How-to-Quilt.com

May 2005 Newsletter

 Greetings and Happy Spring!

A portion of the May 2005 Newsletter:

"Watch Quilting on Your Computer" - Check in with www.quiltingchannel.com, featuring 24 hours every day of quiting tips, hosted programs, and much more.
"A Tidbit of Quilting History” – Origins of Quilting?
"Tips, Tools and Tricks" – Ironing made somewhat easier – not necessarily more fun
"What's in a Name?" – Learn about a traditional quilt block that has many different names
"Recipe for Quilters" – Seafood Mousse from Arkansas

A Tidbit of Quilting History - Origins of Quilting?

Some of us believe that quilting began in New England as an outgrowth of a limited, affordable supply of fabric coming from Europe. Others credit the Amish and Mennonites. According to Rachel Pellman and Joanne Ranck in their book “Quilts among the Plain People,” quilting is an ancient art, dating back to Egypt, China and India. These cultures discovered the insulation value of layering three fabrics together, and created clothing using this technique. The Crusaders carried examples of this craft literally on their backs – as quilted clothing under their armour – and introduced quilting to England.

Lest we get carried away and deny the Americans their due, the combination of patchwork and quilting did merge in early America. While exquisite quilts were made in Europe, the hardships of the New World and the scarcity of fabric caused the women to become resourceful, thus patchwork quilts were created from whatever scraps of clothing, bed sheets, drapes, flour sacks, or any other thing that resembled fabric.

Tips, Tools and Tricks - Ironing Tricks

Hat pins, corsage pins, or any other length straight pins, can be “stored” sticking into your ironing board. These can be used to pin your fabric to the ironing board to hold it straight. Trust me, sometimes ironing can change the shape of your square, triangle or block – never to be the same shape again. (Yup, it’s happened, and it’s very frustrating!)

Also, a fabric-covered (possibly flannel) piece of wood (thin plywood) on top of your ironing board makes an excellent surface to iron on – it makes the ironing board a rectangle instead of a weird shape. I have seen these tops sold at quilt shows as well. They include a frame to set the piece of wood securely on top of the ironing board (so it won’t slide off).

What's in a Name? - Early in the 1900s, as more women became interested in quilting and wanted to expand the variety of blocks they used in their quilts, they would write to magazines and newspapers for ideas. Publications would list the requests in one issue then publish the answers in the next issue. The blocks would be published with instructions and a picture. Often the blocks were renamed to sound more current or to given credit to a city or state.

This month’s featured block has only 5 different names recorded. What is interesting to me is that 4 of the names were given to it by the same source, Nancy Cabot. She has referred to this block as: Arkansas Star, Butterfly Block, Sea Star, and Star of the Sea. In addition, the Ladies Art Company referred to this block as Little Rock Block.

http://www.how-to-quilt.com/patterns/blocks.shtml.

Thanks to Maggie Malone's book 5,500 Quilt Block Designs for this information.

Recipe for Quilters - Seafood from Arkansas

While the name of the recipe certainly is not “Arkansas Star,” it combines the thought of Arkansas with Sea Star and Star of the Sea. This seafood recipe is from The Victorian Sampler Tea Room in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

Seafood Mousse

1 package unflavored gelatin
¼ cup cold water
1 (10 ounce) can tomato soup (undiluted)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
½ cup finely chopped celery
½ cup finely chopped green onions
½ cup finely chopped green pepper
1 cup shrimp, crab or lobster
1 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
dash of Tobasco

Dissolve gelatin in cold water. Place soup in saucepan. Cook over medium heat. Cut cream cheese into cubes and add to soup. Stir until well blended. Add gelatin and stir thoroughly. Remove from heat and combine remaining ingredients. Pour into a well oiled 6 cup mold. Cover and refrigerate at least 12 hours. To un-mold, dip the mold into hot water for several seconds (not too long or you will melt too much of the Mousse and end up with a runny mess!). Serve on lettuce leaf-lined platter surrounded by crackers.

If you have a recipe to share, email us at: info@How-to-Quilt.com. We will be happy to publish the recipe in an upcoming newsletter.

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©How-to-Quilt.com 2005