The Huron Expositor, 1974-11-21, Page 17' I, •r .F;u". ' rase :w AA •.S f �! a . ,yp f�..'. 1 s'4 J° 'P r. '
$ n'
enW 3'
v <
'Q2
e
ARJ
SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, NOVEMBER 2.1 ," 1974.
` T r .t,,. s
Second Secti on' Ppges 1A to 8A
s � h •a
�i
M
M,
Most people over forty can remember snuggling down in Quilts are actually a lot older than the Canadian pioneer
bed at night tfr.9er at least one home made quilt. It would be a days.' Historians believe that -quilting originated in the East
patchwork quilt and some of the patches would be of familiar and crusaders returning from the Holy Lands in the I lth and
material -- pieces from a dress or apron that mother had made 12th centuries brought the technique to Europe. They used
for herself. c quilted undergarments to protect themselves from their
Quilts were taken for granted by their owners.There wasn't armour and from the cold. >
nearly as much status in having a•bome?made quilt as a store
! bought chenille bedspread on the bed. A whole -,bundle of Quilting was common in, Quebec from the earliest days of
quilts would sell at an auction for very iittic v= New France and was brought to.other parts of Canada by
Quilts are now recognized as a beautifully creative form of ,
United Empire Loyalists after `the American"itevolti't7on.
art ... one of the only kinds of creativity that a rural woman, In the 1800's si nature' uilts re made b church groups,
QUILTING A DRIB 'QUI`LT -- On a small frame set have to go through three layers of fabric, the plain. g q �, 0
With absolutely no time to take up Sunday painting or the arts � and other organizations to raise money. People paid 1Q to 25
up in their kitchen, ethel, left, and Teenie Dennis coloured backing, the quilt top and the teryrene bat, and crafts classes that are so popular now, was able to work
work on_a Crib quilt that they were plashing to donate in the middle. (Staff Photo) at. p P cents to have their name embroidered on a community quilt.
Antique wilts especially are:finally considered a priceless The quilting–bee bee has been called one of North America's
to `their churcli bazaar. The tiny quilting stitches q q p Y Y p first arse y ttt'as. Women would finish a quilt top by
part of our heritage and are an exhibit in museums and art
galleries in Canada and the U.S. Patchwork quilt patterns like themselves, then call on neighbours and friends in order to
.Log Cabin are not only beautiful and engrossing to look at; get a quilting job done.
their names describe a part of our history. Old time patterns had outlandish names. If any of our
Photo story Some artists call quilts "Womens' contribution to art". readers have quilts with these.patterns we would appreciate a
Antique quilts are prized by collectors and lovers of old chance to get a picture of them. It is hard- to imagine just what
5: >• .. things because as -,we -11 as 'being colourful they are very quilts called Drunkard's Path,,Kites and Spiderw'ebs, .klearts
y personal. A quilt seems to almost speak of the people who and Gizzards, Windblown Tulips, Turkey Tracks and Odds .
made it and of what their lives were like. •and Ends look like. _
Families who own quilts .that grandmother made are That is the great thin about uiltin the imagination
•
� g g quilting'. g
_. beginning to appreciate thelia in the same way that they would can run riot with colour, shape and stitching. Here's to the
Susan White want to cherish and .preserve a table that grandfather made. quilt revival; we are happy to see it.
f r make m r: vHts - now than the- ever d 1 d
Seatorth s s e s more ay
Ethel and Teenie (Christina)Dennis are two Seaforth ladies d� ," �:'r hadho keep quilting, Ethel says. in those days before centtlal
$ p p p, a sx, t ��s�� _ heating a whole pile of quilts on the bed was needed for
'who new u on the 14th Concession of McKillop, Township. � ,, � �� ,� � '
Their mother pften quilted. They are two of ten children.who warmth. r
were born in a log house and a .picture of the original s""` � :. The two sisters know of a few other people who still quilt
homestead and the big brick house that followed is on the wall e �' and are happy to report that their niece's UCW group in
of their Seaforth home. {r� 4� a �`"" k ` t London has taken up quiltipg.Right in their own
Both learned how to quilt at home. The had quilting bees' g F; a3 �� neighbourhood Ethel and Teenie `have had an effect on the y
q Y q $ a ���
'revival ofj quilt makin$
and went to the ones that their neighbours had for many, asz
years. Kathy Pletsch, whose year old daughter Laura is a popular
1
Five years ago Ethel and Tennie with their brother Elmer fig, 1 visitor at the Dennis house, has finished six crib quilts since
retired from the farm• to Seaforth and now they do more x she and her husband moved next door to Ethel and Teenie.
quilting than they ever did. `� ' At Stewart Bros. which carries a lot of quilting supplies,
' ' ata. "Dave Stewart says the interest in quilting .is just
"Well, we usually put one up on the frame on a Monday ' Y q $
and we like to get it down'by Thursday or Friday to get the beginning", Ethel reports.
dining room clear for the weekend", Ethel Dennis said, in
answer to a query about how long it takes the pair to make a3' Perna -Press
quilt. F ++,fig Sts' 7� 'sa r Most quilts are made of perma press fabric, with a terrylene
> ,� p <xi'a�dc'L "fY".i'pY`"a a`x, roA y:"r , a'. i < 1� v.L,pdS. .,9 _.�;thy 3+e
In less than a week the sisters finish the actual quiltin r xr�#<'¢ , .. p batting as the middle layer.' Teenie. marks all the patterns for
work, the pattern of fine, dainty stitches which'hold the three .. -
the quilting quilting stitches on the fabric. She traces the wax paper
t
'layers of material that go into a quilt together. They make
�" `" wasL" pattern onto the fabric laid out on their dining room table with
�ra�
(; man lain wilts, using bright coloured lain fabric which "" t �'�h t� `*� ' `1�'� ,
y p q $ $ p�� _ all its leaves m'with a dressmaker s"wheel and then pencils
highlights the pattern of their quilting stitches as well as the ; d "' _ ij t� "" along the tiny marks that the wheel leaves.
traditional pieced or appliqued quilts. it's painstaking but Teenie works away at it while she talks.
Most of these are made to order for people who hear about '_ �" h` �> During the afternoon she gets it pretty well finished, takes the
their skill by word of mouth. Occasionally the Dennis sisters table leaves out and gets the dining room back(p normal.
" " k "When there is a pieced or hued to I just pencil the
get time to make a quilt for themselves, perhaps to give away 4 �� ��,.�� < � �:; f p appliqued p J
as a wedding gift, The are members of the Seaforth "W t' _ � ° � '' i pattern directly and don't -use the wheel",Teenie says.The
CommunityHospital Auxiliary and the crib wilts they make t . q�tC,=rr,`
p q tiny �w quilting pattern is worked around not over, the applique or
are popular items for the gift shop at the Hospital. piecework on the'top.
They also quilt and bind appliqued and piece work tops ' y �• " `M. Part of the fascination of a quilt is that two or three things
which other people do themselves. "One dear old lady whose 3 u can be happening on it at one time.The pieces„and or applique
eyesight was really poor had twelve quilt tops ready for us form one pattern, then the three layers are quilted together,
when we first moved into town. 1 don't knew how she did it". dz tr"° ' "n. with the' intricate stitches that form another pattern.
The Dennis ladies finished all twelve of the quilts, and the w After Teenie gets the pattern on the quilt top, backing,
old lady lived to see them finished.That makes them happy. STRETCHING A QUILT ON THE FRAME — Long time quilters Teenie, left , and batting and top are stretched one at a time onto the frame that
"We often wonder whatever happens to the quilt tops that Ethel Dennis stretch a quilt top onto the frame they have Set up in their dining is also set up in the dining room. "Some people like to trace
other people have finished after they are gone. Sometimesthe pattern aft er the quilt is in the frame but�we find that '
room. The quilt pattern is called The Tree of Life and is pieced with many small
the families might not appreciate them or know what to domakes it uneven".
,with,them.", the sisters comment gently..They agree that p colourful bilis of material and appliqued before the quilting stitches are applied. Then the quilting starts. "You reach in about two turns
quilts are personal things "all that hand work" and like to see (two turns of the side rail of the frame) and stitch towards the
them kept in the family. v V centre."
They were really pleased recently when ,they had a chance They explain that there are many different styles of
to finish a quilt top which had been pieced together "S0 or 60 quitting. The sisters like to have the finished quilt as neat as
years ago ". "It had belonged to the aunt of -a lady from "We don't kno-,% ho�� long it takes us to -m#c a complete take turns going to each other's h ouses when a quilt was put possible and show you a tricky way of hiding knots and end
Florida who was visiting a friend of ours. It was made up of quilt".Ethel sayd, •'we've never kept track of it". The ladies up. "Those 'who didn't quilt would bring a lunch". threads between the layers. 'Then you don't have threads
little squares in a gold colour and looked lovely when it was quilt whenever.
henever they have a chance "but when we want to go pull out when you wash the quilt.", they say.
finished", Ethel Dennis laid,` somewhere, we go Keeping track of the hours they spend Say for Supper Ethel can sit on one side and Teenie on the other and they
drawing and stitching and binding might take all the fun out "Everybodywould come for what time they could. They'd quilt towards each other. "You can talk while you quilt", '
of it, theysay. "Margaret Leeming used to say that you make stay for supper if they could or come after supper and the they assure us.
Tree of Life about 2c an hour quilting". Ethel says with a laugh. chores for an evening of quilting". They also used to quilt in,- In honour of the old days when practicality was the most
Ethel and Tennie Dennis have quilts that various people When they lived on the farm Teenie and Ethel were Walton for the Red Cross. important thing about the quilt, Ethel Dennis has t plan for
have ordered or left with them to finish all over their house.- caretakers for the school there and generally had more work Not so many years ago just about every church in this area Centennial Year.She hopes to make a quilt the old way, using �
They show an Irish •Chain and a Tree of Life quilt top, a to do than they do living in town. Quilting keeps them busy had sonic ladies who did quilting. Etlel and Teenie recall, but "unbleached cotton or bleached out sugar sacks for the backing
finished crazy quilt and bags of material for more quilts. "We here. now they don't know of any group<in or near Seaforth which and top and perhaps cotton bats for the centre layer. The top
should never go neat a fabric store" they say. 'We like to quilt and think it's a much better walto spend quilt. will be a pieced and appliqued traditional pattern, "Coloalat -m
In the kitchen a -crib quilt is stretched on a smallframe. time than watching TV or traipsing off to the doctor all the Both remember their mother having, neighbours in..for Lady's,
to "We hope to have that done for our church bazaar on tim-e'" they say. quilting bees in the days when a quilt was a necessity, not a _. Quilts were made out of sugar sacks and scraps of niasterial
Saturday"`they tell you, unpt'eturbed that it's Thursday aft It makes them sad that so few people quilt any more. They luxurious and fashionable bedspread. or recycled clothing in the days, when wasting nothing and
ernobn and an unexperienced quitter 'would look on even a ranch- have quilting bees because "who would you ask?" We had six double beds in our house and in the winter creating beauty by hand but of very little were more jrhpott4ht
crib quilt as a two week job. Years ago they had a regular group in the country who would there would be at least three quilts on each", so their mother than making and spending money.
a