Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Aunt Jane of Kentucky "Mary Andrews' Dinner-Party" and Steps to the Altar Quilt Block


In the Quilters' Book Club this month, we're reading Aunt Jane of Kentucky by Eliza Calvert Hall, written in 1898.  If you have a Kindle or a Kindle app, you can get it from Amazon.com here.  If you want to read it directly from your computer, you can do so here, courtesy of Project Gutenberg.  It's a public domain book so is available free in either format. 

This book consists of nine short stories.  Each story is told by Aunt Jane in a humorous way that is full of wisdom.  The eighth story in the book is called "Mary Andrews' Dinner-Party" and is fifty-four pages long.  It's about not truly knowing what a person is like until after you marry them.  Sometimes the person is who you think they are, but sometimes they are not.  Mary Andrews' husband Harvey turns out to be very stingy and miserly to his wife and family but does a good job of hiding that fact from the neighbors (and from Mary before their marriage).

If you'd like to make the Steps to the Altar quilt block shown above to represent this story, I found the pattern in Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt by Laurie Aaron Herd.  Very similar patterns can be found free online here and here.

In December, the book selection for the Quilters' Book Club is The Christmas Quilt: an Elm Creek Novel by Jennifer Chiaverini.  It's realistic fiction set in Pennsylvania and perfect for this time of year!  Get it now from your library or local bookstore and join us in reading and discussing this book.

After reading about what was in Harvey's old cabin, I was reminded of the show on TV about hoarders!  When it comes to material possessions, are you more of a "saver" or more of a "tosser"?  Inquiring minds want to know!  Please reply in the comments sections below for a chance to win a copy of Jennifer Chiaverini's just-released book, An Elm Creek Quilts Companion, courtesy of Plume Books.  If you are reading this via email, you must click on the title of my blog post to be able to comment and read the comments of others. 


You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post here    

11 comments:

  1. I would say I am a "selective saver". If I see a future use, I save. If not, I toss. I save fabric scraps, cut them into the largest multiples of inches + a quarter-inch seam allowance, and put it in the proper tin for that size block. My husband saves food until it goes bad and I hate to look in the corners of the fridge! I have way too many issues of quilt magazines ... but long ago I tossed some of those large magazines McCalls used to make with knitting and crocheting and craft patterns, and have regretted ever since.

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  2. I tend to be more of a hoarder, though not as bad as many. It amazes me that making a whole quilt out of scraps does not reduce the amount in the box by any marked degree. I have just started a Loyal Union Sampler in blues and whites and it is not even making a dent. But the blocks look great

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  3. The older I get, the less I save. I used to save lots of things that I liked, craft things, kitchen things. Now I am more selective and tend to save only the sentimental.

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  4. I'm a saver, but not a hoarder. I would say I'm frugal. I love to used fabric scape in quilts.

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  5. I am definitely a saver.
    I have just started making scrap quilts but it doesn't seem to be making a hole in my fabrics. I will just have to make more quilts.
    I toss out a lot of other stuff though

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  6. The older I get, the more I'm inclined toward tossing (or more accurately: donating/passing along). I have too much stuff to enjoy, or even to manage comfortably. I try to keep weeding, keeping the things I truly love, but letting some of the other items move on and find new lives elsewhere. This is even true of fabric for quilts. I have enough fabric right now to last several lifetimes, so more and more of it is being made into comfort quilts or donated.

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  7. I think I agree with all. I'm better at tossing or giving away than I was earlier.
    Happy Thanksgiving.

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  8. I m a definitely a saver and not so much a tosser. I am in the same boat as Jeanne. I have too much stuff! So I do find good homes for what I part with. However when I do that, I often wished I hadn't because I could have used the item and hate to have to replace it!



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  9. I'm a saver as well. However, I choose what I save and it is quilting related. I'm tired of saving scraps. 30 years is enough.

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  10. Oh, we have a hard time getting rid of things. One of the things I have trouble getting rid of is scraps--I don't think there are enough scrap quilts in me to use all of them. LOL

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  11. I'm with Jeanne. I try to be more discerning about what I keep these days. You can only enjoy so much at a time and storing things gets to be a pain. Too, there are many folks who can use items that we are willing to part with.

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