Memory Room by Don Blanding

This poem, Memory Room by Don Blanding, was published in 1935, in the same-titled book of poetry. It is related to the poem Crazy Quilt, also by Blanding. Click on the image and it will pop up as a larger image.

Crazy Quilt by Don Blanding

I found this poem earlier this year, called Crazy Quilt. It is by Don Blanding from his book Memory Room published in 1935. I will post the poem Memory Room seperately - not quilt related, by it is a wonderful read and goes well with the Crazy Quilt poem.

The Crazy Quilt Poem

Here is the poem, The Crazy Quilt, published in the October 25, 1890 issue of Good Housekeeping magazine, on page 310. It is written to the tune of the Star Spangled Banner. It is quite a hoot. Enjoy.

The Crazy Quilt

Oh, say, can you see by the dawn's early light,
What you failed to perceive at the twilight's last gleaming;
A crazy concern that through the long night
O'er the bed where you slept was so saucily streaming;
The silk patches so fair,
Round, three-cornered and square
Gives proof that the lunatic bed-quilt is there.
Oh, the crazy-quilt mania triumphantly raves,
And maid, wife, and widow are bound as its slaves.

On that quilt dimly seen as you rouse from your sleep
Your long-missing necktie in silence reposes,
And the filoselle insects that over it creep,
A piece of your vest half-conceals, half discloses;
There is Kensington-stitch
In designs that are rich,
Snow-flake, arrasene, point russe and all sich.
Oh, the crazy-quilt mania, how long will it rave?
And how long will fair woman be held its slave?

And where is the wife who so vauntingly swore
That nothing on earth her affections could smother?
She crept from your side at the chiming of four
And is down in the parlor at work on another.
Your breakfasts are spoiled,
And your dinners half-boiled,
And your efforts to get a square supper are foiled
By the crazy-quilt mania that fiendishly raves,
And to which all the women are absolute slaves.

And thus it has been since the panic began,
In many loved homes it has wrought desolation,
And cursed is the power by many a man,
That has brought him so close to the verge of starvation,
But make it she must,
She will do it or bust,
Beg, swap, and buy pieces or get them on trust,
Oh, the crazy-quilt mania, may it soon cease to rave
In the land of the free and the home of the brave.

-Unidentified

Redwork Ornament

Greetings from the snowy NE! I have had some time to doodle - several school snow days home with the kids. I hope you enjoy it. Have a safe and healthy holiday and a wonderful new year!

...as always, for personal use only...

Ephemera Dedicated to Ornamental Embroidery Stitches 1884-85

Ephemera Dedicated to Ornamental Embroidery Stitches 1884-85

By the early 1880’s Art Needlework and Fancy Work companies issued catalogs selling all sorts of designs for embroidery and fancy work – Mrs. Farnham, Patten Publishing Co., J.F. Ingalls, T.E. Parker and Chas. E. Bentley’s.

Many of these companies specializing in perforated stamping patterns began selling packages of waste fabrics of satin, silks and plushes, along with flosses to ladies enamored by the craze. Some of the kits had pre-stamped designs for working in out-line or Kensington-stitch embroidery. Sometimes they even included pre-embroidered floral sprays on satin. Flowers, birds, spider webs, Kate Greenaway figures, oriental fans and owls were some of the most popular motifs.

Right around our country’s centennial, ladies magazines published numerous articles on the latest needlework fad – Japanese or Crazy Patchwork.

By 1884, several of these companies published booklets dedicated to stitch designs and layout patterns for blocks: J.F. Ingalls, T.E. Parker and Chas. E, Bentley’s to name a few. Some merchandizing companies took advantage of the craze and published stitch booklets as advertisements for their stores: R.L. Spencer and Strawbridge & Clothier.

In the image are several of the booklets and a trade card, all date to 1884-85. These probably represent some of the first publications dedicated to ornamental embroidery stitches.

Image description

Clockwise starting from the upper right:
Crazy Patchwork, published by Strawbridge & Clothier (cover and transfer design); Patchwork Stitches, published by the R.L. Spencer Co.; Ornamentals Stitches by T.E. Parker (cover and two sample pages); Fancy Designs for Ornamenting Oriental Work by Mrs. M. Haehnlen; Instructions for Patchwork by J.F. Ingalls; and the front and back of a Singer Sewing Machine trade card. [Note the images are not to scale.]

It is interesting to note that the T.E. Parker, J.F. Ingalls and the R.F. Spencer booklets share several of the same engravings. The Ingalls and Parker catalogs for perforated stamping patterns are also very similar, just as the Farnham and Bentley’s catalogs are much the same.

Also, the images in the Strawbridge and Clothier are also used by Weldon’s in their Guides to Practical Needlework. I suspect that the Bentley’s booklet, Crazy Stitches for Patchwork Quilts is similar to the Strawbridge one as it is described as have six 10-inch blocks with instructions. The Strawbridge booklet has six blocks also. [This is just a guess, since I do not have the Bentley booklet or an image of it.]

Ephemera Descriptions

A book of Fancy Designs for Ornamenting Oriental Work (1884)
Designed and Published by Mrs. M. Haehnlen, Chicago, Ill.
Price 25 cents
24 pages (plus covers)

Crazy Patchwork (1884)
Published by Strawbridge & Clothier, Philadelphia
Price 25 cents
10 pages (plus covers)

Ornamental Stitches for Embroidery (1885)
Presented by T.E. Parker, Lynn, Mass.
Price 10 cents
14 pages (plus covers – tan in color)
Dimensions: Approx. 4.25 x 4.5-inches

Instructions for Patchwork (1884)
J.F. Ingalls, Lynn, Mass.
Price 15 cents
32 pages (plus covers – grey in color)
Dimensions: 4 x 6-inches

Patchwork Stitches and Ladies’ Fancy Work Guide (undated)
Published by The R.L. Spencer Co., Hartford, Conn.
Price 15 cents
16 pages (plus covers)
Dimensions 1: 4.25 x 6.25-inches (orange-brown cover, light green pages)
Dimensions 2: 5.5 x 8-inches (tan cover, light green pages)

100 Crazy Patchwork Stitches (1884)
Singer Manufacturing Co. Trade Card
Dimensions: Approx 7 x 4.5-inches

Crazy Quilt Library Listing

Hello, its been a while since I posted - busy with kids and family life. Then to top it all off, I got pneumonia. I'm just getting over that thank goodness. I've given a few lectures on Crazy Patchwork Quilting this summer - using my library of more recent publications and my 19th century ephemera (more on that in a later post). Here is a compilation of my library - plus one I would love to add to my collection - Crazy Quilt Work Book by David K. Small (1997).

Louise's Listing of Crazy Quilt and Embroidery Books:

Dorothy Bond : Crazy Quilt Stitches (Spiral-bound - 1981) [Stitches]

Cindy Brick :
Crazy Quilts: History-Techniques-Embroidery Motifs (HC - 2008) [History]
Hanky-Panky Crazy Quilts (PB - 2002)

Linda Causee :
An Encyclopedia of Crazy Quilt Stitches and Motifs (4178) (PB - 1997)
Learn to Make a Crazy Quilt (4185) (PB - 1998)

Mary Conroy : The Complete Book of Crazy Patchwork (HC - 1985)

Jane Davis : Bead Embroidery, The Complete Guide (Spiral-bound - 2005)

Patricia Eaton : The Big Book of Crazy Quilt Stitches (Pamphlet - 1999)

Cindy Gorder : Beaded Crazy Quilting (PB - 2005)

Joan Gordon : Silk Ribbon Embroidery Bible (Spiral-bound - 2005)

Penny McMorris : Crazy Quilts (HC - 1984) [History]

J. Marsha Michler :
Crazy Quilt Decor (PB)
Crazy Quilted Heirlooms and Gifts (PB - 2001)
Crazy Quilting - The Complete Guide (Spiral-bound - 2008)
Crazy Quilts by Machine (PB - 2000)
Motifs for Crazy Quilting (PB)
The Magic of Crazy Quilting (PB - 2003)

Judith Baker Montano :
Crazy Quilt Odyssey (PB - 1991)
Elegant Stitches: An Illustrated Stitch Guide (Spiral-bound - 1995)
The Art of Silk Ribbon Embroidery (PB - 1993)
The Crazy Quilt Handbook (PB - 1986)
The Crazy Quilt Handbook, Revised 2nd Edition (PB - 2001)

Di an Niekerk : Ribbon Embroidery and Stumpwork (2005)

Barbara Randle :
Barbara Randle's Crazy Quilting With Attitude (PB)
Barbara Randles More Crazy Quilting With Attitude (PB - 2005)
Crazy Quilting (PB - 2003)

Carole K. Samples : Treasury of Crazyquilt Stitches: A Comprehensive Guide to Traditional Hand Embroidery Inspired by Antique Crazyquilts (Paperback - 1999) [Stitches]

David K. Small : Crazy Quilt Work Book (1997) – OOP

Rita Weiss : Ribbon Embroidery for Crazy Quilts (PB - 2002)

Other Books :
Japanese Quilts by Jill Liddell & Yuko Watanabe [Japanese patchwork coat made in 1560]

Victorian Embroidery by Barbara Morris [historical perspective, all types of needlework]

Ladies Art Company Trade for Bentley’s

Just recently, fellow ephemera collector and I did a trade. Connie Chunn, most respected expert on all things Ladies Art Company (LAC) related, had coveted a LAC company coupon I had in my collection for many years. We met via the Quilt History List and Ebay – we both shared similar tastes in collecting all things pertaining to the LAC. A few years ago, I shared with her a CD of images of the many LAC catalogs I had in my collection, plus the colored card patterns sold by the company – and the coupon.

Connie wanted to trade the LAC coupon for an original 'Bentley's Catalogue, Part One. Five Thousand Stamping Patterns." Copyrighted, 1886, by C. E. Bentley, 12 W. 14th Street, New York, (208 pages).

This past winter, I finally agreed to the trade. I know my coupon went to a good home, and I got a much sought catalog of embroidery patterns! The pages were very similar to the Mrs. T.G. Farnham’s Home Beautiful catalog offered by the Michigan Museum.

I decided to do a little comparing of the Bentley and Farnham catalogs and noted that the page numbering were in the same style, but the layouts for the pages were different. For example, on page 96 of Farnham’s catalog, the same image of children doing a tug-of-war is on page 82 of the Bentley’s catalog. The item id numbers are different, but both are priced at 50 cents.

It is interesting to note, that Bentley’s and Farnham’s were business neighbors - 10 West 14th Street (Farnham) and 12 West 14th Street (Bentley’s) in New York City. Looks like they shared patterns with each other – and possibly publishers too.