1812 Quilt Progress

It's been awhile since we have posted about the FGS 1812 quilt but that doesn't mean we haven't been working on it. We want to publicly thank all the quilters who submitted blocks. As we speak, the quilt is being pieced. We hope to have some photos of the pieced quilt to show here soon. After the quilt is pieced it will be sent to a quilter for finishing.

For those quilters who participated, please send a photo of your block and your write up to Tami Glatz ASAP. Her email is tglatz@gmail.com. Tami will then create a book to go with the quilt.

1812 Preserve the Pensions Quilt Project is ON

Thank-you to our wonderful quilters! Your enthusiasm for this project has come shining through. We are very excited to go forward with our fund-raising quilt project in support of the FGS (Federation of Genealogical Societies) 1812 Preserve the Pensions.

The FGS 1812 Preserve the Pensions digitization project is a joint effort of FGS, the National Archives and Footnote.com. FGS is raising $3.7 million dollars to make these images available online for free. Genea-Quilters can help by contributing to the FGS fund-raising efforts. 

Squares and digital photos are DUE NO LATER THAN 30 October 2011.

HERE'S THE PLAN:

1. FABRIC: Your fabric choices are to come from any combination of fabrics in the FAT QUARTER CAROLINA QUILT FABRIC MEDLEY available through Keepsake Quilting,  illustrated and linked below. A few fat quarter kits would be available at the 2011 FGS Booth in Springfield from DearMYRTLE by pre-arrangement. Just send me an email request.

It is not necessary to purchase the entire medley kit. Individual fabrics are shown below.

Flower Vine - http://www.keepsakequilting.com/productdetail/2835A/medley/2835.htm

Tiny Paisley - http://www.keepsakequilting.com/productdetail/2835B/medley/2835.htm

Stripe Carolina Fabric - http://www.keepsakequilting.com/productdetail/2835C/medley/2835.htm

Berries Carolina Fabric - http://www.keepsakequilting.com/productdetail/2835D/medley/2835.htm

(This is also our sashing fabric)

Tossed Tiny Flower - http://www.keepsakequilting.com/productdetail/2835E/medley/2835.htm

Buds Carolina Fabric - http://www.keepsakequilting.com/productdetail/2835F/medley/2835.htm

Tossed Leaf Carolina Fabric - http://www.keepsakequilting.com/productdetail/2835G/medley/2835.htm

Tossed Tiny Bouquet - http://www.keepsakequilting.com/productdetail/2835H/medley/2835.htm

Stripe Carolina Fabric - http://www.keepsakequilting.com/productdetail/2835J/medley/2835.htm

Paisley Carolina Fabric - http://www.keepsakequilting.com/productdetail/2835K/medley/2835.htm

2. SIZE. Each square is to be 8 inches square (8-1/2" if you include the 1/4" seam allowance all around), no other dimensions will be accepted.

3. PATTERN. The pattern for a square may be of each quilter's choice, though we are looking for old-timey patterns that would have been used during the 1812-1900 time period when most War of 1812 servicemen and pensioners' wives and mothers would have been making quilts.

4. DISQUALIFICATIONS. Squares with glitter, sparkles or shiny finish, machine embroidery or any fabric not part of the above referenced collection will be disallowed, in order to maintain the old-timey feel of the quilt.

5. PHOTO OF QUILTER AND QUILT BLOCK. For a block to be added to the quilt, it must be submitted with a .jpg or .png photo of the quilter holding the square and a story about an ancestor who lived in America during the 1812-1900 time period. The ancestor need not have received an 1812 pension, but clearly all residents of the US, regardless of citizenship, benefited from the outcome of the war. Stories and photos in electronic format are required. Send digital images to tglatz@gmail.com 

6. TIMELINE.

• 30 Oct 2011 - Saturday - SQUARES DUE at the office of Gena Philibert Ortega . Contact her directly for her snail mail address. 
• November 2011 - Sashing completed.
• January 2012 - Quilt long-armed.
• January 2012 - Binding completed, book completed.
• Quilt On Display 2-4 February 2012 - RootsTech Conference, Salt Lake City - display quilt at FGS booth
• Quilt On Display 9-12 May 2012 - NGS 2012 Family History Conference, Cincinnati, Ohio - display quilt at FGS booth
• Quilt On Display 29 August - 1 Sept 2012 FGS Conference, Birmingham, Alabama - where quilt will be officially donated to the cause. 
BACKGROUND ON THE PENSION PRESERVATION PROJECT

The FGS 1812 Preserve the Pensions digitization project is a joint effort of FGS, the National Archives and Footnote.com. FGS is raising $3.7 million dollars to make these images available online for free. Genea-Quilters can help by contributing to the FGS fundraising efforts. 

This series consists of approximately 180,000 pension and bounty land warrant application files relating to claims based on service between 1812 and 1815. The files generally contain documentation submitted in support of a claim, such as the original application form, affidavits, and statements from witnesses.

The documents in this collection include full pension application files for soldiers and sailors who served in the War of 1812, as well as for their widows and children, or other heirs. The first applications were filed by servicemen who were disabled as a result of their service, or by widows who lost a husband in the war.

The descriptive pamphlet for the Index to War of 1812 Pension Application Files, M313, published by NARA, http://www.footnote.com/pdf/M313.pdf provides a great deal of background and explanatory information about the pension files and the acts that provided for them.

See also: http://fgs.org/1812  

Let's get quilting! This is going to be a FUN way to honor our ancestors and commemorate the War of 1812 and the role it played in defining these United States.

 

1812 Preserve the Pensions Quilt

How about a 1812 PRESERVE THE PENSIONS QUILT to raise donations for this FGS digitization project? Here's the deal...

The quilt would be displayed at RootsTech 2012, NGS 2012 and at FGS 2012 where it would be given away.
Most states now outlaw or severely limit the use of the term "raffle", so the quilt project wouldn't be called a raffle.
We would each choose from the same fabric collection available through Keepsake Quilting A few fat quarter kits would be available at the 2011 FGS Booth in Springfield.
FAT QUARTER CAROLINA QUILT FABRIC MEDLEY - Product Details
www.keepsakequilting.com

Each square is to be 8 inches square (8-1/2" if you include the 1/4" seam allowance), no other dimensions can be accepted. The pattern for a square may be of each quilter's choice, though we are looking for old-timey patterns that would have been used during the 1812-1900 time period when most War of 1812 servicemen and pensioners' wives and mothers would have been making quilts.

Please avoid fabrics, trim, threads with glitter, sparkles or shiny finish, in order to maintain the old-timey feel of the quilt.

For a block to be added to the quilt, it must be submitted with a .jpg or .png photo of the quilter holding the square and a story about an ancestor who lived in America during the 1812-1900 time period. The ancestor need not have received an 1812 pension, but clearly all residents of the US, regardless of citizenship, benefited from the outcome of the war. Stories and photos in electronic format are preferred, if possible.

The FGS 1812 Preserve the Pensions digitization project is a joint effort of FGS, the National Archives and Footnote.com. FGS is raising $3.7 million dollars to make these images available online for free. Genea-Quilters can help by contributing to the FGS fundraising efforts.
This series consists of approximately 180,000 pension and bounty land warrant application files relating to claims based on service between 1812 and 1815. The files generally contain documentation submitted in support of a claim, such as the original application form, affidavits, and statements from witnesses.

The documents in this collection include full pension application files for soldiers and sailors who served in the War of 1812, as well as for their widows and children, or other heirs. The first applications were filed by servicemen who were disabled as a result of their service, or by widows who lost a husband in the war.

The descriptive pamphlet for the Index to War of 1812 Pension Application Files, M313, published by NARA, provides a great deal of background and explanatory information about the pension files and the acts that provided for them.

We need to know your commitment now, though to decide if we can go through with this project, and will need finished blocks by about the end of October... firmer deadlines to be posted shortly.

A Visit to Springfield Illinois quilt shop during FGS 2011 Conf in Sept

Thanks to Paula Stuart-Warren who is attempting to locate good quilting shops in the Springfield, Illinois region so that we can have an informal Genea-Quilters Field Trip during the 2011 FGS Conference Sept 7-10. I have been holding back because my oldest daughter is expecting a baby, but her due date has now been changed from 7 Sept to August 30th. Good thing, since I am scheduled as a luncheon speaker during FGS. (but I digress!)

From Paula: 
So far this is what I have found:

http://www.sewunique.org/ 
http://peacenapplique.com/ (in Rochester, IL, 8 miles from Springfield) 

Maybe these folks could give you some suggestions:
http://quiltinggallery.com/quilt-guilds/listing/40/383/quilts/

And see the July 19th posts about the two shops I already sent you: http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-55172-1.htm.

OK, gang, have any of us visited the shops in question?

Just wondering what we might do to arrange a little visit, but would like your input.

2011 GeneaQuilters Jamboree Quilt Winner

The 2011 Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree marked the GeneaQuilters first quilt block challenge.  What a beautiful quilt! Thanks to everyone who helped make this challenge a reality. The finished quilt was machine quilted and included a label on the back.


During our Quilt Breakfast at Jamboree we drew the winning ticket for the quilt. The winner was Marina Espinoza who was very excited about her quilt.

2011 Jamboree Quilt is nearing completion

About this quilt...

Here is the Jamboree 2011 Quilt Challenge Quilt ready to be quilted! The money raised by this quilt at Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree will benefit the Jamboree Scholarship Fund.

 

Genea-Quilters took up the challenge and in less than six weeks came up with enough squares for this beautiful queen-sized quilt. It is amazing what quilters can do for a good cause!

 

 

A big thank-you goes out to April Layher for piecing the quilt which now goes to Jill Seebert Snider for quilting. Thanks to April for the beautiful job she did. Gena and Ol' Myrt contributed to the sashing, batting and backing fabric. Tami Glatz is creating the book with all the blocks and the quilter's pics that will be given to the lucky winner of this beautiful quilt.

Honoring one's ancestors is what genealogists do, and making these ancestral-inspired quilt squares is a natural for quilting genealogists. The stories behind each square speak to the strength and vision of our ancestors who carved out an existence for their families despite hardships. Many fought for freedom, and tragically, some lost their lives for a cause greater than themselves. From these brave men and women we have inherited resiliency and a yearning for peace.

Quilting is a ancient art. Many quilters have been women whose names would otherwise have been lost to the ages. As modern quilters gather our resources, determining patterns and color schemes, we harken back to an earlier age of creative men and women who put thread in their needles and created quilts to provide warmth against the winter storm, comfort the disheartened, cheer the newlywed couple and welcome the new baby into the family.

My own 2nd great-grand aunt speaks of the trials crossing the plains of Nebraska in 1859 with these words:

"There were nights when the memory of merry England came back and contrasted desperately with the awful lonesomeness of the barren unbroken plains; the terrible despair of the howling wolves; and the terror of the snakes skurring [scurrying] around us as we shifted our feet into the baked sand dunes. I was often so weary and footsore when I lay down on a quilt thrown upon the ground that I could not sleep. The food was so poor that it left a nightmare memories of the bacon and flour masquerading in ghostly forms over the sandy mirage." (1)

Though times may be rough, the comfort of hearth and home is channeled by the quilts we sew. We salute those whose colorful designs and tiny stitches have been handed down through the generations.

May those who benefit from the 2011 Southern California Jamboree Quilt Challenge Scholarship Fund hone their research skills and break through those genealogical brick walls.

May you who inherit this quilt feel the love of family and home expressed by each quilter's stitch.

 

 

 

 

DearMYRTLE, your friend in genealogy.

Co-Founder, Genea-Quilters

(1) Ellen (Wasden) Christensen's personal recollections; photocopy of typescript at the Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. Transcript online: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rhutch/famhistory/twasden/ellen_wasden.html

Jamboree 2011 Quilt Challenge Blocks

We are getting closer to Jamboree and the unveiling of the 2011 Challenge Quilt. I've had the honor of receiving these blocks and am now getting ready to send them off to be pieced together and prepared for quilting. 

I thought I would post some photos here of some of the blocks so you could see the beautiful blocks that will make up our raffle quilt.

Leah Day's free-motion quilting tutorials

Wiggly Woven Lines is one of many Free Motion Quilting videos offered by Leah Day on YouTube. I am SERIOUSLY considering ding the  365 Days of Free Motion Quilting Filler Designs Project. Even if I take time off to attend genealogy conferences and the week-long studies at Samford this year, I'd certainly know a lot more about free motion quilting when I got done.

Although Leah has a website, the Free Motion Quilting Project was so big, she devoted an entire blog on the topic.  http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com. There's advice about maintaining consistent lines and improving your sewing machine setup.


This girl is rockin'

Fons and Porter: free pattern book with e-newsletter sign-up

Here's the offer I spotted on Facebook:Sign up for the Fons & Porter quilting newsletter and get Block Buster for FREE!

To sign up for the FonsandPorter.com newsletter and product announcements
PLUS! the FREE Block Buster booklet, just enter your email address
and press the "Subscribe" button at http://www.fonsandporter.com/newsletter/fp_news_optin.html
That's it!

Here's what they said about their booklet:

"This information-packed booklet is full of SUPER block ideas you can stitch up in no time! The quilting experts at Keepsake Quilting with Marianne Fons and Liz Porter share with you some of their favorite ideas for quick-cut quilt blocks and a Revolutionary new technique for cutting triangles! Color photos of each block provide inspiration, cutting instructions for three block sizes let you be your own designer, and piecing diagrams guide you through block assembly. You'll get 34 different blocks in 3 sizes —
THAT'S OVER 100 PATTERNS! The best part? This booklet is FREE when you sign up for our newsletter!"

So I checked out the offer. They simply want your email addres. No credit card. And in exchange, you immediately receive access to a darling 16-page booklet with patterns in 6, 9 and 12 inches. Then the newsletter will arive periodifically. (Those I have yet to evaluate.)  But hey, a free booklet of patterns is certainly worth a try, especially when it is from our friends at Fons and Porter. There are some great color selections and a few rotary cutting ideas.

Jo Arnspiger's Confederate – Mississippi Flag pattern

GREAT! Another block for the  Genea-Quilters 2011 Block Challenge, this one from Jo Arnspiger. Harking back to her Confederate ancestry with this beautifully executed Mississippi Flag pattern (a blue background with white star) Jo writes:

My father’s family were almost all from Mississippi and Alabama. I choose the dark blue background and white star block pattern which represents the first flag flown by Mississippi in 1861 when they seceded from the United States. This flag was never officially adopted but was raised over the capital building and inspired the song “The Bonnie Blue Flag”.  See: Free Union and Confederate Quilt Patterns, ( by Judy Anne Breneman.

My great great grandfather Henry Stephen Archer Sr. served in the 32nd Mississippi Regiment from Mar 1861 through 1864. Sometime in 1864 he was reassigned as Chaplain for the 41st Mississippi Regiment. Copies of some of his military papers indicate President Davis was instrumental in approving his reassignment to the 41st Regiment as Chaplain. 

I have recently discovered the existence of the personal diary of Henry S. Archer for the years of his service in the Confederate Army. A microfilmed copy of the diary has been ordered through  Interlibrary Loan. Can’t wait to get my hands on that.
 
John Samuel Smith, a brother of my great great grandmother, Elizabeth Hurt Smith, also served in the 32nd Mississippi Infantry and died in battle 15 May 1864 in  Georgia. My great great grandfather, Joshua Atwood Tilton, enlisted in Co. D, 8th Regiment Alabama Infantry 10 May 1861. He was discharged 23 Oct 1862, having suffered a severe gunshot wound to the arm, leaving him with little or no use of the arm. He was a railroad engineer before the war and apparently continued that occupation after his discharge.

THANK-YOU Jo, for sharing your quilting talents, and for the stories about the service of two second great-grandfathers, and your second great-grand uncle. How very special to find the diary of one of these soldiers. Perhaps you can transcribe it for a series of blog postings? Just thinking...  ;)

So, DearGenea-Quilters, remember the  Genea-Quilters 2011 Block Challenge runs through 15 April 2011. We're going to raffle the resulting quilt at the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree on Saturday, 11 June 2011 at the Marriott Burbank Conference Center. Proceeds will be donated to the Society's scholarship fund for the 2012 Jamboree.

Free Motion Quilting Suggestions from Cracy Mom Quilts

A few weeks ago, I discovered the Crazy Mom Quilts blog. Her color work continues to inspire me.

But useful to perhaps many of you will be Crazy Mom's ideas for Free Motion Quilting. I've tried this, and have several practice squares, which in and of themselves would make a kewl quilt.

AmandaJean's post includes a video, and lots of practical advice.


Have you done any free motion quilting? Just curious how you overcome that "bending" needle issue.

National Quilting Day, Saturday 19 March 2011

It took a non-quilter genealogist to bring "National Quilting Day" to this gal's attention. Thanks to our friend Thomas MacEntee who keeps tabs on all sorts of things including Geneabloggers and GeneaPress. Somehow, he manages to find out about doings over at the website for The National Quilting Association, Inc. as well. KUDOS!

My good excuse is that I've been busy working my quilt blocks up for the Genea-Quilters 2011 Block Challenge to benefit the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree scholarship fund.

The National Quilting Association's website encourages us to "Build Your Own Log Cabin for National Quilting Day 2011" Download the free pattern here, and check out other free patterns while you are visiting the site.

JUST what I needed was a national holiday to celebrate quilting! Now I am sure Mr. Myrt won't mind my observing this special day by diligently quilting away, while he take his woodworking class.

April Layher's Pride of Ohio Block

WOW! April Layher is the second Genea-Quilter to submit her entry for the Genea-Quilters 2011 Block Challenge to benefit the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree scholarship fund. April has also graciously volunteered to piece all our blocks together and prepare the quilt for tying during Jamboree 2011 in June.

Here's what April has to say about her "Pride of Ohio" block:

"I chose this quilt block because it represents generations of my family. Although I am not the historian that my sister is, I do know that our family helped to settle Ohio and has been in Northeastern Ohio for many generations. My favorite place in the world was my Grandfather’s dairy farm in West Farmington, Ohio.  

My Aunt Polly and Uncle Elton Bland owned a grocery and dry goods store with plank flooring and hitching posts in West Farmington. They were the dearest people in the world to me. Many cousins still live there, their homes sandwiched in between Amish houses. I fondly remember waking up in the upstairs bedroom of the farmhouse to the clattering of hooves and buggies driving past.

The little cemetery in town, Hillside Cemetery, features the names and dates of my ancestors, going back over 200 years, and some of the stones are so worn now, that only a rubbing will clearly discern the names. Osmer, Hosmer, Curtis, Hatch, Christy – so many familiar names in one graveyard that make me feel a part of this little town in Ohio, even though I have never lived there."

 Here are some of April (and Tami's) Ohio ancestor photos:

 My grandfather Addison Osmer as a young man.

 My Dad at 17 in his town baseball  uniform.

My Mom, Marcelle Burge Osmer and her little brother Bruce Burge.

"For all these reasons, I chose the Pride of Ohio block because my family, though simple, working people, formed the backbone of Ohio and, indeed, of our country. I am grateful and proud to have such ancestry."

2011 NGS Charleston Genea-Quilters Field Trip

How would you like to visit a shop Better Homes & Gardens magazine Quilt Sampler listed as one of the top ten quilt shops in North America for the year 2000?

We're planning a Genea-Quilter's fiend trip to People, Places and Quilts, just a few blocks from Charleston, South Carolina's French Quarter the day before the 2011 National Genealogical Society Family History Conference. The shop has no evening hours during NGS, (Mon-Sat 10am to 5pm), so keep that in mind. Here's the scoop about our field trip:

• The NGS 2011 Family History Conference will be held at the North Charleston Convention Center in Charleston, SC, Wednesday through Saturday, 11–14 May 2011.
• Meet at the Convention Center on Tuesday at 1:30 pm. You may have already checked in at registration, which runs on Tuesday, 10 May 2011 from 12:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m. For your convenience, here is the link to the other NGS pre-conference events. We know you have a lot of choices, and quilting is just one of them. I'll be driving Gordon's maroon Ford Van where there is room for 6 additional people, plus NGS registration packets and quilting treasures.
• We'll drive downtown to the shop and have a blast.
• After the shop closes at 5pm, we'll return to the Convention Center for NGS check-in that concludes at 7pm.
• For those of you who will be sightseeing but wish to meet us downtown, the People, Places and Quilts shop is located in downtown Charleston in an old, neighborhood grocery store at 1 Henrietta St. Take I-26 exit at Meeting St./Visitor info exit… drive along Meeting St. several blocks, turn left onto Henrietta St. (after Charlotte, before Calhoun). The shop is at the end of the block with a small parking lot is next to shop. The address is 1 Henrietta Street, Charleston, SC 29403. (843) 937-9333 Click here for online map

When you RSVP, I'll send you my cell phone number to facilitate communications in Charleston.

Another Casserole Kimono

So I went exploring today, and discovered the photo of Linda Woodward Geiger's Kimono Casserole Cozy on one of her blogs. Yesterday, we saw Linda's fine quiltmanship with the posting of her 2011 Quilt Block Challenge for SoCal's Jamboree. With today's spotlight, we get an expanded sense of her eye for color.


If you'd like to make one of these darlings its the Casserole Kimono pattern from www.MakingALegacy.com.

You know, when Linda and I made our casserole kimonos, we never could have imagined how our friends in Japan would be experiencing such devastation with the earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster during the bitter cold and snowy days of March. How I wish we could stitch up some really warm kimonos to let them know we care.

Quilts have warmed and comforted families for centuries. So have heartfelt prayers.

Jamboree Quilt: Linda Woodward Geiger sends these gems

Today is a GREAT day! Linda Woodward Geiger just sent these pics of her quilt blocks. The story behind them is very precious. Linda writes:

I’ve sent off three quit blocks to Gena Ortega. Now that I’m looking at your Genea-Quilters 2011 Block Challenge instructions, I regret that I do not have a photo of me with the blocks.

I’m attaching images (low resolution, but have high resolution copies if you need them) of the three blocks inspired by my maternal grandmother Alice (Brown) Perkins whom we called Nana Perkins, and my father’s sister, Virginia (Woodward) Smith. 

I grew up in rural New Hampshire where I never knew anyone to produce a quilt that was not made from scraps left over from clothing. The backing was generally a sheet and instead of batting, the innards were generally two sheets that had been patched and/or very worn. It wasn’t until I left rural New Hampshire that I learned there were delightful block patterns and that some folks actually purchased fabric just for quilt making and that cotton (and later polyester) batting was available for loft and warmth. Nana Perkins started me off quilting, but we never used a particular pattern or “block design.”

We did pre-determine the size of the squares and the width of piecing strips and the number of square we’d need for a particular project. Our blocks were built from non-descript strips and sometimes with embroidered elements (generally inspired by Aunt Virginia who did lots of hand embroidery and crewel work).  The squares I’ve submitted reflect the teachings of the two special women in my life, Nana Perkins and Aunt Virginia.

The first full size quilt I made for my son was a combination of embroidered and appliquéd squares of our favorite things. As I had been taught the back was a sheet and the interior layer was a couple of worn sheet.

So a GREAT BIG THANKS goes out to Linda for contributing these squares for the quilt to to be tied at the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree. One lucky person will receive the quilt which will be raffled off at the June 2011 Jamboree. Funds collected will be used for scholarships to future Jamborees.