It Comes From Alabama

Lena Wallace’s block is Alabama, Barbara Brackman 2024, and was published in the Hearth and Home magazine in the 1930s.  Before I started my reproduction of Lena’s quilt I had to decide what size blocks to make.  The original blocks vary between 10.5 and 11 inches and I settled on 10 inches for my blocks.  To make the Alabama block I cut the strips 1 5/8 inches wide.

Now that I’ve made Lena’s quilt I want to use it as a springboard for another quilt.  I thought about what I like in 1930s quilts. 

• I like the 1930s feedsack prints with white backgrounds - the focus is on the bright colours and tiny prints.
• I love sampler quilts, especially with multi-sized blocks all jumbled up and no sashings.
• I like the feedsack prints without white, just lots of contracting colours and prints and patterns (like a Dear Jane without the amazing commitment to all 169 different blocks).
• My favourite block size is six inches, not too big and not too small.

Hmmm.  Looks like I need to start two quilts; one with multi-size blocks and white background and the other with six inch blocks in a variety of prints.

So…. (drumroll please)…

Here is the quilt-a-long.  I will suggest some different blocks based on Lena’s friends’ blocks and you can choose to make your own blocks or different blocks or no blocks at all.  You can make one block or a few blocks.  I expect this quilt will occupy the blog for not quite twelve months so by the finish we should all have a pile of blocks to assemble to please ourselves.

Alabama Block

Here is the Alabama block, finished size 9 inches.  Cut your strips 1.5 inches wide.  The centre is a nine patch and the block gets built around that.  If you would like more instructions try the Quilters’ Cache - an excellent resource for patterns. 

What about the six inch block?  I am not going to cut 1 3/16 inch strips for anyone.  So I searched around for something similar and found Pennsylvania, BB2023.

Pennsylvania Block

Just right, 1.5 inch strips, cut the centre piece 2.5 inches square.  This pattern was printed in a Nancy Page syndicated newspaper column in the 1930s era so it fits right in.

I do hope you feel inspired to make some 1930s blocks.  If you have any suggestions or ideas or questions just add them to the comments or on Facebook.

Lena Wallace and Malaga 1937

Lena was born Helena Teresa Joost in South Dakota in 1888. At the age of 19 Lena married William Harry Wallace.  Lena and William moved to Malaga, Washington, in 1934.  The Wallace family were orchardists, growing apples like many of their farming neighbours.

Lena spent most of her married life in Malaga and when she died at the age of 84 she was survived by her four children, seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

My initial theory about the origins of Lena’s signature quilt was that it had been made for Lena by her friends.  The quilt was featured in the Down Under Quilts magazine in 2013 and this was what I wrote at the time:

“I found each of the twenty-five women on the quilt though Ancestry.com.  The name in the centre is Lena Wallace, aged 47, and I looked for a reason behind the quilt making.  The women were aged between 25 and 65, a few were in the work force but the majority were keeping house.  I could not find an event or occasion for Lena to celebrate with her friends.  What I did find was a clue in the 1940s census.  Lena’s parents were born in Germany and the language spoken at Lena’s childhood home was German.  I’d like to think that her friends were saying, ‘No matter what is happening in Europe and the rest of the world, we are your friends and neighbours and your home is here with us.’”

A few months ago a new thought struck me: maybe Lena made the quilt herself from blocks she collected from her friends.  I posed the question on the Facebook group Antique Signature Quilts and received a positive response.  There were many local women’s clubs during the 1930s and piecing blocks during a meeting was a popular activity (Quilting History Tidbits); also, during the 1930s friendship quilt craze women made more than one block to exchange with others.

The more I considered this new version the more it made sense of some of the quilt’s anomalies:

- there are three different dates on the quilt.  A group project would probably have recorded a single date.

- one of the women on the quilt, Sarah Cannon, died in 1936.  Lena might have been exchanged blocks for a period of time before she had enough to make the top, and Sarah’s would be included.

- Lena Wallace was a long-time member of the Malaga Homemakers, a church group known for its quilting activities.  Many of the women represented on the quilt attended the same church as Lena, but not all: one woman was Catholic and another was Jewish. Lena may have exchanged blocks in her church group but also with other women that she knew from the town.

- the four house blocks around Lena’s block are not made from 1930s material but are indigo and white and potentially fifty years older than the rest of the quilt.  Someone was saving this fabric for something special.

I am now fairly convinced that Lena made this quilt herself from blocks exchanged with her neighbours and her friends.  I plan to introduce you to those neighbours and friends over the next few months but first I want give you some ideas about making your own blocks - that’s next week’s post.

Same Old Blog, Brand New Story

The Chester Criswell Quilt is a hard act to follow - my g-g-grandmother Mary McClellan Criswell’s 164 year old bridal quilt made and signed by her family and friends.  When I began to research my ancestral quilt in 2012 I believed it would be a unique experience - which it certainly was and still is.  This quilt was the only antique quilt I possessed then but I kept an eye out for something similar to add to my collection of one.

I soon discovered that quilts from the mid 19th century were beyond my budget.  But I did find one from the 1930s that appealed. It had most of the features I was looking for.  There were a variety of different block designs, so it could be called a sampler or an album quilt.  Each block had a name embroidered on it, so it was a friendship or a signature quilt – so good potential for a story to be found.  The names included surnames making the owners easier to find.  One block was the deciding factor – it included a name, a date and a location.  I didn’t know where Malaga, Washington was but I thought I could find out.  

I was delighted when it arrived and I unpacked it. It was in good condition with a few worn spots.  The binding had been replaced at some time but the whole quilt was clean.  I hung it out in the Australian fresh air and sunshine and then gave it a safe place in my sewing room.

I wasn’t planning to do any detailed research on the women who had made the quilt.  I was quite happy with the range of blocks in typical 1930s fabric; I was just going to reproduce the quilt for my own satisfaction.  I was still pattern-making and writing stories about my ancestors for the Chester Criswell quilt and had no intention of exploring these unknown ladies ….. 

…. but then, why not? I thought I would just take a little peek at Ancestry.com to get an idea of the ages of the quiltmakers and to see if it was a family effort or a group of friends.

The first woman I looked up followed her missionary husband to the wilds of the American north-west and her baby was the first white child to be born in the area.  The next woman was a schoolteacher in a one room schoolhouse; another had a son who became a senator.  Some women had no children but cared for nieces and nephews; others came from families of a dozen or more. I continued to access the census records, newspapers and obituaries until - most unusually for a signature quilt - I was able to document every woman named.

At the same time as identifying the quilt makers I sought information about life in 1937.  What I was looking for was women’s stories - what goods were in the shops, was paid employment available, which birth control methods were accessible, and who were the favourite movie stars.  My 1930s collection grew.

I made my own quilt too.  Finding 1930s reproduction prints was harder than I thought so I had to make some compromises.  I auditioned suitable fabrics and copied each block. It was an on again and off again project but it moved up the queue once the Chester Criswell quilt was finished. The blocks were machine pieced and hand appliqued and the final top was hand quilted with a Baptist Fan pattern. 

The final six inches of binding needs to be sewn so that’s as good a time as any to begin this new story. I’ll finish this long blog post now but stay in touch for the first installment - who was Lena Wallace, and how was her quilt made.

The Final Instalment and a New Series

The final block of the CCCQ Revisited is Block 12 by Martha Lamborn.  It has been fun to run though all the blocks again.

Next week is September.  In September the seasons change: here in Victoria we are waiting for the weather to warm up and for winter to end.  September 1st is a special day for our family - in 1971 our family immigrated to Australia and we arrived in Sydney on the first day of September.  I often plan new ventures to begin in September.  For example:


In September 2012 The First Year of the Chester Criswell Quilt went online.  The Second Year began in September 2013 and The Third Year in September 2014.

And in September 2015 was the release of the e-book Round is the Ring That Has No End: Stories from the 1852 Chester Criswell Quilt.

So, I hear you ask, what do I have planned for September 2016?

I have a whole new quilt story to share.  It's time to forward the clock 85 years and enter the era of feedsacks, Dresden plates and women's sewing circles.  Would you like to join me next week in September ..... 1937?

Remember Me - CCCQ Revisited

This week's block for the CCCQ Revisited is the final block of the quilt.

For comparison, here is the original.

The signature on this one is "Remember me when this you see, Jane Trayner, Lower Oxford 1852"

If you would like to try making this block (and who wouldn't) the pattern is discounted this week; you'll find it ready to download at Two Bits Patches.

The free promotion for the Round is the Ring e-book was better than expected.  If you got your free copy I do hope you enjoy it.  If you did enjoy it, a nice Amazon review is always appreciated.  If you missed out, don't fret, it's still on Amazon and the price is not outrageous.

Show me the e-book on Amazon.com

I'm an Aussie, give us a gander

Free E-Book is #1 on Kindle Quilts

This week has been very exciting.  My E-Book is free on Kindle for a limited time only.

All the stories from the Chester Criswell Quilt are in the e-book "Round is the Ring That Has No End".  For the next few days you can download the book from Amazon to your Kindle at no charge.  If you don't have a Kindle you can download the app and read the book on your tablet or smartphone.

The promotion has been running for two days and the book is rating very well.  I don't know about you, but I think if quilting books were best sellers the world would be a better place.

The more downloads the higher the rating, and positive reviews on Amazon also add to the ratings.  A nice Amazon review is always appreciated.

Unfortunately the e-book doesn't have the quilt block patterns.  If you want the patterns they are always available at the Two Bits Patches website.  And the pattern for Block 1 is always free.

Knitting Anxiety? Try Glove Making

Are you familiar with the Farm Life Quilt competition that was run in Australia in the 1930s?  The Adelaide Chronicle printed a weekly pattern from Ruby McKim's Farm Life quilt and the finished quilts were judged at the Adelaide show.

I was browsing through the online newspaper looking for the Farm Life patterns when I got distracted.

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GLOVE MAKING A HOBBY 

Change From Fancy Work; Handy Gift For Motorist

All women, no matter how busy they are, rather like having a small piece of "fancy" needlework on hand which they can pick up at odd moments when a friend calls in for a chat. Busy women do not always feel inclined to bring out the family mending basket on these occasions yet they are not happy if their fingers are idle.

Winter afternoons and evenings are more conducive to industry than the summer days. The woman who loves knitting is never at a loss - there is always a half-finished sock on hand to click accompaniment to friendly chatter about "the sponge (cake) that would go blistery" or "the jelly that refused to jell" and "What can I do about it?"  But there are many women who cannot knit because the ceaseless working of the fingers or the anxiety in fear of dropping a stitch affects their nerves. These women prefer the soothing plying of needle and thread. 

Today I am giving you a suggestion for odd moments when you do not always feel inclined to finish that corner of the drawn-thread design in the tray cloth, or perhaps the light is not quite good enough for shading the wools for the half completed tapestry square.

 Ingenuity And Practice 

Try your hand at glove-making. The pattern shown in the sketch is simple and with a little ingenuity and practice the average needlewoman can evolve her own paper pattern from the sketch. I saw Miss Maude Priest, the artist, making a pair for herself the other afternoon, and she very generously told me how it is done. The pattern is in three pieces—the band, fingers, and wrist in one piece, the gusset (for joining the fingers) and the thumb. The last named looks a funny shape, but it fits easily and neatly into the scheme of things.

These gloves are made of chamois leather or doe skin. A whole skin is required to make one pair, costs from five to seven shillings, and can be purchased at any of the large shops. When choosing the skin, be careful to pick one that is of even texture throughout; many are apt to be thinner in some places than others. Do not cut out the pattern until you are ready to make up the glove, otherwise the skin is liable to stretch out of shape.  When cutting the pattern on the skin, be careful to get the “pull” going across the hand, or you will find that the fingers will stretch to twice their length.

It is quite easy to make one glove in an afternoon or evening, for when once the pattern is cut out the rest is simple sewing, and there is only one seam at the side.  The hand and fingers being cut in one piece requires that the pattern has to be reversed for the left hand.

Black Thread for Smartness

The stitching is all done by hand on the right side, using a good black linen thread to give a smart touch. It has the appearance of ordinary running stitch, although each stitch is worked through and back again singly, and best results are obtained by using a tailor's needle. 

The make-up is all plain sailing - there is nothing to remember, really. Before folding the pattern to join the one side seam, stitch the thumb first, and secondly do three lines of stitching on the back of the hand, about three inches in length. Then stitch in the three gussets between the fingers, and after that sew a narrow piece of elastic on the inside of the wrist, and then join up the side seam.

It is not absolutely necessary to have the decorative fringe as shown in the sketch, but if you like the idea, cut two strips of skin about one and a half inches wide and sew in when joining the seam. Cut the fringe after you have inserted the strip in the seam. 

These gloves are ideal wear for motorists, because they are soft and warm, and will not stick to the driving wheel. Furthermore, they are splendid for night driving, being of a light color, which makes the hand signals easily seen by the motorist behind. Ordinary wear and careful washing will give several years of service.

What more do I need? Homemade gloves and crocodile shoes.