"i remember laura" blog-a-thon

Sandy at Quill Cottage is hosting an "I Remember Laura" blog-a-thon on Mondays through the month of June in memory of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the "Little House" series of books. Each week will focus on a particular theme: this week it is quilts; week two will be buttons; week three will be recipes, and week four will be books and music. There is also an art swap in connection with each week's theme; click on the picture above - or the one in the sidebar at right - for more information.

The chairs were chunks of big logs. The floor was the earth that Ma had swept clean with her willow-bough broom. On the floor, in the corners, the beds were neat under their patchwork quilts. -Little House on the Prairie, Chapter 9, "A Fire on the Hearth"

When I was a little girl, I slept under a pinwheel quilt that my paternal great-grandmother had made for my father when he was a little boy (shown above). I fondly remember pointing to the different patches at night while my father told me what they came from: "That was from my grandmother's apron; that was from a dress she wore to church in the summertime; that was from a pair of pajamas I had when I was five."


I didn't start quilting until I was an adult. I made a baby quilt for Pearce; I hve it on the table behind me. I made a nine-patch quilt for him because they're mentioned in the "Little House" books; the quilt shown here is one made by Mary Ingalls. It is on display at the Laura Ingalls Wilder / Rose Wilder Home & Museum in Mansfield, Missouri. Also on display is a crazy quilt made by Laura in the early 1900s.

When Ginny came along, I made her a baby quilt out of the leftover patches from Pearce's ninepatch, and I made doll quilts for her. Both Pearce and Ginny have quilted Christmas stockings. Ginny slept under a bedspread I crocheted for her; I was just tired of quilting, I guess, and moved on to something else. When she Ginny about two, I did make her the quilted jacket shown; it's of "the gingham dog and the calico cats." Click HERE to see a closeup of the dog and a cat. I made a quilted log cabin jacket for myself, and adapted the pattern to use for Ginny's. I had to dig it out of a box in the closet to photograph it; it's hard to believe she was ever that small!


I've blogged about this "double nine patch Irish chain" quilt before. It was made by Laura Ingalls Wilder and daughter Rose Wilder Lane; the quilt is on display at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove, Minnesota. When Ginny was in the 4th grade, I sewed all the nine-patches for a quilt for her, and pieced them together. She'll be a senior in college this year and I still haven't quilted it. It's an easy quilt to piece, though; I've put my own pattern HERE. They also sell a more detailed pattern in Walnut Grove. The whole quilt is made up of only two different nine-patch blocks; can you see the two blocks in the image below?



Although quilts are mentioned in all of the original "Little House" books (the ones published during Laura Ingalls Wilder's lifetime), it's interesting to note that the actual quilting is never mentioned, only the piecework.

If you're interested in LIW-inspired quilts, check out Johanna Wilson's Prairie Quilts: Projects for the home inspired by the life and times of Laura Ingalls Wilder. There are patterns in connection with each of the "Little House" books, and beautiful photographs throughout.
- posted by pioneergirl at 8:39 PM