Reflections

Our most recent outing did not involve photographing quilts, but the photographs I took will generate some quilts, I’m sure.  Buildings, reflections off water, birds, and being in the woods bring inspiration.

This little shack made me wish I had brought along a quilt. Next time….

We drove to Juliette, GA, the home of the Whistle Stop Cafe.  The old structures there were quiet early in the morning, and posed for me to capture them without people in the way.

Fog was thick over the still waters of the lake, making for some nice reflections.  A fisherman unknowingly posed for me – the only way it would have been better is if he had been wearing overalls.

The stop in Juliette was to check out reports of swallows and warblers building nests.  We saw some activity, but conditions were not right for photographing them.  On we went to Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge – one of our favorite places to visit and photograph wildflowers.  

Every time we visit this place, I am captivated by the grasses.  They grow so tall here.  They are always different, but always remind me of combinations of embroidery stitches.

A butterfly loves these lilies, too.

We saw some exciting botanical specimens.  A clump of Atamasco lilies captivated me in the sunlight,

newly emerging ferns and their fiddleheads contrasted in bright green against the backdrop of a recent controlled burn at the refuge,

and the dogwoods throughout the woods were stunning!

When we got home, we discovered our own Atamasco lily in the back yard.  We moved it here with us years ago, but it had not bloomed until this year.  There’s more sun in that space in the past year since two big trees came down, so maybe that explains the surprise.

My companions for the day were photographing birds.  I got a couple of lucky shots of the bird they were stalking, but my purpose was to enjoy the glorious day.  That I did.

This little Louisisana Waterthrush was a happy little guy playing in the water.

Indian Springs

On a sunny day in February, we loaded up cameras and quilts and headed out on a ride-about.  

We drove to Indian Springs State Park, where Jim and I can both travel down memory lane way back to our childhoods.  Our personal histories are not quite as old as the park – established in 1927, it is the oldest state park in Georgia.

Jim and his Dad enjoyed the swings at Indian Springs around 1950.

My sister went to college near this park and my parents and I would visit and take her there for a picnic.  Jim and his family went there for visits, too. It’s possible that our mothers carried quilts to Indian Springs, too.  Their purpose would not be to photograph the quilts, but to sit on them on the ground.

On this day, we hung quilts in trees, draped them on benches and railings, hung them on gates.  I think the stone walls, lovely trees, and big rocks are a nice backdrop for textiles of all sizes.

The largest quilt we carried was Seventy and Still Wearing Jeans, a quilt I made for Jim’s birthday a couple of years ago.  We posed it on fences, stone walls, and on a really big old stump. Details about this quilt are here.

Smaller quilts, like Dots and Vines, were at home on smaller perches.

The quilts with those vibrant hand-dyed solid fabrics are most photogenic, I think.

The story of the wool schoolhouses and the small log cabin quilts will be detailed in upcoming blog posts.

First Date

Their first date was at a church gathering for an all-day-sing. 

They grew up in the same county, attended the same high school, but it was a long commute between their homes. Twelve miles represented a fortune in time and money – in the early 1930’s, times were tough.

So they wrote to each other.  And one heard about a sing that was going to be at High Hill Church, in a far corner of the county – some ten more miles from each of their homes.  But families took Sundays off and went to such gatherings.  They planned to meet up at the sing, and the courtship became official.

They married a couple of years after that sing and went on to live and prosper in that same county…the “til’ death” part lasted 52 years, all spent in Turner County.  Prosperity didn’t come quickly – there were hard times on the farm – but happiness and contentment flourished.  My sister and I benefited from two loving parents.

This art quilt I call First Date tells a story of their lives in Turner County and includes evidence of many memories.

I found a map of Turner County printed in the 1930’s in an antique store and transferred it to fabric.  The colors in it and in the photos of my parents from that era dictated the whole piece.  (And ya’ll know I lean toward browns….)

I made a legend for the map depicting the church where they had their first date with a heart shaped button.  Other beads and french knots show the location of their homes and church home.

I included do-dads from a milliner’s supplies (my mother was one of the last to give up the habit of wearing a hat to church), bits of tatting, lace, buttons.  

There are remnants of one of Daddy’s suits, a bit of lace from one of Mama’s dresses.

A fabric flower is made from barkcloth much like the living room drapes we had when I was a child.

I made this and mounted it on canvas several months ago.  I haven’t shared it before because I’m not quite happy with it on the canvas…I keep looking at it, wondering if it’s best that way.  I may add a frame or may remove it from the canvas and finish it more like a quilt.  But …here it is, as it is.

Update…since writing this post, I found a couple of relevant photos..

A photo of my parents shortly after their marriage in 1935.
A photo of High Hill Church made in the 1930’s shows how the church would have looked on the occasion of that first date. It also reveals how appropriate the name is.  In the flat terrain of Turner County (average elevation 407 feet), High Hill sits at a dizzying 420 feet above sea level.

Teacakes

I’ve been baking. Among the things I’ve explored lately are teacakes.

The word “teacake” transports me through time.  When I was a college freshman, living a new quasi-independent life, but homesick at times, I went to the campus post office to find a package waiting for me.  

When I think of teacakes, I am transported to a memory.  A college freshman, living a new quasi-independent life, but homesick at times, I went to the campus post office to find a package waiting for me.  

The package was from Aunt Nellie.   A shoebox full of tea cakes.  They were wrapped in waxed paper, layers and layers of tea cakes.  The box was heavy – full of love.

My suite-mates and friends on the hall in the dorm were as excited as I was.  A couple of us went across the street from campus and bought a jar of peanut butter.  Part of this memory is that we had to put on dresses – because girls were not allowed to wear slacks in town.  We could wear “pant suits” (not jeans!!!)  to class, but if we left campus, we were “representing the school” and had to dress appropriately.

Back to the tea cakes.  They were fabulous!  I ate Aunt Nellie’s teacakes all my life and loved them – but these were especially memorable.  Because that box was filled with love from home ( I now realize she must have been missing me terribly in those days) and shared with loving friends who impacted my life forever!

I don’t always put peanut butter on my teacakes, but sometimes I do. And that was a critical element when the box arrived from home…I had to share them with peanut butter!

I don’t have Aunt Nellie’s recipe – when she died, my mother asked if there was anything I especially wanted from her house.  I had a long list including her “receipt book”.  The book was a spiral bound calendar from some insurance company.  But she used it to write down her recipes.  When I got it, I immediately searched out the teacake recipe.  It said; sugar, flour, butter, egg, soda.  Nothing else.

That was all the information that she needed…a reminder of what ingredients to include. That was insufficient information for me.  

The recipe I used is one from the White Lily Baking Company’s website, with a few modifications of mine.  I omit the nutmeg and add 1 teaspoon of almond extract. (Update: Since writing this, I’ve made them using lemon extract instead of almond and they are the best yet! Lemon tea cakes don’t need peanut butter or nutella – they are great on their own.)

The photo at the top has teacakes on one of Aunt Nellie’s plates.

On Valentine’s Day, I made some teacakes that were heart shaped….and we upped our game adding Nutella instead of peanut butter.  Oh, yeah!

And speaking of hearts, I’m still making stuffed ones.  I’ve added a few more red ones to the big bowl. And, I baked heart-shaped buttermilk biscuits on Valentine’s Day.

Note:  My Aunt Nellie was such an important figure in my life that I’ve written about her again and again.  She’s one of the Spinster Sisters, and she’s featured in Miss Nellie’s Country Garden.  I mention her every time I talk about geraniums and often when cooking.  Typing “Nellie” in the search box will keep you busy reading for a few minutes, at least.

More Red

In the week leading to Valentine’s Day, there is red everywhere.  

A mockingbird is enjoying some holly berries in our yard.

And the nandinas are displaying lots of berries.  Yes, I know they are invasive, and they are bad for the birds, and we clear out some.  But my mother and Jim’s mother both loved their nandinas, so we don’t remove them all.  And the berries this year are big and red.

In my thoughts leading to a GBI Red project, I found these blocks that have a lot of red.  I like a focus block as a start, and sometimes an orphan block sparks an idea. The two blocks on the right are Maggie Bonanomi designs.

I have a couple of these Beligian linen tablecloths with red stripes.  I love red/white/tan as a color combination, so that leads me to see possibilities.

And, there is this.  Red and white is a tried and true combo.  And, in one of our forays through an antique mall, I found this linen tablecloth with embroidered red signatures.  I’d love to know the story behind it.  Was it used at an event like a wedding party, or a going-away party where guests signed the cloth? 

I presume Percival and Marian are husband and wife, but I don’t think they embroidered their names at the occasion.  Did they write their names on the cloth and then someone else did the stitching in red?  Some threads are heavier than others; some stitching is tight, some is loose.  So maybe more than one person did the embroidery – or one person might have varied her stitches to more accurately match the signature.

Interestingly, Jim has an ancestor named Margaret Hudson. We didn’t buy this in the area where his great-grandmother lived, but perhaps the antique dealer did…. Certainly that’s not a unique name, but to find this is quite interesting.

What will I do with this?  I’m not sure…but there’s a story there!

Even the Christmas amaryllis has decided to grace us with red once again…

Red Hearts

Everyone knows I love my blue fabrics, but this time of year, red always shows up in something. As Valentine’s Day approaches, red is on my mind.

I began making red hearts before Christmas this past year. This small bowl held the first grouping. As is the case with many explorations, I couldn’t stop until I played with more and more fabric combinations…so the little bowl grew, too.

No self-respecting lover of vintage linens can ignore the beauties that are red. The collection above includes tickings, vintage woven pieces, and a lovely cross-stitched tablecloth.

My shelves that hold commercial fabrics has plenty of red, too. I especially love the reds from French General. ( I used this collection almost exclusively in Miss Lily’s Baskets.)

Hearts are a favorite motif of mine, so there are hearts made of things other than fabric around the house, too. Above are a compressed wool one, an enameled bit of jewelry, a metal one, and a pottery heart.

In the photos above, you see the two sides of the collection of hearts. The usual “fronts” on the left, the “backsides” on the right.

Remember GBI Blues? This stack of delightful reds makes me think I need to work on a companion, GBI Reds. Uh-oh, we all see where this is going, don’t we?

I’ve written about hearts many times before. WordPress has changed some ways to label things, so I’ve added a category for “hearts”. If you click on that word in the category list on the right, you’ll see a listing of all posts about that topic. (I haven’t updated everything yet, but “hearts” and “red” are current.)

New Hebron

After my latest post on quilts posed at New Hebron Baptist Church in Pike County, I thought you might like to see more photos of this beauty from the past. On an earlier visit, Jim captured images of the vicar and the interior of this church while I enjoyed memories of my childhood that this place triggered.

We visited this idyllic spot for the first time as part of the Slow Exposures Photography  Exhibition in 2019.  The organizers included a display of some of the photographs from the volume Historic Churches of Georgia.

A church that should be in the second edition of the book “Historic Rural Churches of Georgia,”  New Hebron Baptist Church near Concord, Georgia is an idyllic and picturesque place and is what you might expect when you first open your eyes in the afterlife. Thanks to Vicar Dwain Penn for the tour of New Hebron and his hospitality.

A church that should be in the second edition of the book Historic Rural Churches of Georgia,  New Hebron Baptist Church near Concord, Georgia is an idyllic and picturesque place and is what you might expect when you first open your eyes in the afterlife. Thanks to Vicar Dwain Penn for the tour of New Hebron and his hospitality.

Jim’s words from his facebook post about New Hebron

In my journal writing of that day I noted that Vicar Penn doesn’t call himself a pastor since he “has no sheep.”  He explained that the church has had no members for several years, and is therefore no longer affiliated with any denomination.  

At the time of our visit, services were conducted once a month, on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m.  That allows people to attend their regular church and enjoy this spiritual place, too.

They sometimes host special events here, too.  Sacred Harp Singing Schools have been held in this church.  Oh, how I would love to hear those songs echoing off these unpainted timbers!

The church, built in 1908, was seen in the movies Cold Sassy Tree and Mama Flora’s Family, but most of the time, it’s maintaining its position in a bucolic scene on a quiet country road.

For more information, check out the entry on the Historic Rural Churches site https://www.hrcga.org/church/new-hebron-baptist/ .

And this article includes more of Vicar Penn’s story: http://www.thegospeler.org/ChurchBrochure.htm

Dots and Vines went along on this trip, too.  Here she poses on the back door of the church.  The story of this quilt is here: https://sandygilreath.com/dots-and-vines/

Indiana Homestead

We traveled to the past down an old country road and took along an old-fashioned new quilt.

I’m one of many quilters who has used all this time at home in the past year to finish some UFO’s.  An oldie but goodie that finally saw completion at my house is a quilt I call Indiana Homestead.  After spending a few years folded on a closet shelf, a few days of work in late fall 2020 brought this piece to completion.

Yesterday was not a glorious sunny day, but we were ready for a ride-about.  We threw the cameras and a few quilts in the car, and drove away from home for a while.

We found ourselves on the grounds of an old church building with fabulous trees.  The quilt posed in one tree, under another, and then hanging on the back door.

We had visited this church before when the vicar was there and got permission to come back with quilts.  It’s been a while; there’s been a plague, you know, but we did return.

Indiana Homestead is based on a traditional pattern.  What you see is my interpretation of a pattern Fig Tree Quilts designed based on a time-honored peony block.  A little research when I was making these blocks (12 or more years ago) led me to the title Indiana Homestead because Indiana’s state flower is the peony.

Non-quilters, and some really structured quilt makers, may question why an almost finished project might languish on the shelf for years.  In this case, I made the blocks and loved them, began the machine quilting process and still liked the quilt; but life interrupted.  

While this quilt was under construction, we moved houses. Our new home did not have a room with these colors, so finishing this was not a high priority.  Once I pulled the quilt off the shelf to work on it, I realized I wasn’t happy with the batting I had selected (some organic cotton that sheds everywhere – I had since found other battings I liked better), and I didn’t like my original plan for the border.  After considering several alternatives for the border quilting (over the years I would pull it out, think about options, put it back up), in late 2020 I solved the problem.  I cut the border off!  I liked that much better.  And to get rid of the shedding batting, I bound the quilt edges before I completed the quilting of the blocks.  Done!

The quilt now measures a lovely 60” square, a perfect size for a napping quilt. In the above photo, Jim worked his magic with color…perfect for this old setting!

Chortling

Thousands of Sandhill Cranes winter in a county near us.  It’s a thrill when they fly in groups over our house on the way to this temporary home – the sound of their call is unmistakable.  Varying terms are used to describe the sound:  bugling, trumpeting, rattling, croaking, but I like the word chortling.  These birds seem to be so happy that a muffled laugh fits.

We went to see some of these wonders yesterday.  The flock we saw numbered in the hundreds, but they were accompanied by thousands, yes, thousands, of blackbirds.  The vision of the groups in flight was enchanting!

The cranes look gawky in some cases.  When they fly about in small groups over short distances, they are funny with their wings and long legs all akimbo.  In serious flight, up high for long distance traveling, they are elegant.  They tuck their legs neatly behind them for streamlined flight and they fly in a v-formation.

And the blackbirds were so abundant that their flights about the field created a murmuration.  Well, I thought of it as a murmuration.  That term is by definition applied to starlings, not blackbirds.  But the image of the huge numbers of blackbirds twisting and swirling in some sort of shape shifting cloud was mesmerizing to me.

Jim’s Canon camera with 1.6 crop factor and 1.4 extender paired with a 500mm lens gave him the best view of the birds.

The skies were blue, the fields of brown and green stretched on for acres and acres.  It was a glorious day to be out in nature.  

This photo is a good representation of what we could see with the naked eye. Binoculars and cameras with long lenses gave us better views of the birds.

The Sandhill Cranes were more than 200 yards from our vantage point, but Jim’s camera setup could “reach” them. 

I did get some passable shots with my little Sony. In all cases, if you enlarge the image, you can appreciate more detail.

At another stop on this outing, I had fun photographing cows.  More on that later.

I didn’t think to take a quilt along for a photo shoot – our days at home have ruined my sense of preparation for a drive about.  But the day certainly provided inspiration for future quilts.  

By the way, these Sandhill Cranes are huge birds.  Here is a photo of some walking by me a few years ago near Melbourne, Florida.  They are comfortable with humans here and you can get an idea of their size relative to me.

A Christmas Garden

We have a new Christmas quilt in our house this year.

This large quilt was finished earlier this year, but I wanted to share it at Christmastime.  It hasn’t been on a photo shoot outdoors yet, but here are some shots and its stitching story.

The design is from a Barb Adams and Alma Allen book, Where the Cold Wind Blows.  The pattern Mistletoe and Holly looks quite different in their version, but the appliqué basket is their creation.

I had this fabulous toile-like fabric that looked a bit Christmasey to me, with lots of green and brown and red.  Wanting to leave big swatches of that intact in the background, I chose to do minimal piecing.  

I did like the pieced stars that Barb and Alma had included, so I pieced a few stars.  

One it was assembled, it needed a bit more color, so I inked my initials and their title Mistletoe and Holly in red.  

It needed a bit more red, so birds flew in and landed in some spaces.

I was teaching paper foundation piecing, so used that technique to add a spiky border.

I quilted it on my Juki with a combination of freemotion echoing and several filler designs.

I chose to give my version the title A Christmas Garden.  It measures 60” x 78”.