Holiday Gift Wrap Up

I have just about finished up on my holiday gifts for this year. Now to get them in the mail or delivered. I wrapped up my cross stitched cards with this adorable Santa and I have to say, I am having a hard time deciding what to do with him. I just love him! Would it be wrong to keep him for myself ?

I made two Hanukkah dish towels for 2 dear (sisters) friends. But with the holiday almost over I don’t think I’ll deliver them in time. As it turns out – not only friends but DNA revealed we are distance cousins connected abt. 5/6 generations back.

Skye (our mini schnauzer fur baby) will head for one last groom for 2021. I always give her groomer a monetary tip at the end of the year and something yummy for the staff. Her groomer, Katie will be getting married in the spring and I wanted to do something a little extra special this time. I decided on a wedding junk journal and I could tuck her tip into one of the pockets with wedding ephemera. Below Katies journal.

Here is the cover of the journal. I photographed the cover of this on a 1935 copy of the Delineator Magazine. How perfect, looks like a wedding reception party for the background. A luscious satin creme ribbon and gold sari fabric ribbon holds a gorgeous envelope in place. Perfect for tucking any gift checks/cash they receive. Below is a few of the pages that I created. I had so much fun with this project.

Stashed in a pocket, ads I got off of newspaper.com papers, a sweet envelope, and Journalling card.

I used wedding photo copies from my collection of family photos. The black/white opens into a card for journaling. I love the vintage pearl botton

Under the book page ribbon is a wedding reception announcement from 1929.

I kept the signaturen for this all in the same white pages. There are 12 pages for writing in. There’s an envelope and tag clipped to this page. I used my sewing machine and zig zag stitched around the envelope.

And in this tuck is two wedding ephemera also from newspaper.com

More stuff tucked into pockets. A vintage Valentine postcard proclaiming her love.

‘Your Words’ is another writing pad to journal on.

Below a fun Christmas Journal ~ darn word press – as hard as I tried I could not delete this grouping. I decided I just wanted to show you a few pages from a bunch of journals but for some reason I couldn’t do that. So this grouping is of 5 photo’s from 1 journal.

The cover will be wrapped up in red sari ribbon

In all the journals I put in vintage photo’s of the Virgin Mary, as well as a vintage Christmas postcard.

Adorable paper doll cut out peeking out from the next page. She has a few winter outfits as well. I clipped on a few plastic holiday goody pages.

Below are just some random covers and pages from a few different journals I worked on. All of these were created out of 2 lunch size brown paper bags. Just like our hand quilting/quilting community, there is a huge junk journaling community that can be found on you tube and the ideas are endless…….

There’s a Theo Chocolate bar peeking out of this one.

I bought a lot of junk Christmas pins off of ebay and added some to covers.

This one is a boho themed journal for my next door neighbor.

This is a photo of a group of children (1950’s) caroling. It is clipped on and opens up to whole bunch of children, found in a random magazine. Theres also some stickers behind the picture.

I used fabric from my stash and created ruffles on some pages. A match book cover ‘ignite your spark is peeking out on this page.

Photo of the woman is from my adopting ‘Brown’ family. She just looks so wintery in her fur lined coat and hat. Who wouldn’t want to go for a sleigh ride in that outfit.

One of the boho pages. I had these Freda cards in my stash for years, finally a use. I used that great red button for a closure for the envelope I made,

I hope this post sparks some new and exciting crafting ideas for you. These junk journals are a totally new art expression for me. And as I said you tube was a huge help in getting me started.

Fabric dating leads to an Old Fabric Mill Discovery

In my last post I wrote about the stock pile of material I was gifted by my neighbors Dan and his mother Velma.

I follow a wonderful blog by a woman named Deb. She is an amazing quilter and if you haven’t already, please stop by and visit her page at

https://abearsthimble2.wordpress.com

After reading my post Deb made a suggestion on dating fabrics, giving the dates associated with fabric widths in an attempt to help date some of the fabric I was given.

1915 under 24″, 1920 to 1930’s 30″ to 34″, 1940 to 1950’s 36″ to 39″, 1960 to today 45″ on

Well I began measuring and most of the fabric hoovers at the 1940’s to 1950’s with a width of 39″.  Two of the prints measured in with 1920 – 1930’s width but something else jumped out at me with the fabrics. Two different fabrics were stamped with the maker of the fabric, Cranston Print Works, Company. You may recognize the striped brown as one I will be using with the log cabin quilt I plan to finish.  

But the Cranston Print Works is what caught my eye – tying in my love of quilting with genealogy I recognized the name Cranston as the town where some of my early Italian family members had settled. The Cranston Print Works – Cranston, Rhode Island? Was it the same? It sure was. A quick google search and there it was the tie in with my family history. I have added their history page of the Print Works to the bottom of this post. Many of my DeLellis Family settled in the Cranston/Johnston/Providence Rhode Island area. Many of them also working in the mills of this area. The history and workings of these mills is an amazing area of study. Family members were working as spinners and doffers (A doffer is someone who removes (“doffs”) bobbins, pirns or spindlesholding spun fiber such as cotton or wool from a spinning frame and replaces them with empty ones. Historically, spinners, doffers, and sweepers each had separate tasks that were required in the manufacture of spun textiles.  Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org )

The post card below is one I collected dated 1909. By 1909 it was already being used as the State Armory. Notice the street name.

Below is from The Cranston Print Works Company site. The bell tower looks so similar I can’t help but wonder if perhaps at one time back in the very early beginnings The Old White Mill might have house the Cranston Print Work’s original milling facility back when started in 1807.

http://cpw.com

Home » Our History

Our History

In many ways, the history of Cranston is the history of the American Industrial Revolution… Our roots go back to 1807 and to the establishment of a tiny cotton printing plant founded by a Rhode Island governor, William Sprague.
In order to understand how Sprague was able to build a textile empire in Rhode Island, we have to travel back to England in the late 1700’s…
Samuel Slater and the American Industrial Revolution In 1769, one year before the Boston Massacre, and six years before the colonies were to gain their independence from England, an English inventor, Richard Arkwright, patented a spinning frame that would revolutionize the production of cotton cloth. Two years later, in 1771, another invention, the spinning jenny, was introduced by Englishman James Hargreaves. In 1779, the spinning mule, a device for spinning muslin yarns, was invented by Samuel Crompton in England. The Textile Industrial Revolution in England was soon in full swing.
Even after the Revolutionary War in 1776, America was still viewed as an ideal market for the vast amounts of cloth, textiles and trims that England was producing. Industry secrets and technology were closely guarded. American mills offered “bounties” for English apprentices who could provide plans for Arkwright-Hargreaves mill works. It wasn’t until 1789, that the English methods of cloth production would be brought to America. Responding to the offer of a “bounty”, a young 21 year old Englishman, Samuel Slater, disguised himself as a common laborer and was granted access to emigrate to America. As we will see, his journey was to forever change the way in which American textile mills operated.
Samuel Slater had been a partner of Richard Arkwright, and smuggled in Arkwright’s industrial secrets in a most unusual way, he committed the workings of the mill to memory! Slater’s first American mill was constructed in what is now Pawtucket, Rhode Island. He later established mills in Oxford, Massachusetts, which is today known as Webster, MA. (One of those early Slater mills became part of Cranston Print Works Company in 1936.)
Governor William Sprague Samuel Slater’s journey and a number of other factors enabled William Sprague, a governor of Rhode Island, to take a small cotton printing plant and make it into one of the great textile empires of the day. The mill was called “Sprague Print Works” and located in Cranston, Rhode Island, the administrative home of Cranston Print Works Company today. Access to waterways, new technology and natural resources made Sprague Print Works a thriving business until after the Civil War, when an economic depression set in and ownership was passed to BB & R. Knight. The Knight corporation licensed and operated the mill under the “Fruit of the Loom” trademark. It is interesting to note that the original Sprague Mansion and other memorials can still be seen in Cranston today.
1920-1987 Expansion and Innovation In 1920, the William G. Rockefeller interests bought the Knight plant and reorganized it as Cranston Print Works Company.
Capacity increased greatly in 1936 with the purchase of the Slater East Village mill and print works in Webster, Massachusetts. As you remember, it was at this historic mill that Samual Slater developed the first American cotton-spinning machinery. In 1949, Cranston boosted capacity still further by opening a plant in Fletcher, North Carolina.
1987 Employee Ownership In August, 1987, Cranston became an employee-owned company whose fundamental and on-going mission is to continue to serve the needs of its customers, employees and the society in which we live. All of us at Cranston are proud of our rich heritage, and determined to continue our history of quality. As a new century approaches, we look forward to continuing our commitment to the environment, our local communities and to our customers. After all, “quality” is not just a byword at Cranston Print Works– it’s a centuries-old tradition!

 

• Cranston Print Works Company – Operating Since 1807

 

 

HQAL: Wedding Ring Quilt says “I do”

Double Wedding Ring Quilt History | AccuQuilt : AccuQuilt

Though the pattern was first published in the United States in the early 1920s, the quilt pattern can be found as early as the late 19^th Century. The Double Wedding Ring quilt pattern has long been a symbol of love and romance with its interlocking ringssymbolizing marriage.Apr 15, 2017     https://www.accuquilt.com/blog/education/a-history-of-the-double-wedding-ring-quilt/ 

I have been working steadily on ‘Wishing You Good Will’ and while I feel I am making progress it still remains slow and difficult to gage. Working on her these last 3 weeks I have begun to think about the fact it is the wedding ring pattern; weddings, brides, flowers, saying

“I DO”

What I have found with Good Will as I move methodically around working on her, is the  amount of worn and torn fabric I missed when first repairing her. In addition the amount of staining is more than I thought and a good dry cleaning is so needed, although it will not remove that damage. Still she is beautiful!

 

I began thinking about this quilt in a whole different light. I imagined this quilting process to be like the build up and anticipation to the wedding. The beginning of the border will be the equivalent to the wedding ceremony and once that is completed it will be the big celebration reception party. I can tell you right now, once ‘Wishing You Good Will’ is completed I am having a huge ‘finished the quilt party’ and your all invited.

In the spirit of marriage, weddings, rings, brides, grooms, guests, toasts, flowers and the wedding ring pattern, I thought it would be fun to highlight some of my favorite wedding photos

My mother Grace Judith Tanner

 

My Grandmother Catherine Langellotti & Grandfather Frank Civitano

 

My Grandmother Minnie Lipschitz & Grandfather Isidore Haimowitz

 

My Great Aunt Rita Langellotti & Steve Stalupe

This beautiful bride is a photo I found in an antique store and was able to reunite with a descendant. I love the aproned like skirting on her dress.

 

My Aunt Coletta Civitano’s wedding photo with my grandfather Frank Civitano from photo above

 

My Great Aunt Julia Civitano & Nick Forese

 

Brides of 1915

 

 

My 1st cousin 2x removed Dominick Caso & Rose Haughey

Some how thinking of ‘Wishing You Good Will’ in terms of brides and flowers, laughter and most of all love has helped me turn this daunting task into a true labor I love!

My beautiful granddaughter Heather & Trent

““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Lori, Margaret, Kerry, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Connie, Susan,  Nanette, Sassy , Edith, Sharon, Karrin, and Gretchen

Hand Quilt Along: Connecting through a Vintage Photo and Quilting

Mid way through the summer and here we are again with another update for the HQAL. When I got the reminder notice I had to really think, had I made progress? Yes, I have. I have made a conscious effort to quilt ‘Wishing You Good Will’ these last 3 weeks and while the progress seems slow, as said before, ‘slow and steady wins the race’ if this were a race. But something else happened in the last week before posting that I would like to share. Something that made me sit up, take notice and reflect about this quilt top I am working on.

Wishing You Good Will

In my last post I asked about the age of this quilt. I had some feed back on my thought that this may have dated in the 50’s. It was overshadowed by others thinking more like a 30’s – 40’s feel.

Another of my passions is genealogy, along with old vintage family photo’s ~ lost photo’s that I like to try and return to a family member. Whenever I come across a photo with some labeling I will purchase it and try to find its family. This week, that is exactly what happened. I had found this amazing photo at an antique store and got busy finding its home.

Brier Deming Family – wife Nancy with children and the gentleman labeled Uncle

I sent out 2 queries and heard back from one gentlemen who was connected with the family. His name is Gary and in the course of corresponding not only did we share a love for genealogy but I learned his wife, Donna, was a quilter, and an incredible quilter sharing with me some of her magnificent quilts. This photo share of her work led to me spotting a gorgeous double wedding ring quilt that hinted at a twin for ‘Wishing You Good Will’.  Inquiring about it this is what I learned:

“Gary shared “the double wedding ring quilt was hand pieced by my great grandmother Eda Mae Vercoe, who was a very talented seamstress and quilter.” She was born in 1880. She had never finished this hand pieced top and it sat in a cedar chest for about 40 years. In 2005 Gary’s Mom gave the top to his wife Donna who did this exquisite job of hand quilting and finishing this beauty.

Eda Mae Vercoe’s Double Wedding Ring Quilt; quilted by her daughter-in-law Donna

The story does not stop there.

For Gary’s Mom’s 85th birthday in 2010, the quilt was given back to her completed as a gift. I can barely imagine the joy felt by all three of them in completing this circle of love.

What an incredible story!

It makes me wonder if this could have been a wedding quilt started by Eda either for herself or a daughter/son which was never completed?

On a last note for this post and getting back to the Deming Family photo that started this connection to Gary and Donna, this is what he shared with me in regards to the photo

“It might interest you to know that Nancy Deming (Brier’s wife), was the daughter of James Anderson O’Neil who was one of the men who were instrumental in having the US Government establish Oregon Territory at a time that it would have otherwise ended up being part of Canada!  So, without James’ efforts, Oregon, Washington and part of Idaho would now be in Canada!” 

Quilts not only connect us to the past but they connect us to friendships. ©

““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““`

Check out the others work that are doing the quilt along….

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another. If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Lori, Margaret, Kerry, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Connie, Susan, Nanette, Sassy , Edith, and Sharon