Quest For Freedom, 51″ x 57″, required some creativity in photography because I wanted to show you my kitchen cupboards, built in the 30’s with a very low countertop due to the short stature of the lady living here at the time.
The quilt is a beloved 9 patch in a diagonal medallion layout. Note the reverse “negative” blocks – which are difficult to see without viewing the quilt as a whole – you’ll have to look on page 52. The border has 4 patch blocks on the diagonal as the final round of the quilt making this quilt a nice twist on the common 9 patch block.
The wooden ladder was used for years in our booth at shows and now it holds quilts on the rungs and is rested on the railing in the loft. Yes, this is a big house and I love it!
I raised my camera to that beam above that displays all the white ironstone pitchers so you could make the connection to Day 9. This is that pass-through room to the piano room that used to be the dining room. As I took the picture the French doors to the piano room were right behind me.
And if you look carefully in the first photo you will see this small display of glass salt and pepper shakers and butter pats above the counter top. Look for the red flower to find the location. Why do I like these little things so much? Someone asked me about dusting all this stuff – it is never all dusted at the same time but over the course of a year, I suppose, everything gets dusted at least once.
And this is Bella who was here last weekend and who went home yesterday. This morning Biscuit and Sassy arrived and Bentley is coming on Friday. As Becky commented, “Never a dull moment!”
P.S. Jane Dumler – my organ has a very interesting past story and the owners documented the trip to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1977 when it was leased for $1.00 for a month. It is an Epworth Organ by the Williams Organ Co.
What great photos this morning. What a perfect spot for your smaller quilts on the wall. I have many but have not hung them. The ladder I have needs to be about a dozen more rungs, or many additional ladders. Bella is adorable!
I love lots of little things too, and find the dusting, or lack thereof, to be daunting…would rather sew than dust, but the idea of dust annoys me…too much Type A personality, I guess. I love your home, and guess what, in photos – NO DUST, it looks clean as a whistle!
My solution to too much housework needing attending to? Don’t invite people over! Ha, works for me! Meet for lunch instead!
And, I can always blame it on the cat!
I love your house. What a beautiful kitchen. Now you have time to enjoy your home and your flock.
HI Mary– I love your home. It seemed a while ago you mentioned it was a small house when you bought it. How much did you add onto it? It’s great. I discovered that dust comes all the time so dusting once in a while is a–ok.
It’s going to be nice here in Central Ohio–about 66 degrees!
So love seeing all your pictures you share n your collections, your home is beautiful, keep sharing…love it…do you have any idea how many quilts over the years????
Me, I live in a California tract house quite near a freeway. Imagine how much I drool and appreciate your wonderful dwelling place. I grew up on a farm, so your stories strike a chord. Gramma made quilts continuously had a garden, chickens, pigs, and a cow or two. Fruit trees in the spring were the perfume of heaven to me. So see what you kindly share is a grace . I hope to make a couple quilts when your new book arrives. Especially yesterday’s medallion quilt. I’m glad they are smaller. My hands cannot do so much anymore. Sorry this is so long, but I’m trying to just express some appreciation for your gift of sharing. Thank you, and go on forever!!
Oh! How I would love to sit in a swivel chair in the middle of every room in your home & just look & look & look! It looks so beautiful & country!
& the new Civil War book… I have gone for 3 or 4 years without buying a pattern or a book but I DO plan on buying this one!! Today’s quilt really touches my heart
Morning Mary,
Quest For Freedom will be well perused on page 52 when my book arrives. Sounds interesting with the border “twist” you mentioned.
I’m thinking the round cut glass piece on the tray with the flat twist top may be a hat pin holder….we’ve read what weapons those long hat pins were at times! Am so enjoying the home tour pictures you are sharing, seeing all your treasures and meeting your “guests”. My orange tree’s blooms are starting to open now…the fragrance is fantastic.
My book should arrive Friday, and I can’t wait to get started. Sending pictures has been a delight and seeing your beautiful house makes me homesick. Thanks!
Linda
I love to look at all the pictures of your collections! I too collect and try to make the rounds of dusting but get distracted by new Civil War quilting books! š
I love old tape measures and pin cushions. Also Shawnee pottery and quilts. And what ever catches my eye!
Thanks for sharing your lovely home.
It has been such fun seeing your lovely home!!!! THANKS!!!
I can see why you love those salt & pepper sets….looks like cut glass from the good ol’ days!!
Your home is so cozy, with interesting quilts in every nook and cranny.
I think I was the one who mentioned dusting…. In my house dust is a protective covering for furniture. Sewing lasts so much longer than dusting so dusting is way past the bottom on my list of things to do. Dusting is such an effort of futility!
Thank you, again, for the wonderful tour of your home and all the quilts. I love to look at each picture and all the little stuff. Never would have guessed that your house was so big, but we haven’t been there since you built the room. Space is such a wonderful thing. My quilt store here in Rapid City has ordered the book and Page 52 will be at the top of my list.
I love your home and thank you for sharing. As far as dusting goes, I am allergic to it, well sort of. We have lots of depression glass, some of it I will run thru the dishwasher, NOT the glass with color, just the plain glass. I also use lot of cans of air–it does the job quick and easy–once a year regardless if it is needed or not. Love the quilts!
I notice that your quilts are directly on the wooden ladder rungs…I was always told not to let them touch the wood, is that true? I put a foam pipe insulator form on my ladder rungs and hang the quilts on top of that…it keeps a nice rounded shape on the quilts and no harsh creases and also protects them from the wood. Bonus…you never see the foam cause the quilt is on top of it.
I received the book a couple of days ago, and I think this may be the first quilt in it that I will make. I love the book, and I have enjoyed seeing your home as you show the quilts.
Thanks for the update on your organ. We love ours and play Christmas carols on it every year.
Love the 9-patch quilt you are showing today.
love all the quilts, and the kitchen cabinets are beautiful, we had the low bottom cabinets to, my mom still does, our house was built in 1901, I think they are low because most of the women were shorter in the past then they are now? of course I am only 5 feet tall myself, I have replaced mine though, our top one’s were glass doors.
Love the quilts and love your house! Mine is full of the same kind of things you collect..sucker for China and pretty glassware. I love to use it, as well as just look at it. It eventually gets dusted, washed or polished! I do love my silver to be shiny!
Wish my dogs could stay with you! They would adore it!
Civil War Rememberd arrived in my local quilt shop today (In the Niche). I am spending the evening picking fabric from my stash to make the cover quilt. Your directions are always so nice and easy to follow.
Your quilts are all beautiful. I can’t decide which I would make first. I can’t remember the last time I wanted a quilt book as bad as yours. Your posts just plain bring joy to my life. I thank you.
LIKE!!
The quilts are beautiful and your boarding doggies are all adorable!!
I also enjoyed seeing your organ. I have one made by Sears and it says on the back “re-bellowed at St. Cloud (Minnesota) prison 1969”. We traded a small Ford tractor for the organ with the high school librarian. He was moving to an acreage up north in MN and “needed” a small tractor. So we traded. He also bought every piece of Waterford crystal that came out. Oh yes, he was a bachelor. He would drive to Sioux Falls, SD or to Mpls to get the Waterford.
Love the pictures of your treasurers and the beautiful quilts.
I LOVE your house and the way it is decorated. My husband & I are remodeling a Federal style house built in 1840 & I am getting some ideas from your pictures.
I love all the pictures from your house tour but I think the kitchen is my favorite room so far. Your short counter story made me chuckle; my dad rebuilt our kitchen counters so that my 6 foot tall mom wouldn’t have to stoop over. It kept me from having dishwashing chores for quite a while. LOL The book arrived in the mail today and curling up with it and a nice cup of hot tea made my rainy afternoon a sunny one. I really appreciate the use of colors in the quilts. I’m trying to learn just what makes it so right as opposed to just OK. I’m tired of OK. When so much work goes into each quilt, you want to smile when you look at it and (at least mentally) pat yourself on the back for the choices that were made. I know it’s always going to look better when it’s quilted, but …
I am fascinated by your house and had always stopped at the shop in route to my brother in Iowa. It was always a “work in progress” and the finished product is beautiful. Will we be able to tour the house during your sale as I plan to come from northern MN. I am our church organist and have played the old pedal organ in my past. Thank you for keeping your blog open to us quilters, musicians and animal lovers….waiting anxiously for your book!
I love your lower counter tops! When I roll out pastry, I have to stand on a small step stool so I can get it rolled out thin enough. Your kitchen is beautiful – my favorite room. Bella looks like a sweetie pie. I would be tempted to keep her.
Love your home, your docor and all the collections. We decorate with antiques and many collections and many people ask us how we keep everything dusted. I always reply that dusting becomes a fun project because you get to touch all your collectibles, at least once a year. š
Need a boarder?