July 21 is the deadline for registrations for the exciting Quilt Weekend sponsored by Packwood House Museum.  Click here for a link to the Museum and more information about the exhibit and weekend, including registration information.  There is still space available in all of the classes.

The great news is that the Board of Directors has given us permission to open our two dinner/lecture programs to the public, without payment of the weekend registration fee.  So interested folks can hear Donna Ruppert on "Progressions in 19th-Century Pennsylvania Quiltmaking" on Friday, August 21, and Jeannette Lasansky, author of In the ...

I know there has been a long break in my posts.  My husband and I and our daughter and son-in-law all went to Tanzania and Rwanda on a 10-day National Geographic Expeditions trip, and it was wonderful.

I know there has been a long break in my posts.  My husband and I and our daughter and son-in-law all went to Tanzania and Rwanda on a 10-day National Geographic Expeditions trip, and it was wonderful.

The "Life" section of our local newspaper, The Sunbury Daily Item, carried stories and photos of our Irish Chain quilt and its 312 names on its front page today!  I've already had two phonecalls and an e-mail from people who know or believe they are connected to people whose names are on the quilt.  How about YOU?!

Mrs. E. Albright
Miss. L. Albright
Miss Annie Angstadt
E. L. Angstadt
Harry Angstadt
Miss Minnie Angstadt
Mrs. Nath Angstadt
Nathan Angstadt
Mrs. J. App
Mrs. Jno. App
Elizabeth Baker
Neil Baker
T. D. Baker
Mrs. T. D. Baker
Mrs. C. Barr ...

Well, I spent about five hours yesterday sewing sleeves and loops onto quilts in preparation for their hanging in the Kelly Gallery at the Packwood House Museum and in the historic house.  This is SUCH a neat exhibit.  I hope others will be able to appreciate the care and thought that our co-chair Sherry Walter and many others have put into it.

In a fun new note, this Sunday, (May 17, 2009), our local newspaper, the Sunbury Daily Item, will publish  some pictures of the Irish Chain quilt as well as the list of all 312 names that are on ...

Wow!  I've just received photos of some of the blocks that will be taught during our August Quilt Weekend, and they are SO cool! 

Donna Ruppert will be teaching a workshop on Saturday, August 22, 2009, entitled "Reproducing Quilts in the Pennsylvania German Style".  The workshop will offer several different blocks for participants to choose to work on, from very easy to challenging.  Participants will be given a kit with patterns for all blocks on display at the workshop. and should be able to complete a block during the workshop time, using their own fabrics or reproduction fabrics available ...

Our commenter, Jennifer, contributed the fact that Mahala Evans Kelly, whose name appears on the quilt and in a photo in an earlier post, was the grandmother of Edith (Kelly) Fetherston, who, with husband, John, created Packwood House.  Edith's mother's married name, Mrs. J. C. Kelly, is also on the quilt.

What brought all these people's names together on this quilt?  They represent different faiths, as nearly as I can tell (Himmelreich, for instance, is a name on the quilt and the name of the library building attached to the Presbyterian Church here in town; I have ...

Well, I must say there has not been a landslide of entries in my free raffle ticket contest!  Where are the Lewis Carroll fans out there?  The title of the last post came from the "Jabberwocky" poem--the one that begins with "Twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe..."  Oh yes, NOW you remember.  Yes, and more:  " All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe."

Anyway, please go to the Packwood House Museum site NOW to download full information about the Antique Quilt exhibit and the exciting Quilt Weekend in August.  Registration is ...

Program and registration information are now available for our big Quilt Weekend at the Packwood House Museum, August 21-23, 2009.  Go to the Packwood House Museum website and click on the "Events" item in the menu on the left side of the page.  There you can see the schedule and download detailed information on the weekend and get your registration form.  Most of the workshops have limited capacity, so make your plans NOW and get your registration in if you want to reserve your spot!

*a free quilt raffle ticket from me to the first person who e-mails me at ...

Another fun find with this quilt full of names.

First, it's helpful to know that I was an administrator at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA for 24 years.  My first job out of graduate school turned into a career, and I have great affection for the institution and some interest in its history.

The quilt has the names Prof. Edwards and Ida M. Edwards on it.  It seemed likely that there was a Bucknell connection here.  So I went to the Bucknell website and searched for Prof. Edwards, finding the following:  He was Thomas A. Edwards, and was Professor ...

This is SUCH fun news!

Packwood House Museum in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania will have a lovely old indigo and white Double Irish Chain (at least I think it's Double) quilt in its exhibit coming up June 9 to October 24, 2009 (The exhibit is "Pennsylvania Quilts:  Studies in Color; A Century of Antique Quilts from the Packwood House Museum Collection.).  In dozens and dozens of the white squares of the chains are written names--men's names and women's names.  Many of them very common family names from around here.  Me, I'm originally from Massachusetts, and Gutelius and Gundy ...

Just got a very nice e -mail from James Crawford at Quilterblogs.com, who is helping us get the word out about this blog and about the wonderful antique quilts of the Packwood House Museum. Thank you!   We look forward to seeing our exhibit, Pennsylvania Quilts:  Studies in Color; a Century of Antique Quilts From the Packwood House Museum Quilt Collection, that runs June 9 to October 24, 2009 and our special Quilt Weekend, August 23-23, 2009 in the "events" section on that great blog when the time comes.

I have spent the day today on the computer finalizing our ...

The photo below has been "enhanced" a little in Photoshop so as to be able to see the quilting design more clearly.  The color is actually a soft yellow, and this is the back of a quilt.  Was there religious symbolism in choosing this daisy-like motif?  Sunburst?  Flower?  What?

The quilt study group has looked at all the quilts expected to be placed in the June 9 to October 24 exhibit of Pennsylvania quilts at Packwood House Museum in Lewisburg, PA.  It's going to be a knockout show, with quilts that even a non-quilter like me can hardly get enough of. 

Kelly Gallery floor plan as we figure out which quilts go where...

I have so enjoyed looking at the fabrics, most very unlike those of today, but some as current as this coming summer's wardrobe.  I've enjoyed counting quilting stitches, helping to figure out how ...

We looked at more wonderful quilts this week.  As a non-quilter myself, I am fascinated by the choices made by the 19-century quilters.  Backs that bear no relation to tops, bindings that have clearly had an earlier life somewhere.  Imprecise construction sometimes.  Other times meticulous piecing and quilting.  Quilting patterns that don't quite work at a corner--Did she say "It's only for me or my family--it doesn't have to be perfect."?  Was it presumptuous to aspire to make the "perfect quilt"?  We have some darn near "perfect" quilts in the Packwood House collection, let me tell you ...

The exhibit that's opening June 9 at the Packwood House Museum in Lewisburg, PA will feature about 40 antique quilts from the Museum's recently "discovered" collection, all relating to the theme of "Color".  Just look at some of the photos to get an idea of what I mean!

We're hard at work learning all we can about the portion of the collection that we'll be showing both in the gallery and in the historic house, but we hope knowledgeable folks will attend the exhibit and tell us more about what we have.

Ann and Judy discuss ...

We have a small group of dedicated and knowledgeable folks who are examining the Packwood House Museum quilts that will be included in this summer's exhibit.  I serve as the "scribe" for the group.  What I know (knew, anyway) about quilts before I became co-chair of this exhibit, you could put in your eye.  I had made a couple of wall quilts for my house for a big wall that needed SOMETHING on it (in fact, the quilt that's there, as much as I like it, may need to be replaced soon), but I don't collect quilts ...