One Lady's account: Bed and Bath in the 1920's and 1930's

Wow- what a find- this is an oral history blog post. Ruth is 80+ years old. She writes about her experiences as a child at home during the 1920s and 1930s. Her blog post includes a few paragraphs on the bedding they used, including matresses, feather beds and quilts. She talks about the frame on the ceiling and quilting bees. This part is at the end of the post, but her entire post is of interest if you like history.

Ruthlace: Bed and Bath in the 1920's and 1930's

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Ever dream about careers in quilt history, then wonder what are they?

Have you ever wondered what people do who call themselves "Quilt Historians".  Have you ever dreamt about making a career in  the ever widening fields of quilt history, costumes, or quilts? I wondered  how  women went about becoming quilt historians when this field didn't even exist until the last quarter of the 20th century? Who were their mentors and role models?

I invite you to look into the lives of said women (and one man so far, another on the way,) on my Getting to Know Today's Quilt Historian pages.  Many new women have been added this month, while others have updated their interview and more are working on theirs now. There is great joy for me to bring their history to my readers. Please let others know about this and share the joy!

What motivated me to interview women who have helped  make the field what it has become today was my curiosity about what motivated them to get involved as they did.  Who were their mentors, what peaked their interest, what was their favorite job or research project and  what do they still want to do. What I learned is that their imagination and dreams grew as they did. With each step they took a leap of faith driven by a love of quilts, fabrics, or history which kept them going. At the end of each profile is a comprehensive bibliography of their publications, lectures, exhibits, and so forth. Use it also as a  reference guide should you need it for your research.

Today we follow their tracks to a certain extent. These women and men can be your mentors, Read their interview online.  One thing led to another and their dreams became larger and wider, and so can yours. My interviews show creativity in action as well as educate us about the broad field of quilt history.

While you're on the page, take a look at the second photograph. I took a picture of the entrance to the International Garden of Peace. It is the Peace Portal at Meditation Mount in Ojai California. Then I played around with the digital photograph to make it look like a stream is running through an Asian doorway on a hot day. In reality, there is no water, it's a path through a garden under a  blue sky on a typical day.  It's fun to play this way.

I hope your new year is wonderful so far. I  started my mixed media collage class again. This semester we are focusing on line and we'll learn to use gesso in various ways. I am surrounded by accomplished artists in this class and learn so much from them as well as the teacher. We make collages in class and share them for her critique at the end. Mostly we make abstract collage with papers, fabric sometimes, and other flat embellishment. We use a great deal of clothing pattern paper. The  printing on the tissue paper are examples of line to be  used in creating action, interest and leading the eye along.
Tell us about what  creative adventures you are up to this new year?

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Do You Own Your First Sewing Machine?

Who needs fiction when life is so amazing!  I was visiting a girlfriend's studio recently, admiring the art quilts she makes hung on the walls and stacked antique quilts stored in a tall cabinet. Along one wall were shelves and shelves of small old sewing machines. Some were made as toys, but  I was amazed to hear that most of the 30 or more on view were  not. They were made small with hand cranks in the days before electricity.  The miniature machines were a smorgasbord for my eyes and heart as I envisioned a woman using one.

Next I landed upon a metal machine that looked like the outside of an Art Deco building,  made with variegated green metal. In fact, it looked completely different from all the others. I wasn't familiar with the name stamped in the metal along the front edge.

My friend pointed toward the ground to a smallish square red sewing machine case. Oh, was it heavy to lift. I unlocked the sides, removed the top and voila, there was another one just like it, only this one was stamped Betsy Ross on the front. It wasn't a toy machine, but small for a child to use and it was electric.

She explained that when she found the machine displayed on the shelf, she was called by it looked until one day it dawned on her that it was like the machine she learned to sew on as a child  in the 1950s. Excited about the memory she searched the Internet until she located what was her machine and discovered that yes, they were exactly the same machine!

She bought the Betsy Ross machine on eBay, in perfect condition, case and all. As we looked at it, we wondered if this might actually BE her childhood machine. Stranger things have happened, right?

Then I heard a couple on the Today show this morning, who married in the 1950s and couldn't afford to buy their wedding photos. Recently the wife was searching through a 55 gallon barrel of scrap at a scrap/junk yard.  Digging through photographers scrap, when she was near the bottom she came upon THE  negatives of her marriage ceremony. Apparently the photographer had held on to them for years before tossing them and others out.

I think I'll make a mental list of what I've lost or tossed and would love to have back.  Let's see, there was a beautiful necklace from my Grandmother who wore it as a child herself that was taken by a house cleaning in the 1980s. It's funny what jumps to mind when I hear these stories.  How about you?

Please post your comments by clicking here http://www.quiltersspirit.blogspot.com/
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A Scrap Bag Full of Varied Info & Offerings - Keeping You in the Know :)

Hi Everyone! Grab a cup of java or glass of whatever and settle in with me.

1.) Have you heard the sad news that Cranston (VIP) closed its printing division in their Webster, Mass company? This means that there are no companies in America printing cotton fabric for apparel and quilters. Their textile mill began around 1812, almost 200 years ago. "The plant, which still rolls out 20 million yards of printed cloth a year for people who sew at home, once employed more than 700 people."

I have had the pleasure of taking a tour through their plant three times beginning in 1997 and I was always Wowed. They grew with the times, changing and improving their machinery and adding computerized dye coloring of the roller screen printing machines and all other aspects they could computerize, they did. I saw fewer employees on each visit and no smoking went into affect.

Cranston was not weaving cotton cloth, they imported it from overseas, but all the printing was done there with the design division in NYC. Now foreign companies will also do their printing, just as all the other former quilt fabric manufacturers have done. They will only package and distribute the textiles they design from their US facilities. You can see a short video of their machinery in process and read more about their history and closing here.

2.) AQSG is offering all of the UNCOVERINGS they have in stock at 50% off through June. The order form is in a PDF, to print it out and mail in. Contact AQSG's website to find the link UC JUNE SALE.PDF This is a great deal.

3.) Beth Davis sent me this article in response to my increasing interest in the publishing world, thank you Beth! It was written today by the managing director of one the finest art and textile book publishers, Thames and Hudson. Jamie Camplin writes [bolding is my emphasis]

"If we moan about “dumbing down” in the face of the visual noise that comes our way daily, it only means that we are living in the age of “more”—more that is mediocre, but also more that is astonishingly creative.

Art has a very strong hand to play in the 21st century. In an era in which technology makes most products more uniform but in which printing technology can show art’s strengths as never before, in which fragmenting marketplaces and marketing platforms need all the help they can get, and in which the power of the visual to sway emotions has never been stronger, art’s distinctiveness, creativity and originality give any art-book programme a strong start." (the complete article is here)

4.) Camplin's statement gives me hope that beautiful textile and quilt books will continue to be published and that novice authors, quilters, and other creative people can publish too, online as eBooks, self-published or through traditional publishers. All three have their place. All three have pros and cons for an author to consider in determining which is a better fit for her.

If you have the desire to be an author, are writing your book now,or want to sell the one you have now, get this free report about building your author platform online, written by Joanna Penn, a favorite writer and blogger of mine.

Click on the icon above to read her description of the free report. If it sounds good, then you'll know if you want to buy the tutorial, Author 2.0. It is video, audio, and written text. All learning styles can use it. I highly recommend you get the free report!

Joanna just published "Author 2.0" which both shows and tells anyone how to market their book, beginning before it's written. Publishing houses expect you to put your marketing plan and current platform into any book proposal you submit. If you self publish this is also a must do for you. It can be fun!!

She will be my guest in a free open lines Tele-class, with a slide show, this Thursday, June 4th at 4 PM Pacific time, 7 PM Eastern. It's fr.ee. Ask her questions or email me with them in advance. The call-in info, conference code and link to slide show is here now. The class will be recorded and available on WOQ in the Audio Interview Library.

Joanna is internet savvy. She learned by authoring 3 books and speaks clearly, simply, and to the point. She gives you lots of info about using the internet to your benefit to increase sales and get your words in the hands of people who will enjoy and benefit from your hard work of writing a book!

Get her free report (click the icon above) about the state of the publishing world and what you can do with WEB 2.0, crucial info for marketing through social media and the newest internet forms of media and learn more about the business model for today's market.

6.) When you are feeling down quilting can lift you up again for reasons you might not expect is the title of an article I wrote over the weekend. Read it on Womenfolk's web site. Here is a snippet of my favorite tip for relieving stress from a recent UCLA study, but applicable to quilters during these economic times:

"The friendship effect on females natural response to stress was recently demonstrated in a university's landmark study which showed that different chemicals than in male brains are released during these times of bonding. Oxytocin is the natural occurring chemical released in a woman's brain when she gives birth, breastfeeds and cares for children. The chemical dulls pain and buffers the automatic "flight or flight" chemical response. The numerous opportunities for meaningful conversations and sharing of feelings happen during a girl's night out,...."

Read the rest of my article here. From that page click on Frugal Quilts for patterns and more articles about the past and present.

In closing, I hope you are enjoying reading CHANGING TIMES:Women's Stories 1902-1942. Click the title or the icon on the upper left of this page will download it for you to read online or print out to read in a cozy chair. Lot's of wonderful comments are coming in about it. Please comment here on Quilter's Spirit.**

Wishing you each a fulfilling and creative week!

Kim

**It's easy to make a comment: See the word Comment below? If there is a number other than 0 next to it, click it to read the comments already posted, and a box for you to put in your comment in also comes up. You can write it anonymously or with your name. Please don't solicit your products there, instead hyperlink your blog or web site URL to your name. The comment box makes it very easy for you to do that if you don't already know how. Readers who are interested in knowing more about you because your comment is interesting and relevant will click on your name to "meet" in your territory. (hint-comments done this way are good for marketing)

Women's Historical Fiction Challenge E-Book is Here! Download Yours Now

Women On Quilts' Creative Writing Challenge - Changing Times: Women's Stories 1902-1942

This special digital book is for you. Click on the cover and enjoy!

16 fictional stories written by 14 women about women who create and live at a tough time in our history. Complete with period photos & quilts, plus personal thoughts from the writer's & judge's about their stories. 53 pages.

You can read it online or download and print it out. Send it to your friends in your book club. Put it on your blog, an icon is available. The women in the stories are the types we want our daughters to know about too,  share it with them.

I'll let the book tell you the rest. I welcome, no encourage, your comments below. Which stories touched your heart and why? Let us know. All are deserving. Warning, have tissue handy.

Soon the finalists will be guests on a tele-interview on Women On Quilts. It will be an open discussion. First I want to give you the time to read the stories. Stay tuned for the date and time by subscribing for my occasional email alerts. They won't flood your inbox.

Julie Silber will be my guest interview on June 15.

3 Special Announcements (2 with Deadlines) in Salute to Women's History Month & National Craft Month

1. Join me this Monday night for my tele-interview and group discussion with Lynne Z. Bassett, editor of the newest quilt documentation book "Massachusetts Quilts, Our Common Wealth." It's free and fun and it starts at 5 PM Pacific time, 8 PM Eastern. For all the info and links click here

2. I am sponsoring a creative writing challenge and fundraiser The Quilters Hall of Fame, to help with this year's induction ceremonies of Merikay Waldvogel, and in salute to National Craft Month and Women's History month. A call for fictional stories and the chance to be in an eBook I will publish, go here for details and see some fun photos from my ephemera collection.

3. Quilter Harriet Powers is inducted in Georgia's Women's Hall of Fame!

"A novelist, a conservationist and a former slave whose works now adorn the Smithsonian Institution and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts will be the inductees this year into the Georgia Women of Achievement Hall of Fame.

Conservationist Jane Hurt Yarn, novelist Caroline Pafford Miller and quilter Harriet Powers, all deceased, will be inducted in a ceremony Thursday at Wesleyan College in Macon.

Quilter Harriet Powers, 1837-1910

Born a slave near Athens, Powers became a renowned folk artist long after her death.

Using a Singer sewing machine she purchased in 1881, Powers exhibited the first of what became known as her "story quilts" at the 1886 Clarke County Cotton Fair. The quilt was made from 299 separate pieces of fabric and it depicts scenes from the Bible and spirituals. It was a remarkable achievement, especially considering that Powers could not read.

She sold that work, which is now in the Smithsonian's Museum of American History, for $5. The buyer, Jennie Smith of Athens, entered it at the 1895 Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta. The faculty wives at Atlanta University saw it and commissioned a second quilt.

The second quilt illustrates 15 Bible stories and events such as a cold snap which struck Athens in February of 1895. It is now on display at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Powers' work has been celebrated over the years. An off-Broadway play, "Quilting in the Sun," recounts her struggles and accomplishments, there are many articles about her and her two celebrated works, and there is a move to honor her with a postage stamp."`Written by Chuck Mobley for the Savannah Morning News and for more information: To learn more about the Georgia Women of Achievement, and about the other inductees this year and the ceremony

A Sign of the Times

It seems to me that nearly every week I hear about a quilt or fabric shop closing. Not just here, but all over the country. Yet, I also keep hearing that fabric purchases for clothing are on the rise. More and more women and girls are making their own clothes. In fact, I received a phone call today from a woman asking where her 19 year old granddaughter could get sewing lessons, as she wanted to start her own business.

photo of my quilt, ca. 1900-1920 scrappy

The other common theme being discussed in quilting blogs, articles, and among quilters, is the Great Depression. No, not the one we are in, but the first one. With the GD comes history and the people's stories. Reading them I forget that we are in one ourselves. Nothing like the distraction being, well, the same thing as the problem you want to be distracted from!

So it wasn't a surprise when I came across two wonderful women's articles today on these topics. If you enjoy reading history of women's lives, read these and see if you feel yummy or ? If you don't like history, skip them because you won't feel yummy or distracted at all.

Great Depression Survivor:I worked for Shoes, by Kimberly Palmer "Everyone knows about patchwork quilts which we used for bed covers. The tops of our quilts were made of scrap material left from my mother’s sewing projects. The patterns varied with the colors and sizes of the pieces. Patterns were obtained from relatives and neighbors-often copied from quilts or magazines. The tops were quilted by hand to muslin linings through cotton batting.

My mother made our night clothes from flannel for the winter, but we generally slept in old dresses or slips in warmer weather. We usually had about two or three dresses each for everyday and one for Sunday. I remember one time, I had gotten all my everyday dresses dirty and my mother allowed me to wear my Sunday to school on Monday which was wash day... As I was crossing the creek, I fell in and got my dress wet and muddy and I had to go back home. I missed school that day because I had nothing presentable to wear to school." http://tinyurl.com/89gwmp U.S. News and World Report, Jan. 7, 2009

Life Before Shopping by Patricia McLaughlin "It's only in retrospect — now that it's over — that you begin to notice how odd it was that shopping, a task that played such a minor role in the lives of most Americans before World War II, should over the last half-century have so thoroughly captivated, saturated and finally remade American society, culture, values, habits and folkways in its own image....

I can't remember which sociologist pointed out that a big part of the modernizing of American households universally ballyhooed as progress in the late 1940s and 1950s — the washers and dryers and vacuum cleaners and ready-made clothes and store-bought cake mixes and canned goods and cellophane-wrapped cakes and cookies and loaves of airy sliced bread — boiled down to the de-skilling of housework. ...

Women whose mothers had been highly skilled producers of cakes and jams and quilts and clothing instead developed skills as competitive shoppers.

In retrospect, it seems like a bad bargain. Notice how much of the work women were "rescued" from in the 1950s — quilting, baking, knitting, cooking from scratch, growing vegetables — has found its way back into their lives relabeled as recreation." Read on to find out why she thinks. http://tinyurl.com/7h4xwk STLToday.com

McLaughlin's entire article is a yummy read. She supports her thesis well. I just couldn't get the Maytag repair man, sitting on his chair, out of my mind :)

I have a dozen or more "Olde Time Needlework Patterns and Designs" magazines for sale. Not necessarily those shown above. Email me for info and list of dates.