Quilting History - Needles
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The Coliseum from afar |
Jim and I had a fabulous time. The weather couldn't have been better - not too hot, no rain at all.
The ship was fun, and there was a 23 year old piano player who was a joy to listen to every evening.
Walking through various buildings and looking at the tile floors made me realize where many of our traditional quilt block patterns came from.
Pictures weren't allowed in the churches who housed those wonderful works of art, but I may spend some time looking around to see if there are some professional pictures of the floors to share.
One of the highlights of the trip was a special tour of the Sistine Chapel. The Pope was vacationing out of town and on that Sunday afternoon, our cruise line had made arrangements to take a few groups through the Vatican Museums (which are normally closed) and the Sistine Chapel. So much history - so little time.
As difficult as it was to leave the ship and our vacation, it's great to be back in my little berg of La Mesa.
Not much has changed here in the past few weeks. But I do have some exciting news.
We were invited to host a booth at the San Diego Quilt Show this week. Quilting daughter, Stephanie, and I will be in booth #37 - right by the Guest Artist area. If you are in the area, stop by and visit.
The show runs from September 16-18, and is at the San Diego Convention Center - check out the details below.
This is a great show, and we'll have all of our How-to-Quilt.com products and even some special goodies.
Happy Quilting!
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thanks to m. mouse for holding up the fort while we were on vacation - taking a well-earned nap! |
Quick, Easy and Beautiful
These quilts are so easy to sew together, you can have one
finished before you know it.
Last month's brand new book was from Spain with love by Roberta Cardew. It seemed like the perfect book, since I was headed off to Spain.
And looking at the cover, I was excited to see some bright colors, beautiful pictures from Spain, and to learn that the book also had some fun recipes that you could appease your family with while you created your beautiful masterpiece quilt.
Once I returned from my vacation and had an opportunity to look at the book more closely, I was truly excited about the possibilities of quilts made using the techniques in this book.
The thing is that many of the quilts are made using strips and simple squares of fabric. You know the ones - jelly rolls, honey buns, and fat quarters.
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| Honey buns and a Jelly Roll for a strip-pieced quilt |
Of course, you could cut strips and patches from yards of fabric. But with our Fat Quarter Quilt and brand new Jelly Roll Quilt DVDs, my immediate thought was "why cut all of those strips when you could use jelly rolls or honey buns?"
Friday I made a quick run to my local quilt shop - Rosie's Calico Cupboard - and picked up a jelly roll and a couple of honey buns. Not the bright colors shown in the book, but an interesting combination nonetheless.
Between the quilt show and visiting with quilting daughter, Stephanie, I will be whipping up a quilt top using some of the techniques shown in the book.
Because of copyright laws, I won't be using any of the quilt patterns in the book. However, you may find that a demonstration of other strip piecing techniques in a video format will give you the creative inspiration you need for your quilt.
Until next Wednesday, September 22, you can invest in the DVD along with this beautiful book which will show you all about how to choose the colors of fabric for your quilt.
Between the book and the DVD, your quilts will be easy to make - from start to finish. Choose the perfect fabrics with confidence, and sew your quilt top together in a breeze.
Your family and friends will be amazed and you can easily create several for holiday gifts - which are right around the corner.
Don't get stuck on the colors, either. Whether you like bright colors or those that are more soft, you will have the information you need right at your fingertips.
But, the deadline is next week - September 22, midnight Pacific Time.
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Learn how to choose beautiful, vibrant colors for your quilts. |
A History of the Needle
And since we're talking history, here's a little bit about the "lowly" needle, which is critical to our craft - yet not usually given much thought.
It has been said that the invention of the wheel was the milestone that changed the future of mankind. But, consider this. The man who invented the wheel was wearing animal skins that had been sewn together with a needle.
Being able to sew skins together to craft clothing for warmth and protection enabled Stone Age men to remain in northern areas of the globe, thus breaking away from their nomadic existence.
The needle has always been a simple tool. Whether it is made of bone or metal, the concept remains the same – a pointed instrument that pulls a thread through some type of material. The key elements being a sharp enough point to poke through the material (be it fabric, leather or something else) and a hole or hook to carry the thread.
During the Bronze Age, needles were developed that were made from metal instead of the primitive bone or horn. Early in that era, the most common metals for needles were gold and bronze, thus limited access to this fine tool to the wealthier individuals in town.
Later, when iron was developed, needle making expanded to include the new metal, and farmer’s wives could afford metal needles.
Records indicate that the Spanish became proficient at making excellent sewing needles, and guarded their secrets well, slowing down the spread of manufacturing to other parts of the world. Eventually, though, the English developed a process that continues to be the high bar for modern needles.
The process and the number of steps required to make a needle – even today – is amazing.
Beginning with a coil of wire, the first step was to cut the wire into 3 inch lengths and then straighten the curve. Although this seems simple enough, it required that the wire be heated, pressed and then cooled.
Once cooled, the wire was turned over to a grinder who made points at both ends of the wire. Because this step required a water wheel, early needle makers lived in villages near streams or rivers where they could harness the water for energy to run their water wheels.
As you can imagine, the work of a needle grinder was fairly deadly. Standing over a grindstone breathing particles of jagged steel from the needle and stone dust, these men refused to take any safety precautions since they believed it limited the number of newcomers to the trade. That it did, but it also limited their life expectancy.
Once the points were ground on the ends of the wire, it was taken to the stamping shop where two eyes and two gutters were stamped in the middle, and the eye was punched out.
Using fine wires between the new eyes of the needles, they were separated, the burrs were ground off the ends, and the needles were ready for tempering and finishing.
Tempering was done by heating the needles on trays, then dunking them in oil, making them brittle. Additional slow heating while being turned by hand with hatchet-like tools caused the metal needles to turn colors from pale red to blue and then to a straw color.
When the tempering was right, the heat was removed and the needles were ready for the more finishing.
Needles were felt (yes, by hand) to find small warps. If there were any, the needle was tapped with a small hammer on a tiny anvil to straighten it out. Then the needles were rolled in a heavy canvas with soap, oil and emery for 8 hours each day for 8 days until they were smooth and shiny.
Then they were dumped into a copper pan filled with soapsuds to be cleaned. Finally, they were rinsed and then dried in a bin of sawdust.
The challenge at that point was to remove the needles from the sawdust, line them up so they were even and then clump them together so they could be sized. Once sorted into various sizes, they were weighed to determine how many were in each bundle, called a “company.”
But the process was still not yet complete!
In the final steps, the heads were heated to give them a blue tint and to soften them in order to countersink the eyes. Countersinking was to ensure smoothness so the needle would not shred the thread.
Once the countersinking was complete, skilled grinders once again polished the heads and points of the needles until the desired quality was achieved. Finally, the needles were packaged and sold.
Although completely automated, modern needles are still made from coiled wire, the pieces cut into the length of two needles, and points are ground on both ends of the piece. Two eye shapes are then stamped in the center of the piece, the holes are punched out and the needles are separated.
Modern needles are tempered and frequently electroplated with nickel. Often the eye portion is gilded, creating a kind of gold look.
A student of needle making estimated that the wire goes through some 70 processes before it is proclaimed to be a needle ready for a seamstress!
It’s amazing what it takes to create a short, straight, pointy thing with a hole in one end.
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| Needle and thread | Ivory needles and needle holder |
Quilt Show in New York
And speaking of history, quilter Diana Heeman sent me a message about a quilt show at The Major's Inn in Gilbertsville, New York.
The show takes place the first weekend in October. The hours are:
Friday, October 1 10am - 5pm
Saturday, October 2 10am - 5pm
Sunday, October 3 11am - 5pm
The Theme is "Picture Perfect," and features quilter Marilyn Belford whose specialty is pictorial art quilts. The quilts are displayed throughout the 52 room inn, which is listed on the Natonal Register of Historic Places.
Other award winning quilters will be displaying their works, as well as beginning quilters. And there are always antique quilts, some with documented histories.
This is a non-juried show, as the group feels anyone who would like to show their quilt can. There is no charge for entering, but a $5 donation is encouraged. All proceeds go toward restoring the Inn.
They expect more than 100 quilts, and will serve a lunch consisting of homemade soup, sandwiches, salads, homebaked desserts and a beverage. Lunch for all three days is $6 - quite a deal for some yummy treats.
For more information, call CeCe at 607-783-2067 or email Diana at albud@citilink.net
Postcard Quilts for the Troops
Halloween Roundup Next - Deadline September 29!
Wow! We sent more than 1,900 fabric postcards to the Middle East for the 4th of July!
Thanks to everyone who participated in this worthy event. I know it will mean a lot to the soldiers who receive those greetings of thanks on the 4th of July.
This year, we've decided not to do the Birthday Roundup, and focus our efforts on Halloween and the end of the year holidays.
So the next Roundup is Halloween -
Halloween, like the 4th of July, in Iraq or Afghanistan is just another day unless it becomes something different by virtue of quilters' intervention!
Now you can send postcards for our Halloween Roundup. This is just a fun time of the year - with Trick or Treat fabric, memories of Halloween costumes and marching around the neighborhood begging for candy.
You can bring those memories back for the soldiers stationed abroad by sending them tiny quilts - fabric postcards decorated for Halloween.
We want to keep Diane doing the Penny's Postcard Posse project, but she is terribly allergic to smoke. So, if you can be sure that your fabric postcards are smoke-free, it will be much appreciated!
Check out the postcard patterns on www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com I will continue to add designs, and patterns for the fabric postcards are always free.
To make the Halloween deadline, get your cards to Diane by September 29
Please send your cards to:
Diane Malaznik
14215 Westmore St.
Livonia, MI 48154-4149
Diane is doing a fabulous job keeping the pictures updated, and if you have sent cards in, let your friends and family know that they can see pictures of them here: www.Fabric-Postcards.com
Remember you can get FREE postcard patterns at: www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com
Looking for an Intern
If you know anyone at San Diego State University, let please let them know I have a great opportunity for a student to learn "the business."
I am looking for someone to help keep the flow of high quality quilting information coming to you. This person doesn't need to be a quilter (of course it would be nice if they were) or know much about an internet business.
I am mostly looking for someone who is a self-starter and interested in helping get my email communications flowing, web pages uploaded, product information organized, and even come up with fun things to provide you with.
The posting is on the SDSU School of Business site: Aztec Business Alliance Look for How-to-Quilt.com
Last week, the Sugar Bowl quilt block pattern was left out of the packet - whoops! It's there now - so if you missed it, just click to download again.
These free September FREE quilt block patternswill make your summer quilting fun. These quilt blocks include easy blocks as well as some that are a little more difficult.
Click here to download your September FREE quilt block patterns
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Autumn Leaf |
Bats in the Belfry |
Colorado Block |
Doe and Darts |
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| Fields and Fences | Four Clowns | Four Knaves | Missouri River Valley |
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| Modern Flame | Sugar Bowl |
Click here to download your September FREE quilt block patterns
Hundreds of quilt block patterns to choose from. Patterns include full size templates and rotary cutting layouts. Click Here
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