Leibovitz, Alcott and I'm back to talking about quilts.

I love picture books!  Don't misunderstand this statement thinking I will just pick up a book, glance through the illustrations and put it down.  No, I love beautiful illustrations, photographs and I love a good story as well.

But when a beautiful book of photography combines history and a wonderful story line, it is more than a coffee table book.  Now imagine beautiful photographs by Annie Leibovitz captured in iconic historical homes with her narrative and you have Pilgrimage.


I loved the book immediately.  But there are two photographs that just captured my heart; a hanky embroidered by Louisa May Alcott with her initials and  a page of the journal by her father, Bronson, with the outlines of his and Louisa May's hands. 

A cord of familiarity was struck.  I ran to the files to pull out my own piece of Louisa May Alcott history.  I had acquired a grouping of signatures on cloth from an autograph auction in the 90's.

The photograph of the hanky with Louisa's initials.with a period signature square.  Notice the perforations around the edges of the block.  It once graced a quilt and the signature blocks were removed leaving a trace of their prior use.

 

Then, I had to go to my quilting files and pull out the notes and pieces of paper I had kept while working on the wall hanging which incorporated my daughter's hand print with the signature blocks.

 

This is the photograph in the book with Louisa's and Bronson's hand outlines.  The little green hand print is that of my youngest daughter in 1996 when I was working on assembling photo transfers of the signatures into a wall hanging.

One of the quilt blocks had the date 1880 and I added the date because I believe most of the signatures were acquired during this time period.  My daughter's hand was appliqued in the center of a large Union Star quilt block.  One of the signature blocks had the lines, "Lend a Hand" signed by Edward E. Hale, and it seemed appropriate for the name of the quilt.

Louisa's photo transferred signature block allowing the original block to remain safe.

The photo transferred signature blocks were placed around the outside of the Union Star in a border of  the pattern Square Within a Square.  I always felt there could have been a little more applique in the center, but then I rationalized that applique really wasn't in vogue during this time period - the fad of the Baltimore album blocks had passed.

I loved the inscription by Hale on his block.  It reads:

Look up and not down

Look forward and not back

Look out and not in

Lend a Hand

---

Edward E. Hale

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So back to Pilgrimage...  did I mention there is a section on Annie Oakley!!!  I feel like there is another quilt coming on!!!!

Not Forgotten

Sometimes there isn't an explanation as to why I have purchased particular quilts over the years.  Often,  the simplicity of the pattern or the colors call to me.  Back in the early 1990's even finding quilts or quilt tops that were reasonably priced was enough of a challenge, but then to like what you could find in your price range was another hurdle. 

This is a utility quilt that I purchased from a home in Marathon, New York in the 90's.   This bow tie variation has all the charm of a turn of the century quilt with the blue/white/red/black coloration.  The backing fabric is a coarse cloth and there is minimal quilting just outlining some of the piecing.  The batting is not well distributed and has shifted - probably due to the minimal quilting.

From the backing the minimal quilting in the grid pattern is visible.

It isn't a spectacular quilt. Why did I take it home?  It spent many years folded, protected and forgotten.  Certainly I had other quilts I felt were more worthy to display and use to decorate during the different seasons.

Several years ago, the quilt was pulled out and studied so I could somehow incorporate this early 20th century pattern into a quilt I was working on at the time.  Suddenly there was a need to use this quilt as inspiration - there was a purpose for it all along!

My husband wanted me to make him a baseball quilt and to incorporate signatures from Negro League players he had collected.  I had a pile of salesman samples of shirting fabrics and some 1930's prints.  I used a black mourning print for the border because it was the closest fabric that I could find that looked like a flannel.   The shirting fabrics were to give a masculine touch, the 30's fabrics to give a look of the era they played ball.  I hand quilted it in a ocean wave pattern; a utility pattern that would give the look of movement in the air.

I changed the bow tie portion enlarging the square inside the block.  I love the reproduction prints I found to go in the quilt.

Here are some of the woven shirting fabrics that found their way into the blocks.

I created baseball blocks to alternate with the bow tie blocks.  I photo transferred the signatures onto muslin.  I went to my machine and added the red feather stitching design.  I cut a circle for the ball and then machine sewed it from the wrong side of the fabric to give it the look of hand applique.  The seams were pressed towards the "ball" to give it a little dimension.

I used a black mourning reproduction print on the last border because it was the closest fabric I could find that gave the look of a flannel without actually using flannel.  The Negro League player's uniforms were made of flannel rather than the wool of the "professional" teams of the day.

My husband really loves the quilt.  He had spent several years collecting signatures from these athletes who were then in their "golden years."  They were grateful they were not forgotten and could retell their stories to a new generation.

Not forgotten; people aren't so different from quilts.