From the Button Box: Travel Wrap Up

I have seven more Skinny 'T' blocks to piece. I hope to have a completed center section to share soon. I've calculated the first border dimensions to fit the second pieced section. Now to get crackin'.

One afternoon of my vacation was spent at Old Sturbridge Village to view the exhibit 'Early New England Quilts: Repurposed, Refashioned, and Recycled' (on display thru early Feb, 2019). Although the exhibit is small, the items on view were exceptional. If you're interesting in visiting the living museum, the timing is great.

The featured quilt from the exhibit (c1840) was made by Susannah Allen Anderson Howard (1813 - 1891) from Ware, MA. Nearly 12,000 pieces, likely from old garments and household textiles, were used to complete this quilt which was probably made for her marriage to Emery Howard in 1839. The proportions of my photo seem to have skewed in cropping, but a close-up follows.

One of my favorites was the Orange Peel quilt (c1830) attributed to Matilda Fiske, Sturbridge, MA. She was my kinda girl - the quilt was appliqued rather than pieced and the melons float, so no worry about melon ends meeting.

I'm in love with the indigo pockets in the next photo. All cotton items on the mannequin are from 1830 - 1840. Love that indigo! The pieced quilt to the right of the mannequin (c1820) is from the Arnold family of Providence, RI - relatives of the infamous Benedict.

There was a kids event going on the day I visited. The period activity was a pleasant addition to the living museum.

The morning of the following day I visited Old Deerfield Village in Deerfield, MA - a New England treasure. The village is perfect for a quiet stroll of picturesque historic homes. The draw for me is the fantastic graveyard (carved tombstones from the late 1600's forward) and the Memorial Hall Museum (the best $6 you'll ever spend).

I'll share more tombstone carvings near Halloween, but how cool is this? You aren't allowed to clean the markers, so most are adorned with bird droppings. The earliest carvings are skeleton heads with angel wings followed by angelic faces and wings. Again, I think cropping altered dimensions.

The Memorial Hall Museum (founded in 1870) includes a quilt room. The Stars, Hexagons and Polygons quilt top (c1860) was made by Mrs. Carpenter of Vermont. It contains 82,000 1/4" pieces. The lower right shows the back of the quilt top. I think it's rather sad - similar to my Grandma's Welch Grape Jelly box of quilt pieces I posted about on the old blog.