Tonight when I was speaking to my mother, she asked me why I didn’t post about my Grandfather–today would have been his birthday. I replied that it was because Grandpa wasn’t a quilter. My mother reminded me that although her father did not quilt, in the 30’s he did sell the most important tool a quilter would need–the sewing machine.

And so tonight, my post is dedicated to my grandfather–who sold Singer sewing machines to so many lucky quilters and sewers in southern Saskatchewan in the late 30’s.
My Grandfather was born October 12, 1911 on the family farm just outside Carlyle, Saskatchewan. My grandparents were married July 27, 1938. I have been blessed with copies of biographies written by both my grandparents and refer to the following excerpt from my Grandmother’s biography:

At Christmas time, 1937, Clifford and I became engaged. In June 1938, I resigned my teaching position and were were married on July 27, 1938. Maizie very kindly let us have our wedding at her place, so I hired a neighbour girl to help Maizie for a week. I was busy making and decorating our wedding cake and making my “going-away” suit. A dear friend, Mrs. Charlie McRae had a shower for me at her place. I received many lovely things. A “sealer shower” was put on for Clifford at Mountain Valley. Each gift was in a sealer. Aunt Margaret and Uncle Charles gave us a two quart sealer of apricots that we didn’t open until our 45th wedding anniversary. It still tasted alright. Wish the donors were still living so we could tell them.(Note: I was there when those apricots were opened and believe me they were not great–they were syrupy sweet–not anything like the canning we do today!)

We spent our first night in a hotel in Oxbow, and the next day at the River Park. Then we went home to get ready to go to Keeler, Sask, where West Marquis was waiting for us. I well remember the trip there. It was a very hot day, and the grasshoppers were so thick and flying in the air that we couldn’t have the windows open.

We stayed at West Marquis for 2 1/2 years. We liked the little teacherage, and also the people in the district. Some of the pupils would rather play ball than do school work. We moved into Moose Jaw after Christmas hoping Clifford would get work. He had been a Singer Sewing Machine Agent. When he didn’t get a job, we went to Slim Birkett’s and worked for our board. In April we went to Carlyle and bought Grandma Clark’s house in town from the Clark brothers. We paid $700 for it which was a reasonable price for a house at that time in its run-down condition. Clifford got a job in Mr. McDonnell’s garage for $30 per month seven days a week.

My grandfather’s biography reads:

“While we were there (West Marquis school in Keller, Sask.) I did get some work in the summer months. It so happened we bought a new singer sewing machine. This same machine our granddaughter Norma still has. After buying this machine I was able to get to be a salesman for Singer Sewing Machine Co. in our district which was from Moose Jaw to Riverhurst. While I had this job I was away from home a day or two so then one of the older school girls would stay with Roberta at night. “

I love these written accounts of the lives of my grandparents written in their own words which give me a glimpse of what it must have been like to live in the 30s and 40s in Saskatchewan.

As my Grandfather said, I still have that Singer Sewing machine so treasured by my Grandmother. My Grandfather regularly oiled and serviced that machine for my Grandmother and then for me after I took over ownership. I remember getting the oil for my Grandfather when he would visit so he could “take a look at that machine”.

This machine still “sings” to this day when it sews.
See my post on July 30 for more details about my Singer: http://silverthimblequilting.blogspot.com/2006/07/singer.html

This is a picture of my Grandfather taken on his 80th birthday. The children are his great grandchildren – my daughter, my son, and sitting on my Grandfather’s lap, my cousin’s daughter.

My Grandfather was a man who loved visiting with people, and a man who never uttered a harsh word against anyone. I am sure these qualities made him a great salesman for Singer and that he sold many women their first treasured sewing machine.

My Grandfather and I shared many interests including a love of horses. When we had our horses in Aldergrove, and he was still able to travel, my Grandfather loved to come out to BC and stay with us on the farm. I have many, many fond memories of my Grandfather and I and tonight I am reminded of another interest that my Grandfather and I shared–an interest in the sewing machine–one special Singer sewing machine in particular. I smile as I think of what my Grandfather would have thought of my newest “sewing machine”–my long arm–if he were alive today to see it!

I have spend some wonderful time tonight reliving fond memories of the past thanks to my mother’s reminder of my Grandfather’s connection to my quilting!

Our guild usually sponsors a summer challenge. The challenge this year was to pick a paint chip from a paper bag (so that you couldn’t see which one you were getting) to determine the colour scheme of your project. We picked the paint chips at the June meeting. We had all summer to finish our challenge.

Using the pinwheel variations block shown below and the paint colour chip you selected you had to make a quilt or wall hanging no larger than 18″ square.

You could make just one block or as many as you wanted as long as the quilt was no larger than 18″ square. You were to use at least one of the colours from the paint chip and you could introduce other colours but the paint chip colour had to be the predominant one.

This is my completed challenge quilt. I made my project into a pillow.

We were to bring our finished challenge quilt to the September meeting for show and tell. These are some of the quilts displayed at our September 20th guild meeting. It was very interesting to see how everyone interpreted the challenge. This is one talented group of ladies!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is Thanksgiving weekend in Canada. We celebrated with a wonderful turkey dinner at my parent’s house yesterday. Although Saturday is not technically Thanksgiving Day, we celebrate during the weekend on the day that best fits everyone’s schedule.

In Canada Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October. Unlike the American tradition of remembering Pilgrims and settling in the New World, Canadians give thanks for a successful harvest. The harvest season falls earlier in Canada compared to the United States due to the simple fact that Canada is further north.

The history of Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to an English explorer, Martin Frobisher, who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Orient. He did not succeed but he did establish a settlement in Northern America. In the year 1578, he held a formal ceremony, in what is now called Newfoundland, to give thanks for surviving the long journey. This is considered the first Canadian Thanksgiving. Other settlers arrived and continued these ceremonies. He was later knighted and had an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean in northern Canada named after him – Frobisher Bay.

At the same time, French settlers, having crossed the ocean and arrived in Canada with explorer Samuel de Champlain, also held huge feasts of thanks. They even formed ‘The Order of Good Cheer’ and gladly shared their food with their Indian neighbors. After the Seven Year War ended in 1763, the citizens of Halifax held a special day of Thanksgiving. During the American Revolution, Americans who remained loyal to England moved to Canada where they brought the customs and practices of the American Thanksgiving to Canada.

Eventually in 1879, Parliament declared November 6th a day of Thanksgiving and a national holiday. Over the years many dates were used for Thanksgiving, the most popular was the 3rd Monday in October.

After World War I, both Armistice Day and Thanksgiving were celebrated on the Monday of the week in which November 11th occurred. Ten years later, in 1931, the two days became separate holidays and Armistice Day was renamed Remembrance Day. Finally, on January 31st, 1957, Parliament proclaimed…”A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed … to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October.

From the hexagon and octagon table toppers leftovers, I made this table runner yesterday. This has yet to be quilted–only finished to the flimsy stage at this point.

The pattern was free on the internet and can be found at: http://www.hoffmanfabrics.com/quilts/holiday.html

Caution: The pattern says that this piece will finish 17″ wide by 59 1/2″ long. My flimsy currently measures 19″ wide by 66″ long. This is not that complicated a pattern. I followed the directions as they were printed so I believe the pattern has a misprint. I am now faced with three options because it will not fit the buffet/hutch that I made it for.

1. Finish it as is and use it under the table that our TV sits on.

2. Take it apart and cut it down so that it will fit the buffet / hutch.

3. Finish it as is and find it a new home. Mom, will it fit your dining room table? Are you interested?

This is the second Halloween Table Quilt I have made. This one has 8 sides. These are so quick to make, taking only a couple of hours from cutting the strips to the finished flimsy stage. The angle for this 8-sided quilt is 45 degrees.Getting the pieces cut for this quilt was a little harder than cutting the 60 degree angle for the Hexagon quilt. I don’t have a proper 45 degree ruler so I had to improvise. I do have a 45 degree diamond shaped ruler that I used to line up my long ruler. The edges on my diamond ruler are not clean and this resulted in a variation in the width of the finished cut pieces.
I would definitely recommend purchasing a proper 45 degree ruler if you plan on making one of these 8-sided quilts.