Archive for the ‘Just for Fun’ Category

Happy St. Patrick’s Day on March 17!

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

vintage card
This vintage postcard says, “I’ve donned the green, so dear to me, On this glad day to welcome thee.”

Whether you are Irish or not, I hope you will enjoy the following sayings that are “Irish Blessings.”

1. May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night and a smooth road all the way to your door.

2. May flowers always line your path and sunshine light your day. May songbirds serenade you every step along the way. May a rainbow run beside you in a sky that’s always blue. And may happiness fill your heart each day your whole life through.

3. May you get to heaven a half hour before the devil knows you’re dead.

4. May you live as long as you want and never want as long as you live.

5. May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been, the foresight to know where you’re going, and the insight to know when you’ve gone too far.

I am learning more and more about my Irish ancestry, thanks to my son, James, who is doing an extensive family genealogical search. My great great grandparents were born in Ireland. It is uncertain whether or not my great grandparents were the first to come to America, or not. Surely, most Irishmen who came to America during the nineteenth century were seeking a better life and an improvement over poor employment opportunities and religious persecution. Ironically, once here, they were faced with signs in windows that said, “Irish need not apply.”

One couple in the ancestry chart, some of my father’s ancestors, I suspect of being Scots-Irish as they were from Belfast. Many Scots-Irish settled in New England.

Based on census descriptions of employment, James has concluded that a number of family members worked in both the woolen mills and cotton mills of Massachusetts. They worked in the Blackstone Valley and in the Norfolk and Lawrence industrial complexes. James points out that some of the fabrics in my antique quilts could have been made by my own relatives. What a thought!

In closing, I will add another “blessing” that came to me in an e-mail today: “May your troubles be less, your blessings be more, and may nothing but happiness, come through your door.”

Happy St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow, on March 17!

Patricia Cummings

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Whimsie Balls

Friday, March 11th, 2011

In 1988, I purchased a pattern by Nancy Brenan Daniel called “Whimsie Balls.” At the time, I made one and sent it to my niece’s new daughter. With a good memory of how much the child enjoyed this old-fashioned style toy, she recently asked if I would make two of these toys for the twin children of her friends.

whimsie ball

I chose various 1930s reproduction prints for these “love tokens” as the pattern designer calls them.

Whimsie Balls have been around since the Victorian Age. Nancy’s pattern offers four different sizes, one small enough to be used as a Christmas ornament; the others in “small,” “medium,” and “large.” Each ball has 36 pieces in two different shapes. I chose to hand cut and hand mark sewing lines on the fabrics and hand piece each segment. Assembly was by hand, of course. Making the toys took 20 hours for each one. Nancy tells me that she machine pieces the segments. I prefer to hand piece curves. It was a time-consuming but very fun project.

While working on the balls, I could just imagine tiny fingers grasping the segments and enjoying the tiny motifs in the fabric. After all these years, Nancy Brenan Daniel still sells this pattern…but only from her home. It is not offered in shops. For more information, please write directly to her: nancydaniel@me.com

Have a great weekend!

Patricia Cummings (a satisfied customer)
pat@quiltersmuse.com
Quilter’s Muse Publications

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What Do You Collect?

Friday, January 14th, 2011

The types of collections people have can be just fascinating. For those who love family matters and genealogy, there can be nothing better than saved postcards and letters, old photographs and newspaper clippings that chronicle the lives of loved one, in all of their milestone moments and travels. I feel lucky that my mother saved such things including of all things the hospital bill for when I was born and a handwritten letter from the Mayor congratulating my parents. Beyond familial type items, what kinds of items of material culture do you save?

Postage stamp collecting seemed to be a more prominent activity when I was young. At that time, stamps had to “soaked off” the envelope. Of course, this was in the age before no lick ‘em stamps! Coins have been another popular item to collect. Recent books tell the value of marbles, a common game in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Some collectors prize daguerrotype photos; others collect stereocards, a forerunner to “View Master.” Textiles and quilts with Disney characters are quite collectible. There may be more than one price guide book about Black memorabilia.

China tea cups, ceramic items, and collectible plates are prized by some collectors. A friend likes to collect ceramic mice. Some people cannot get enough of clocks! My aunt who lived in Germany gathered together a large collection of Hummels. Quilters seem to like to acquire more than one sewing machine and certainly, many different types of thread, and yes, tons of fabric for their stashes! A certain friend has collected more cross-stitch kits than she will ever have time to make. Old aprons are another popular item to collect, along with “early” clothing for children. Pincushions are very appealing and they come in all sizes and shapes!

Some men like to collect antique cars and trucks and refurbish them, replacing upholstery and tinkering with paint jobs and engines. There is nothing more fun than seeing a parade of antique cars! If you go into an antique shop, you will get an idea of the types of items people save: old jewelry, old medical instruments, old magazines, etc. If you check e-Bay, the greatest equalizer of them all, you can probably find anything you might be seeking. It is the greatest trading ground ever and sure to please with just the obscure item you’ve been wanting to add to your collection.

I like to “collect” people stories. I have many of them in my head, and as I am forever amused by the human condition and the actions of the human race, I sometimes make comments in my writings. People are at once charming, aggravating, loving, and despicable; sharp, “pleasantly confused,” delightful, inspirational, humorous, sad, and triumphant beyond belief when one looks at their circumstances. In realizing that I have had many rich life experiences, I have begun writing my autobiography, not to sell, mind you, but just to catalog my life in a pictorial essay.

So what do you collect? I’d love to know.

Patricia Cummings, pat at quiltersmuse dot com

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Stenciled Sewing Basket

Saturday, October 30th, 2010

The one thing that anyone needs to understand about me is that I am a “hoarder.” Yes, one of those! I am also a “recycler” and just love to find something that is beyond its prime and renew it, or create something different than its original intended use. Such is the case with the item I am going to show you.

cheese box transformed

This is a sewing basket now, but in its former life, it held a wheel of cheese

I do not recall when exactly I re-purposed the item shown above. The body of the old box is stained, stenciled, and has an acrylic finish. Squares of cotton fabric were folded and joined to create the top. So much time has passed since I made this item, I do not recall if the pieces of fabric were sewn or glued or both. I may not even have adhered to the sound principles of archival textile management!

In fact, I made a similar item, in different colors, which I gave to a friend, and a small one that I still have, but whose navy blue (not indigo) colors have faded due to normal light exposure (as happens, I’ve found out).

Often, I have seen unfinished, basic cheese boxes, such as the one I used, at the Vermont Country Store, stacked up on their front porch and available for just a few dollars. They sell a lot of cheese, and it is excellent, by the way, (and available through their mail order catalog).

That is my “show and tell” item of the day!

Do you have a favorite repository for organizing items in your sewing work space? Why not send a photo to pat at quiltersmuse dot com?

Patricia Cummings

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“Poky Little Puppy” Quilts

Saturday, October 16th, 2010

Poky Little Puppy Quilt

Quilt made by Charlotte Croft

I always love to hear from Charlotte Croft in Vermont to see what she has been working on as far as quilts. After reading my blog about “Poky Little Puppy” fabric, she found some yardage to purchase in the Hancock’s of Paducah catalog. She tells me that the story for children has been her favorite Little Golden Book for MANY years!

She has made two quilts with the panels intended to make a fabric “book.” One of the quilts has been given to “Taylor,” the granddaughter of one of Charlotte’s best friends. The child was born on Charlotte’s birthday. The other quilt was given to Willa Maureen Wise who was born on March 4, 2010. Charlotte used the “Mile-a-Minute” piecing technique to create the middle of the stars in the quilts, which serve as alternate blocks.

2nd quilt
After telling me about all of her recent acquisitions for quilting, she ended her note with the following statement:

Tonight is the Firemen’s oyster stew supper and I have a custard pie I need to deliver so best be on my way. Instead of attending, I’m hoping to buy a quart of stew to bring home. It’s much cozier next to our woodstove. All the best, Charlotte

Ah, yes. The joys of country living! I remember attending annual oyster stew festivals at the Deerfield Fair Association meetings, with my parents, when I lived in Deerfield, NH, growing up. Sitting by the woodstove, eating a bowl of stew, sounds delightful! Thanks for the photos, Charlotte!

Pat

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“Ode to a Toad”

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Background of the story:

When I was about five years old, my family moved to a brand new house that my father had ordered custom-built for us at the north end of Manchester, NH. The land around the house was not landscaped, when we arrived, and previously had been home to hundreds of toads. I decided to “collect them.” I asked my mother for a shoe box, something to hold water, and I set off to collect toads, turning over every rock, and capturing the unwitting little things. Of course, I had to find “bugs” to feed them, too.

Steve Grace at 7 years old

Steve Grace at 7 years old, the year I was born.

I thought I was doing a pretty good job. However, one morning, I woke up and found that my big brother, Steve, who was 7 years older than me, had let loose the toads. I called him a “meanie” and set up a ruckus. He explained to me that one should not keep living things in captivity because wild things want to be free. I understood then.

Ever since, I have been thrilled to see toads, including the ones that hopped across the country roads between Deerfield, NH and Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, on summer nights. I’d spot them while driving my young son and my mother to Nature Programs at the Science Center there. Toads are attracted to hot asphalt, I believe.

Last week, we attended three consecutive nightly meetings and came home after dark. When the automatic light went on by the back door, there was a medium size toad sitting there, as if waiting for us to come home. Inspired by this sight, I went upstairs, grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and was in the process of writing what I thought was a lovely poem. I had only finished the first two stanzas, when Jim came in the room, looking over my shoulder.

I said, “No!” Good poetry must be read aloud!

Here is my poem, never finished, because his advice after hearing the preliminary lines was, “Don’t give up your day job!”

Ode to a Toad

There once was a toad
outside my abode
He hopped in the lamplight
abiding.

His heart was on fire
to muck through the mire
to find “lady love” there
residing.

See, this was a stroke of true genius, but now, neither you nor I will know what happened to Mr. Toad! Did he find true love? Or, wander endlessly seeking it? I leave the situation for you to ponder.

Pat

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

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Monty Python

Monday, April 27th, 2009

I have followed in my mother’s footsteps of writing down things that amuse me. I would like to share the following quote from a Monty Python skit, in the hope that you will enjoy it. I am including a link to an anthology of their work, that I am surprised is still available. I think I will drop the major hint that this is what I’d like for my birthday. Here goes:

‘e’s not pinin’. ‘e’s passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! e’s expired and gone to meet ‘is maker! ‘e’s a stiff! Bereft of life, ‘e rests in peace! If you hadn’t nailed ‘im to the perch ‘e’d be pushin’ up the daisies! ‘is metabolic processes are now ‘istory! ‘E’s off the twig! ‘e’s kicked the bucket, ‘e’s shuffled off ‘is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin’ choir invisible! THIS is an EX-PARROT!

My kind of humor! This is hilarious!

Patricia Cummings who has not yet shuffled off the mortal coil, or joined the bleedin’ choir invisible

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Take Your Usual Obituary …

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

How many obituaries have you read? Are they not consummately-boring? If you agree, then write your own and keep it updated and ready “for the right time.” Sure, you were born. You wouldn’t be here, if you weren’t. Do we really care what day, or what hour, or exact minute that happened? No, we don’t. Okay, I’ll clarify that. I don’t care. Obituaries could be more general, such as, “She lived 90 or so miserable years.” Close enough!

We know you had relatives. Some of them may have cooled their heels in jail. Do we need a list of these reprobates? I say, “No!” I don’t care who you were related to in life. Who were you?

Now, here comes the kicker. For what reason do you want to be remembered? I mean, what exactly did you do in life?

I don’t mean a list of college degrees. What did you do that makes you different than the other clods who sat in a classroom, perhaps listening to a nitwit drone on and on, wasting your money, the government’s money, or your parent’s money, on some topic you didn’t care about and will never remember anything about in twenty years? (No, I am not anti-Education, for the record).

Did you take what you learned a little further, beyond the knowledge from a preliminary survey course? Did you become a scientist, an inventor, a public speaker? What did you do that makes you special, a cut-above, someone who stands out in a crowd?

Writing your own obituary affords you a chance to have some input into lasting remembrances of what made you … you! If you want, include some of the more obnoxious things you might have done, like scaring the poor nuns by drawing pictures of a naked Superman flying through the air (like one kid I knew). How about the time you went snorkeling to see exotic fish life in Hawaii? Perhaps, you were “Cook of the Week,” in your local newspaper? Maybe you studied abroad, or traveled there to an exhibit where your quilts were shown. You see, we all have something unique about us. Perhaps you served in the Armed Forces, in wartime, or not. All of our experiences make us who we are.

I would like to see obituaries that go beyond the raw data, the peripherals of dates and degrees and relatives whom, by a fluke of nature, we happen to be connected. Obituaries are becoming shorter and shorter. It is worth it to pay a little extra for more coverage. After all, this is your last peep and I think the peep should be your own peep, not a peep from someone else who doesn’t give a peep. (big grin)

Think about it. I believe this is as important as writing your will, and like you will, your obituary should be revisited annually to see if anything has changed or any modifications are needed. Have fun blowing your own horn. Just remember, you are not writing a book, but for heaven’s sake, give yourself a decent peep before you “shuffle off the mortal coil,” “cease to eat crumpets,” and otherwise, look mummified!

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

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Cakes

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

Cakes, cakes, cakes. What would a special occasion be without a cake? When I was a little kid, I looked forward to birthdays and holidays, partly because of my mother’s abilities in cake making. My mother loved cakes. She would make a cake on a whim, as well as for a dedicated reason.

Cake made by Elizabeth Grace

There are so many photos of cakes in the family album, I thought I would share a few with you. After all, the photos have no calories!

2nd cake creation by Nana

The cake above was made for James Gorham, my son, and her grandson.

She would add store-bought decorations like little ceramic Easter bunnies, or a miniature diploma, or candied confections.

Steve Grace with diploma and piece of cake

The photo above shows my (late) brother, Steve, “wearing” and holding two decorations and sitting before a scrumptous piece of cake that my mother made for him when he graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a teaching degree in Agriculture.

Mom would experiment. She would “bake from scratch,” or bake with a cake mix. Her cakes came out well, no matter what. I have her recipe for Buttercream frosting down to a science: 1 box of Confectioner’s sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 stick of unsalted butter, and 1/4 cup milk. She liked to add peach preserves in the middle of a layer cake.

Her Christmas cakes always had white frosting and coconut on the top, and sometimes, strawberry preserves, in the middle. Her German Chocolate cakes were a lot of work and very special! I really liked her Confetti cake, and Angel Food cake, served with Strawberries, or dipped in Chocolate Fondue.

Chocolate cake made by E. Grace for Jim Cummings

This photo is from 1986 when my mother made a cake for Jim’s birthday, knowing that he loves chocolate!

During my lifetime, I have made my share of cakes, too.

Birthday cake made by me for my son's 4th birthday

This highly-decorated bear cake was a “bear” to complete, and it is the only cake of its kind I ever attempted. It was made for my son’s 4th birthday.

I hope you have enjoyed this brief romp through the photo album. Let me know if, on the basis of seeing these photos, you just had to bake a cake! pat@quiltersmuse.com

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications

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