A little over a month ago Lois posted the most wonderful vintage textiles for children here. She has a wonderful collection of these pieces. Awhile back I posted some textiles, but not as a category, and I did show a photo of this. Returning to it, I hope to shed some light on this genre and give more detail of this particular piece. The one above is quite endearing as it is lovingly mended, and one knows it was a cherished piece.

The unusual fact about this length of fabric (it is 1 yd 14″ and 36″ wide) is that the top piece is folded under and hemmed and the bottom is not. It was never cut for any sewing use, but obviously used as a special piece in some way because it has various mended places and some stains as well.

It pictures so many of the wonderful nursery rhymes in vivid and beautiful representation, Little Red Riding Hood,

Jack and Jill,

Little Bo Peep,

Little Jack Horner,

Humpty Dumpty, and so many others.

Susan Mellers and Joost Elffers in their book Textile Designs describes these prints as “Juveniles”. They “weren’t seen much until the end of the nineteenth century and became an industry unto themselves only after World War I.” They describe the popularity of the English artist, Kate Greenaway, and the influence of her art and representation of children. Another observation that they shared was that when parents chose “their offspring’s clothes [sic], children were made to wear idealized pictures of children.” And now children manage to have more say in what they want to wear and are more inclined to “choose bright colors and cartoon characters.”

I have had some thoughts while I spend some time alone here in Mendocino. This morning I woke up very early thinking about an all-white (or maybe it was cream) fabric. It was the texture that drew me in, something soft and comforting. I announced to my cats that I was going back to sleep and awakened an hour later still wondering about the soft and muted tone of a fabric. I think we often have colors or images in our dreams that spell a feeling, a place where we are or would like to arrive. Two days before the dream, I created this weaving. But it had a little red in it. Somewhere it became a dream of pure white. I view this as a message, the color and the dream. I think it is all about clarity, a striving to find the sense of this.

The memory was not like snow, although it is a meaningful image and one that I like. It was actually a richer thought, warmer and slightly out-of-reach.

Maybe it had the slice of beauty that one captures when looking at a sunset. It would seem to imply a yearning, and yet I am not altogether sure how to define this. When I was little I would have “outer space” dreams that would terrify me. They were defined by quick movements, black and white images, and uncertainty. This white I speak of is different. It is soft and beckoning, but undefinable. I am guessing it is a blank page that has presented itself….waiting to be imprinted with an impression, a story, maybe a story expressed though cloth…..something clear and true and subjective. Have I simply been alone too long? No. I have been alone long enough to hear my voice.

Jeanette’s baby was due a week ago today on the 26th of July, so on Saturday Jeanette generously offered to take me to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. I have wanted to go there ever since it opened a number of years ago. I had been to the original site, what they term “The Getty Villa” in the early 70′s but not to this center. When I venture to Southern California I usually spend all my time with kids and grandkids and do not indulge myself with outside activities. So when she suggested we get away from our routine of waiting for her baby to arrive, I decided it was a great idea to venture out since Cedars-Sinai Medical Center was not that far from the Getty.

When we arrived it was overcast and cool, perfect weather for an outing, but by the time we left mid-afternoon, the sun was out and it was getting a little warm. The view up at the Getty was not completely clear, but most likely some smog was mixed in with the marine layer.

I knew the grounds, buildings, and art would be impressive, but I was not prepared for being overwhelmed by the architecture and the immense overall beauty of the place.

In one of the brochures, it describes the Getty Center “located on a dramatic hilltop in Los Angeles’ Santa Monica Mountains” and housing a “collection of western art from the Middle Ages to the present against a backdrop of spectacular architecture, tranquil gardens, and breathtaking views.” It was all of this and more, and I was captivated and surprised with the beauty and magic of the gardens as well.

These sculptural garden “trees” are actually umbrella-like shapes made out of rebar with bougainvillea growing in and around the shape. It is so magical and unique, I could not stop taking pictures from all sorts of angles and distances.

Jeanette was willing to pose under one of the beautiful arbors.

In the center of the garden is this incredible maze of trimmed boxwood.

And cascading down into this wonder of maze is the most beautiful waterfall. The sun was shining as we walked and admired the plants and flowers and the beauty, and we began to feel life was full and rich and really special.

This morning Jeanette had another doctor appointment and we were given some certain news that if she did not start labor today, then she is to be at the hospital at two in the morning (Tuesday), and she will be induced. So it looks like her July 26th baby boy will be an August 3rd baby. I will post a photo when he arrives. I have been a little preoccupied since I arrived here. I find it hard to concentrate on emails and post comments and blog comments, so please forgive me and know I will be on track very soon when I get back to Portland.

Waiting for a baby to arrive can be a unique time. I have been in Southern California for a week now with my youngest daughter waiting for the birth of her first baby. She continues to work at home and will periodically go into the office as well. We have had a special time going for long walks, talking about myriad subjects, working on a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, watching Gone With the Wind, sharing meals, and feeling all the various movements of her baby boy from the heartbeat to the hiccups.

At one point, she even designed a baby quilt on her computer that I will work on when I return home.

These are the curtains I made for the baby’s room before I arrived.

I also had finished the crib skirt and brought it with me, and since I have been here, I have worked to finish the crib bumper pads.

On Saturday, Jeanette and I went to the Long Beach International Quilt Festival to see Glennis’ booth of Shibori Girl. Her set-up was beautiful. She had wonderful gems for sale and had a special treat that I was especially eager to see. She had displayed a quilt by Jude of Spiritcloth. I was so excited to see this, as I had never seen anything in person by Jude, and it was everything I expected and more! I could have stood there forever looking at the stitches and the indigo colors and the various textures and beauty. Glennis also had a smaller square piece made by Jude with soft pastels and overlaid with gauze silks. It was worth the time to travel to meet Glennis and see her wonderful offerings and, in a way, “meet” Jude.

At the show there was a display of antique quilts, my first love always. This was an all-silk log cabin variation, and it was such a beautiful piece, the colors still vivid and true and the work and detail of it so accomplished and exacting.

This was called a “Flower Garden Star”, dated 1900, but with fabrics dating from 1830-1880, size 80″ x 94 1/4″. I am certain it was all paper-pieced because of the intricacy of the hexagon pieces. Amazing!

A quilt like this always needs a closer look. The work and hours it took to create this masterpiece always inspires and impresses me.

I have not been on my computer much the last week. It has been a little hard for me to focus, so please forgive my lack of visits to other blogs and comments. I am guessing when I get home, I will be back on track and more present here as well as active on other wonderful blogs that I follow.

“When my hands were little, and my mother was teaching me to sew, she placed her hands over mine. She put her middle finger, encased in a pitted silver thimble, at the end of the needle and pushed for me. This finger, with the thimble, is a little engine, she said. It makes the needle go.”

Ahab’s Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund, Page 70

“I thought of the miles and miles of thread that her thimble had pulled through the cloth. What song had the needle sung to the fibers of the fabric? When she quilted, the needle passed through three layers: the pieced top, the inner batting, and the sturdy muslin underlayer. If all the thread from all her quilts were measured, would it stretch a thousand miles? Had her needle trudged, as a man’s foot might trudge, over a journey of a thousand miles?”

Ahab’s Wife

“She sat still, I thought, and yet she traveled. And when one stitches, the mind travels, not the way men do, with ax and oxen through the wilderness, but surely our traveling counted too, as motion. And I thought of the patience of the stitches. Writing a book, I thought, which men often do, but women only rarely, has the posture of sewing. One hand leads, and the other hand helps. And books, like quilts, are made one word at a time, one stitch at a time.”

Ahab’s Wife

Filed under: Antique/Vintage Textiles, Art, Decorative, Fabric, Indomitable Women, Inspiration, Literature, Memories, Places, Quilts, Seasons, Slow Living ]]>