[Knitting A Conundrum]

Here's a nice article on crazy quilts:
http://www.caron-net.com/featurefiles/featmay.html

When I was a kid, already bit with images of reenacting, although I didn't know it yet, I read a story about a pioneer girl who had a crazy quilt, and how they had to use her quilt to protect something during the fire, and afterwards, how they patched the burn spot over. The image, if not much about the story, always stuck with me, and I wanted a crazy quilt for a long time.

Never did make one, but I can appreciate the work that goes into a nicely done one. It was a Victorian pasttime for upperclass ladies to gather enough silks or velvets to make one of these quilts. Because it's done in an applique technique, it took a lot of time to make one, which showed you had a lots of time on your hands and you were able to afford the fabrics involved, so having one was a status symbol.

This site has some interesting pics of victoriana.

[alwaysconservative]

Thanks for those links! The one on crazy quilts really struck me, because that's the kind we had in my family while I was growing up. One in particular I remember used fabrics from my grandmother's housedresses and aprons, another from dresses and suits from my aunts, another from old curtains (a la Scarlett O'Hara) and yet another from various old pajamas from the whole family. There were so many interesting-looking fabrics as well as more mundane ones. I used to ask my mom where this or that patch came from, and usually got a good story out of the deal!

[Vor Lady]

Here is that knitting thread I told you about.