Thursday, July 10, 2014

Historic Waterloo Village and Quilts

The weekend before the 4th a friend and I went to the Canal Day Festival at Historic Waterloo Village in Stanhope, NJ. Waterloo is a 19th century village along the Morris Canal in a tranquil setting of historic homes and mills. 

I have fond memories of Waterloo . . . 


In September 1987 The Heritage Quilt Project of NJ had one of its organizational meetings at the parsonage next to the Methodist Church. 


In October that same year Garden State Quilters held its quilt show at the picnic pavilion. My quilt A Christmas Card was on display.   



Fast forward to 1997 when I worked one day a week at the Quilt Barn and documented the Village's small quilt collection. See pics below. 

 




I'd visit the Seamstress Shop across the way and let the sheep out of their pen at feeding time :)  



 
Of the six quilts in their collection, this Sunburst was my favorite.



Love the blue floral background fabric.


 Basket with swag border.


Chips and Whetstones with a lot of fabric deterioration. 


Star of Bethlehem, c. 1930. 


Old Maid's Ramble Variation, c. 1880. 


Split 9-Patch, off center. 


I spotted that quilt in the Rutan Cabin on our recent visit. 

I wonder what happened to the rest of the quilts?

__________
Copyright 2014, Barbara Schaffer







Thursday, July 3, 2014

Let's Celebrate!

Here are some of my patriotic quilts and other fun things with stars and stripes. Let's not forget Caleb Tichenor, a soldier of the revolution.
 

The first quilt I ever designed. Made for the 1976 Bicentennial. 

Ancestry made in 1977. You can read about it here.


Washington Star. In 1987 I won 12 blocks made by members of Garden State Quilters. 


Patriotic Pieces, 1999-2002, a Millennium quilt.



A detail. 


The back. 


 
The label.


Fun Stuff


A patriotic costume.


A flea market pillow and a small collection of pins.


 Silk American flags and one from every state. 


From the gift shop at The Shelburne Museum. 

Caleb Tichenor
A Soldier of the Revolution

In his words 22 January 1830:

Early in June 1776 I enlisted at Newark in which township I then resided, for five months under Capt. Abraham Lyon in Col. Van Courtland’s regiment from Newark. I was first marched in New York & from there to Long Island where I was when the British landed on said Island – from there I went to New York & marched to fort Washington & had an engagement there with the enemy. From there I marched to White Plains where we had several engagements with the enemy. From the Plains I marched to Kingsbridge & crossed the Hudson & then retreated back to Fort Lee & was in several skirmishes there. From Fort Lee we returned before the British army below in New Brunswick in New Jersey. 

Caleb continued to be called into service through 1781 and served his country for 28 months as a private in the revolution. 


 
First Presbyterian Church of Hanover, E. Hanover, Morris, NJ

Stranger Approach and contemplate 
the Grave.
Caleb Tichenor
departed this life
July 29th 1834
Aged 76 years
In his death his widow is bereaved
of a beloved companion
Who was most tender and 
affectionate.
His children of a Father most kind
and indulgent,
Society of a benevolent upright and honest man.  


Have a great 4th!

__________
Copyright 2014, Barbara Schaffer



 




Wednesday, June 25, 2014

One of Each: A Quilt, A Gravestone, A Family Photo

Just a quick post this week.

Still waiting for that Walking Foot to come in. In the meantime, I continue to make little quilt tops using my endless supply of small scraps. I think they multiply, lol. 

First Presbyterian Church of Hanover, E. Hanover, Morris, NJ

In Memory of
Elizabeth Daur of
Ellis and Lucy Cook. Who
Died Sepbr 30. 1780
Aged 1 Year 4 Months
and 9 Days


Look close and you'll see the carver's mistake. He forgot to inscribe "and Lucy" but did his best to squeeze them in. 

This is a family photo of my paternal gr-grandparents Horace Davis and Margaret Edwards with their children and grandchildren c. 1892. They are seated in the middle with their youngest son, my grandfather, Ralph B. Davis (1882-1971). Standing directly behind them is their eldest son Osmer Davis (1862-1935) and his wife Carolyn Lawrence (left) and daughter, Olga (1887-  ); on the right is son Edmond Davis (1868-1937), daughter Hannah Adella Davis Lawrence (1869-1894) and her daughter Irene (1889-  ). The family lived in Rockland, Sullivan County, NY. 


A beautiful sunset taken from our deck at the cabin. 

Summer is finally here. Yay!

__________
Copyright 2014, Barbara Schaffer




Sunday, June 15, 2014

Wow! So Many Things To Talk About

Flag Day! Father's Day! Quilt of Valor News! Another Small Quilt! Silhouette Collection!

My original intention was to show you my small silhouette collection but now there's other things to talk about, too.

Flag Day

We finally hung our new "old-looking" flag in time for Flag Day. It's perfect for our house which was built in 1730. I wonder what that circle of light is in the left corner. Hmmm. . . . .

Happy Father's Day!


Reporting for duty. My dad and my brother at Fort Dix, NJ, in 1957. I took that photo with my Kodak Brownie. 

Quilt of Valor News!


I received news this morning that my Quilt of Valor is going to Role III NATO Multinational Medical Unit in Kandahar where QOVs are given to "American Active Duty Military who have suffered significant COMBAT RELATED injuries." I am truly honored to have made this quilt for a wounded soldier.
 
Another Small Quilt


I made another little top this week. Still waiting for that Walking Foot to come in!

Silhouette Collection 

I've subscribed to Country Living magazine for years and was happy to see the article on Silhouettes in this month's issue. 


Sorry for the reflections. This is a paper-cut silhouette of my dad c. 1930.


And one of my son when he was 7 months old. This was a present to my mother on her birthday October 27, 1963. 
  

Sometime in the 1970s there was a woman at an arts/crafts show at the Livingston Mall who cut these silhouettes of our family. I added doilies, stickers, and gold trim when I framed them. 


I bought this Lady With Dog and the following painted silhouettes at a garage sale for about $10. They are all signed E.M. Hopkins 1932. 
 
 



Aren't they cute?


Perhaps a Presidential Pair?

 

None of these silhouettes is framed but I'm hoping to get that done sometime soon. 


I purchased this one recently at a thrift shop in Wilmington NY for $2.00. It is painted like the others and signed Monacella.  

Hope you had a great day!


__________
Copyright 2014, Barbara Schaffer


Sunday, June 8, 2014

Summer Projects and Another Quilt of Valor, Done!

I've got quite a few summer projects in the works and a Quilt of Valor that I just finished. Some of the projects have to do with learning how to use a Walking Foot which I just ordered.


I wrote in the words to the song my grandfather composed for the NY National Guard 2nd Battery. See last month's post. It's the first one on the list to be machine quilted :)

I'd been wanting to make this doll quilt for quite some time. The original is in the Collection of the Monmouth County Historical Association in Freehold, NJ. You can see it here on The Quilt Index. I want to hand quilt this one.
 
All these scraps keep "talking" to me so I thought I'd make a couple small quilts to practice my machine quilting.

I always liked this block and the full size quilt in the book Remember Me by Linda Otto Lipsett.

Here's another little one. The blocks are 4". I made a larger version of this quilt in 2004 and named it In My Element. See below.


 
Here's a detail.


I just finished this Quilt of Valor on Thursday. All are patriotic fabrics except the solid red and blue pin dot.




Another "Jersey girl" quilted it for me. I'm waiting to hear from the Quilt of Valor Foundation with details on where to send it.  

 

Lastly, it's almost time for my quilts to be taken down. Twelve have been on exhibit at Town Hall since April--thanks to the Arts Council of Livingston :)


__________
Copyright 2014, Barbara Schaffer