Jenni in London

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Easter Week in North Devon Day 1

After last years's Easter Week trip to Istanbul and a few Easters in the States with the grandchildren, this year we have returned to our Easter Week tradition of a holiday in a National Trust cottage somewhere in England. We have spent past Easters in Yorkshire and Cornwall and Lincolnshire and East Anglia. This year we are heading west to North Devon. Stopping at the Windmill Inn in Portishead overlooking the Severn Estuary south of Bristol now also seems to be a tradition.

Next stop is for food. The Witheridge Farm Shop found on the internet, advertised as The Delicatessen in the Middle of Nowhere, and miraculously found on the ground despite the webpage emphasising "we really are in the middle of nowhere." The next village is named Nomansland, no kidding. Set in the middle of a working farm, we picked up fresh veg and meats and eggs and local cheese.

And here is our cottage, Woolley Lodge, on the National Trust's property at Arlington Court. This one really is a cottage which is a generic term for the Trust's rental property. Cottages can be in any sort of unused outbuilding on a property: flats in houses, terraced rows, barns, schoolhouses. Sometimes they are less comfortable than anticipated, but they are always interesting. Back in the day, estate workers were happy to have two rooms to call their own. Woolley Lodge was one of the most comfortable we have rented.

And it was surrounded by gorgeous banks of primroses, my favourite spring flower.

Since it was Easter, we brought along some old friends to mark the holiday . . .

. . . and our special Chicken for the door.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

A Visit to Dear Jane

The Jane Stickle Quilt, known in the world of quilting as Dear Jane after the title of Brenda Papadakis's book, is exhibited by the Bennington Museum in Vermont for 6 weeks every year from the end of August until mid-October. Earlier this year an announcement was made that this year the exhibition would include new information on the quilt's maker, Jane Stickle. What better excuse for a trip to Vermont in autumn than to learn more about Jane Stickle. So on Columbus Day weekend Megan and Christian and I set off for a glorious weekend in Vermont.

The Bennington Museum's quarterly journal Walloomsack Review (Volume 11 Summer 2013) includes an article by quilt historian Pam Weeks with research on the Blakley and Stickle families mostly derived from Census and probate records. Jane's father Erastus Blakley was a relatively wealthy farmer based on the inventory in his probate records. He died when Jane was 13 and left half his estate to his son Erastus, a quarter to Jane, and the remaining quarter divided between two other daughters. He specified the money should be used to educate Erastus and Jane, implying Jane was especially worthy of education. Jane and her husband Walter had no children, but many nieces and nephews. Seven nephews served in the Union Army during the Civil War. The quilt won the $2 prize (said to be equal to $40 today) for the Best Patched Quilt at the Bennington County Fair in September 1863.

After Pam Week's article was published, Museum curator Jamie Franklin found this important article in the October 1, 1863 edition of the Bennington Banner reporting on the recent County Fair where Jane Stickle's quilt was first displayed. Sadly the article is difficult to read, but the relevant lines begin in the middle of the third paragraph: Mrs J.B. Smith of Manchester, Mrs Taft and Mrs Stickles presented each a very extra bed quilt. Mrs Stickles is an invalid lady, having been for a long time confined to her bed, but her ambition to do something to kill the time induced her to piece the quilt. It contains many thousand different pieces of cloth, no two of which are exactly alike. Upon one corner is marked in plain letters, "made in the war of 1863." The startling new fact that Jane was an invalid goes a long way to explaining the puzzling decline of Jane and Walter. Why in 1860, Jane's husband and mother lived with her brother Erastus, but Jane is listed as living by herself. In 1870, they were back living together at a farm that was valued at $6,000 with personal property of $1,500. But in 1880, they had lost their farm and were wards of the town according to the records of the Overseer of the Poor. Walter is noted as having rheumatism, but there is no mention of Jane's disability. They continued to live on public charity until their deaths in 1883 and 1896.

The quilt's colours remain vibrant . . .

. . . and the seams match perfectly!

Pam Week's research allowed a peek at the unseen back of the quilt which is two panels made up from a linen bed sheet with tiny embroidered initials of S.B. for Jane's mother Sarah (Sally) Blakley. Jane's father's probate inventory includes two sets of linen sheets. Examining the quilt, she believes the quilt was pieced and quilted as a straight sided square, then strips of calico (UK)/muslin (US) were sewn to the top edges overlapping the extra wadding and backing allowance, then each wedge curve was cut individually and bound with a straight grain strip.

The quilt and the watercolour were donated to the Bennington Museum by Jane's niece Sarah Blakley Seymour Bump (1868-1950), daughter of Jane's brother Erastus, probably in 1938 or 1939, according to the undated records held by the Museum.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

5. Alsace Loves Quilts Too

The wonders of Alsace never cease to amaze. First we find it to be the birthplace of Gregorian Chant, and now we discover they are taking the credit as the birthplace of quilting. Only the Michelin guidebook goes that far in its claims, but the birthplace of Amish quilting is certainly in Alsace. The Zwingli branch of the Protestant Reformation created the Anabaptist movement which rejected infant baptism in favour of adult baptism after a confession of faith, and they also embraced the principles of non-violence. Controversial beliefs always led to persecution during this chaotic period, and many Anabaptists moved into the Val d'Argent of the central Vosges where they were welcomed by the local land owner. In 1693, in the town of Ste-Marie-aux-Mines, Swiss preacher Jacob Amman gathered believers into a new sect who wished to live by their own interpretation of Biblical principles, and they were referred to as the Amish. A century later, the Amish began moving to Pennsylvania when the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars which followed threatened their non-violence principles with forced conscription.

For nearly twenty years the town of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines has held a quilt show — billed in some places as Europe's largest quilt show — with exhibitions spread across venues in public and private spaces across the town and in two neighbouring villages in the valley. Each venue featured quilts from different countries, different teachers, different competitions, or different collections. This is a small selection of interesting quilts.

An Exhibition from the States was the collection from Ohio's Quilt National 2011

Solveig
Mary Beth Frezon
U.S.A.

Cross My Heart
Judy Martin
Canada

Werekata moon
Pamela Fitzsimmons
Australia

Compatability
Pat Budge
U.S.A.

The wonderful French quilting magazine Quiltmania sponsored a collection of antique chintz quilts from the States (POOS Collection belonging to Kay Triplett). They are mostly dated from the first half of the 19th century and are in superb condition.

The highlight of the day was an extraordinary collection of Amish quilts from the collection of Frenchman Jacques Légeret who lived in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana Amish communities, wrote down their stories for several books, and bought the quilts he was offered.

The local quilters of Val d'Argent filled a whole church with beautiful work. Much of it was on the theme A Journey to the Heart of the Forest, most appropriate to their forested valley. I could not catch the names of all the quilters who contributed to the display.

Feuilles Mortes
Huguette Buecher
France

Jolie Découverte
Evelyne Latrouche
France

Fougeres
Andrée Louzy
France

Mélange et Déclinaison
Les Amies du Mardi
France

Au Coeur de la Foret
Marie Claire Meyer
France

Bernina sponsored quilts from the members of the Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA)

If Leaves Were Blue
Priscilla Kibbee
U.S.A.

Aurifil Threads sponsored an exhibition of work featuring architecture

NYC la Nuit
DAMSS
Italy

Monique Gilbert, a Belgian quilt teacher, exhibited the works of her students who were asked to interpret the work of artist Paul Van Hoeydonck in a project for her Crossroads Group