Today, I just finished researching a new topic for publication, at the request of an editor. As always, I learned a lot! The experience has encouraged me to think about the field of textiles, its lengthy history, and how much there is to know about them. In my lifetime, I will never run out of related subjects to explore, and that is a “good thing.”

I was also thinking about Wikipedia and eBay and how helpful they are. They bring the world to our doorsteps, literally. While Wikipedia is prepared by humans and is not infallible, it is a point of departure. I pity the poor student who takes everything there as the Gospel Truth, as I have discovered glitches many times. However, I do believe that it is an attempt to share (what people think they know). Just be careful of remarks that are left hanging without substantiation such as a citation to a scholarly journal or to a well-researched reference book.

I am utterly in awe of eBay and other online auction houses. They bring history alive with examples and prices and photos. In addition, I can trade with people overseas. It’s rather neat to have packages arriving from Uzbekistan or England or Germany!

The more I know, the more I realize that there is more to know. Furthermore, there always will be. This is a great life for those who have a life of the mind and an inquiring spirit. I am a happy learner, and you get to benefit from articles that reflect what I have so joyously found out, and which I so happily share.

Have a good week!

Patricia Cummings

Toile de Jouy fabrics have a long history. This morning, we added photos to a file we posted this past weekend. Hope you enjoy it.

Patricia Cummings

This morning, I uploaded an article about Sarah Josepha Hale, an outstanding woman who was born in Newport, New Hampshire. She distinguished herself as an “editress” for many years, after having been widowed at a very young age, and left with five children to raise. Her story is as compelling today as ever, and it reveals glowing success in the face of challenge. I hope that you enjoy the article.

Patricia Cummings

Over the weekend, I had typed the words to an article about Hafiza Malikbaba and her work with Rubia and its attempt to bring literacy to Afghanistan via the sale of embroideries. Today, Jim scanned some of the slides we have of pillows, purses, and patchwork, and of Hafiza herself, one wearing her burqa, and we have now added all the photos to the article.

Meeting Hafiza and her translator, Rachel Lehr, was a highlight of the summer in August 2006. I hope that you enjoy hearing about her intriguing stories of her life and that of her family, “after the Taliban,” in the poorest country on earth.

Patricia

Today, Jim and I collaborated on a new photo essay:

Mammy Quilts and Other Black Memorabilia: Artifacts of Prejudice, or Not?

Hope you enjoy reading it!

Patricia

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This year, as we give thanks around a table filled with the delectable food, please take a moment to think about the origins of the holiday. The pilgrims celebrated a Day of Thanks by fasting. George Washington called for a similar day in 1789. Our present American celebration has roots in the activism of one New Hampshire born woman, Sarah Josepha Hale. Widowed at a young age, she was “discovered,” due to her many poems and her brand new novel, at the time, order cialis online no prescription

With her five young children, she left for Boston to take the position of editor of order cialis online no prescription. For years, she labored intensely to have the president of the United States declare an official Thanksgiving Day. President Abraham Lincoln agreed to proclaim such an annual holiday.

Of course, in the interest of time and space, I am leaving out a lot of details.

“N.H. Native Envisions Thanksgiving!” is an article that I wrote for order cialis online no prescription newspaper, November 17, 2006 (Volume 17, Number 10). As best I could, within the scope of available space, I have described Sarah Josepha Hale’s life.

This paper is available by subscription, and is also free to pick up at select antique stores in New England area. The article includes very special copies of colorplate illustrations from order cialis online no prescription, the publication which Hale edited until two years before her death (at 91).

When I give thanks this year, I will remember my wonderful editors. They follow a long line of strong women who made a difference in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and are continuing to be the voice of women today. By their editorials and selections for content, they serve as trend setters, and the social conscience of our society.

Sarah Josepha Buell Hale: just one woman, but what an impact! Remember her kindly as you “break bread together.” The index page of our website now features a song that is appropriate for Thanksgiving, and information about a contemporary of Hale who gave us a Thanksgiving poem.

Pat

Today’s mail brought my subscription copy of order cialis online no prescription magazine with the banner headline for my latest article: “After the Taliban: An Embroiderer’s Life in Afghanistan.” My article is on pages 52-55.

I am so thrilled to see this article in print, just as I am enchanted by the compelling story that is detailed in my description of the life of Hafiza Malikbaba, an Afghan woman and master embroiderer, whom I had the pleasure of meeting this past summer.

The magazine will be available on the newsstands within the next ten days or so, I suspect. I will never understand the vagaries of magazine distribution, but this one seems to appear by the 10th of any given month (and is published seven times per year). I hope that you enjoy reading this current issue.

For subscription information, visit: or check the front page of my website for the toll-free number for the magazine, published by All-American Crafts, Inc.

Pat

I had to smile broadly when I read Carol Miller’s account of how and why she started her online Quilt University. You see, I have been “there”…”there” being teaching in public, and I can agree with its drawbacks, and the need for an alternative.

For example, when I taught classes for our local community education program, I also was relegated to the art department. I learned that I had to carry my own cleaning supplies and wash down all the tables from the paint spills of the day, before students arrived.

Since I didn’t want to ask students to tote their sewing machines, and because I was mostly teaching hand quilting and hand appliqu� classes, and needed the machine only a little bit, I would bring my own machine for their use. No matter how many times I’d tell beginners to turn the wheel only toward them, inevitably, they would turn it the wrong way, every time, risking damage to the machine.

People would show up late to class, and if arriving with their best buddy, they would consider the night out a chance to catch up on news of boyfriends, kids, work, etc., and their loud, animated talking would disrupt the learning process for others.

Most often, the easiest access door to the assigned classroom would be locked, and in the day before cell phones, I’d find myself trudging around the building and up three flights of stairs to the “office,” to get someone to unlock that door for arriving students.

Since the classes were at night, and there was no lighting in back of the school where most students preferred to park, there were complaints about that from students, due to safety concerns.

Nonetheless, the order cialis online no prescriptionteaching/learning interchange was great! Students would bring in grandma’s quilt or quilt top, ask advice, bring their latest projects or ideas for projects yet not started. They all seemed to enjoy learning new techniques in all of my classes. There was a real sense of camaraderie and excitement that was very fun.

Then, with the start up of yet another (third) quilt shop, in this relatively small town, plus a quilt guild, all of which were giving classes, enrollment dropped off at the high school. It was just more convenient for students to take classes at a place where fabric and notions were supplied, too, saving them time.

However, the final nail in the coffin for my local teaching was when I told, on a number of occasions, the day before, or the day of, some scheduled classes, that due to insufficient enrollment, the classes were a “no go.” That is tough news to hear after preparing lesson plans, packets of information for students, and gathering supplies that represented a large investment of time and money.

All in all, Quilt University makes a whole lot of sense for both teacher and student. Supplies can be gathered ahead of time, photos of finished work can be shared online, questions can be asked of teachers, in a non-threatening environment, and sharing can be done with fellow students. Moreover, in my opinion, the price is right, and the variety of classes is there.

For an insightful look at how Quilt University came to be, read Carol Miller’s responses to our interview questions.

Why is this article on my website? The answer is simple. I continue to support quilt professionals who are making a difference by bringing quality goods and services to others. Carol Miller, Dean of Quilt University, is someone who is doing just that!

To see some beautiful teacher and student quilts, and to find out more about Quilt University, click on the link below:

Pat Cummings

We have just uploaded a new feature article to our website: “Quilt University: An Opportunity for Quilters.” Carol Miller, Dean of the University, was very gracious in answering some questions, and provided photos of quilts done by students and instructors alike.

We hope that you will enjoy this article:

Pat