparents' garden.
This is stitched using floss—stem stitch and colonial knots—on a miniature crazy quilt sampler
I made for a class we teach. 

This lovely wisteria grows in the garden of a dear friend.

My cattails are appliquéd with cotton; 
the real cattails are by a pond near a hiking trail near our home.

This red rose and bud are stitched with red silk, with appliquéd
cotton leaves and calyx, and embroidered with silk thread.

Another stunning rose from the Hershey Gardens. 

The water lily is stitched using cotton fabric, with perle cotton pistils.

Another Hershey Garden bloom

Last week, we looked at Kara's marigolds, which inspired me to look at some of my own flowers. If I'm not stitching a flower, there is a good chance that I'm taking a photograph of one. It was great fun to search my photo files and compare the two. The inspiration I find in a garden, or even a field of wildflowers, is amazing. 

Thank you for joining me. I hope you've enjoyed our garden walk! Are you feeling inspired to stitch some flowers?

Inspiration for a Baby Quilt

Another baby is on the way! Grandchild #3 is expected to arrive in November, and I (Teri) am thrilled to have a little girl joining our family. One of life's greatest joys is being a grandma! If you've followed the blog for the past few months, you may remember that my "baby quilts" tend to be more like toddler quilts. Isaac received his Thing 1 and Thing 2 quilt on his first birthday, and Jacob had to wait until he turned two for his Cat in the Hat quilt. Time will tell when my granddaughter will receive her quilt. But I'm already thinking and looking for inspiration.

I love to stroll through antique malls. Often, I buy nothing. But I take lots of pictures, especially if I find something that makes my heart sing . . . usually fiber-related. Some recent gems are in the forefront of my mind as I think of quilt possibilities for our new baby girl. This dress caught my eye; it is a simple beauty with so much care put into the embroidered touches. Sometimes, the love shines through those kinds of details.

Obviously, this is not a quilt, but I just love the care put into this darling little dress. The embroidered flowers are dear, and doesn't the feather stitch on the sleeves and bodice add charm? I love that I can think of dresses!

How cute is this embroidered animal quilt? Each block is a different animal, stitched in a rainbow of colors. How fun this must have been for a little one to study each of these little critters. Perhaps they might have been given names, or become the characters in stories told in the nursery. So many possibilities for such a sweet quilt.

This next quilt is one that I wish I would have bought. I actually went back to the antique mall hoping it was still there, but someone else was smarter than I and bought it. Powder puff pink is not my favorite color, and I am not a cat person, but this appliquéd and embroidered quilt is just beyond special. The design is ingenious; each unique little kitten is sitting on a stem, perched on a calyx. I confess that it took me a second to "get it" and realize that I was looking at pussy willows. How I wish I'd have bought this treasure!

Adorable vintage pussy willow quilt, appliquéd and embroidered; tied with floss.

When I was a little girl, my grandmother had the book called The Little Red Hen, which I can still hear her reading in my mind. She would also tell us a different story about the red hen being captured by a sly fox. Not long ago, I found a copy of an old book with that story, ironically printed about the time my grandmother was born (over a hundred years ago.) Being the lover of stories that I am, wouldn't it be fun to create a Red Hen inspired quilt, based on the illustrations in the book? 

 

My last source of inspiration is a baby quilt that I received for my youngest son when he was born—my son, who is the father of this new little granddaughter. I was teaching fourth grade at the time, and this sheep quilt was a gift from my class, lovingly made by the mom of one of my students. At the time, I knew nothing of quilt making. I knew that this quilt was amazing and beautiful, but I had too little appreciation for all the love that went into making such a gift. I do now, and I wish I could let her know that I still cherish this gift.

Patchwork sheep. Each face is hand quilted; the rest is machine quilted. 

The baby quilt in the doll bed that my great-grandfather made for my mom when she was a little girl. Three generations have played with this doll bed, and it is waiting for a fourth to enjoy it. My great-grandmother stenciled the bed and made the crocheted cushion under the doll.

The possibilities are endless. Stay tuned to see what quilt my new granddaughter will receive. Maybe she will actually get a BABY quilt!