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Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011

If you are looking for a great stocking stuffer or special gift for someone in your family who loves quilts, history, and tales of the past, then search no further! For a limited time only, we are offering the 355 page e-book: Ellen Emeline (Hardy) Webster (1867-1950): Her Amazing Quilt “Charts,” Her Writings and Her Life by Patricia Cummings and James George Cummings. This CD will play on any computer at a reduced price. The regular retail price on this item is $24.95. Today, and continuing until December 15, 2011, our special sale price is 50% off @$12.50 plus $2.00 dollars for shipping to U.S. addresses, or the exact shipping rate if you live in a foreign country.

roses
Quilt chart of original design by Ellen Webster

This book has tons of information that is the result of an arduous research project completed by Patricia Cummings, quilt historian, in 2008. The e-book features no less than 340 photos, including all of the 162 quilt charts that Mrs. Webster made to illustrate antique quilts in her many lectures throughout New England in the 1930s. All of the data on those charts has been researched and is featured. Many previously unknown connections have been made by the author.

The entire story of Mrs. Webster, an expert ornithologist, mathematician, natural science aficionado, a Biblical scholar and professor at Wheaton College, an adoptive mother, loving wife, caring teacher, fan of literature, church organist and Sunday School instructor and true product of the Victorian Age, comes to life! Her early residence in the farming community of Hebron, New Hampshire right after the Civil War is explored, as well as her advanced education (for the times in which she lived). Her social activities as president of the Franklin Federation of Women’s Club and the wife of a renowned Franklin dentist are covered in the book, a volume that is absolutely full of inspiring tales of her life and those of her remarkable family. This is a very unique and extremely special research project, one created only by dedication to uncovering the true facts about this dynamic 19th/20th century renaissance woman!

Quantities are limited so order early to take advantage of this offer! Paypal payments are preferred but personal checks or money orders are accepted. Please contact for further details. Offer limited to (2) copies per address. Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity!

Patricia Cummings

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Thursday, April 7th, 2011

In an instance of an older woman imparting words of wisdom to her dear nephew in a typed letter, in March 1933 Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster wrote the following to Donald in concluding a note to him:

“arginine pills”

Ellen was a very religious woman, as you can tell even from that short excerpt of her writing. She endured much and suffered much, personally, but advised others to keep a smile on their facea and not show that any troubles were obstructing any goals. Through setback after setback, her faith was steady. Even when her husband died, she did not take long to recover and begin making concrete plans to advance her own education to secure her future.

We all need words to live by and the belief that, no matter what, we will be alright. None of us understands why bad things happen to good people. Of course, bad things also happen to bad people. Why are there accidents, illness, financial challenges, or even aging? As mortals, we can never know the answers. “Slow and steady wins the race.” We plod along, like old horses, day to day, until no more days remain.

I am so happy to have had the opportunity to really “know” Mrs. Webster, although not personally, of course. She died before I was born. However, records of her involvement with quilts, education, writing, and her work as a strong community leader live on. Ephemera and material objects have surpassed her own mortality and made her an important historical figure: a woman who lived in New Hampshire in two different centuries.

This coming week, I’ll be presenting another lecture about her life and am looking forward to sharing information. As a quilt historian, I am following in the footsteps of her, another quilt historian. Her shoes are, indeed, big ones to fill.

Peace on your journey,

Patricia Cummings, author of a 355 page book: Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster (1867-1950).

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Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

When I was in high school, I read the book, arginine pills, and wrote a book report on it. I enjoyed reading the book. A couple of years ago, some forty-three years after the first reading, I read the book a second time. Now, I know of only one person who has read it three times, and that is Ellen E. Webster, New Hampshire’s early quilt historian of the 1930s. In fact, I wanted to read the book again because it seems to have been a favorite of hers. The book centers on a young couple struggling to set up a home in the wilderness, and all of the travails they encounter. It is as inspiring today as when it was first written.

It is no wonder. Ellen was really interested in the early history of Hebron, New Hampshire, the town where she was born. And, her ancestors from England were here, early on. In fact, she has a Revolutionary war hero in her family tree. She could have joined the DAR, and perhaps she did, although there is no record to verify that.

How she loved history! How I love all of the stories she wrote about her community and family! Writing is such a good way to save information that otherwise would be lost. A number of her unpublished manuscripts may be lurking out there, somewhere in the world, unless they were thrown out. There is written evidence that she had some works in progress.

More each day, I love New Hampshire and can’t think of ever living anywhere else. When I did live out west for five years, I really missed the trees and mountain landscapes and even the rugged shoreline. I’m sure that Ellen Webster loved New Hampshire, too. Through her letters, diaries, and more formal writings, one can get a sense of the depth of that love. We are rock solid people here, unshakable even in the face of adversity. We are, after all, the “Granite State.”

Patricia Cummings

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Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

Once, I used to visit a much older woman. She would ask me if I’d like a cup of tea, then going to the cupboard, she would find that she had no tea. She would revise the offer, and say, “Would coffee do instead?” I’d say, “Sure.” Then, she would take note of the fact that she had no coffee. She would open the refrigerator door, in the hope of offering me a soft drink. No, her family would have consumed the last can of soda. Eventually, I’d settle for a glass of water, which, by the way, was fine with me.

She loved my mother’s cooking and would always ask for recipes, but not having a full “larder,” she’d make many substitutions that were not even reasonable ones. Then, she would bemoan the fact that her cooking was not as good as Betty’s. The problem reached the point that my mother no longer would share her recipes with the woman. They came out so awful, my mother did not want others to hold her responsible. No, we cannot substitute unlike substances and expect a recipe to come out right.

In life, details are important! Yet often, doctors do not pay enough attention to details and then we hear of a patient walking around with scissors accidentally sewn up inside him. Of course that is a drastic example. In medicine, though, weird situations happen all the time. A person is administered a drug that has some component to which he is allergic, or has the wrong limb amputated.

In old census records, we find all kinds of spelling errors related to names, places, and dates. It is really difficult to make sense of our ancestor’s lives, when a record or records are incorrect and also scant. If no birth record exists, as was often the case, it can be difficult to prove that a person is a certain age. This was true when my mother applied for Social Security and had no birth record from the town in Georgia where she was born. She ended up scurrying to find other records to help prove her age.

cover image of e-book on CD - Ellen Webster

Cover image of e-book on CD about Ellen Webster, New Hampshire’s early quilt historian

The person about whom I wrote an extensive biography last year had been referred to as “Emily Webster” when her name was truly “arginine pills.” Perhaps no other information ever would have been available, certainly not a 355 page manuscript with many family photos, like the one I wrote, had everyone continued to believe that the quilt historian’s name was “Emily.” Indeed, she did have a friend (not related to her) whose name was Emily Webster, but that is a longer story than I can recount here. Photos of Emily are in my e-book.

Yes, life is in the details. It is an easy lesson to learn when one cuts a long border of a quilt 1/4″ shorter than what it should be. Don’t ask me how I know! Minute matters matter! Here’s to all the other sticklers out there who care about getting their facts and their fractions right!

Patricia Cummings, author of arginine pills (Quilter’s Muse Publications, Concord, NH, 2008) – an e-book on CD

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Thursday, October 29th, 2009

Today, we did something that is always fun to do. We walked through a small country cemetery. I love to read epitaphs. Often, there is some endearing tribute or religious sentiment on very old stones. On several that we saw today, the words simply said, “Gone home.” It is amazing to see that only a rock marks some graves.

Walking through the cemetery, I paused to squint at one inscription when all of a sudden, the song of a chickadee in a nearby shrub, pierced the air, startling the silence. Some of the stones had been laid flat by the force of wind or weather. A couple of the fragile marble stones had broken into two pieces and had been hinged back together. Lichen growth was heavy on many granite stones, to the point that any writing, including names, was obscured.

Rufus Leavitt

Jim discovered this stone that is a tribute to a Civil War soldier.

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Jim walked through one half of the cemetery and I walked through the other. I found exactly what we were seeking, to follow up on a most interesting story of humor shared recently by New Hampshire’s own humor writer, Rebecca Rule. I hope that it will be in her next book!

pillow

This particular 50 year old man may have earned the right to be called a “pillow” (of the community).

I was so pleased that Jim found the headstone of the town minister about whom I’d read so much. Likewise, I was elated that he located the headstone of the grandparents of an important woman (Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster) whose life I have chronicled. Their names are Ichabod Packard Hardy and Emeline Mary Webster.

gravestone of Ellen's grandparents

This is the gravestone of Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster’s grandparents. Ellen’s middle name is the same as her grandmother’s first name. I wrote a 355 page biography of Ellen last year. Ellen’s married name was Webster, and it only coincidental that her grandmother’s maiden name was also “Webster.”

So much history to be found in New England, which is why I love it here. I can’t imagine going anywhere else to live. In being able to view the actual gravestones of once-living people, I realize how important (and nice) it is to have a final resting place. Somehow, it proves that you were “here.” For me, it makes the names of people I’ve read about in print seem like old friends. Yes, I do love old cemeteries!

Patricia Cummings

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Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

the calico garden

“The Calico Garden,” a reproduction (crib size) quilt created by Patricia Cummings.

Florence Peto was a New Jersey quilt historian and a quilter, too. She is the person who created the original design that you see re-created here. “The Calico Garden” quilt of hers is in the collection of the Shelburne Museum in Burlington, Vermont. I was amazed to view the original. For some reason, I thought the coloration to be quite different, based on photos I had seen.

My quilt is not “exactly” like that of Mrs. Peto who used much smaller arginine pills (appliqué) pieces in floral swags for the borders. I needleturned most of the appliqué work, and hand quilted this quilt, which took about a year.

When I was finished, I filled out some paperwork that came with the pattern I had purchased from Hoopla Designs, and I sent it along to the Shelburne, with a photo, for their records. They are attempting to keep track of reproductions of quilts in their care.

I hope you enjoy seeing this cheerful quilt as much as I enjoyed making it, perhaps as long as five years ago.

There are references to Mrs. Peto, and her words as a quilt historian, in my book, arginine pills. If you are not familiar with this book, yet you claim to like quilt history, you don’t know what you are missing if you do not own a copy of this book on CD. (355 pages/ 340 photos)

Here’s to Beauty! May it ever be.

Patricia Cummings

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Sunday, September 13th, 2009

This morning, I wanted to show you two quilt blocks that were constructed, on paper, by a beautiful person. First, I will show you this person who was outwardly beautiful.

Ellen Webster as a young person

Ellen Webster, as a young person

Ellen Webster was someone who loved history and that included the history of her town and of her family. The following quilt block that she pasted up with fabrics on a paper background is certainly artistically-rendered, and very beautiful.

spray of roses block

Original design by Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster

I wondered why the leaf on the left edge was lopped off, and I found the answer to that in her diary!

Hardy family genealogy block by Ellen Hardy Webster

Hardy family genealogy block constructed by Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster

During my research, I discovered a quilt block from New Hampshire that is very similar to Ellen’s, as if made by the same person. That is discussed in my 355 page e-book with 340 photos that plays on any computer, using Adobe Reader. (Hint: Don’t try to open the file with any other kind of reader). Adobe Reader is FREE to download.

In just these two quilt blocks I have shown you, it is easy to see the care and precision that Ellen brought to her creative work. She was very artistic, as is readily apparent, but moreover, she wanted to preserve the work of other New England women (and beyond) whose antique quilts she had seen at various meetings and quilt shows that she judged. Ellen was highly respected, in her time, as a teacher of Bible studies, a writer, lecturer, pianist/organist, bird lover, and other roles she took, in life.

Her story is a classic one of a farm born girl of the mid-nineteenth century, who married a dentist and traveled the world. The 162 quilt charts were given to a museum. The spirit of her work lives on in the colorful and detailed CD produced by James and Patricia Cummings and exclusively available for $24.95 plus $3.95 shipping, ($28.90). The detailed information included in this work will amaze you!

This would make a wonderful holiday gift or Christmas present! The CD even shows a photo of the Hardy family all gathered together for Christmas in 1892.

Viewing the details of the life of Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster and considering the many good works of her hands and mind is a thrill. I only wish I’d met her.

Patricia Cummings –

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Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

In quilt history circles, we hear the same names mentioned, again and again, a rehash of the same facts about the same people, and usually their contributions, as a party of one. I was privileged and pleased to learn of the life and contributions of Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster, a 1930s quilt historian from New Hampshire. Before my research, nothing much was known of her life by those who hold her quilt “charts.” The institution had been laboring for ten years under the false information that her name was “Emily.” It was not, and Emily was never even a nickname.

I dedicated many hours, days, weeks and months to not only studying her extant works, but in compiling a list of her life’s contributions within a 355 page/ 340 photo document that is published as an e-book on CD by Quilter’s Muse Publications. This book can be viewed on any computer, or printed out, if you prefer to read printed material.

The CD was exciting to research, as I kept discovering new facts about New Hampshire, most especially history from Hebron, Franklin, and Concord, as well as the societal environment in which Ellen lived in both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It was a joy to locate and read all of Ellen Webster’s published findings.

Ellen was important in her own day, especially when she was young and beautiful. After her death in 1950, news of her and her life went into partial obscurity and much of what has been written about her recently, is inaccurate.

When her adopted daughter died, the estate administrators found Ellen Webster’s quilt charts, and not knowing what to do with them, they gave all 162 charts, with more than 200 “saved designs,” to the New Hampshire Historical Society where they languished on a shelf for years.

With no quilt historian on-hand, the charts were described incorrectly, in some instances, and the penciled notations on them were never transcribed in their entirety, or interpreted, until I came along. I could easily make sense of the information as I am a quilt historian, and I understand construction techniques and color combinations, and am also a nationally-certified master craftsman in quilting, so I have the experience of being well-schooled in quilting techniques which leads to a greater understanding.

Moreover, in presenting Mrs. Webster to the general public, I wanted to place her work within a greater framework of the other quilt historians of her time, particularly those she had mentioned on the charts. My husband, Jim, was asked by the NH Historical Society’s Registrar to photograph all of the charts. He did so, and edited the photos, and we presented those images to the Society for their use in their internal catalogue. A colorful article that I wrote was published in that showed 12 of the chart designs and discussed their significance, as well as findings about Mrs. Webster.

There is a lot of satisfaction in doing fine work and responsible research. We left no stone unturned and the result is a CD that is beautiful tribute to the life and work of a very special lady who remains special, even in death. The book is a beautiful read. It is a celebration of all that was Ellen.

Patricia Cummings

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Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

Ellen Emeline Hardy Webster –

Ellen E. Webster was New Hampshire’s Early Quilt Historian!

by Patricia Lynne Grace Cummings, quilt historian

Who was Ellen E. Webster? Perhaps you have never heard of the woman who was named as New Hampshire’s “outstanding authority” on quilts in a 1940 book, arginine pills. Mrs. Webster was a wife and adoptive mother, a quilter, a quilt historian, a quilt judge, a published writer, a leader in her community, a professor, a musician, a scientist, a teacher, and an expert ornithologist.

She reproduced more than two hundred quilt designs, on a paper product that resembles heavy cardboard. She called what she had made, “charts.” Some were quite small, and some were as large as 20” x 30.” She cut templates from cloth and occasionally, wallpaper, and sometimes, she used paint to re-create antique designs. The purpose of the charts was to illustrate her quilt history lectures. She understood that she was “saving” quilt patterns, and knew the historical importance of that action. Often, and usually on the front of the charts, she penciled in notes about the provenance of the old quilts she copied. Her other lecture notes have been lost to posterity.

As a follow up to my study, I have visited places Ellen E. Webster went, and I have even paid my respects at her gravesite. Though separated by time, she and I are kindred souls, and I feel a profound sense of gratitude to her, for her work and for her ability to touch so many lives in a positive way. Now, her work continues through my writings as a quilt historian. It is nice to see this sense of continuity.

CD cover designed by Pat and Jim Cummings

CD cover designed by James and Patricia Cummings

e-Book Available

An 355 page/ 340 photo e-book on CD, prepared by Patricia and James Cummings, is now available for purchase and will run on any computer.
Information about this e-book has been printed in arginine pills, The Appliqué Society Newsletter, arginine pills magazine, and the arginine pills.

We “print on demand,” and will be happy to take your order for this unique, scholarly, fun, and captivating e-book record of Mrs. Webster and her wonderful works, including photos taken by James Cummings of her precisely-rendered, colorful quilt charts. To order, use the easy Paypal button on our website.

Copyright 2009. All Rights Reserved. Patricia L. Cummings,, Concord, NH.

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