Family History Challenge - Day 7

 

 

 

 

So a couple of days ago I told you about my grandmother who moved west on the train in 1900 and eloped with her friend's brother. Yesterday I told you about Howard Shonkwiler, who dropped dead in front of the Post Office. This is his family (parents and siblings) in 1893. I had seen the photo in my grandmother's collection but I don't have a copy. But thanks to ancestry dot com, now I do. Ancestry has made the search for my ancestors so much easier.

 

And just BTW - I love these old timey photographs. I love how they brought all the dining room chairs into the front yard for the photo... And how someone decided that sitting on his horse was the appropriate pose (or did he just happen to be riding by?) A mystery for certain. And then there's how everyone in the photo is looking a different direction, like they weren't ready or didn't know where the photographer was. Odd, isn't it?

 

 

 

 

Family History Challenge - Day 6

 

 

 

 

 Today's story is about the headlines. In scanning some photos recently, I found this picture of my great grandfather's obituary. I'll let it speak for itself, but I will say that as I read it, I wondered about the feelings of the recently bereaved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family History Challenge - Day 5

 

This couple are my grandparents. I've told a bit of their story before, but this one is a love story.

My grandmother was 3 years old and living with her parents in a house on the family homestead in Ohio. One cold morning, her father got up to stoke the fire and went back to bed. Perhaps he was a bit careless. A rug near the fire caught fire and though the family was safe, the house burned to the ground.

Apparently the farm wasn't really adequate to support all the families now living on the homestead, or perhaps my great grandfather was just tired of farming, but he decided to move west to look for a better life. The family moved west by train, and my grandmother remembered the trip as both exciting and a bit scary.

 

In their new home, my grandfather was able to give all of his girls (there were several) a college education. My grandmother studied and became a teacher at what was then Cheney Normal School. One summer, she was invited to visit one of her classmates and met the girl's handsome brother. Soon, a romance blossomed between them. However, her father refused to permit their marriage because he said that he didn't educate his daughters for them to become farm wives - he didn't want any of them to have to work that hard.

 

Unwilling to accept that answer, the couple eloped and was married by the Justice of the Peace in a neighboring county. This is the couple on their wedding day, as you can see from the caption, which is in my grandmother's handwriting.

Family History Challenge - Day 4

 

 

This was my paternal grandmother's family (she is the youngest, in the center between her parents.). This couple met on the wagon train moving west. Their friends fell in love and decided to get married - except that they were in Oklahoma, which was then officially Indian Territory - and no Americans could get married there. My great grandparents went along on the 7-day wagon ride as chaperones and witnesses. Apparently, they fell in love on the trip, because a week later, the same 4 people made the same 7-day trip for another wedding.

Family History Challenge - Day 3

 

 

 

 

The girl standing in the center of this photo was my mom. I think this picture was taken about 1941 or 42, but there isn't a date on my copy, so I'm not sure. My mom was the most hard-working person I ever knew. When she was eight, her mom found out she was expecting. Again. Of at least 4 previous pregnancies, my mom was the only baby that survived. When she found out she was expecting, the doctor immediately put her on bed rest. There was just one problem: It was harvest season and there were 50 or more farm hands to feed three times a day. No worries. Grandad simply moved Grandma's bed into the kitchen so she could supervise my 8-year old mother doing the cooking.... Yup, three meals a day for 50 men for several months. 

 

Sometime around 1936 my grandparents lost the farm when the banks failed (which is a whole different story.) They moved to "town" and grandad got a job with the county road crew driving big machinery. Grandma, with two toddlers by this time, took in boarders (I know one of the school teachers lived with them, along with my great grandmother from Sunday's post.) One day, grandad was working in the railroad right of way when he and his tractor were struck by a train. He was out of work for more than a year as the county and the railroad fought over who was going to pay his medical bills and rehabilitation. There was no unemployment or disability insurance in those days. The family was already in financial straits because of the depression and the loss of the farm. so this was a heavy blow. 

 

Enter my mom. Thirteen years old at the time, she worked three jobs - delivering newspapers before school, cleaning the local hotel after school, and another job on weekends. The hotel paid her in cash, so on the way home, she would stop at the grocer and get whatever was going to be on the table that evening for dinner. Their meals tended to be largely potatoes,I was told, because they were both cheap and filling.

When she graduated from high school in 1943, mom immediately moved to Bremerton and got a job with the Bremerton Navy Yard to help with the war effort.. As a kid, she was one of the few moms who worked outside the home, and she spent more than 35 years with Seattle First National Bank, rising to Assistant Vice President, quite an accomplishment for a woman in those early days of women in the work force. Since Seattle First National was also my first job, I remember her as a resource for branches near and far who wanted to know how to do things right.

 

These habits of hard work and industry were deeply ingrained throughout her life. My cousin used to say he would rather eat off my mom's floors than his own mom's plates. He said it in jest, of course, (his mom was a fine housekeeper), but it was pretty true nonetheless, and as a kid, I hated it. But mom, I've always been proud of you.

 

 

Family History Challenge - Day 2

 

 As a young mom, this woman was my inspiration! On those difficult days with my 3 kids, her story inspired me. My grandmother told me her story when I was newly married and it became ever more important as I had children of my own. 

 This lady is my great-great grandmother. The photo is her wedding picture. She was 32 years old with 5 living children (2 died before they were a year old - life was hard back then) when her husband died. A few months later, her neighbor, a widower with 9 children approached her about combining their households. They married and together had 7 more children. According to my grandmother, she raised three more children, although she didn’t say what their circumstances were or how they came into the household. I always figured, if this woman could raise 23 children, I could probably hang in there to raise my 3 kids.

Family History Challenge Day 1

 

 

 

 

 I was challenged by a friend to a Family History Challenge on Facebook - a photo a day for 10 days.  But since I went to all the work to write them and things on FB tend to get lost, I thought I'd record these 10 family history stories here on my blog. If family history interests you, you might enjoy these stories.

I spent years looking for this man - my father’s grandfather. They shared a first name, although I didn’t know that until just before my father died. I searched microfilm and all the records I could find with no luck. His was always the first name I looked for. The search went on for years. Then, for Mother’s Day one year, my husband and my daughter bought me an ancestry dot com membership and I typed in his name... and there he was, with a picture and everything! He even looks a lot like my dad. And so I embarked on a wild 2-month online journey that revealed some 6000 names in my family tree. Thanks Ancestry.

Harry Potter Quilt - Finally Finished

 

The monster project is finished!  Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would take me a whole month to complete this quilt.  I'm pretty happy with it overall, which is good, because there will likely never be another one.

 

 

My husband said that no Harry Potter quilt would be complete without a 9-3/4 block.  But all quilters know that you can't just add one block.  And if I replaced a block, who would I want to do without?  So a whole new row it had to be.

In addition to 9-3/4, I added Quiddich of course....

And Harry's Patronus...

The Deathly Hallows....

And the Hogwarts Express.  The colors here are very orange because the light in my room after dark is pretty orange.  It has rained the WHOLE month of August, it seems, and since I had to go back to work within a day or two after I finished the quilt top, there hasn't been time to get a good photograph.  

Hopefully, when things settle down at school, I'll get a chance to get a photo.  Nevertheless, I'm very glad it's done.

Harry Potter Quilt - The Last Blocks and Finishing Touches

 Today I thought I'd share the last few blocks of my Harry Potter Quilt.  The kids come back to school tomorrow and who knows when I'll get another chance.

First up is Sirius.  I saw someone else clothe this dapper dude in plaid, so I thought I would follow suit.  I'm wondering if his plaid vest matches maybe a bit too well?  And once he was complete, I saw that his moustache needed a bit of trimming.  Why do I never see these things in the photo, but not IRL?

 

Next was He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.  I have to admit that I put him off because I wasn't excited AT ALL about making him, but honestly, once I got started, it was fun.  I really enjoyed putting Nagini together.  I loved that I found the perfect snake fabric in my stash.  He's a pretty big block at 14x14.

Luna was an absolute blast to put together.  Almost everything she is wearing came from my scrap basket.  It was fun finding pieces that clashed so well together.

And then there's Dolores Jane.  Again, I was lucky enough to find the purr-fect fabric in my stash.  

 

Bellatrix was kind of a nightmare with her pointy hair, but I thought she turned out OK.

More points.  The dementor is a very large block at 16x16.  I'm pretty good at points now.

The castle is actually two blocks.  This is the right side.  I'm glad I did it first, because it was a booger.  It's pretty big too at 12 x17 or something like that.

The left side of the castle was much easier.  Once the windows were done, it was a piece of cake.  

That was the last of the blocks, but there were some details to take care of.

I had somehow missed a point on the merperson's tail.

And Sirius needed a quick visit to the barber for a trim.

Ron went to the chiropractor, so now he has his head on straight.

 

And then there were some details to take care of...

Harry needed glasses, of course....

And Mad-Eye had to have an eye...

And of course, Luna needed her spectraspecs.  Speaking of Luna, I read a sweet article about her the other day.  You can read it here.  I don't know if you'll need to create an account or log in, but it points out that there's a reason she's one of our favorite characters.

So that's all the blocks.  The next trick was to put it together.  I'll save that for the next post.

Double Diamond Quilt

I made another Half Square Triangle quilt in early July, in order to use up the leftover Mimosa fabric from A's quilt for her granny.  Lots and lots of HST trimming here.

The placement of the triangles is everything with this quilt.  I decided to go with a diamond design.  I love that the diamonds repeat in the negative space, so you get a secondary design that is just as prominent as the primary design.  Which do you see first?

But the quilt turned out OK and I think it is another cheerful quilt for a rainy, hot, messed up July.

Metamorphosis Quilt

Another quilt I made recently was this Metamorphosis quilt by Lo and Behold Stitchery.  When I first saw the quilt on Instagram (in April maybe?), I was so excited about it, I had to go buy it immediately.  Naturally, it took me awhile to get started.  But finally, in July, I found this fun bundle of fabric I bought from Westwood Acres a few years ago and decided it was perfect for this quilt.  I used Kona Iced Peach for the background.

And then I heard that this was a tricky block to make, so I made a test block, which I seldom do.  This will likely become a pillow cover someday.  Voila! A butterfly.  (My husband says he thinks it looks like an hourglass, but what does he know?)

The curves play together nicely - I pin just the corners and the middle, since this is such a long curve.  i like to use my 1/4" foot with the guide on curves - it helps me make sure my seam allowance is exactly 1/4", which is important when you're sewing circles.

 The secret to this block is trimming the block exactly before you put it together.  Otherwise, the pieces don't fit and the block is wonky - and not in a good way.  If you're one that doesn't read instructions before you sew (raising hand,) this is one time you probably should.

There's not much room right at the center of the circle, and part of what is there gets trimmed off, but it does help make the block go together much better to have this little bit of excess.

I played with the layout a bit, both to make the quilt a bit more relaxed and because i wanted a larger quilt without giant borders.  I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out.  Now, to finish my HP blocks so I can get this baby quilted.